De Stijl ('The Style', pronounced [də ˈstɛɪl]) was an artistic movement whose objective was the integration of the arts or total art, and was manifested through a magazine of the same name that was published until 1931. Established in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1917, Vilmos Huszár, Cornelis van Eesteren, Antony Kok) belonged to this movement, Piet Mondrian, Bart van der Leck, Gerrit Rietveld, Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud and Theo van Doesburg.[1]​.

The painters Piet Mondrian and Bart van der Leck, the architect J.J.P. Oud and others joined Theo van Doesburg founder and spiritual guide of this group. Of all its members, van der Leck already created graphic designs with simple black stripes, organizing space and using images of flat shapes with a color palette that had a strong influence on Mondrian.[2] Mondrian's paintings constitute the source from which the philosophy and visual forms of De Stijl were developed.

When he first saw Cubist paintings in 1910, Mondrian evolved from traditional landscape painting toward a symbolic style. Influenced by Gauguin, who expressed the forces of nature. In the following years, he eliminated all traces of representational elements and evolved from Cubism toward pure geometric abstraction. For a season, in 1917, the paintings of Mondrian, van der Leck and van Doesburg were difficult to distinguish (it is worth highlighting the fact that Mondrian never accepted the diagonal line in his drawings, although he did consider it appropriate to use it to guide the format; that is: we can always know if we are looking at a Mondrian if there is no inclined line, even if the format of the canvas is a square placed diagonally. Van Doesburg, on the contrary, did admit the line of the diagonal. Although their paintings may appear exactly the same, if we look at this detail we will be absolutely certain who the author is). In addition to their restricted visual vocabulary, De Stijl artists sought an expression of the mathematical structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature.

They were deeply engaged with the spiritual and intellectual climate of their time and wished to "express the general consciousness of their time." De Stijl sought the universal laws that govern visible reality, but are hidden by the external appearances of things. Scientific theory, mechanical production, and the rhythms of the modern city were formed from these universal laws. In 1924, Mondrian stopped contributing articles to the newspaper after Van Doesburg developed his theory of elementarism, which declared the diagonal to be a more dynamic compositional principle than horizontal and vertical construction. The search for a pure art of visual relations, initiated in Holland and Russia, had remained an important concern in visual disciplines during the 19th century. Kasimir Malevich and Mondrian used pure lines, shapes and colors to create a universe of pure relationships harmoniously ordered. This was seen as a chimerical prototype for a new world order. Mondrian wrote that art "would disappear in the same proportion as life gains balance." Technology and visual form became the objective of those who strived to achieve a different architecture and graphic design.[3]​.