This week, we looked at design’s revolution and the Bauhaus. I found this week to be very insightful into the history of design an
De Stijl was the name of an art movement in the early 20th century, shortly after the first World War, as a reaction the the individualism and ‘self-centred’ nature that occurred after the war. It’s tow main founders were Theo Van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. De Stijl was characterised by simplicity and minimalism. I found this very interesting to learn about, as I did not know that there had been such a significant art revolution as a result of World War I.
Piet Mondrian had a key influence on De Stijl. After returning to France after the war, he started creating artworks taking particular inspiration from Picasso. Many of his most famous artworks are simplistic and grid-based, built of geometric shapes. I was very interested in Mondrian’s art, as I recognised many of his artworks but had never looked into who created them. I wass actually very impressed, as I always assumed that these pieces were modern, yet were created in the post-WWI era.
Piet Mondrian, 1937-42
Theo Van Doesburg was also a key contributor to the De Stijl movement, often said to have founded it in 1917. He was a well renowned artist, but was also a poet, writer and architect. Doesburg, although he did not become a Bauhaus ‘Master’, impressed The Bauhaus by his abstract approach to art and expressive use of geometric shapes, lines and planes. I was intrigued by one of his most notable and recognised works, The Cow. This is a simplified drawing of a cow, in fact, it is composed of simple shapes put together to make a complete image. I found the images below very useful in showing the thought process that allowed Doesburg to profuse the final result. This was helpful for me, as I initially struggled to understand how the final product represents a cow. This opened by eyes to how expressive and complex abstract art can be, despite the final result seeming ‘simple’.
Theo Van Doesburg ‘The Cow’, 1917
I was very interested in the ‘Van Doesburg’ typeface which was developed in 1919. Similar to his posy-war artwork, this was a very modern and quite technological typeface which I believe would still be appropriate to use in the modern day world over a century later.
Overall, I enjoyed learning about Doesburg, particularly the typeface as I am fascinated as to how something made so long ago would not just be suitable for todays world, but would actually still be impressive for someone to produce with modern technology.
Russian constructivism emerged after the Revolution in 1919.
El Lissitzky was a key influence on the 1919 Russian Constructivism era. He took a modern approach to art, aiming to ‘blend’ architecture and art, which he called ‘Prouns’. By this point in our lecture, I was beginning to understand that not all designs with a sleek, modern appearance have actually been created in recent years. In fact, much of the post-war era artworks have a very modern appearance. I believe that if I was to see these works without any context, I would believe that they were created in the past decade without even considering the possibility that they are over a decade old. The artworks shown to the right was created using printmaking, as of course there were no modern apps/software or even devices to help with this. I found this to be quite inspiring, actually, as Lissitzky showed a clear drive and innovative to create something so sleek and modern despite lacking the resources that we have today.
Alexander Rodchenko was another key figure in the constructivism art era. A combination of his personal, social and political views led him to aim to reform the way art is perceived and interpreted. His designs were known for being visually striking, with bold texts and vibrant colours. Rodchenkos and various other artists from the Constructivism movement’s works are still influential today and widely recognised for their unique style.
The Bauhaus was a Garman Art School, founded in 1919. This emerged as a result of the widespread devastation that occurred in Germany during the war, with new dictatorship Walter Gropius aiming to rebuild society and encourage creativity. I found it very interesting to learn about the founding and history of the Bauhaus, as I wasn’t very informed on any major art schools throughout history. Encouraging creativity among citizens was seemingly an effective approach at this time, as the Bauhaus quickly gained popularity and produced a wide range of very successful artists. The majority of these focused on unique, abstract compositions which expressively used shape and colour. Some examples are listed:
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Overall, I was very interesting in this weeks content. In particular, I was fascinated by The Bauhaus as I didn’t know that there has been such a significant art college in history, especially so long ago. Looking at some of the artists works, I can see that I’m already beginning to recognise which designs have had significant influences on the design world. For example, Pier Mondrian’s work which is based on geometric shapes is something that I have seen myself in the real word multiple times, including other designs that have clearly taken inspiration and emerged from this. I will absolutely be able to employ what I have learnt to my own work, in particular, taking inspiration from the abstract and minimalistic style of De Stijl artistic, as minimalism is something that I occasionally overlook.
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