De Stijl
A group of Dutch painters who advocated use of only the basic forms (cubes, horizontal and vertical lines, etc.). The name comes from the homonymous magazine edited in 1917 by Theo Van Doesburg. In his essay titled Neoplasticism (1920), the main representative of the group Pete Mondrian claimed that spiritual values are best expressed with such an abstract art of pure forms. Architects like J.J.P. Oud and Gerrit Rietveld were later associated with this group, which, with the "accession" of artists like H. Richter, El Lissitzky and Brancusi, acquired an international character. The ideas of De Stijl have greatly influenced Bauhaus and the abstract art of the 1930's. After the death of Van Doesburg (in 1931), the group was disbanded.