History of painting group's theories. Next to van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian, Vilmos Huszár, and Bart van der Leck, and the architects Gerrit Rietveld, Robert van 't Hoff, and J. J. P. Oud. The artistic philosophy that formed a basis for the group's work is known as "neoplasticism" — the new plastic art (or "Nieuwe Beelding" in Dutch). Proponents of De Stijl sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. They advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour; they simplified visual compositions to the vertical
Hugo van der Velden Hugo van der Velden Hugo Tjeerd van der Velden (born 19 October 1963, in Boxmeer) is a Dutch art historian. He currently is Rijksmuseum Chair of Art History of the Middle Ages, especially in the Low Countries. A position in collaboration with Universiteit van Amsterdam. Hugo van der Velden studied art history at the Universiteit Utrecht, where he also taught from 1992-2003. During this time he was also a fellow at the Warburg Institute and a visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute. In 2003, he was appointed as a Professor in the History of Art and Architecture department at Harvard