De Stijl: 1917-1931

De Stijl art movement came from the name given to a journal published in 1917 by painter Theo van Doesberg from the Netherlands, in which theories promoting simplicity and abstraction were documented. Publication of the journal continued up until 1928, taking ideas from leading practitioner, Piet Mondrian (also of the Netherlands) and his 1920 published manifesto, Neo-Plasticism.

The movement concentrated on reducing form and colour to its basic composition – thus distinguishing the rectangle and other simple geometric shapes, as well as primary colours and black and white. De Stijl consequently had a major impact on the Bauhaus art movement and International Style.