Henry van de Velde

Flemish architect, painter and interior designer

The Flemish architect, painter and interior designer Henry van de Velde (1863-1957) was originally a devotee of landscape painting in the neo-impressionistic style. He joined the Brussels based Les Vingt group in 1889, devoting himself to the applied arts from 1890. In 1895 he built his home in Ukkel, a house heavily influenced by English architecture, dominated by flowing, sinuous lines reminiscent of plant motifs. Along with Victor Horta, van de Velde laid the foundations of Art Nouveau in Belgium, breaking into the international scene with a number of interiors and furniture pieces for Samuel Bing's art gallery in Paris (1896). Van de Velde was the first art nouveau artist to adopt an abstract style, based on curved lines.

Designs and utensils

From 1900 he was mainly active in Germany. After an exhibition in Dresden, van de Velde received commissions for designs and utensils. In 1902 he became advisor to the Grand Duke of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach. It was here that he was to build the Kunstgewerbeschule (School for industrial art) and the academy, where he was to teach until the outbreak of the Great War. Henry van de Velde is generally considered to be one of the founders of what would become the Bauhaus of Walter Gropius. After the war van de Velde took up a post as professor at Ghent University (1926-1936), whose library with book tower he designed. He was also director of the Institute for Architecture and Arts in Ixelles (1926-1935). The museum in Otterlo in The Netherlands is another of his best-known buildings.

Henry van de Velde published a number of works

Henry van de Velde published a number of works, including Déblaiement d'art (Release of Art, 1895), Vom neuen Stil (Of a new style, 1907), Formules d'une esthétique moderne (Formulas of the modern aesthetics, 1923) and Doctrine a la recherche d'une beauté permanente (Doctrine, looking for permanent beauty, 1947). Henry van de Velde died on 25 October 1957.

Series of three stamps

In 2003, The Belgian Post will issue a series of three stamps and a sheet to celebrate the memory of one of the most influential people in twentieth-century European culture, architect Henry van de Velde (1863-1957). For designer François Schuiten, the importance of Van de Velde's personality was crucial. Each stamp shows the architect's effigy next to an important building he designed. "La nouvelle maison" (the New House) from Tervuren (1927-28), the pavilion of the World Exhibition in Paris (1937) and the "Boekentoren" (Book Tower) of Gent (1933-38) all represent constructions by the modernistic architect. The sheet features an image of the Art Nouveau artist: a staircase and a cupboard from 1902 and a candlestick.
Issue: Belgium, 27 January 2003

More information

Postage Stamps 2003
Stamps of Belgium

Filahome offers a different approach to stamp collecting. Intended for those collectors who would like to know more about postage stamp collecting.

• Free Download
• 400 articles for postage stamp collectors
• Information for collectors worldwide
• Useful Information
• Many Images
• Easy to Install

Free Download