Henry van de Velde


A major player in the foundation and promotion of the Art Nouveau movement in Belgium, Henry Clemens van de Velde was a painter, architecture and interior designer. He came across the work of Van Gogh at the yearly exhibition of "Les XX", a Brussels based group of artists, and his work shows an influence of the Dutch painter. However, in 1892 he abandoned painting in favor of furniture and interior design. He also made significant development in the field of architecture designing several buildings for the Bauhaus campus in Weimar, Germany.



Van de Velde's belief that architecture could help reform society after a Utopian model was part of the curriculum that he tought as director of the Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar, Germany. In 1919 the school merged with the Weimer Academy of Fine Art under the direction of Walter Gropius to become the Bauhaus. Towards the latter part of his career he created several works of graphic design including logos and book design. Van de Velde left Germany at the start of World War II and spent the rest of his life in Switzerland, he died in 1957.