The Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels presents Henry van de Velde Passion – Function – Beauty on exhibition on view through Sun 12-01-2014.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henry van de Velde, the exhibition will be a chronological survey of the life and work of this multi-facetted artist, based on a never previously seen assembly of works of art and a multitude of documents, including photographs and letters. It is being set up by the Royal Museums of Art and History in co-operation with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Numerous other activities to do with Van de Velde and organized by other bodies will be taking place in the margins of this retrospective.
Van de Velde (1863-1957) was trained as painter, but developed further as an architect, interior designer, designer, teacher and artistic adviser. He left an impressive oeuvre and built up an international career, boasting a great number of creations in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and France. Among his best-known buildings are the villa Bloemenwerf in Ukkel, various Art Nouveau residences in Weimar, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo and the modernist Boekentoren of the University of Ghent. He was one of the originators of the school of art that gave rise to the Bauhaus and founded the Ter Kameren school of art in Brussels. In his furniture, silverware, porcelain, jewellery, book bindings and other creations, he proved able, as no other, to combine practical utility with elegant sturdiness, thereby gaining international renown.
The Cinquantenaire Museum
Parc de Cinquantenaire 10
1000 Brussels
tel.: + 32 (0)2 741 72 11