Georges Vantongerloo was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl

De Stijl

De Stijl , propagating the group's theories. Next to van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian , Vilmos Huszár , and Bart van der Leck , and the architects Gerrit Rietveld , Robert van 't Hoff , and J.J.P. Oud...

 group.

Life

From 1905 to 1909 Vantongerloo studied Fine Art

Fine art

Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....

 at the Fine Art Academies in Antwerp and Brussels. Conscripted into World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he was wounded in a gas attack and discharged from the army in 1914. During 1916 he met Theo Van Doesburg

Theo van Doesburg

Theo van Doesburg was a Dutch artist, practicing in painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl.-Biography:-Early life:...

 and the following year he was a co-signator of the first manifesto of the De Stijl

De Stijl

De Stijl , propagating the group's theories. Next to van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian , Vilmos Huszár , and Bart van der Leck , and the architects Gerrit Rietveld , Robert van 't Hoff , and J.J.P. Oud...

 group. Vantongerloo moved to Paris in 1927 and began a correspondence with the Belgian Prime Minister, Henri Jaspar

Henri Jaspar

Henri Jaspar was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.Jaspar was born in Schaerbeek and trained as a lawyer. He represented Liège as a Catholic in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from 1919 until 1936. He helped create the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union in 1921, and served as the 27th...

 in relation to the design of a bridge over the Scheldt

Scheldt

The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...

 at Antwerp. In 1930 he joined the Cercle et Carré group in Paris and a year later he was a founding member of Abstraction-Création

Abstraction-Création

Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton....

.