Theo van Doesburg

Composition II (Still Life)

1916

Oil on canvas.

45 x 32 cm

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Inv. no.

526

(

1978.64

)

Room 43

During the First World War, which put a brake on the activity of the European avant-garde, Holland’s neutrality was conducive to the establishment of a group of abstract artists. In 1916, the multifaceted writer, painter, architect and sculptor Theo van Doesburg started up the magazine De Stijl, a vehicle of expression for the new Neo-Plasticist language. The first issue came out in October 1917 with the aim of “contributing to the development of a new aesthetic awareness.” Several painters with progressive ideas were involved in the publication, such as fellow Dutchmen Piet Mondrian (back from Paris on account of the war), Bart van der Leck and the Hungarian Vilmos Huszár, the architects Jacobus-Johannes-Pieter Oud, Jan Wils and Robert van’t Hoff, and the sculptor Vantongerloo.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Composition IIbelongs to a set of four still lifes executed in 1916, which marked the turning point in Van Doesburg’s progression towards abstraction. The Cubist-influenced vocabulary, as described by its first owner the painter Vilmos Huszár in his article in the De Stijl magazine in February 1918, reveals Van Doesburg’s interest in Cézanne and Cubism at the time. However, in his study of the present work, Christopher Green relates the predominance of triangles in all the still lifes from this series to Kandinsky’s writings, in which the triangle is endowed with a special symbolic significance.

Paloma Alarcó

20th Century 20th Century - European painting. Pioneers of abstraction Painting Oil canvas

Listen

Print page

Products and publications

Van Doesburg Mask - Composition II (Still Life)

4,50 €

Isabel Quintanilla. Exhibition catalogue. Hardcover, Spanish.

39,00 €

Salvador Dalí Poster: Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening

12,50 €

Swatch x Thyssen Mondrian The Red Shiny Line Watch

80,00 €

Visit online shop

More from the collection

Theo van Doesburg

Construction in Space-Time II

Study for Compositions No. 7 and No. 8

1917

Wassily Kandinsky

Picture with Three Spots, No. 196

1914

Private and/or didactic use

Compositie II (Still Life). Composición II (Naturaleza muerta), 1916

Composition II (Still Life)

Theo van Doesburg

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

The exploitation rights of the images correspond to the Fundación Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, F.S.P. The Fundación authorizes the downloading of high-resolution images from its website for private use, use for educational and research purposes, and other non-commercial uses.

Use for educational and research purposes is understood as the non-commercial or advertising use of images in presentations, conferences, school or university work, in classes at regulated education institutions, as well as in academic publications, with a circulation of less than 1,000 copies, provided that it is non-profit.

Non-commercial use is understood as the use of the images in a context where no profit, monetary or commercial, is generated, directly or indirectly.

Any use other than those indicated above will require the prior written authorization of the Fundación Any request for educational and research use or for non-commercial use (including academic publications), should be directed by email to the Museum Photo Library through the email address archivo.fotografico@museothyssen.org. This department manages the worldwide distribution of the images of the works of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the management of their reproduction rights for those uses.

The user agrees to use the image of the website solely and exclusively for the purposes described above and in accordance with the following terms of use:

Terms of use

If the image is used for reproduction, the work must be reproduced in its entirety. The image may not be manipulated, deformed, modified, or altered in any way. In particular, no superposition (of images or texts) on the reproduction is allowed.
The reproduction of a detail or part of the work may only be made with the prior written authorization of the Fundación. In this case, the credit line must include the following mention: “detail”.
Any total or partial reproduction of the images authorized by the Fundación must be accompanied by the following mention: Author's name. Title, Date © Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
The user will send to the Museum Photo Library of the Fundación one (1) free copy of the edition, publication or reproduction to the following address: Archivo Fotográfico, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado, 8 28014 Madrid, Spain.

I have read and accept the Terms of Use

Download image

Commercial use

Composition II (Still Life)

Theo van Doesburg

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

The Photographic Archive of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza offers sale and rental service of photographic material of all the works on its Permanent Collection.

To request images or permits for commercial use in academic or research publications, that is, catalogues of other institutions, monographs and other specialized publications, you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail @email.

To request images or permits for other commercial or advertising uses (general publications, merchandising, exhibitions, audio-visual works, web pages, etc.), you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail @email.

The Photo Library and the Museum's Commercial Archive manage the worldwide distribution of images of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza works, as well as their reproduction rights. The applicable rates are calculated based on the nature and proposed use of the images, as well as the availability of the requested image.

Requests for scans or new photographs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once approved, an additional fee will apply. Re-photographing a work will require a minimum of six weeks to complete.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the photographs set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from the author or copyright holder known to the Fundacion in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

I have read and accept the Terms of Use

Download image