Geometric abstraction and Royal Delft

During a visit to the Royal Delft Museum you will learn all about the history of De Porceleyne Fles. Since 1653, the most beautiful objects of traditional Delft blue have been made here, which can be seen in the still working factory. Pressed or cast, then hand-painted and then baked in a ceramic oven. Made with expertise and trust and also sustainable. Today, Royal Delft works together with the most leading designers from home and abroad.

In addition to Delft blue, Royal Delft also made a lot of building ceramics in the period 1876-1981. The special department came up with new shapes and glazes that could be used in the facades and interiors of buildings and sometimes even ships. Ornamental pieces, floor tiles and many more forms of building ceramics were made and produced for customers all over the world. And many of these unique objects are incorporated in and around the building.

Geometric art and the relationship with Royal Delft

When the Art Nouveau movement had reached its peak at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a greater need for a more streamlined design in Dutch art and interiors. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, movements such as Cubism, Constructivism or De Stijl emerged as a reaction, with artists seeking to reform art. This often resulted in abstract works of art in which lines and colour planes played an important role.

When you think of geometric abstraction, you don’t immediately think of ceramics from De Porceleyne Fles, but this factory did make various objects in the past that can be attributed to this art movement. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the company used its network of artists and architects who were trained at the Polytechnic School (now Delft University of Technology), among others. Delft also played an important role in the development of the Dutch Nul movement in the 1950s. Various design assignments are issued or executed by Bart van der Leck (1876-1958), M.C. Escher (1898-1972), Jan Schoonhoven (1914-1994) and Guus Zuiderwijk (1947-).

Intervention

In a special intervention, the historical ‘Ceramic rooms’, as this old monumental showroom of Royal Delft is called, will enter into a special relationship with a number of contemporary geometric abstract works of art that are presented in collaboration with Stichting Vierplus.

In the ceramic rooms, replicas and examples of pillars, tile tableaus and other ceramic elements can be seen that were mainly produced between 1910 and 1940. They emerged in the same period as art movements such as De Stijl or Constructivism, but the rooms do not bear clear traces of this. However, tiles and building ceramic elements are often composed of geometric shapes and are regularly carriers of abstract art. It is interesting to look for the relationship between contemporary art and the character of historical building ceramics.