De Stijl

De Stijl, Dutch for “The Style,” was an influential art movement founded in 1917, primarily in the Netherlands, that advocated pure abstraction and universality by reducing artistic expression to the essentials of form and color. Characterized by horizontal and vertical lines and the use of primary colors alongside black, white, and gray, the movement encompassed a variety of visual arts including painting, sculpture, and architecture. Key figures include Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, and Gerrit Rietveld, whose works and theoretical writings significantly shaped the course of modern art by promoting a new aesthetic centered on clarity, order, and harmony.