The ‘Isms’ of Modern Art: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Beyond

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the topic of artistic ‘isms’ in the history and historiography of modern Dutch and Flemish art in a broader European context – such as Constructivism, Neoplasticism, Elementarism, Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism etc. Exemplified by the case of the historical artistic and literary avant-garde from the Low Countries, with its polyphony of overlapping artistic ‘isms’, this paper aims to scrutinize various limitations and imprecisions that result from the use of ‘isms’ in the history and historiography of modern art, exemplified by selected avant-garde formations such as De Stijl, Het Overzicht or 7 Art.