Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas

Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas

(gĕrĭt` tō`məs rēt`fĕlt), 1888–1965, Dutch architect and furniture designer. At first a cabinetmaker, Rietveld created (c.1917) a chair that was an important contribution to modern furniture design. Moving away from the established heavy, closed furniture style, he emphasized a dematerialized effect. From 1919 to 1931 he was a member of the StijlStijl, de
[Du.,=the style], Dutch nonfigurative art movement, also called neoplasticism. In 1917 a group of artists, architects, and poets was organized under the name de Stijl, and a journal of the same name was initiated.
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 movement, during which time he turned to architecture. His best-known building is the Schröder House, Utrecht (1924), in which he created an impression of weightlessness and equilibrium that are clearly related to Mondrian's painting style.

Bibliography

See studies by T. Brown (1958) and A. Buffinga (tr. 1971).