Composition IV

Theo van Doesburg
Composition IV (in 3 parts)

In the first two houses that I loved in there were a large display of stained glass windows. I remember as a young kid looking at one in particular on the stairwell. based upon the lights that were on, upstairs downstairs or within that corridor the light would look different every time you looked. Additionally, it was changed by the time of day and weather. The texture of the stained glass and its changing color quality made staring at the windows and its surrounding area an interesting activity on a boring day. Those windows, of course were in the mor classical representation of stained glass windows. They displayed a picture, usually a scene from nature and used many different colors with each plate of glass. Theo van Doesburg's work, also stained glass does quite the opposite. His composition is streamlined and precise only using primary colors. However, van Doesburg did not create this work on any canvas or piece of parer, which could have easily been done. In my old house's windows, the intricacy of the work was still a main focus, and its effect on the surroundings was an after-effect in many ways, but in the way of Geometric Abstraction, van Doesburg makes his work almost beg for light and interaction, because the art itself is so simplistic that the color itself is what takes precedence when the light around it comes into effect. Whether or not van Doesburg intends it to, his creation can be seen with or without light and is changed with both experiences. This is one aspect of art which is essential to the human experience. Whatever way something is viewed impacts its effect on the viewer and vis-versa.