A WORLD FOR ALL AND NONE: DE STIJL, MODERNISM, AND THE DECORATIVE ARTS

Microsoft Word - Zimmerman_Devon_A_World_for_All_and_None_Dissertation (Proquest).docABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: A WORLD FOR ALL AND NONE: DE STIJL, MODERNISM, AND THE DECORATIVE ARTS
Devon Quinn Zimmerman Doctor of Philosophy 2020
Dissertation directed by: Professor Steven Mansbach, Department of Art History and Archaeology
In October 1917, the first issue of the journal De Stijl was printed in the Netherlands
under the editorial leadership of Theo van Doesburg. The publication became a nexus
around which a core group of progressive artists, architects, and designers were brought
together. They all shared a similar goal: to be a platform through which a new aesthetic
would be declared, one that would diagnose and resolve the social, cultural, and
metaphysical conditions that had led to the First World War. The group’s vision was
totalizing, meant to encompass all forms of art, from armchairs to architecture.
This dissertation explores the position of the decorative arts within De Stijl’s
utopian project. The decorative arts were the bellwether of many of the principal social,
cultural, and political problems that modernity brought to the fore. As a result, the
polemics that emerged from the decorative arts profoundly informed the development of
De Stijl’s artistic praxis and theoretical framework during the formative years of the
group. By acknowledging the origins of many of De Stijl’s intellectual and aesthetic
positions within the decorative arts, this dissertation aims to present a renewed
perspective on the group’s formal projects in interior design, stained glass, and furniture.
By rooting the work of these artists within the instrumental role of the decorative
arts, this dissertation gives needed attention to these essential, yet undertheorized aspects
of De Stijl’s utopian project to provide new insights into one of the most prominent
artistic movements of the interwar period. In doing so, it endeavors to call for a broader
reassessment of the intrinsic role the decorative arts played in the emergence of
modernism broadly, and the practice of the European avant-garde specifically, in the
years following World War I.
A WORLD FOR ALL AND NONE: DE STIJL, MODERNISM, AND THE
DECORATIVE ARTS
Devon Quinn Zimmerman
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
2020
© Copyright by Devon Quinn Zimmerman
2020
DISCLAIMER: The dissertation document that follows has had referenced material removed in respect
for the owner's copyright. A complete version of this document, which includes said referenced material, resides in the University of Maryland, College Park's library
collection.
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Acknowledgements
I could not have arrived at this point without the help and support of many. This
dissertation emerged from a seminar on modernism and its utopias taught by Professor
Steven Mansbach. Since I posed a question about a stained-glass window in a photograph
of Theo van Doesburg, he has been unwavering in his generosity of time and attention.
Professor Mansbach’s thoughtful comments and guidance over the years has shaped not
only this project, but my identity as a scholar. To him, I am ever grateful.
This project was able to take shape with the time afforded to me by the University
of Maryland’s Summer Research Fellowship. I am also thankful for the support of the
Robert H. and Clarice Smith Doctoral Fellowship in Art History, which enabled so much
of my research travels. I appreciate the help I received from the many people and
institutions who assisted my research.
I want to thank Aeron MacHattie at the Canadian Centre for Architecture for her
assistance. In the Netherlands, I would like to thank Marleen Bonekamp for facilitating
my research at the Kröller–Müller Museum. In Drachten, I very much appreciate the
generosity of the staff at the Drachten Museum, notably Annamieke Keiser, who allowed
me to view the then recently restored apartment designed by Van Doesburg, as well as
the artist’s two in situ stained-glass windows. Both experiences profoundly shaped my
view of the De Stijl figure’s work. In The Hague, Herbert Wolff de Beer kindly hosted
my research at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Finally, in Rotterdam I want to thank Elza
van den Berg at Het Nieuwe Instituut.
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Thank you to Professor Abigail McEwen and Professor Joshua Shannon for your
ongoing support over the course of my graduate studies. Thank you as well to Professor
Nancy Troy, whose work has so greatly influenced my understanding of De Stijl.
Completing this dissertation was greatly aided by the University of Maryland Museum
Fellowship and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Museum of Design. There, in particular,
I want to thank Yao-Fen You, Cindy Trope, and the rest of the staff. At the University of
Maryland, I would also like to thank Deborah Down, Bernadette Morse, and Caroline
Blevins for all of their logistical support.
This dissertation marks a culmination of study which would not have been
possible without the guidance of many. I want to thank Professor Claude Cernuschi,
whose lectures on art history inspired me to pursue the field. I also want to express my
great appreciation for Professors Robert Lubar and Linda Nochlin, both of whom made
great impressions on me and my scholarship. I also would like to thank Helen Evans.
Without her guidance and advocacy, I would not be at this point today.
Finally, I would like to thank my family. To my mother, Martha, who now boasts
an encyclopedic knowledge of Dutch modernism that rivals my own, and my father,
Steve, who was always willing to act as a sounding board, thank you.
To my wife, Sarah, thank you for your unfailing support and patience. Without
you none of this would have been possible.
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1 Introduction: De Stijl, Modernism, and the Decorative Arts ........................................... 2
De Stijl and Modernism in the Netherlands .................................................................. 5
Who’s Afraid of the Decorative Arts? .......................................................................... 8
The Shape of Modernism ............................................................................................ 11
In What Stijl Should We Build? ................................................................................. 12
Methodology ............................................................................................................... 16
2 The Style of History: Philosophical Paradoxes of De Stijl ............................................ 21
Historicism and the Problem of Stylistic Eclecticism ................................................. 22
A Style of Forgetting: The Nietzschean Foundations of De Stijl Theory ................... 32
Hegel, History, and Style: De Stijl’s Use of Hegelian Thought ................................. 43
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 52
3 A Historiographic Anachronism: De Stijl and the Decorative Arts .............................. 54
De Stijl/Der Stil: Gottfried Semper and the Principle of Bekleidung ......................... 58
Metaphors of Gothic: Ruskin, Morris, and Ethics in the Decorative Arts .................. 66
Gothic Geometry: Viollet-le-Duc and Rationalism .................................................... 72
Frank Lloyd Wright: A Bridge to the Machine .......................................................... 77
Against Art Nouveau: Hermann Muthesius and Sachlichkeit .................................... 85
Hendrik Petrus Berlage: The Style of Gemeenschapskunst ........................................ 90
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 98
4 Developed Surface/Heterotopic Space: De Stijl and the Developed Surface Interior . 102
Developing a Surface for the Interior ....................................................................... 105
The Surface and the Seam ......................................................................................... 114
Developed Surface/Heterotopic Space: The De Stijl Environment .......................... 127
From Stemming to Gestemdheid: Creating the “New Man” in the New Interior ..... 141
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Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 168
5 Pattern as Model: De Stijl, Ornament, and Abstraction ............................................... 171
Modern Theories of Ornament in the Netherlands ................................................... 174
A Nieuwe Pedagogy ................................................................................................. 184
Sparking a New Turn: De Vonk ............................................................................... 203
Triangulating De Stijl Ornament .............................................................................. 216
Movement and Counter-Movement: Drachten ......................................................... 223
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 233
6 The Rhythm of Light: De Stijl and a Modern Stained Glass ....................................... 236
The Rise of Modern Stained Glass ........................................................................... 240
Bart van der Leck: The Mining Business .................................................................. 247
Color or Light? Huszar’s Work in Stained Glass ..................................................... 251
First Light: Van Doesburg’s Early Stained-Glass Windows .................................... 260
Dance, Dance, Dance: Van Doesburg and a Motif ................................................... 265
The Dionysian and Dance ......................................................................................... 270
Music and The Villa Allegonda ................................................................................ 274
The Rhythm of Light: Van Doesburg and Nietzsche ................................................ 280
Translucence or Transparence? Modern Metaphors of Glass ................................... 285
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 294
7 Modernism in Recline: De Stijl and the Furnishing of the Future Interior .................. 298
A Turn toward the Decorative Object ....................................................................... 301
Forming the Objects of the Future Interior ............................................................... 308
Movement and the Modern Interior .......................................................................... 314
Spatial-Plastic Interior Design .................................................................................. 320
The Rietveld Joint ..................................................................................................... 325
Against Gravity ......................................................................................................... 336
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 360
Figures ............................................................................................................................. 369
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 492
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1: Theo van Doesburg, Aesthetic Transformation of an Object, from Grundbegriffe der neuen gestaltenden Kunst (Munich: Albert Langen, 1925).
Figure 3.2: Frank Lloyd Wright, Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois, 1905–8, photograph and floor plan printed in De Stijl 2, no. 4 (February 1919).
Figure 3.3: Robert van ’t Hoff, Villa Henny, Utrecht, 1914–19, photograph printed in De Stijl 2, no. 3 (January 1919).
Figure 3.4: Cornelis Jouke Blaauw, Huis Meerhoek, Bergen, 1917–18, photograph printed in De Stijl 2, no. 3 (January 1919).
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1: Villa Groot Haesebroek, ca. 1916–17. Photographer unknown. Kröller- Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.2: Bart van der Leck, Color design for the Art Room of Villa Groot Haesebroek, 1916–17. Gouache on paper, 70 × 77 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.3: James Paine, Section of Wardour Castle, Wiltshire, from South to North, 1768. Pen and ink and watercolor on paper, 59.7 × 47.9 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Figure 4.4: James Gibbs, Plan of the Principal Story of Milton House, from A Book of Architecture Containing Designs of Buildings and Ornaments (London, 1728).
Figure 4.5: Robert Adam, Plan of the Principal Story of Saxham House, 1779. Pen, pencil, and pink and yellow wash on laid paper, 60.4 × 50.5 cm. Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Figure 4.6: William Chambers, Design for York House, Pall Mall, London, for the Duke of York, showing the proposed interior decoration, 1759. Royal Institute of British Architects, London.
Figure 4.7: Robert Adam, Design for Altering the French Design for the Tapestry Room, Croome Court, ca. 1763–64. Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Figure 4.8a: Humphrey Repton, Depiction of the “Cedar Room,” from Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (London: T. Bensley and Son, 1816).
Figure 4.8b: Humphrey Repton, Depiction of the “Modern Living-Room,” from Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (London: T. Bensley and Son, 1816).
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Figure 4.9a: Robert Adam, Drawing Room, Syon House, ca. 1900. Photograph published in Eileen Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 75.
Figure 4.9b: Robert Adam, Drawing Room, Syon House, following the renovation of the space and the return of the original Thomas Moore furniture set, 1992. Photograph published in Eileen Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 75.
Figure 4.10: Gillow and Company, Architectural Drawing, 19th century. Pencil, pen, and ink, wash and watercolor, 58.4 × 76.2 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Figure 4.11: Bart van der Leck, Tile Ornamentation for Farmhouse “De Schipborg” at Anloo, 1915–16. Glazed earthenware, 26.5 × 143 × 1.8 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.12: Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Holland House, ca. 1916. Photograph, Kröller- Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.13: Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Furnishing and Decoration of a Small Meeting Room for the World Fair in Brussels, 1910. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Figure 4.14a: Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Design for St. Hubertus, Tea Room, 1913–19. Color pencil and pencil on paper, 62 × 87.5 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.14b: Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Design for St. Hubertus, Smoking Room, 1913– 19. Color pencil and pencil on paper, 62 × 87.5 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.15: Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Oval Table and Chairs for the art room of villa Groot Haesebroek, Wassenaar, 1917. Teak. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.16: Bart van der Leck, Interior for De Leeuwerik, 1918. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 70.5 × 76 cm. Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart.
Figure 4.17: Bart van der Leck, Design for a Carpet, 1918. Pencil and gouache on paper, 22.5 × 17.5 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 4.18: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for the Conservatory for Bart de Ligt’s House, Lage Vuursche, 1918. India ink and gouache on transparent paper, 45 × 45 cm. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Figure 4.19a: Jan Wils and Theo van Doesburg, Stairwell of De Lange, Alkmaar, photographed ca. 1917.
Figure 4.19b: Jan Wils and Theo van Doesburg, Study of De Lange, Alkmaar, photographed ca. 1917.
Figure 4.20: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for a Room in Bart de Ligt’s Home, Katwijk, 1919–20. India ink and gouache on transparent paper, 60.5 × 43 cm. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Figure 4.21: Theo van Doesburg, Photograph of a Room in Bart de Ligt’s Home, ca. 1920. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
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Figure 4.22: A Reproduction of Wilhelm Ostwald’s Color Wheel, included in Vilmos Huszar, “On the color primer by W. Ostwald,” De Stijl 1, no. 10 (August 1918): 116.
Figure 4.23: El Lissitzky, The New Man (Neuer) from Figurines: The Three- Dimensional Design of the Electro-Mechanical Show “Victory over the Sun,” 1920–21, published 1923. Lithograph on paper, 30.8 × 32.1 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Figure 4.24: Vilmos Huszar, Mechanical Dancing Figure, 1920 (reconstructed 1985). Mica, aluminum and wood, 103 × 50 × 35 cm. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 4.25: Photograph of the performance of Huszar’s Mechanical Dancing Figure, reproduced in Het Leven, January 27, 1923: 148.
Figure 4.26: Vilmos Huszar, Photograph of the bedroom for the Bruynzeels’ children, facing the children’s beds, ca. 1919. Photograph and pencil. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 4.27: Vilmos Huszar, Photograph of the bedroom for the Bruynzeels’ children, facing the room’s entrance, ca. 1919, Photograph and pencil, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 4.28: Vilmos Huszar, Plastic Drama, 1920–21, reproduced in De Stijl 4, no. 8 (August 1921): 127.
Figure 4.29: Vilmos Huszar, Final images presented at the 2nd Congress of Modern Art, Antwerp, reproduced in Bouwkundig Weekblad 43, no. 8 (February 1922): 74.
Figure 4.30: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for the Upper Floor (Composition IV), 1921. Pencil, ink, and gouache on transparent paper, 25.5 × 33 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.31: Theo van Doesburg, Color Designs Upper Floor, 1921, Pencil, ink, crayon, gouache, and collage on paper, 43.5 × 66.5 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.32: Theo van Doesburg, Color Harmony II, 1921. Cut and collaged pieces of colored paper and wallpaper on card stock, 12.6 × 9.2 cm. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal.
Figure 4.33: Theo van Doesburg, Color Harmonies, 1921. Cut and collaged pieces of colored paper and wallpaper, pencil, and ink on paper, 32.5 × 21 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.34: Theo van Doesburg, Bedroom “B” with darker wallpaper, 1921 (reconstructed 2018).
Figure 4.35: Theo van Doesburg, Bedroom “C” with lighter wallpaper, 1921 (reconstructed 2018).
Figure 4.36: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for the Ground Floor (Color Composition II), 1921. Ink and gouache on transparent paper, 33.5 × 43 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
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Figure 4.37: Theo van Doesburg, Color Designs for the Kitchen. Ink and gouache on transparent paper, 26.5 × 30.5 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.38: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design of the Ground Floor, 1921. Pencil, ink, and gouache on transparent paper, 59.5 × 63 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.39: Hans Richter, Fugue, 1920. Pencil on paper, 47.0 × 279.4 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Figure 4.40: Viking Eggeling, Fragment of Horizontal-Vertical Mass, 1919, reproduced in De Stijl 4, no. 7 (July 1921).
Figure 4.41: Hans Richter, Three Moments of the Composition “Dark-Light” (Präludium), 1919, reproduced in De Stijl 4, no. 7 (July 1921).
Figure 4.42: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for the Gardens, 1921. Pencil, ink and gouache on paper, 27 × 40.5 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.43: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for the Ground Floor and Cellar, 1921. Pencil, ink, and gouache on translucent paper, 30.5 × 45 cm. Drachten Museum, Drachten.
Figure 4.44: Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van Eesteren in front of their model for the Maison Particulière, 1923. Photograph. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Figure 4.45: Theo van Doesburg, Contra-Construction Project (Axonometric), 1923. Gouache on lithograph, 57.2 × 57.2 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1: Theo van Doesburg, Color Scheme for front Façade of Potgieterstraat for Block 8 of Spangen Housing Estate, Rotterdam,1921. Ink and gouache on paper, 29 × 32 cm. F. Lugt Collection, Institut Néderlandais, Paris.
Figure 5.2: Palace of Industry, Amsterdam, ca. 1900. Photograph. Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief, Amsterdam.
Figure 5.3: The Austrian Stand in the Great Hall for the Exhibition “Art Applied to Industry,” July 1877. Photograph. Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief, Amsterdam.
Figure 5.4: Students practicing drawing at the “Quellinus” School, ca. 1904. RKD— Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague.
Figure 5.5a: Owen Jones, Frontispiece from The Grammar of Ornament (London: Day & Son, 1856). Chromolithograph on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Figure 5.5b: Owen Jones, Byzantine No. 3 from The Grammar of Ornament (London: Day & Son, 1856). Chromolithograph on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Figure 5.5c: Owen Jones, Moresque No. 5 from The Grammar of Ornament (London: Day & Son 1856). Chromolithograph on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Figure 5.6: Th. M. M. van Grieken, Plate 10—Water Benedict from De Plant in hare Ornamentale Behandeling met eene Inleiding over de Zinnebeeldige Voorstelling (Groningen: J. H. de Weijer, 1888). Chromolithograph on paper.
Figure 5.7a, b: A.A. Tekelenburg, Handleiding bij het ontwerpen van motieven van plantvormen (Amsterdam: Van Looy, 1913). Chromolithograph on paper.
Figure 5.8: Theodoor Willem Nieuwenhuis, Rowan Berries, designed 1894. Lithograph on paper. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 5.9: Theodoor Willem Nieuwenhuis, Door and Wallpaper for the Study of Ferdinand Kranenburg, 1899–1901. Photograph. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 5.10: Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof and Wilhemina Keuchenius, “Dijsselhof Room” for Dr. Willem van Hoorn, 1895–1900. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague.
Figure 5.11: C. A. Lion Cachet, Rembrandt Portfolio, 1899. Batik on linen and parchment.
Figure 5.12: Bart van der Leck, Dockworkers, 1916. Oil on canvas, 91 × 240 cm. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
Figure 5.13: Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, Out of Misery is the Flame of Resistance. The Flame of Resistance will Devour Misery. Mural in the General Dutch Diamond Cutters’ Union Building, 1907. Tempera on plaster.
Figure 5.14: Antoon Derkinderen, Mural for ’t-Hertogenbosch City Hall, 1892. Tempera on canvas.
Figure 5.15: Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, Study for Industry, 1903. Pencil and watercolor on paper, 27.7 × 43.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Figure 5.16: Theo van Doesburg, Two Figures Raking, early 1917. Pencil and ink on tracing paper, 8 × 16 cm. Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
Figure 5.17: Theo van Doesburg, Eight Figures in Four Pairs, early 1917, Ink on paper, 7.5 × 14 cm. Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
Figure 5.18: Theo van Doesburg, Rakers, early 1917. Ink and watercolor on paper, 16 × 10.5 cm. Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
Figure 5.19: Theo van Doesburg, Digger, early 1917. Ink and watercolor on paper, 9.5 × 10.5 cm. Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
Figure 5.20: Theo van Doesburg, Design for Stained-Glass, early 1917. Pencil and ink on tracing paper, 34 × 19.5 cm. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Figure 5.21: Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for Stained-Glass, early 1917. Ink and gouache on paper, 21 × 17 cm. Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
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Figure 5.22: Theo van Doesburg, Decorative Border in the Primary School and School Teachers’ Residence, St. Antoniepolder, 1917. Photographed 1988, reproduced in Evert van Straaten, Theo van Doesburg: Painter and Architect (The Hague: SDU Publishers, 1988), 33.
Figure 5.23a: Theo van Doesburg, Decorative Border in the Primary School, St. Antoniepolder, 1917 (photographed 1917).
Figure 5.23b: Theo van Doesburg, Decorative Border in the School Teachers’ Residence, St. Antoniepolder, 1917 (photographed 1917).
Figure 5.24: Bart van der Leck, The Soccer Players, 1913. Casein on Eternit, 41 × 71 cm. Private collection.
Figure 5.25a: Bart van der Leck, Study for Composition 1916, no. 1, 1916. Gouache on paper,…