Theo van DoesburgNiederlande, 1883–1931Counter-Composition VIII
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Art Institute of Chicago
Saal393Chicago, Vereinigte Staaten
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- Unverändert seit
- 19. Aug. 2026
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About the painting
In 1917 Theo van Doesburg founded an art periodical in Leiden called De Stijl (The Style). This name also referred to the artists’ group—including Van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, and Georges Vantongerloo—associated with the publication. These artists saw abstraction as an almost spiritual vehicle to reconstruct art and society following World War I. Their approach, as exemplified by Counter-Composition VIII, was marked by fundamentals: geometry (squares, rectangles, and straight lines) combined with asymmetry; pure primary colors used along with black and white; and positive and negative elements. In addition to painting, De Stijl had a great impact on architecture and design, and it deeply influenced Germany’s famed Bauhaus.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Angaben
- Inventarnummer
- 1949.216
What it shows
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- Art Institute of Chicago: the museum's own open data · abgerufen vor 5 Tagen
- Bild: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Derweil im Leben von Theo van Doesburg
Das ganze Leben1921–1924 · Wirkungsort
Weimar
1922
Weimar: trying to win over Gropius
In 1922 van Doesburg moves to Weimar, hoping to impress the Bauhaus director Walter Gropius and to spread the influence of De Stijl. Gropius does not think he should become a Bauhaus master, so van Doesburg settles near the Bauhaus buildings and begins to attract students interested in Constructivism, Dadaism and De Stijl.
1922
Congresses of the International of Arts
Together with El Lissitzky and Kurt Schwitters, van Doesburg pioneers the efforts towards an International of Arts at two congresses, in Düsseldorf and Weimar.
1922
The Dada magazine Mécano under the name I. K. Bonset
During a brief infatuation with Dada van Doesburg publishes the Dada magazine Mécano; under the heteronym I. K. Bonset (possibly from the Dutch “Ik ben zot”, “I am foolish”) he also publishes Dada poetry in De Stijl. Under a second pseudonym, Aldo Camini, he publishes anti-philosophical prose inspired by Carlo Carrà.
Juli 1922 – August 1922 · Wirkungsort
Rügen
1924
The break with Mondrian and Elementarism
As they interact more closely, the introvert Mondrian and the flamboyant, extravagant van Doesburg fall out over their characters, and in 1924 a temporary split occurs; the usual reason given is the diagonal — Mondrian never accepted it, van Doesburg insisted on its dynamism — though the art historian Carel Blotkamp points to their different concepts of space and time. After the split van Doesburg launches “Elementarism”, built on diagonal lines, as a rival to Mondrian’s Neo-Plasticism.
