Trailblazers of the Abstract, an exhibition by the Nieuwe Instituut and the KMSKA in Antwerp Trailblazers of the Abstract, an exhibition by the Nieuwe Instituut and the KMSKA in Antwerp

The Antwerp movement – Peeters called it ‘community art’ – has not achieved the iconic status of De Stijl. But like De Stijl, it played an important role in the network of the European avant-garde.

The exhibition shows how Antwerp’s ‘community art’ and De Stijl complemented each other and how their visions of abstraction differed. What the two movements had in common was the belief that an international constructivism would transcend borders and create new communities. Meanwhile abstract forms and colour would erase the distinctions between art disciplines.

The starting point of the exhibition is a masterpiece from the Nieuwe Instituut’s collection: Theo van Doesburg’s folding interior model by of Café l’Aubette from 1926. After a temporary exhibition at the Kunstmuseum in The Hague, as part of Mondriaan and De Stijl, it now travels to the KMSKA in Antwerp.

Trailblazers of the Abstract was created on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Futurism & Europe at the Kröller Müller Museum. This gave Adriaan Gonnissen, curator of modern art at the KMSKA, and Elza van den Berg, Theo van Doesburg project manager at the Nieuwe Instituut, the idea for a new exhibition.

Just as Futurism had triggered an interaction with other European avant-garde artists, movements and disciplines over 100 years ago, the artists of De Stijl also had many international relationships, including with the Antwerp avant-garde Modern Art Circle movement. The idea arose not only to show Van Doesburg’s model, but also to create a joint exhibition that compares and contrasts the two movements.

A large number of pieces from the collection of the Nieuwe Instituut were selected for this purpose. The starting point was a lecture given by Theo van Doesburg in Antwerp in 1920 at the invitation of Jozef Peeters, entitled Classical, Baroque, Modern. The lecture highlighted the belief, shared by both avant-garde movements, in geometric abstract art as a game changer. The examples cited by Van Doesburg in the lecture can be seen in the exhibition, including Villa A.B. Henny by Robert van ’t Hoff and De Vonk, a holiday home by J.J.P. Oud, which has a tiled floor designed by Van Doesburg.

The multidisciplinary nature of both movements is also reflected in the selection, which includes architecture, graphic design and furniture design, as well as pieces that stem from the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, such as De Vonk’s tiled floor or designs for stained glass windows. In addition, works were selected that reveal the theory behind the designs, such as axonometric studies. In the end, 32 pieces were selected from the collection, including works by Theo van Doesburg, Cornelis van Eesteren, Gerrit Rietveld, J.J.P. Oud, Jan Wils and Cesar Domela.

Works by the Antwerp circle from the KMSKA collection will also be on display, including pieces by Jozef Peeters, Paul Joostens, Jos Leonard, Jan Cockx, George Vantongerloo, Huib Hoste and Eduard Van Steenbergen.

The exhibition can be seen from 29 May to 7 September 2025 in the print room of the KMSKA. For information on visiting the exhibition, see the KMSKA website.