Henry Van De Velde

The painter, designer, and architect Henry van de Velde (1863–1957) played a crucial role in expanding modernist aesthetics beyond Paris and beyond painting. Opposing growing nationalism around 1900, he sought to make painting the basis of an aesthetic that transcended boundaries between the arts and between nations through his work in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Van de Velde’s designs for homes, museums, and theaters received international recognition. The artist, often associated with the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil, developed a style of abstraction that he taught in his School of Applied Arts in Weimar, the immediate precursor of and model for the Bauhaus. As a leading member of the German Werkbund, he helped shaped the fields of modern architecture and design. This long-awaited book, the first major work on van de Velde in English, firmly positions him as one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists and an essential voice within the modern movement.

"Henry van de Velde (1863-1957) is a pivotal figure in design history: a bridge between nineteenth-century eclecticism and the emergence of a modern style. His range was prodigious: from furniture, domestic and shop interiors to ceramics, textiles, dresses, jewelery, silverware and books. He was also the architect of large private houses, theatres, museums and art galleries." --back cover of book

Few artists have been as versatile as Henry van de Velde (1863-1957). Trained initially as a painter, he then developed as an architect, interior designer, designer and art advisor. He created a highly impressive oeuvre; with his furniture, silverware, porcelain, jewellery, book design and other creations, always managing to combine both practicality with unique style and elegance. This collection highlights the diversity of his work and is a reflection of his originality and talent in crossing the boundaries between a range of different art forms. AUTHOR: Werner Adriaenses is a conservator in the department of 20th Century Decorative Arts at the Royal Musea for Art and History in Brussels. Thomas Fohl is a doctor in art history and special representative of the chairman of the Klassik-Stiftung Weimar. Sabine Walter works for the musea of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. SELLING POINTS: A complete overview of the works of Henry van de Velde who, along with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, can be considered as one of the main founders and representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium Van de Velde was a major influence on German design and architecture at the beginning of the twentieth century 100 colour and 250 b/w illustrations

Originally published: London: Laurence King Pub., 2006.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Sept. 15, 2010-May 2, 2011.

These in-depth, historical, and critical essays study the meaning of ornament, the role it played in the formation of modernism, and its theoretical importance between the mid-nineteenth century and the late twentieth century in England and Germany. Ranging from Owen Jones to Ernst Gombrich through Gottfried Semper, Alois Riegl, August Schmarsow, Wilhelm Worringer, Adolf Loos, Henry van de Velde, and Hermann Muthesius, the contributors show how artistic theories are deeply related to the art practice of their own times, and how ornament is imbued with historical and social meaning.

"Foqué establishes a general design theory based on the axioms of pragmatic thinking, a crucial unity between experience and the process of learning, and between conceptual thought and situational consciousness. Building Knowledge develops a theoretical framework and practical instrumentation to establish a knowledge base for the discipline of architecture. Part one of the book presents design methods as a third way of investigating reality apart from scientific methods or the conception of art. By describing thescience-philosophical context, Foqué extensively analyses the nature of design activity and the design process, its inherent characteristics, and the differences between science and art. As such, it is argued that design processes have a research dimension an sich, which are essentially contextual and action driven. Foqué offers an integrated and comprehensive perspective to understand design activity both from an epistemological and practical standpoint. This results in an expanded discourse about the true nature of architectural design processes. Within this theoretical framework, part two explains how case study research is a primordial means to establish a knowledge base for the discipline and profession of architecture. From this premise, Foqué compares case study research in law, medicine and business administration and develops a practical and comprehensive approach to case studies in architecture. The methodology offers a solid and general framework wherein a consistent body of knowledge regarding architectural design processes can be generated. This promotes deeper insight in the complex relationship between context, product and process, which governs every design process on the one hand, and between the several stakeholders involved on the other hand."--Publisher.