Overview
De Stijl, meaning 'The Style' in Dutch, was an art and architectural movement founded in Leiden in 1917. Propagated through a journal of the same name, the movement championed Neoplasticism, a theory advocating for pure abstraction and universal harmony. De Stijl artists aimed to distill art and design to its fundamental elements: primary colors (red, yellow, blue), black, white, and gray, combined with straight lines and rectangular forms. This rigorous aesthetic sought to transcend individual subjectivity and create a new, rational visual language applicable to all aspects of life, from painting and sculpture to architecture and furniture design. Though officially disbanding around 1932, its influence on 20th-century modernism remains profound, shaping everything from the [[Bauhaus]] movement to contemporary graphic design.