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Neoplasticism

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Neoplasticism (in Dutch Nieuwe Beelding - the new plastic art) is an art theory that arose in 1917 around the De Stijl journal. The main representatives of the new image are the artists Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondriaan.[1] They set themselves the goal of purifying the art from elements that they thought did not belong there and tried to determine and apply the elementary (and in their eyes universal) principles of each art form through rational means. Mondrian remained faithful to the new art theory until his death in 1944. Van Doesburg switched to elementarism in 1924.

Assumptions

Nicolas Poussin. Et in arcadia Ego. Ca. 1638-1640. Louvre.

According to the neoplasticists, the painter, sculptor, architect, musician, writer, etc. are concerned with the expression or depiction of all facets of life. However, this never happens by chance. Every painting, sculpture, building, piece of music, book, etc. is deliberately created. It is the product of the maker and to a lesser extent what it represents. The events on this painting by Nicolas Poussin never took place. Even the body postures of the figures are not so common in real life. Yet it convinces and forms a harmonious whole. So every artist manipulates reality to produce an aesthetically pleasing, artfully pleasing whole: to create harmony. Even the most realistic painters, such as Johannes Vermeer or Rembrandt van Rijn, used all kinds of artistic means to achieve the greatest possible degree of harmony. The artists of De Stijl called these visual means. However, the artist determines to what extent he allows these visual means to dominate or to stay as close as possible to his subject. In painting and sculpture, and to a lesser extent in architecture, music and literature, there is thus a duality between the idea of the artist and the matter of the world around us.

Bibliography

  • Bax, Marty (2001) Mondriaan compleet, Alphen aan den Rijn: Atrium, ISBN 90-6113-929-5.
  • Bock, Manfred, Vincent van Rossem en Kees Somer (2001) Cornelis van Eesteren, architect, urbanist [deel 1], Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, Den Haag: EFL Stichting, ISBN 90-7246-962-3.
  • Bonset, I.K. (juli 1922) ‘Beeldende verskunst en hare verhouding tot de andere kunsten’, De Stijl, 5e jaargang, nummer 6, pp. 88–89.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (oktober 1917) ‘Ter inleiding’, De Stijl, 1ste jaargang, nummer 1, pp. 1–2.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (november 1918) ‘Aanteekeningen over monumentale kunst’, De Stijl, 2e jaargang, nummer 1, pp. 10–12.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (1919) Drie voordrachten over de nieuwe beeldende kunst, Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor goede en goedkoope lectuur.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (maart 1920) ‘Aanteekeningen bij de Bijlagen VI en VII’, De Stijl, 3e jaargang, nummer 5, pp. 44–46.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (februari 1922) ‘Der Wille zum Stil (Neugestaltung von Leben, Kunst und Technik)’, De Stijl, 5e jaargang, nummer 2, pp. 23–32.
  • Doesburg, Theo van (maart 1922) 'Von den neuen Ästhetik zur materiellen Verwirklichung', De Stijl, 6e jaargang, nummer 1, pp. 10–14.
  • Horst Richter. Geschichte der Malerei im 20. Jahrhundert. Köln. 1988
  • Engel, Henk (2009) “Theo van Doesburg & the destruction of architectural theory”, in: Gladys Fabre en Doris Wintgens Hötte (red.), Van Doesburg & the international avant-garde. Constructing a new world, [London]: Tate Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85437-872-9, pp. 36–45.
  • Fabre, Gladys (2009) “A universal language for the arts: interdisciplinarity as a practice, film as a model”, in: Gladys Fabre en Doris Wintgens Hötte (red.), Van Doesburg & the international avant-garde. Constructing a new world, [London]: Tate Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85437-872-9, pp. 46–57.
  • Frampton, Kenneth (1982) "Neoplasticisme en architectuur: formatie en transformatie", in Mildred Friedman (red.) De Stijl: 1917-1931, Amsterdam: Meulenhoff/Landshoff, ISBN 90-2908-052-3.
  • Huszàr, Vilmos (maart 1918) ‘Aesthetische beschouwingen III (bij bijlagen 9 en 10)’, De Stijl, 1e jaargang, nummer 5, pp. 54–57. Zie Digital Dada Archive.
  • Jaffé, H.L.C. (1983) Theo van Doesburg, [Amsterdam]: Meulenhoff/Landshoff, ISBN 90-290-8272-0.
  • Overy, Paul ([1991] 2000) De Stijl, London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-500-20240-0.
  • Mondriaan, Piet (oktober 1917) ‘De nieuwe beelding in de schilderkunst. 1. Inleiding’, De Stijl, 1e jaargang, nummer 1, pp. 2–6. Zie Digital Dada Library.

References

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