De Stijl

De Stijl

 

De Stijl started in 1917 and it originated from Theo Van Doesburg. It consist of geometric

shapes and primary colours. The artists had innovative ideas and with their combination, they created the ideal fushion of form and function. They made, paintings, sculptures, typography, music and literature.

 Some of De Stijl characteristics are: simplicity, abstraction, harmony and order. The word ''De Stijl,'' means style in Dutch. In 1920's, some artists were inspired from Dada movement. The leader was Theo van Doesburg.

De Stijl has some elements from Cubism, such as the geometric forms.

De Stijl was also knows as Neo-Plasticism.

                                         A 1921 painting by Piet Mondrian

Theo Van Doesburg

Theo van Doesburg was one of the most popular De Stijl artists, he was an architect, painter, designer and writer. He was in military in 1903. In 1916 he painted some Impressionist landscapes which were inspired from the style itself. In 1914, the inspirations from Kandinsky were clear. His paintings have horizontal and vertical shapes with primary colours. Van Doesburg was also involved in Dadaism, Suprematism, Constructivism, Neo-plasticism and Elementarism.

He was inspired by Cubism. Doesburg and Mondrian co-founded the De Stijl which was made up of illustrations and articles about ideals of artists. The primary goal was to create simplicity and abstraction. A new alphabet was formed in 1919 which was later rendered digitally which is a geometric sans-serif typeface.

In 1924, Doesburg started to set his compositions to 45 degrees to the vertical. This showed that he was more concerned how the painting looked rather than the theory behind it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian is a Dutch painter and is one of the founders of De Stijl movement. He is mostly known for his abstraction. He uses asymmetrical balance and simplification. These elements were crutial for the development of modern art. Mondrian used vertical and horizontal lies which represented the positive and the negative, the masculine and the feminine.

His paintings were influenced in other art movements too such as Luminism, Impressionism and Cubism. His work was referenced by the Bauhaus from the simplified lines and colours.

Today's technology goes back to De Stijl's characteristics itself because it has minimal, simplicity and the use of grids.

Bibliography:

De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2014. De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-de-stijl.htm. [Accessed 09 December 2014].

A brief visual history of the utopian De Stijl movement. 2014. A brief visual history of the utopian De Stijl movement. [ONLINE] Available at: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/12/18/know-your-design-history-the-utopian-de-stijl-movement/. [Accessed 11 December 2014].

MoMA | The Collection | Theo van Doesburg (Christian Emil Marie Küpper) (Dutch, 1883–1931). 2014. MoMA | The Collection | Theo van Doesburg (Christian Emil Marie Küpper) (Dutch, 1883–1931). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=6076. [Accessed 26 December 2014].

Theo van Doesburg | biography - Dutch artist | Encyclopedia Britannica. 2014. Theo van Doesburg | biography - Dutch artist | Encyclopedia Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/167638/Theo-van-Doesburg. [Accessed 26 December 2014].

Theo Van Doesburg: Dutch Abstract Painter, Founder of De Stijl. 2014. Theo Van Doesburg: Dutch Abstract Painter, Founder of De Stijl. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/theo-van-doesburg.htm. [Accessed 29 December 2014].

Piet Mondrian Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. 2014. Piet Mondrian Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-mondrian-piet.htm. [Accessed 30 December 2014].

Surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism started in 1924 in Paris and it emerged from Dada. It was an international and political movement. Andre Breton was one of the surrealist artists and he was inspired from Sigmund Freud. By doing like Freud used to do, Breton and other artists such as: Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard and Philippe Soupault, these artists' poetry was surprising. Max Ernst and Andre Masson were the first people to use the techniques of Surrealism. The style itself wasn't concerned to be aesthetically pleasing but more about the way of thinking and feeling.  

Salvador Dali was born in Spain in 1904 and he was mostly known for his technical skill in painting and for his vast imagination. In 1929 he joined the Surrealist movement. He was another famous Surrealist artist who moved to Paris in 1929 and made his first paintings. He uses symbols such as ants, to symbolize sexual desire.

Uncanny: Surrealism and Graphic Design was the first exhibition that Graphic Design got influences from Surrealism. The exhibition featured: posters, books, magazines and record covers. The influences started from 1930's till this very day.

Surrealism affected society by some of the painters' works. The paintings showed emotion and symbolism. In the 20th century, it was the most influential movement.

Some of the characteristics of Surrealism were: inspiration of Freud, dream is a form of reality, to interpret images of sexuality and violence, socially acceptance and traditions, 19th century influences by poets, strange, ambiguous, mysterious and uncensored.
Andre Breton was another famous Surrealist artist, he also studied medicine. He became a Surrealist in the 1920's. He wrote a manifesto to encourage free expression and it was released in 1924. Breton was originally a Dada artist.  

Bibliography:

Surrealism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Surrealism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm. [Accessed 03 December 2014].

Observatory: Design Observer. 2014. Observatory: Design Observer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://observatory.designobserver.com/rickpoynor/uncanny.html. [Accessed 03 December 2014].

Having a look at History of Graphic Design: Surrealism. 2014. Having a look at History of Graphic Design: Surrealism. [ONLINE] Available at: http://havingalookathistoryofgraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2012/11/surrealism.html. [Accessed 07 December 2014].

. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/andr%C3%A9-breton-37471. [Accessed 08 December 2014].

MoMA | The Collection | André Breton (French, 1896–1966). 2014. MoMA | The Collection | André Breton (French, 1896–1966). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=768. [Accessed 08 December 2014].



Dada

Dada

The Dada movement or the Dadaism was an art movement in the avant-garde in the 20th Century. The word, ''Dada,'' was chosen by slipping a piece of paper into a French dictionary, were it was directly on a the word, ''Dada,'' which meant a child's toy or a hobbyhorse.

Dada was held after the World War 1. A group of artists and writers used public forum to use it in a certain manner which they thought it was sensless such as nationalism, rationalism and materialism. The photo below show an example.

These people called themselves as non-artists. The Dada art is whimsical, colourful, sarcastic and silly as the artists create their art in a certain way which is rather unique such as they grab a toilet seat and attach it to the wall and then write on it.

Dada consisted of avant-garde painters, poets and filmmakers. It was influenced by Expressionism and Futurism.

Dada effected graphic design through typography and photo montage. The Dadaists used to cut, rearrange, alternate and displace the type and images. This technique led to photo manipulation which then led to Photoshop. They used to incorporate images with typography and using white space, layouts and line spacing.

Dada was considered to be a non-art movement but unwillingly became an art movement. The Dadaists attempted to break the tradition of art aesthetics, and rationality. They used to find objects and materials and combine them like collage.
Considering that Dada was not an art, their designs of the book layouts, covers and illustrations were very artistic.

 

In the Dada layouts, functionality was not inserted but they used different typefaces. They tried to break the rules in typography by using block letters. Coloured papers were also used. Some Dada artists such as: Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höch, Georg Grösz, John Heartfield, Raoul Hausmann and Max Ernst developed a unique method for a powerful socio-political issues.

The first issue was in July,1917. It contains avant-garde contributions through Europe.

This poster is done by Marcel Duchamp. It was controversial as it was offending the Mona Lisa by the abbreviations that spell L.H.O.O.Q which is in French, also a pair of moustache and goatee were added on the Mona Lisa.

Bibliography:

Dada Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2014. Dada Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm. [Accessed 25 November 2014].

Modernism - Dadas influence on Graphic Design by Daniel Coleman on Prezi. 2014. Modernism - Dadas influence on Graphic Design by Daniel Coleman on Prezi. [ONLINE] Available at: https://prezi.com/1rnjhmrcraju/modernism-dadas-influence-on-graphic-design/. [Accessed 01 December 2014].

Dada : Design Is History. 2014. Dada : Design Is History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1850/dada/. [Accessed 01 December 2014].

A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 45; Dadaism; The meeting point of all contradictions. 2014. A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 45; Dadaism; The meeting point of all contradictions. [ONLINE] Available at: http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2011/08/chapter-44-dadaism-meeting-point-of-all.html. [Accessed 02 December 2014].