Octave van Rysselberghe

Octave van Rysselberghe (22 July 1855, Minderhout – 30 March 1929, Nice)[1] was a Belgian architect of the Art Nouveau period. He is one of the representatives of the architectural renewal that characterized the end of the 19th century, with Victor Horta, Paul Hankar and Henry Van de Velde.

Octave van Rysselberghe
Portrait of Octave van Rysselberghe by Théo van Rysselberghe
Born
Octavius Josephus van Rysselberghe

(1855-07-22)22 July 1855
Minderhout, Belgium
Died30 March 1929(1929-03-30) (aged 73)
Nice, France
NationalityBelgian
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsGrand Hôtel Bellevue in Westende
House "Goblet d'Alviella" in Saint-Gilles
Hotel Otlet in Brussels
Hôtel De Brouckère in Brussels
Maison Van Rysselberghe in Ixelles

Biography

Octavius Josephus van Rysselberghe was born in Minderhout, near Antwerp, on 22 July 1855.[1][2]

He was the older brother of the neo-impressionist painter Théo van Rysselberghe (1862–1926) and the younger brother of fellow architect Charles van Rysselberghe and scientist François van Rysselberghe, pioneer of meteorology and long-distance telephony.[3]

He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent[4] and was trained by Adolphe Pauli in the neoclassical tradition, inspired by the Italian Renaissance. In 1875, together with Ernest Allard, he won second prize in the competition of the Prix de Rome for architecture. At the next edition for architecture, in 1879, he again took second prize, together with Eugène Dieltiens.[5][6]

After a stay in Italy, he was a trainee with Joseph Poelaert[7] as part of the construction of the Palais de Justice in Brussels[4] before starting the construction of the Hôtel Goblet d'Alviella for the Count Goblet d'Alviella in 1882.[8] Between 1882 and 1889 he built the Royal Observatory in Uccle, in eclectic and neoclassical styles.[9][1] In 1893 he built a studio for his brother Théo van Rysselberghe in Saint Clair, France. He built an Art Nouveau house in Brussels, the Hotel Otlet, in 1894.[1] The interior design was done by Henry Van de Velde. He collaborated with Van de Velde also for the Hôtel De Brouckère in Brussels, likewise in a classic and sober Art Nouveau style.[10]

Octave van Rysselberghe was soon regarded as one of the most important representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium.[1] From 1895 to 1905, he built tourist establishments for the Compagnie des Grands Hôtels Européens in Ostend, Cherbourg, Monte Carlo, Saint Petersburg and Tunis.[11][4]

Selected works
Hotel Otlet, Brussels

Further reading
  • L. Van der Swaelmen: Octave Van Rysselberghe, architecte, La Cité, xi (1929)
  • J. Stevens en E. Henvaux: Octave Van Rysselberghe, 1855–1929, A+, xvi (1978)

References
  1. State, Paul F. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Brussels. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 313, 453. ISBN 9780810879218. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (1952). Annuaire de l'Académie royale de Belgique - Issue 118 (in French and Dutch). Maurice Lamertin, Libraire-Editeur. p. 147. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  3. Feltkamp, Ronald; van Rysselberghe, Théo (2003). Théo van Rysselberghe, catalogue raisonné (in French). p. 228. ISBN 9782859173890. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  4. Meers, Louis (2006). Art nouveau - wandelingen in Brussel. Lannoo. p. 58; 158. ISBN 9789020966558. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  5. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (1873). Bulletins de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (in French). M. Hayez. p. 266. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  6. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (1879). Bulletins. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. p. 260. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. van Buul, Anne; de Pater, Ben; Vandevoorde, Hans; Sintobin, Tom (2013). Koninginnen aan de Noordzee Scheveningen, Oostende en de opkomst van de badcultuur rond 1900 (in Dutch). Verloren. p. 196. ISBN 9789087043520. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  8. Binney, Marcus (1998). Town Houses - Urban Houses from 1200 to the Present Day. Whitney Library of Design. p. 128. ISBN 9780823069620. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  9. "Royal Observatory". monument.heritage.brussels. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  10. Ploegaerts, Léon; Puttemans, Pierre (1987). L'œuvre architecturale de Henry van de Velde. Atelier Vokaer. p. 49. ISBN 9782763771120. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  11. Stichting Ons Erfdeel (2010). The Low Countries - Arts and Society in Flanders and the Netherlands, a Yearbook. Flemish-Netherlands Foundation "Stichting Ons Erfdeel,". p. 259. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
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