Netherlands-born artist Joost Baljeu studied at Amsterdam’s Institute for Applied Art Education from 1943-45 and began his artistic career as a painter and teacher at the Royal Academy, The Hague. By the 1950’s, Baljeu’s practice shifted from realism into abstraction: having been inspired by Mondrian’s Neoplasticism philosophy and De Stijl artist Theo van Doesburg. Meaning ‘style’ in Dutch, De Stijl became a profound platform for modern abstract art and architecture, with manifestos based upon the geometry of horizontal and vertical shapes and line. Baljeu abandoned painting from the mid-1950s, focussing instead on architectural relief and sculptural work. His minimalist-coloured constructions created from 1965 onwards look to explore the relationship between two and three-dimensional space, with pure line and balanced composition. Baljeu’s large-scale sculpture works can be found in several European museum collections and public spaces.