He Neoplasticism Was an artistic current that, detached from Cubism, sought to make art have no accessory elements, but only the most elemental. Such elements tried to achieve that the artistic expression had a consciousness of the primitive and, still more, of the objective, which led to the notion of the universal, with which formed a conception of the abstract that rose to its maximum expression.
It was the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, together with his compatriot Theo van Doesburg, who initiated neoplasticism between 1917 and 1920; This places therefore such a movement within the currents of modern art, particularly in the early twentieth century. Both men were the pioneers in a new pictorial style that began to question canons established at this time, so that their innovations aroused praise and criticism from everywhere.
The Cow. Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931)
Mondrian and van Doesburg also founded De Stijl , A magazine that had several contributors and apart from divulging the spirit of the movement served as a basis for publishing the essence, or rather the manifesto, of what was neoplasticism.
In this way, it can be said that neoplasticist artists made themselves known to the world through mass media in which a full awareness of themselves was observed.
The reception of neoplasticism was as numerous in its reception as in the creation of works of art. In this sense, the galleries where the canvases of the neoplasticists were shown denoted in them the development of a personality of their own in which there was more than just painting.
Added to the chromatism, which although it was of elemental but significant colors by its internal connotations, the paintings enjoyed semblances coming from the architecture.
Also, the neoplasticist art was oriented to delineate geometric forms. In Mondrian's paintings, van Doesburg and others of his colleagues, the predominance of these figures was complemented by the lines and a rigor in the pictorial proposals that to many seemed an excess, an extravagant requirement without foundation.
But in front of these arguments continued the advanced avant-gardist of Mondrian and its followers, who had immortalized works that remained in the time.
Definition
In a broad sense, neoplasticism can be defined as that doctrine of pure plastic in which painting has a highly analytical conception and less attached to the materialist universe, which is why a return to the most elementary forms and colors is sought.
In this way, neoplasticism denotes a basic chromatism that, however, wants to be transcendental, that is, it wants to abstract from external reality.
The above is meant to imply that neoplasticism is not intended to represent the real world, but rather the basic forms and colors of that real world. For example, Mondrian, in one of his pictures of the series of Dunes (See above image, which heads this segment), did not paint those dunes as they are, but only their sinuous lines and their yellowish tones. Mondrian, therefore, made his mentioned canvas a reality separated, separated, of which he could observe.
The latter is a key term for understanding neoplasticist art in itself. When aspiring the transcendental, the neoplastic painting therefore meant going beyond the sensible world, reason for the drawing of the most elementary forms and colors to be separated from it became priority.
Also, union with architectural concepts was an additional way of addressing the pictorial priorities established by Mondrian and his colleagues.
characteristics
Illustration inspired by Piet Mondrian.
Neoplasticism was characterized by several aspects that distinguish this artistic doctrine from the others. The following list shows the most representative:
- Presence of the rectangle as a basic form, which appears in almost all the pictures and gives the impression of representing blocks of buildings.
- Use of primary colors (yellow, blue, red), which is consistent with the primitivist philosophy of neoplasticism, which reduces the complexity of the object represented in a limited number of dissonant tones to each other. In other artists it was also observed the use of neutral colors (white, black, gray) to convey the same idea.
- In relation to the above, there is a flat, abstract and uneven chromatism. Through the use of primary and neutral colors, it was possible for neoplasticians to paint a small range of contrasts and tonalities from which balanced, but not symmetrical, forms would be separated from real objects.
- Rejection of realism. In other words, neoplastic painters moved away from the classical conception of art as a way of shaping reality, of imitating it, of describing it objectively, and of recreating it as it is. In this way, all the art belonging to this current flees from that tendency and creates one in which, for example, a horse can be drawn without having to do it with all luxury of details; With the basic shapes and colors of that animal would have been more than enough.
- Search for universality. That is, in fact, one of the fundamental reasons why the neoplasticists had a special fixation on the most elementary colors and forms, since being common to all is made a painting that may have meaning for anyone who sees it. And not only that; A work that transcends reality is, according to the canons of this doctrine founded by Mondrian, something that fits with the foundations of the same primeval cosmos.
- Absence of diagonal and curvilinear strokes, except in the opinion of van Doesburg.
- In several artists and works of the movement there was integration of the painting with the architecture.
Tableau II. Mondrian 1921-1925 (1922).
The theory can be applied to practice if one observes, for example, the Tableau II Of Mondrian, realized between 1921 and 1925 (see image). In this canvas, there is an abundance of vertical horizontal lines, besides quadrangular forms, mainly rectangles.
The predominant colors are white and black, followed only by yellow and red, and very little blue. These are the only colors that are in the paint. There are no others.
Note also that the Tableau II Has no inclined lines, nor triangular, circular, cylindrical or pyramidal shapes. This is because the Mondrian painting is made to be displayed in two dimensions, without any hint of depth, relief or movement, which also explains why there are no curves between the shapes drawn, which make the Tableau II A manifestation of the highest artistic purity according to the neoplasticist parameters.
An aspect is added to this Tableau II Which should not be overlooked. Consistent with the precepts of neoplasticism, this painting of Mondrian unfolds in an urban setting. That is, the Tableau II Is not a faithful and exact representation of any city, but of its geometric forms and its most basic colors, always taking care that what is reflected is a spirit of objectivity, peace, harmony and order, without emotional burdens that may disturb it.
History
The Netherlands and the Great War
By 1917 (when neoplasticism began its activity), Europe was in a bloody warlike conflict, the First World War (1914-1918), or the"Great War", as they called it then.
Germany and France battled in a duel to the death by the defense of its borders. Russia was in chaos that a year later would end Tsarism. The Austro-Hungarian empire made efforts to avoid defeat. Other parts of the Old Continent were on fire.
The Netherlands, for their part, stayed away from the confrontation between nations, as they were neutral in these fateful years of belligerence. However, that does not mean that they did not suffer the consequences of the First World War.
Although to a lesser extent, the Dutch also saw desolation, violence, destruction, death, hunger and despair, apart from the enmities of men and the thirst for power of nations.
No Dutch intellectual remained indifferent to the war. Mondrian and others of the founding members of neoplasticism, such as Vilmos Huszár (1894-1960), were aware of the tense climate in Europe because of these confrontations.
It was necessary, therefore, to create a movement that would mean a decisive step to alleviate these traumas. Therefore, there had to be an art that would build peace and overcome the irrationalities of chauvinism, personalism and militarism.
Coming out of artistic conventions
But it did not start from scratch. The artists of neoplasticismo had points of reference through which they knew to orient themselves and thus to give direction to its pictorial boat. Men like Mondrian knew very well the cubist art of the French Georges Braque (1882-1963) and the Spanish Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). However, the early neoplasticists thought that it was necessary to think outside the box and that the established fees remained insufficient.
In this way, the neoplasticians were not satisfied with what other painters had done so far; Had the firm conviction that abstraction should be deepened in art, which in their opinion the Cubists did not exploit to their full potential and that expressionists like Ernst Kirchner (1880-1938) sinned subjectively. Consequently, one had to swim deeper into the depths of an ocean still unexplored.
In this environment of disagreements was how neoplasticism was born, which did not arise as the fruit of a whim, but as the result of thoughtful reflections on what art should be.
Thus, the promoters of this new doctrine of the pure arts experienced new forms that at first reminded Cubism and Expressionism, but soon turned away from both paths and then walked along paths painted with their own brushes.
Piet Mondrian and his style
The first to write - or rather to paint - the fate of neoplasticism were the Dutch Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) and Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931). Both have already been mentioned, but their importance must be reiterated. If Mondrian and van Doesburg are the main figures within the movement, it is because in 1917 they gave life to the magazine De Stijl (In Spanish,"El Estilo"), which served as a manifesto for painters like them.
This publication was not insignificant or insignificant. De Stijl It was more than just a magazine; Was a way of capturing the attention of the public and of agglomerating all those painters who felt the same artistic needs of taking the abstraction as no one had taken it. This meant that anyone who did not agree with Cubism and Expressionism could find in De Stijl And in neoplasticism a place of refuge and acceptance.
With De Stijl The artistic activity of the neoplasticists was maintained, which by 1931 entered a process of decline. The magazine had the participation of several contributors (see image, at the beginning of this section) who also dedicated their lives to art and whose paintings were not victims of oblivion.
Rather, the work of these artists still remains in the corner of those who are remembered for having been spokesmen and contributors of this innovative 20th century artistic trend.
The contributions of van Doesburg, Rietveld and Oud
There were two men who excelled in neoplasticism, apart from the same Mondrian: Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888-1964) and J.J.P. Oud (1890-1963). All three had something in common, and it is the fact of having been architects. It should be noted that Rietveld was not strictly a painter, but a designer of furniture, but he brought the doctrine of pure art into his work environment and made everyday pieces of home become works of art.
Van Doesburg was one of the initiators of an innovative trend within neoplasticism itself. Works such as Contre-construction (1923) remained in the geometric and chromatic guidelines, but the incorporation of the inclined lines and the tridimensionality in his art was what caused the irritation of Mondrian and the subsequent rupture of this one with the movement that had created. With this the decadence of the neoplasticist doctrine was sealed.
Similar to van Doesburg (whose painting is seen above, at the beginning of this section), Oud made drawings that went further. In one of them (see image below) he separated not only from the two-dimensionality peculiar to Mondrian's neoplasticism, but also added the green to the color palette, which traditionally used to be adorned with the primary tricolor (yellow, Blue and red) and neutral colors (white, black and gray).
Other celebrated neoplasticians
Some men who were also important in neoplasticism were Robert van't Hoff (1887-1979), Jan Wils (1891-1972) and Cor Van Eesteren (1897-1988). All of them were also Dutch, apart from urban architects, designers and planners who were directly affiliated with the neoplastic movement, although their lives and works were not as well known as those of compatriots like those already described, who in fact influenced in the Bauhaus German.
References
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- Tamplin, Ronald (1991). The Arts. A History of Expression in the 20th Century (1st ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom. Oxford University Press.