Henry van de Velde

This paper shows how the concept of the 'Gesamtkunstwerk' (total or universal work of art), which originated as 'Artwork of the Future' in Richard Wagner's 'Zurich Writings', is rooted in Wagner's reading of Hegel's 'Phenomenology of Spirit', particularly of the section on 'Das geistige Kunstwerk' (The Spiritual Work of Art). Wagner's conceptions of a 'Kunstwerk der Zukunft' and a universal 'Kunstgenossenschaft' must be interpreted as a failed attempt to provide a solution for the negative deadlock of modernity and thus an alternative to today's total work of art: capitalism.

« Henry van de Velde, Furniture Designer (1893-1902) : the Material Expression of Thought », in The Decorative Arts Society. 1850 to the present, 2019, n° 43, pp. 44 – 60.

Henry van de Velde (1863–1947) is rightly regarded as one of the major precursors of Art Nouveau. Having started out as a Post-Impressionist painter, he switched to applied arts and architecture in 1893 while championing the new style in his practice and in his theory via lectures, publications, and educational courses. These two sides of van de Velde’s activity have always been studied separately, but this article explores the dialectic between his theoretical and artistic work in order to create a clearer picture of van de Velde’s intellectual universe and of the literary sources in which his ideas were rooted. A range of works and thinkers linked to the French intellectual world have been identified, and these
sources transform our understanding of the artist’s intellectual horizons. The importance of Vitalism and the human body both in van de Velde’s writings and in his artistic practice will also be examined. In parallel with this, a dedicated study will be made of van de Velde’s furniture designs, including a famous desk of 1899 with particularly pronounced Vitalist features, in order to gain a better understanding of the sources and influences behind the designs. His artist friends and the artistic context of his day will be shown to play a key role here. In addition, an analysis of form and style will help us better understand the process by which the artist managed gradually to master the creation of works in three dimensions.

Proust has shown little interest in the decorative arts of his time, but his work bears the mark of the "submarine style" distinctive of Art nouveau. The low bookshelves with glass panes in the Grand Hôtel room at Balbec ― the symbol of À la Recherche’s unity, according to Georges Poulet in Proustian Space ― prove to be authentic witnesses of “modern style”. But what does “modern style” actually mean? À la Recherche includes five occurrences of the expression that could lead to misunderstanding. Contrary to a preconceived idea, it is not the English name for Art nouveau. This French coined anglicism refers to the international revival of the decorative arts at the beginning of the twentieth century, a fascinating but disturbing blend of aesthetics and social ideas. Proust detected at once and discreetly highlighted the cosmopolitan and "rastaquouère" (so to speak "métèque") inspiration of an ephemeral artistic movement contemporary with the Dreyfus affair. Enriched with an abundant and entirely original iconography, full of new discoveries and identifications, Rastaquarium brings back to life an epoch of which the novelist caught the essence. For the first time the whole question of decorative arts in À la recherche is fully tackled in all its ramifications, in a fascinating instance of the network of connections at the heart of Proust’s system.

Proust n’a manifesté que bien peu d’intérêt pour les arts décoratifs de son temps, mais son œuvre ponctuée d’aquariums est marquée par le «style sous-marin» caractéristique de l’Art nouveau. Les «bibliothèques vitrées» de la chambre de Balbec ― dans lesquelles Georges Poulet voyait le symbole de l’unité de l’œuvre ― se révèlent d’authentiques témoins du «modern style». Mais qu’est-ce que le «modern style»? L’expression, qui revient cinq fois dans À la Recherche du temps perdu, n’avait jamais vraiment été élucidée. Contrairement à une idée reçue, ce n’est en rien le nom anglais de l’Art nouveau. Cet anglicisme bien français désigne un renouveau international des arts décoratifs qui, mêlant esthétique et idées sociales, fascine et inquiète… Proust a parfaitement perçu et discrètement mis en valeur l’inspiration cosmopolite et «rastaquouère» d’un courant artistique dont le bref épanouissement coïncide avec les années de l’affaire Dreyfus. Enrichi d’une vaste iconographie, entièrement originale, fourmillant de trouvailles et d’identifications nouvelles, Rastaquarium fait revivre une époque dont l’écrivain a su capter l’essentiel. Toujours abordée de façon fragmentaire, la question des arts décoratifs dans la Recherche n’avait jamais été traitée dans son ensemble, seule manière de saisir les réseaux de correspondances si chers à Proust.


Table of Contents

Note sur l’iconographie – Remerciements – Abréviations

Rastaquarium

Qu’est-ce que l’Art « nouveau » ?

Le « modern style » n’est pas un style

Naissance d’une expression

Le mobilier des Proust

Le monde de Liberty

Contre Ruskin

1905 : « Sur la lecture »

La Femme inconnue de Lille et le Printemps par « Brown »

Le moment Maple

Bing !

Le « modern style » dans la Recherche

Les bibliothèques vitrées de Balbec

De la référence anglaise à la référence bavaroise : le Salon d’Automne de 1910

Style « sous-marin »

Le Royaume de Neptune ou la civilisation de l’aquarium

Le « modern style », agent de l’étranger

L’esthétique dreyfusarde

Siegfried n’est pas Samuel

Le règne de l’impur

Le style franco-sémitique

Une nouvelle croisade

Dreyfusards avant Dreyfus

Style rastaquouère

Bibliographie - Index nominum - Table des illustrations

Art deco.
A decorative style with an eclectic character.
The art deco style reached its zenith in the interwar period, and was highly popular among all social classes, which was a unique achievement at the time. In stylistic terms this decorative approach is difficult to define. Historical styles, local influences and modernism are only a small selection from the repertoire of elements that were recovered and adapted by art deco. There was one consistent feature: it was a fashionable style totally in sync with the society of the interwar period, and that was not without reason. For the first time the industry was aware of the economic potential of a decorative style that appealed to a broad audience. To reach the growing middle class, the most important segment of modern society, recycling old styles with a modern facelift appeared to be the best formula. It is no accident that the name was derived from the Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925. The purpose of that event was to launch a new French style that would embrace the latest mechanical manufacturing techniques. In doing this France looked to Germany, where the decorative arts were functioning as an expression of national standing and economic success even before the First World War. Initially Belgium was reluctant to follow in these footsteps. It was only after its participation in the exhibition in 1925 that the modern principles of art deco took hold and art education underwent far-reaching reforms to breathe new life into applied art.

« Henry van de Velde et les arts appliqués, archéologie d’une conversion», in Henry van de Velde, dessins et pastels (1884 – 1904), Bruxelles, musée Horta, du 12 octobre 2017 au 7 janvier 2018, pp. 39 – 55.
This article will focus primarily on the evolution of Henry van de Velde from painter to craftsman. In order to propose a new insight into this moment of his career which has already been subject to extensive publication; we will take the point of view of the painter and look at the hints of this evolution in his drawings and paintings rather than his first works as craftsman.

Questo saggio analizza alcune fotografie di abiti realizzati da Henry Van de Velde negli ultimi quindici anni del XIX secolo e i primissimi anni del XX. In particolare vengono presi in considerazione gli abiti femminili che Van de Velde ha realizzato in primo luogo per la moglie, Marie Sèthe, dopo il loro trasferimento a casa Bloemenwerf nel 1895, e successivamente presentati al pubblico a Krefeld nel 1900. L'analisi degli oggetti in questione è stata sviluppata focalizzando l'attenzione sulla relazione tra abito e corpo di chi lo indossa, anche alla luce delle riflessioni di Joanne Entwistle, la quale afferma che " la moda riguarda i corpi: è prodotta, promossa e indossata da corpi. È ai corpi che la moda parla ". Se sul rapporto tra Corpo e Moda è stato scritto molto, facendo soprattutto riferimento al corpo contemporaneo, manca forse una riflessione sulla relazione tra l'abito modernista e il corpo di chi lo ha indossato, essendo questo argomento delegato a storici dell'arte, studiosi della moda e arti applicate, meno attenti al ruolo attivo che i corpi possono aver giocato nella riforma dell'abito femminile avvenuta a cavallo tra il XIX e il XX secolo.

Art deco.
A decorative style with an eclectic character.
The art deco style reached its zenith in the interwar period, and was highly popular among all social classes, which was a unique achievement at the time. In stylistic terms this decorative approach is difficult to define. Historical styles, local influences and modernism are only a small selection from the repertoire of elements that were recovered and adapted by art deco. There was one consistent feature: it was a fashionable style totally in sync with the society of the interwar period, and that was not without reason. For the first time the industry was aware of the economic potential of a decorative style that appealed to a broad audience. To reach the growing middle class, the most important segment of modern society, recycling old styles with a modern facelift appeared to be the best formula. It is no accident that the name was derived from the Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925. The purpose of that event was to launch a new French style that would embrace the latest mechanical manufacturing techniques. In doing this France looked to Germany, where the decorative arts were functioning as an expression of national standing and economic success even before the First World War. Initially Belgium was reluctant to follow in these footsteps. It was only after its participation in the exhibition in 1925 that the modern principles of art deco took hold and art education underwent far-reaching reforms to breathe new life into applied art.

« Les premiers meubles de Henry van de Velde », in Revue de l’art, Paris, CNRS – Orphys, n° 201, septembre 2018.

This article is a study of the first pieces of furniture made by Henry van de Velde beginning in 1893. His career as a neo-Impressionist painter influenced him in the making of his furniture. The result lacked plasticity.
On the other hand, his metalart works were almost sculptural.
Van de Velde’s difficulties with furniture were due to his problem of
combining the expressive dimension dear to him as a neo-Impressionist
artist with structural aspects stemming from the rationalism – mainly originating from Viollet-le-Duc – which he continually referenced in his writings. His ambition of a perfect harmony between these aspirations was therefore not always fully achieved.

The artistic and art historical discourse concerning the line in design can be traced back to Renaissance and the antithetic positions of disegno vs. colorito. It is Robert William who pointed out that this idea, more dichotomy than antinomy, started in Early Renaissance and that drawing - in our context that means line - was the origin for all arts, be it painting, sculpture or architecture. In the beginning of the twentieth century, Henry van de Velde insisted on the necessity of a theory of the line, having Michel Eugene Chevreul’s theory of colors in the back of his mind and postulating in an axionomical way that the line is a force, certainly not forgetting the powerful designs of a Michelangelo Buonarotti in particular and the Florentine style in general. Whereas artists like Henry van de Velde were already at the beginning of the last century interested in this phenomenon of the line, art historians began their research work in the field only in the second half of the same century. Interestingly enough, Van de Velde postulated an influence of the line in nature on the artistic line, seeing these two phenomena some sort of interconnected. Only in recent times Tim Ingold brought a new component into the discourse of the line, asking for a clear separation of the line in nature and the line drawn by the artist.

An Early Interior Ensemble by Henry Van De Velde in Villa Les Zéphyrs in Westende.

In 2006 a first article on the Westend villa Les Zephyrs, a monument listed for protection, was published in this magazine. The house was then being restored and given a new destination. The building-historical research revealed some fascinating data. The construction of this holiday home in 1922-1923 was commissioned by the Ghent family of doctor Muyshondt. The architect Oscar Van de Voorde based this project on his show house for the Brussels 1910 World Exhibition. Furthermore, it was discovered that a major part of the interior was manufactured by the Henry Van de Velde workshop and was clearly much older than the villa.
This second article treats some additional research matters mainly concerning the origin, acquisition and cost of the furniture designed by Van de Velde. The present research revealed that the furniture of villa Les Zephyrs was manufactured before 1899 and is identical to the ensemble depicted in the Henry Van de Velde sales catalogue of that period without indication of the specific client.
The search for the original location and client of this extraordinary ensemble led, through elimination of the know customers, to Ostend, more specifically to the holiday residence of "baron T", as he was anonymized in professional literature. Research in the land registry allowed him to be identified as baron Albert de Fierlant. His Ostend villa was thoroughly renovated in 1922. Part of the discarded furniture was sold at an auction in Ghent to the Muyshondt family for the sum of 9.980,70 Belgian Francs. The buyers had it adapted and installed in their newly built holiday home. Preserved bills supplied quite a lot of specific data concerning the modifications. The building history furthermore revealed that the ensemble by Henry Van de Velde in Westend barely escaped complete destruction.
This article also proves that a thorough study of houses is not possible without access to the family archives of the patron. The authors therefore wish to thank the patron's grandson, Pierre Delhaise, for his kind cooperation.

« Behangsel papier van het echtpaar van de Velde. Een quatre mains? », in Erfgoed Brussel, Brussel, April 2017, n° 22, pp. 56 – 59.

This paper focuses on a wallpaper named "Dalhias". Recent investigations shows that this wallpaper is very likely to be a common work of Henry van de Velde and his wife Maria Sèthe.

Nowadays the Westphalian town of Hagen is not necessarily remembered for its progressive artistic, cultural and art educational heritage that it carries as a centre of modernity. Motor of this development was Karl Ernst Osthaus, a patron of the modern arts, who inititated many projects of which the traces can be seen in Hagen and Essen.

English version (for German version see below):
More than ever, architecture, painting and sculpture are viewed separately in their development and largely exclude art-historical studies from neighboring disciplines such as archeology, aesthetics or literary studies. The investigation of mutual influences in descriptions of architecture in literature and in architectural history is still largely in the dark. This is all the more astonishing as the poems and novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries are characterized by analytical sharpness and empathy for complex architectural contexts. Yes, it even seems that some authors are inspired by the method of young archeology and especially by Johann Joachim Winckelmann. These descriptions also deal with the metamorphosis of buildings, the gradual change in style, the migration of forms and peculiarities of the material context, i.e. questions to which the history of architecture should only address itself in more detail in the late 20th century. In order to understand the perception of the urban environment and the architecture by the writer as well as by the art scholar and their mutual stimulation, their origins and motifs must first be examined, literary and scientific descriptions must be contrasted with one another and how they were formed and fertilized and changed. While recent architectural history concentrated on inventories and stylistic categorization of selected epochs and was difficult to free them from these constraints, the novel expanded its repertoire to include ruins, train stations and highways. A broader methodological and interdisciplinary approach, as required by such an overarching view, could help to bring the development of literary description into a clearer light. A comparative look at literary and scientific description, their possibilities, limits and points of contact could open ways and stimulate a critical review of the conventional methods.

German version:
Mehr denn je werden Architektur, Malerei und Skulptur in ihrer Entwicklung getrennt betrachtet und klammern die kunsthistorischen Studien von Nachbardisziplinen wie Archäologie, Ästhetik oder Literaturwissenschaften weitgehend aus. So liegt die Untersuchung wechselseitiger Einflüsse in Architektur-Beschreibungen der Literatur und der Architekturgeschichte noch weitgehend im Dunkeln. Dies ist umso erstaunlicher, als sich bereits Dichtungen und Romane des späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhunderts durch analytische Schärfe und Einfühlung in komplexe architektonische Zusammenhänge auszeichnen. Ja, es scheint sogar, dass einige Autoren von der Methode der jungen Archäologie und vor allem Johann Joachim Winckelmanns inspiriert sind. Diese Beschreibungen beschäftigen sich auch mit der Metamorphose von Bauten, dem allmählichen Stilwandel, der Migration von Formen und Eigenheiten des materiellen Kontextes, also Fragen, denen sich die Architekturgeschichte erst im späten 20. Jahrhundert eingehender widmen sollte. Um die Wahrnehmung des städtischen
Umfeldes und der Architektur durch den Schriftsteller wie durch den Kunstwissenschaftler und ihre gegenseitige Anregung zu begreifen, müssen zunächst einmal ihre Ursprünge und ihre Motive untersucht werden, literarische und wissenschaftliche Beschreibungen einander gegenübergestellt und herausgearbeitet werden, wie sie sich bildeten, befruchteten und veränderten. Während sich die junge Architekturgeschichte auf Inventarisierungen und stilistische Kategorisierung ausgewählter Epochen konzentrierte und nur schwer aus diesen Zwängen befreite, erweiterte der Roman sein Repertoire bis hin zu Ruinen, Bahnhöfen und Autobahnen. Ein breiterer methodologischer und interdisziplinärer Ansatz, wie ihn eine solche übergreifende Sicht erfordert, könnte dazu beitragen, dass auch die Entwicklung der literarischen Beschreibung in ein klareres Licht tritt. Ein vergleichender Blick auf literarische und wissenschaftliche Beschreibung, auf deren Möglichkeiten, Grenzen und Berührungspunkte könnte Wege öffnen und zu kritischer  Überprüfung der herkömmlichen Methoden anregen.

English version, for German version see below:

More than ever, architecture, painting and sculpture are considered separately in their development and largely exclude the art historical studies of neighboring disciplines such as archaeology, aesthetics or literary studies. As a result, the investigation of reciprocal influences in descriptions of architecture in literature and architectural history is still largely in the dark. This is all the more astonishing given that poetry and novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries are already characterized by analytical acuity and empathy for complex architectural contexts. Indeed, it even seems that some authors were inspired by the methods of early archaeology, especially those of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. These descriptions also deal with the metamorphosis of buildings, the gradual change in style, the migration of forms and peculiarities of the material context, i.e. questions that architectural history would not devote itself to in greater detail until the late 20th century. In order to understand the perception of the urban environment and architecture by writers and art historians and their mutual stimulation, their origins and motives must first be examined, literary and scientific descriptions must be juxtaposed and it must be worked out how they were formed, fertilized and changed. While the young history of architecture concentrated on inventories and stylistic categorization of selected epochs and found it difficult to free itself from these constraints, the novel expanded its repertoire to include ruins, railroad stations and freeways. A broader methodological and interdisciplinary approach, as required by such an overarching view, could also help to shed a clearer light on the development of literary description. A comparative look at literary and scientific description, at their possibilities, limitations and points of contact could open up new avenues and encourage a critical review of conventional methods.

German Version:

Mehr denn je werden Architektur, Malerei und Skulptur in ihrer Entwicklung getrennt betrachtet und klammern die kunsthistorischen Studien von Nachbardisziplinen wie Archäologie, Ästhetik oder Literaturwissenschaften weitgehend aus. So liegt die Untersuchung wechselseitiger Einflüsse in Architektur-Beschreibungen der Literatur und der Architekturgeschichte noch weitgehend im Dunkeln. Dies ist umso erstaunlicher, als sich bereits Dichtungen und Romane des späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhunderts durch analytische Schärfe und Einfühlung in komplexe architektonische Zusammenhänge auszeichnen. Ja, es scheint sogar, dass einige Autoren von der Methode der jungen Archäologie und vor allem Johann Joachim Winckelmanns inspiriert sind. Diese Beschreibungen beschäftigen sich auch mit der Metamorphose von Bauten, dem allmählichen Stilwandel, der Migration von Formen und Eigenheiten des materiellen Kontextes, also Fragen, denen sich die Architekturgeschichte erst im späten 20. Jahrhundert eingehender widmen sollte. Um die Wahrnehmung des städtischen Umfeldes und der Architektur durch den Schriftsteller wie durch den Kunstwissenschaftler und ihre gegenseitige Anregung zu begreifen, müssen zunächst einmal ihre Ursprünge und ihre Motive untersucht werden, literarische und wissenschaftliche Beschreibungen einander gegenübergestellt und herausgearbeitet werden, wie sie sich bildeten, befruchteten und veränderten. Während sich die junge Architekturgeschichte auf Inventarisierungen und stilistische Kategorisierung ausgewählter Epochen konzentrierte und nur schwer aus diesen Zwängen befreite, erweiterte der Roman sein Repertoire bis hin zu Ruinen, Bahnhöfen und Autobahnen. Ein breiterer methodologischer und interdisziplinärer Ansatz, wie ihn eine solche übergreifende Sicht erfordert, könnte dazu beitragen, dass auch die Entwicklung der literarischen Beschreibung in ein klareres Licht tritt. Ein vergleichender Blick auf literarische und wissenschaftliche Beschreibung, auf deren Möglichkeiten, Grenzen und Berührungspunkte könnte Wege öffnen und zu kritischer  Überprüfung der herkömmlichen Methoden anregen.