Cesar Domela (1900-1992): Untitled

Artist
Cesar Domela
 
Title
Untitled
 
Medium
Woodcut
 
Material 
Cardboard
 
Dimensions
23 x 29 cm
 
Editor
Edition Panderma, Basel
 
Year
1966, published 1977
 
Signature
Signed in pencil 
 
Provenance
Edition Panderma, Carl Laszlo, Basel
Galerie von Bartha, Basel
Private Collection, Basel
 
Condition / Restauration 
mint archival condition 
 
Biography: 
César Domela (1900- 1992) was a Dutch sculptor, painter, photographer, and typographer, and a key member of the De Stijl movement. As self-taught artist, he lived from 1919 to 1923 in Ascona, Switzerland, developing his constructivist style, influenced heavily by cubism. Lacking a formal, artistic background, Domela's early art consisted of painted landscapes and still life where figures were reduced to geometric forms. 
He relocated to Berlin in 1923, where he became friendly with members of the influential November Group. That same year, he painted his first painting without a subject, a composition of vertical and horizontal lines and planes. His first solo exhibition was held in 1924, at the Galeria d'Audretsch. In 1925, he became the youngest member of De Stijl, working closely with the famed Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. His work in this period often straddled several mediums. He concentrated on three-dimensional reliefs, often incorporating pieces of Plexiglas and metal as well as photomontages and cutouts from advertisements. Though he opened a silkscreen process studio for printmaking in 1934, relief was still his favorite medium and he developed the medium to a high art form. In 1936, he took part in an exhibition of Cubism and Abstract Art in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.