100 Years of the Maison d’Artiste Myth
9 December 2023 - 1 April 2024
It was an instant sensation, the model that Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van Eesteren exhibited in a Parisian gallery in 1923. With their design for a studio home – the Maison d’Artiste – they broke open the compact volume of the traditional house. Now a prototype of their design, measuring 4 by 4 metres, can be seen in the garden next to the Nieuwe Instituut – a chance to experience its boundless sense of space and stunning use of colour for yourself.
De Stijl
Maison d’Artiste is an icon of the Dutch avant-garde and of the art movement De Stijl. Yet this ‘spatial painting’ was always considered impossible to build – until now. A small exhibition in Gallery 0, From Myth to Hightech Renaissance, describes the (re)construction of the house using innovative systems and state-of-the-art materials and explains the significance of the design for modern architecture.
“ Le Corbusier too saw the De Stijl architecture in Paris. He came to the opening with a three-day beard, in dirty work clothes and with cement spatter on his shoes to show that he was a building architect, while Van Doesburg was only a vague theorist. But he looked very closely at the models, especially those of the Maison d’Artiste, the bravest of the three. ”
Floating structure
Over the years, much research has been conducted into how to build the Maison d’Artiste. There are no design drawings, just some sketches and a number of black-and-white photos of an exterior model. The technical challenge extends to the use of materials: the 1923 design was based on concrete, which was modern at the time, but much too heavy for the airy, floating structure. In 2022, technical architect Mick Eekhout devised a construction using modern materials that are sufficiently light while retaining the necessary rigidity. This brings the construction of the house one step closer.
100 Years of the Maison d’Artiste Myth
100 Years of the Maison d’Artiste Myth is an exhibition project by architect Mick Eekhout. During 2023, the Maison d’Artiste prototype travels to various museums and cultural institutions, including the Nieuwe Instituut, from November 2023 to February 2024.
