Van Doesburg and the Hungarian Avant-Garde

Jennifer Jones · 2026-07-11

This article digs into a fascinating piece of art history: the connection between Theo van Doesburg, the Dutch avant-garde artist who edited the magazine *De Stijl* (The Style), and a group of Hungarian avant-garde artists from the magazine *Ma* (Today). We're talking about names like Lajos Kassák, Sándor Bortnyik, László Moholy-Nagy, and László Péri, among others. This all happened during the first half of the 1920s, a wild time for art in Europe. I've spent time digging through archives at the Kassák Museum in Budapest and the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague. The goal? To trace how these artists talked to each other and built an international network. It's not just about who knew whom; it's about how ideas traveled across borders. ### The Key Players Let's break down who we're talking about. Theo van Doesburg was a powerhouse, pushing the ideas of De Stijl – all about geometric shapes and primary colors. On the Hungarian side, Lajos Kassák was the big name, running *Ma* from Budapest and then Vienna after the political situation got rough. These guys weren't just artists; they were editors, writers, and activists. - **Theo van Doesburg**: Dutch, editor of *De Stijl*, focused on abstraction and universal forms. - **Lajos Kassák**: Hungarian, editor of *Ma*, a poet and painter who championed avant-garde art. - **László Moholy-Nagy**: You might know him from the Bauhaus, but he started in Hungary with a focus on photography and design. - **Sándor Bortnyik**: A painter and graphic artist who later ran a famous design school in Budapest. ### How They Connected So, how did these worlds collide? It wasn't through a single event but a series of letters, magazine exchanges, and a few key meetings. Van Doesburg was known for traveling to spread the gospel of De Stijl. He gave lectures in Weimar, Berlin, and Vienna. That's where he ran into the Hungarian exiles. One big moment was when Van Doesburg invited Hungarian artists to contribute to *De Stijl*. Bortnyik actually designed a cover for the magazine. It's a small thing, but it shows how open the network was. They weren't just competing; they were collaborating. > "The avant-garde was never a single movement; it was a conversation that crossed borders, languages, and mediums." ### What This Means for Art History This micro-history matters because it shows us that the avant-garde wasn't just a bunch of isolated geniuses. They were a community. They shared ideas about how art could change society. For professionals in the field, this is a reminder that context is everything. The Hungarian artists brought their own political urgency – they were dealing with exile and revolution. Van Doesburg brought a more theoretical, almost spiritual approach to abstraction. Putting them together, you see how art movements like Constructivism and De Stijl weren't pure. They mixed and morphed. The archives I studied show dozens of letters, many unpublished, where they argue about form, color, and the role of the artist in a modern world. ### Why It Still Matters Today For anyone working in art or media today, this history is a goldmine. It shows how small networks can have a huge impact. These artists didn't have the internet, but they built a global community through printed pages and personal connections. It's a lesson in the power of collaboration over competition. And let's be real – the art world hasn't changed that much. We still rely on networks, on sharing ideas, on finding your tribe. The difference is, back then, you had to mail a letter across Europe. Now, we do it in seconds. But the core need for connection? That's timeless.