Theo van Doesburg
Interior
1918
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Theo van Doesburg
Interior
1918
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 × 21 3/16 × 1 1/8 in. (65.1 × 53.8 × 2.9 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Saidie A. May
Object Number
1951.292
Van Doesburg was a founding member of the Dutch art movement De Stijl (The Style) formed in 1917. The group, which included artist Piet Mondrian, sought to express ideal spiritual harmony by radically simplifying form and color. This led to compositions based exclusively on vertical and horizontal elements and a palette limited to the three primary colors, plus black and white. Interior appears more relaxed and painterly than many De Stijl works and includes diagonals and curves, as well as naturalistic earth tones. These features have led some scholars to date the work earlier than its 1919 inscription, placing it in the period just prior to the self-imposed restrictions of full-fledged De Stijl.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, by bequest, 1951; Saidie A. May, by purchase from the Pinacoteca Gallery, New York, 1949
Paris, (Address of Nellie van Doesburg,) 41 rue Charles-Infroit, Meudon "Retrospective Theo van Doesburg", 1940, (see installation photograph in file).
The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, "Theo van Doesburg paintings, drawings, photographs and architectural drawings", October 15-November 8, 1947, cat. # 24.* see Notes
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Saidie A. May Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", March 17-April 16, 1950, cat. 31.
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindoven, The Netherlands, "Theo van Doesburg", December 13, 1968-January 25, 1969; with two additional venues: Nurnberg, Germany, April 18-June 1, 1969; Basel, Switzerland, June 15- August 3, 1969.
Hisrhhorn Museum, Washington, D. C., "Utopian Visions in Modern Art: Dreams and Nightmares", December 8, 1983-February 12, 1984.
Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands, "Theo van Doesburg", March 12-June 18, 2000, cat. 842, p. 520.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, "Impressionism to Surrealism From the Baltimore Museum of Art. Selections from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone, Saidie Adler May and Blanche Adler", February 8th- April 21st, 2002, no. 50 pp. 22.
Helen Molesworth and Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "European Abstraction from the Collection 1912-1948," February 28-December 2, 2001.
The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, "Theo van Doesburg paintings, drawings, photographs and architectural drawings", October 15-November 8, 1947, cat. # 24.* see Notes
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Saidie A. May Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", March 17-April 16, 1950, cat. 31.
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindoven, The Netherlands, "Theo van Doesburg", December 13, 1968-January 25, 1969; with two additional venues: Nurnberg, Germany, April 18-June 1, 1969; Basel, Switzerland, June 15- August 3, 1969.
Hisrhhorn Museum, Washington, D. C., "Utopian Visions in Modern Art: Dreams and Nightmares", December 8, 1983-February 12, 1984.
Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands, "Theo van Doesburg", March 12-June 18, 2000, cat. 842, p. 520.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, "Impressionism to Surrealism From the Baltimore Museum of Art. Selections from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone, Saidie Adler May and Blanche Adler", February 8th- April 21st, 2002, no. 50 pp. 22.
Helen Molesworth and Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "European Abstraction from the Collection 1912-1948," February 28-December 2, 2001.
Peter C. Sutton, "A Guide to Dutch Art in America," Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1986, p. 6.
The Baltimore Museum of Art News, “Catalogue of the Saidie A. May Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture,” March, 1950, cat. 31, p. 12.
Margot Th. Brandlhuber and Michael Buhrs, Editors, "In the Temple of Self: The Artist's Residence as a Total Work of Art, Europe and America, 1800-1948," Munich: Villa Stuck, 2013, color ill. p. 305.
Inscribed: VERSO: Center, paint?, "ETUDE" ULQ, customs stamp Stretcher, bottom, pencil, "15... (illeg)." written over "Theo van DOESBURG." (upside down) Archives, stamp UL customs Stretcher, center bar, "No III" and pencil "LLF/114" (upside down)
