Georges Vantongerloo Belgian artist, sculptor and architect. Date of Birth: 06.10.1886 Country: Belgium

1. Early Life and Education
2. Founding of De Stijl
3. Departure from De Stijl
4. Later Years and Abstraction-Création

Early Life and Education

Georges Vantongerloo was born in 1886 in Antwerp, Belgium. He studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and in Antwerp. During the period between 1910 and 1917, Vantongerloo was drawn to figurative art.

Founding of De Stijl

In 1917, Vantongerloo turned to non-objective painting and became one of the founders of the De Stijl artistic group, along with Dutch artists Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, and Bart van der Leck. Vantongerloo was among the first signatories of the De Stijl Manifesto.

Departure from De Stijl

Unlike his fellow De Stijl artists, who adhered to strict compositional rules (Mondrian only allowed horizontal and vertical lines, while van Doesburg permitted diagonals), Vantongerloo soon broke free from these constraints. He incorporated various geometric shapes into his paintings, including circles, ovals, sinuous lines, and others. He also used mixed colors, distancing himself from the purist principles of De Stijl. As a result, he left the group in 1921.

Later Years and Abstraction-Création

After a period spent in Menton, Vantongerloo moved to Paris in 1928. In 1931, he co-founded the Abstraction-Création artistic group with Theo van Doesburg, Naum Gabo, Auguste Herbin, and Antoine Pevsner. Vantongerloo contributed to the development of modern design and architecture, and his work continued to influence the abstract art movement throughout his career.