Henry van de Velde

The Belgian artist and designer Henry van de Velde (1865-1957) studied art with Charles Verlat at the Art Academy in Antwerp. He also studied with Charles Carolus-Duran in Paris for a short time.
When Henry van de Velde returned to Belgium, he was filled with admiration for Milet and the Barbizon School. He joined the Belgian impressionists Emile Claus and A.J. Heymans and painted mainly landscapes in the Wechelderzande region.
The first important exposition of the work of Henry van de Velde was held in 1889 at Les Vingt. Under the influence of Seurat, van de Velde painted in a neo-impressionist style for a time. Under the influence of Vincent Van Gogh, he began painting with longer, twisting brush strokes.
Henry van de Velde became utterly intrigued by the ideals of the English Arts and Crafts Movement and quit painting entirely around 1894. He began focusing on applied arts and architecture. In addition to designing earthenware, furniture, fashion, jewellery and utensils, he also wrote articles on these subjects in magazines.
At the start of the twentieth century, Henry van de Velde resided in Germany for a long period of time. There he was the Director of the Kunstschule in Weimar, the precursor of the later Bauhaus. He lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands during the First World War. During that time, he designed the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands. Back in Belgium, Henry van de Velde was appointed Director of the Institute of Decorative Arts in Brussels.
Henry van de Velde was an advocate of purely rational architecture. He designed monuments, theatres (Cologne and Paris), homes and the Ghent University library.

Design Flanders has dedicated its awards & labels to Henry van de Velde because of his versatility, his qualities and his international character.