Georges Vantongerloo’s paintings and sculptures are characterised by their multiplicity of perpendicular forms—with horizontal and vertical planes intersecting in pictorial or physical space. He often worked on meticulous diagrams and preparatory sketches to direct his compositions and designs, and volume and proportion were frequently dictated by a mathematical formula. Through these parameters and geometric regulations, Vantongerloo attempted to achieve balance, unity, and order.
Sculptures
Preceding the artist’s commitment to De Stijl was Construction within a Sphere (1917), an amorphous silvered plaster obejct that reflects Vantongerloo’s early interest in shape and form.
Later sculptures such as Interrelation of Volumes (1919), Construction of Volume Relations (1921), and Construction of Volumetric Interrelationships Derived from the Inscribed Square and the Square Circumscribed by a Circle (1924) each translated the geometric principles of De Stijl into volumetric rectangular prisms, which interlock to create spatial protrusions and cavities. Vantongerloo’s use of materials such as sandstone, mahogany, and cast cement embody the advancement of modernism and industrialism of the period.
Paintings
Vantongerloo’s paintings and drawings similarly executed De Stijl’s principles through line and a restricted use of colour. XY = K Green and Red (1929) and No. 98 2478 Red/135 Green (1936) exemplify the mathematical formalism that dictated Vantongerloo’s compositions, with the pictorial space precisely demarcated to bring logic and order to abstraction.
Architecture and Design
Vantongerloo additionally produced designs for buildings, bridges, and other public infrastructure. The maquette Villa (1926) presents a design for a dwelling formed entirely from horizontal and vertical planes, with a minimal simplicity that defined modernist architecture. In 1930, Vantongerloo’s design for bridges and an airport were presented at the at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
