César Domela

César Domela (January 15, 1900 - December 30, 1992) was a Dutch sculptor, painter, photographer, and typographer, and a key member of the De Stijl movement.

Life

He was born César Domela Nieuwenhuis in Amsterdam. His father, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, was a former Lutheran pastor and influential anarcho-socialist member of the Dutch parliament. A self-taught artist, he lived from 1919 to 1923 in Ascona, Switzerland, developing his constructivist style, influenced heavily by cubism.

He relocated to Berlin in 1923, where he became friendly with members of the influential November Group. In 1925, he became a 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 plexiglass and metal as well as photomontages and cutouts from advertisements. In 1936, he took part in an exhibition of Cubism and Abstract Art in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

He settled permanently in Paris in 1933, where he remained until his death in 1992. After he died, his vast archive or personal belongings and works was willed to the Netherlands Institute for Art History. In 2009, his two daughters Anne Dutter Domela and Lie Tugaye Domela donated a selection of nine of their father's works to the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and a room inside the museum is now dedicated to the painter.

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