Henry van de Velde

Born in Antwerp in 1863, Henry van de Velde began as a painter before turning toward design, architecture, and the applied arts. He is widely associated with the rise of Art Nouveau in Belgium, alongside figures such as Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, and became known for bringing a unified artistic vision to buildings, interiors, furniture, and decorative objects.

His career soon reached beyond Belgium. He worked with the Paris dealer Samuel Bing, then spent an important part of his professional life in Germany, where he became a major voice in modern design and design education. Alongside his buildings and interiors, he also wrote about art and design, helping to define ideas that influenced early twentieth-century architecture.

Van de Velde lived a long life that spanned dramatic changes in European culture, and he died in 1957. Today he is remembered not just as an architect, but as a designer who believed that beauty, craft, and daily life should belong together.