The KMSKA explores the Interwar Period with new exhibition 'Trailblazers of the Abstract. De Stijl versus Modern Art Circle'

From May 29, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) will open the exhibition Trailblazers of the Abstract. De Stijl versus Modern Art Circle. Nearly a hundred years later, the influential Dutch avant-garde movement engages in a renewed dialogue with its Antwerp counterpart. It is a unique opportunity for visitors to explore the origins of abstract art in the Low Countries at the beginning of the 1920s.

In the print cabinets of the KMSKA, abstraction will soon take a prominent place. For this, the museum has partnered with the Nieuwe Instituut, the national museum of architecture, design, and digital culture in Rotterdam. The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between co-curators Adriaan Gonnissen (KMSKA) and Elza van den Berg (Nieuwe Instituut). Masterpieces on paper from De Stijl, drawn from the Dutch Rijkscollectie voor Nederlandse Architectuur en Stedenbouw, are presented alongside the abstract experiments of the Antwerp avant-garde, united in the Modern Art Circle. 

Masterpieces on paper from De Stijl, drawn from the Dutch Rijkscollectie voor Nederlandse Architectuur en Stedenbouw, are presented alongside the abstract experiments of the Antwerp avant-garde, united in the Modern Art Circle. Although Jozef Peeters, Huib Hoste, and Jos Léonard became less iconic names than Theo van Doesburg or Gerrit Rietveld, the Flemish artists also played an important role within the European constructivist network. 

The result is a visually striking presentation in which paintings, drawings, furniture, architectural, and graphic designs come together in an exceptional dialogue between two influential avant-garde groups.

A visual language for a new chapter

With more than forty works on display, the exhibition places the art movements side by side. This makes it possible to see where these contemporaries—in the truest sense of the word—align and where they differ. De Stijl stands out for its clean forms and planes, while the Antwerp artists of the Modern Art Circle take their own path, allowing for more playful forms, dynamism, and volume. Both groups firmly believed that clear, geometric structures provided the blueprint for a new art in a changed, post-war world.

One of the highlights—and also the symbolic starting point—of the exhibition is the only surviving interior model by Theo van Doesburg, a major loan from the Nieuwe Instituut. Often referred to as the “Sistine Chapel of Modernism,” van Doesburg originally designed the model for the Café l’Aubette in Strasbourg. It perfectly embodies the pursuit of an ideal balance between functionality and aesthetics. The exhibition also features a recently rediscovered early work by Georges Vantongerloo, the only Belgian to join De Stijl and sign their manifesto.

“In 1920, Theo van Doesburg delivered a legendary lecture in Antwerp, presenting abstract art as the ideal way to reconnect Europe after World War I, transcending national borders. This groundbreaking vision brought the Dutch and Belgian avant-garde closer together—a story that we are finally giving the attention it deserves with this exhibition.” – Adriaan Gonnissen, curator of Trailblazers of the Abstract. De Stijl versus Modern Art Circle

More avant-garde is coming

“The exhibition marks the kickoff of what promises to be a modernist autumn at the KMSKA. From October 4, visitors can be inspired by the colorful cubism of Marthe Donas in Donas, Archipenko & La Section d’Or. Enchanting Modernism in the temporary exhibition halls. Together with her then-partner and sculptor Alexander Archipenko, the Antwerp artist formed a key link within the La Section d’Or artists’ collective and the international avant-garde. In addition, on November 15, the exhibition Magritte. La Ligne de vie will open, exploring Surrealism in Belgium based on an original presentation by the artist himself from 1938 at the KMSKA.” – Carmen Willems, General Director of KMSKA

In terms of research and collection expansion, the museum has strived since its reopening to increasingly highlight the art-historical role of the Antwerp and Brussels avant-garde. Recently, the museum acquired a masterpiece by the Franco-Belgian artist Pierre-Louis Flouquet, continuing this ambition. More information will follow.

NOTE TO THE PRESS

• If you would like to visit or arrange a conversation with the curator, please feel free to get in touch using the contact details below.
• Trailblazers of the Abstract. De Stijl versus Modern Art Circle runs from May 29, 2025, to September 7, 2025, in the print cabinet of the KMSKA.
• Images are available here.