Theo van Doesburg in his artist quotes on painting, De Stijl & life - free resource, art history

Theo van Doesburg in quotes - the Dutch-born artist on his painting art, ‘De Stijl’ artist-group with Mondrian and his life in The Netherlands and France - free resource for students, pupils and teachers in European art history

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Theo van Doesburg’s quotes inform us about two art-movements in Europe: De Stijl and Dada. It was the Dutch De Stijl-artist Piet Mondrian who had an early strong influence on Van Doesburg, from 1915. Much later in c. 1926 they parted in their art-orientation, because Doesburg’s art-concept became much more dynamic and architectural than Mondrian’s. ‘Elementarism’ was the name of his later own art-style, which he proclaimed c. 1926.

Van Doesburg founded with Mondrian the Dutch artist-group and magazine ‘De Stijl’ / The Style’ in 1917. In 1923 already Dada attracted him strongly and he cooperated with German Dada artist Kurt Schwitters. Van Doesburg wrote many Manifesto’s on art.
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Some artist-quotes of Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg - as a short introduction of his extended quotes in the PDF:

• ’Piet Mondrian realizes the importance of line. The line has almost become a work of art in itself… .Each superfluous line, each wrongly placed line, any color placed without veneration or care, can spoil everything – that is, the spiritual.’ - quote of Van Doesburg, in: ‘Eenheid’ (Dutch art-magazine) no. 283, Nov. 1915

• ’Dada is able to mobilize the optical and dimensional static viewpoint… …Dada is ‘yes-no’, a bird on four legs, a ladder without steps, a square without angels. Dada possesses as many positives as negatives…’ - Van Doesburg’s quote, in his article article ‘What is Dada???’, in art-magazine De Stijl, 1923

• ’Elementarism rejects the demands of pure statics which led to sterility and to the laming of creative potentialities. Instead of denying Time and Space, Elementarism acknowledge these elements to be the most elementary means for creating a new plastic expression (critic on Mondrian)’ - quote of Doesburg, in: ‘Painting and plastic art’: Elementarism - manifesto’, Paris Dec. 1926
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  selection of free art resources on Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg:

  • extended biographical notes of Van Doesburg, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg
  • artist-quotes of ànd about Van Doesburg, on Wikiquote: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg
  • images of his painting art, on Wikiart: https://www.wikiart.org/en/theo-van-doesburg
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    editor: Fons Heijnsbroek / Matrozenhof (FotoDutch on Wikiquote):<br>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/User:FotoDutch]