Relief no. 12B

Among César Domela's most ambitious "neoplastic reliefs," Relief no. 12B is notable not only for its large size but also for its complex construction from overlapping hollow and solid disks. One of the youngest members of the Dutch art movement De Stijl, Domela made his first relief in 1929, using wood, metallic paint, and metal rods to create three-dimensional rectangular compositions that resemble geometric paintings yet extend into the space of the viewer by projecting off the wall. When Plexiglas was invented in 1933, Domela became one of the first artists to embrace it as a material, using it and other plastics to enhance the play of light within his works, and generate new physical and optical textures and patterns.