The Black Von Scrolls

Each visit to London includes the Tate Modern, and to my surprise a beautiful show called “Van Doesburg & The International Avant-Guarde: Constructing A New World” continued the theme of Bauhaus and Dada from a few weeks back.

Theo Van Doesburg was born in 1883 in Utrecht and became a painter and art critic. By the end of the Great War, he started a magazine called De Stijl to discuss new artistic approaches derived from mathematical compositions which he saw in Cubism. The magazine was used as a vehicle to “promote the new European avant-guarde” and included very successful artists such as Piet Mondrian.

The De Stijl movement explored geometric shapes and looked for the “complete harmony” in art. Van Doesburg included architecture, design, typography, Dadaism, Constructivism, Bauhaus and a final movement before his death, Abstraction-Création, in his attempt for an “international visual language” of geometric plains, color, form and abstraction. It should be noted though, that Van Doesburg turned up in Weimar in 1919 and was unable to secure a teaching position at the Bauhaus school because he was considered too radical, favoring machine production over individual craftsmanship.

MOMA’s “Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity” ended in late January, and this show picks up the conversation seamlessly. The exhibit was equally as beautiful, if not more so, than MOMA’s. The Tate was able to display several Mondrians all together. I must say, the impact of his work changes when viewed in abundance, as I’ve ever only seen Mondrians shown as one or two. It was spectacular.

Below are some photos I shot on my iPhone, but unfortunately I didn’t capture the Mondrians as I was trying to be somewhat covert. The show is tightly constructed and although it includes much avant-garde work from the early 20th Century, the curators (who include Tate director Vicente Todoli) did an impressive job educating the public by portraying Van Doesburg and the De Stijl as key contributors to modern art while keeping the show sophisticated yet whimsical. For those who can take advantage of this rare gem before it closes in mid-May, be sure not to miss it.