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Document Details : Title: De laatste les (1936) Subtitle: Henry van de Velde en zijn onderwijsopdracht aan de Gentse Universiteit Author(s): VAN SANTVOORT, Linda Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 41 Date: 2019 Pages: 121-129 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.41.0.3286034 Abstract : Henry van de Velde’s innovative role in art education developed at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Weimar (Germany) where he was active during the period 1906-1914. After his return to Belgium he continued this role as director of the Institut supérieur des Arts décoratifs (Higher Institute of Decorative Arts) – better known as La Cambre – in Brussels. At the same time Van de Velde also took up a mandate at Ghent University with the Higher Institute for Art History and Archaeology (HIKO) where he taught ‘history of architecture’ and ‘decorative art’. The curriculum shows how he endeavoured to give these subjects a place within the art history training. Van de Velde was able to profile himself in a very special way within the academic environment. The ‘last class’ he taught on the occasion of his retirement in 1936 sums up the vision that he had been promoting throughout his teaching. In that last class Van de Velde demonstrated his familiarity with the art-historical insights and professional literature, which he subjected to a close scrutiny. He opposed any education that focused too much on factual knowledge and he urged young art historians to think critically. As in his own creative work, he sought rational and aesthetic qualities in the history of architecture and decorative art. He did not eschew the personal aesthetic experience of art and architecture, as a consequence of which he came to occupy a lonely position within the academic environment of his time. The HIKO’s decision about his succession reflects its return to the established art-historical tradition. |
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