Concrete art

A closer look

Clearly defined planes, measured intervals, repeated units and color relationships that need no depicted landscape or object.

Concrete does not mean cement

Kode’s introduction to Concrete art documents Theo van Doesburg’s 1930 Art Concret publication and explains the idea of an artwork built from its own lines, planes and colors rather than imitating nature. The Centre Pompidou’s account of Jean Hélion’s Composition orthogonale, also dated 1930, offers a specific work for studying that approach.

A sculpture cast in concrete is therefore not automatically Concrete art, and a painting on paper can belong to its discussion. Geometric appearance alone is also insufficient for an attribution. The point is the relation between the work’s elements and its conception, not a checklist of circles and primary colors.

Set a rule and observe its consequences

For a contemporary exercise, establish a unit: perhaps a square divided into halves and quarters. Choose a small palette and one rule for repetition or rotation. Arrange the forms so that spacing and proportion become active parts of the image. A narrow interval can create tension; a repeated edge can connect distant areas.

Then test the system. Does one accent dominate accidentally? Does a change in scale clarify the rhythm or merely break it? Keep the surface treatment consistent enough that the viewer can read the relationships. The retained archive studies use grids, arcs and contrasting color planes; they are modern interpretations, not reproductions of van Doesburg’s work. Use them to compare balance and rhythm while keeping the historical claim separate from the practical exercise.