Theo van Doesburg
Dutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer (1883–1931)
Theo van Doesburg (Dutch: [ˈteːjoː vɑn ˈduzbʏr(ə)x]; born Christian Emil Marie Küpper; 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch painter, writer, poet, and architect. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl.
Personal life
Theo van Doesburg was born Christian Emil Marie Küpper on 30 August 1883, in Utrecht, Netherlands, as the son of the photographer Wilhelm Küpper and Henrietta Catherina Margadant. After a short period of training in acting and singing, he decided to become a storekeeper. He always regarded his stepfather, Theodorus Doesburg, to be his natural father, so that his first works are signed with Theo Doesburg, to which he later added "van".
Van Doesburg married three times: on 4 May 1910 to theosophist, poet and writer Agnita Henrica Feis; on 30 May 1917 to accountant Helena 'Lena' Milius; and on 24 November 1928 to artist, pianist and choreographer Petronella 'Nelly' Johanna van Moorsel.
Career
His first exhibition was in 1908. From 1912 onwards, he supported his works by writing for magazines. At the time, he considered himself to be a modern painter, although his early work is more in line with the Amsterdam Impressionists and Vincent van Gogh. This changed in 1913 after reading Wassily Kandinsky's Rückblicke, an autobiographical retrospective on Kandinsky's life and artwork.
The public source identifies “Theo van Doesburg” as dutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer (1883–1931). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Theo, Doesburg and Dutch.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q160422. VIAF identifies the subject as 39646290. The Library of Congress control number is n79133763. 4 of 10 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1883, 1931, 1910 and 1917.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Theo van Doesburg” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.