York art historian’s new light on the international avant-garde

Posted on Wednesday 3 February 2010

Dr Michael White, of the University’s Department of the History of Art, is consultant curator of the exhibition of work by the artist, a pivotal figure of the European avant-garde. It opens at Tate Modern on 4 February.

The Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World exhibition examines his work in the context of 80 other artists including members of the De Stijl movement, which was named after the journal he edited for 14 years from 1917.

This exhibition contains a hugely diverse range of objects

Dr Michael White

The range of van Doesburg's activities – he worked in stained glass, architecture and graphic design, as well as writing about film and music – means the exhibition is a departure from conventional Tate collections.

It features more than 350 objects by artists including Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp, Constantin Brancusi, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky, covering a broad spectrum including painting, sculpture, architecture, film, photography, graphic design and music.

Dr White said: “His project was cultural renewal across the whole spectrum of the arts and this exhibition contains a hugely diverse range of objects.”

He will be conducting a 'Curator's Conversation' in the exhibition together with its Curator, Gladys Fabre, on 26 April and is co-organiser of a related conference to be held at Tate Modern on 25-6 March.