De Stijl

World of Art

by Paul Overy

De Stijl ("The Style") was the name given to the work of the architects, designers and artists associated with the magazine of the same title edited by Theo van Doesburg and founded in Holland in 1917. De Stijl was international in its in contact with the Bauhaus and the Russian Constructivists, it helped create the ideology and formal language of modernism. This survey illuminates the works of Mondrian and the architecture and designs of Oud, Wils, Huszar and Rietveld, all of whom aimed to create an objective art concerned with universal values, expressed in primary geometric forms and pure colors. 157 illus., 17 in color.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Design

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Paul Overy was educated at King's College, Cambridge. He lectures on the history of art, architecture and design at London University, the London Institute and Middlesex Polytechnic and as been an art critic for The Times, The Financial Times and The Listener. He is the author of Kandinsky: The Language of the Eye (1969) and an earlier volume on De Stijl and is co-author of The Rietveld Schroder House (1988).

Reviews

[Mag · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a nice little book on the Dutch art and design movement of the 20s and 30s of the last century. It fluidly moves through the subject matter and contains some quaint remarks about Holland and the Dutch on top of a good review of the movement and its ideals.

The book in Polish translation has travelled with me for many years before I finally read it. It was translated and published in the 70s, so during a slightly relaxed but still quite orthodox communist rule in Poland. When I researched the author, I learned that Overy, an art historian and critic, was dismissed from The Times for his left leaning sympathies. It may explain why the book was published in Poland at all since even vaguely contemporary Western art could be a sticky subject back then. Left leaning was good. The book itself is written with no political overtones, but with wit, lightness and an obvious good command of the subject matter. It’s so apolitical actually, that the Polish authorities decided that a more Polish, communist and socially engaged slant was needed and a chapter about Polish connections to the Stijl with subtle overtones to socialist ideology is appended at the end. It’s all quite interesting.

[Jordi Gran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to deepen your De Stijl's knowledge beyond the usual Mondrianization of the movement. Not only will the official narrative focus on just a single individual, but also, it will fail to cover two of the core disciplines for neoplasticists: architecture and design. The book showcases the intertwining of the early 20th century 'isms' and it is interesting to pinpoint the links with constructivism, futurism, international style, and the Bauhaus.

[Patrycja Mazurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Krótko, zwięźle i na temat historii oraz cech wizualnych De Stijlu z wieloma ciekawymi i nieznanymi mi wcześniej przykładami + w polskiej wersji świetne uzupełnienie Andrzeja Turowskiego na temat wpływu neoplastycyzmu na polską awangardę (Strzemiński, Kobro, Lachert, Szanajca, Szczuka, Brukalscy, Syrkusowie, Stażewski i inni). Polecam.

[David Heritage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally interesting and a good overview of the movement, but the book ambles around points, is not chronologically organised, and is generally not the most clearly / concise read

[Mina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay, not incredibly well-written. (Worth it for the good photos and facts, though). Content moves swiftly through the Dutch art movement through a period of about 15 years.