Synopses & Reviews
The name De Stijl, title of a magazine founded in the Netherlands in 1917, is now used to identify the abstract art and functional architecture of its major contributors: Mondrian, Van Doesburg, Van der Leck, Oud, Wils and Rietveld. De Stijl achieved international acclaim by the end of the 1920s and its paintings, buildings and furniture made fundamental contributions to the modern movement. This book is the first to emphasize the local context of De Stijl and explore its relationship to the distinctive character of Dutch modernism. It examines how the debates concerning abstraction in painting and spatiality in architecture were intimately connected to contemporary developments in the fields of urban planning, advertising, interior design and exhibition design. The book describes the interaction between the world of mass culture and the fine arts.
Review
"This stimulating and original book represents a significant contribution to the scholarship on De Stijl. In elucidating theoretical complexities of the different positions adopted by the various artists and architects, Dr. White overturns many dearly and long held assumptions about the movement and throws new light on its history."--Martin Hammer, University of Edinburgh
About the Author
Michael White is Lecturer in History of Art at the University of York.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue * Abstraction and Utopia * The Monumental Image of the City * Advertising as Fine Art * Structures of Interior Design * Exhibiting Style