Axel Vervoordt

Michael James Gardner

Eminent tastemaker Axel Vervoordt recounts the pivotal moments in his life that formed the foundation of his mindful philosophy and signature aesthetic. Axel Vervoordt is one of the world's foremost tastemakers. Revered for his discerning eye in art and interior design through a career that has spanned more than fifty years, he is renowned for his captivating minimalist interiors. An iconic figure at the most prominent international art fairs and exhibitions, he incarnates a singular philosophy for how to live mindfully and with style. Axel recounts stories from the people who most influenced his life--his family, friends, patrons, artists, colleagues, clients, and unforgettable mentors--in this memoir that is personal, funny, insightful, and permeated with humility, wisdom, and lessons learned. He reflects on the key moments in his life--Rudolf Nureyev's visit to the Vervoordts' castle, Axel's youthful acquisition (and subsequent sale) of a Magritte, his discovery of Japanese Gutai art, his legendary Venice exhibitions, and his experience working for notable clients and friends. He details his greatest successes and his personal regrets, while offering firsthand insight into the work that has forged his reputation. Axel is a larger-than-life and inspiring man, and this book offers snapshots from his life, painting an overall portrait of his guiding philosophy.

Stories and Reflections

Laziz Hamani

Michael Gardner

Following the best seller Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors, this volume of twenty new interiors expands on the Vervoordt vision for creating exceptional homes that combine natural elements, antiques, and fine art. The art of harmonious living is extolled in this volume through twenty bespoke interiors designed by the Axel Vervoordt company. Each room incorporates natural elements—light, water, metal, wood—blended with a modern aesthetic and punctuated with fine art. The Vervoordt concept of the home is revealed through a refined balance between art and nature to create timeless living spaces. The range of featured properties includes homes by the sea as well as in urban and rural locations, demonstrating a breadth of styles possible within the essential Vervoordt design principles. Photography by Laziz Hamani brings into focus both the unique design details and the carefully constructed interiors that fuse to create each striking setting. These exceptional residences are rich with inspirational ideas to incorporate into your own home so that you can celebrate your living space in the singular Vervoordt style.

Living with Light

Tatsuro Miki

Michael Paul

A Belgian designer's Eastern-influenced interiors merge art with interior design, in a book with 350 full-color photos.

Wabi Inspirations

Mattijs Visser

All of our actions occur in space. Life itself evolves through time. Space and time and the cosmos have intrigued mankind since the dawn of civilization. They have captured like no other subject, and continue to do so, the imagination of artists, philosophers and scientists alike, and have prompted responses such as Stonehenge, the Mayan calendar, and many modern work. To mention only a few; James Turell's admirable explorations of light and infinite space; Tatsuo Miyajima's fascination with space and time, which expresses humankind's need to link it's existence to the vast expanse of the universe; Anish Kapoor's investigations into metaphysical polarities like presence and absence, being and non-being, darkness and light. Their work as well as the ones presented in Artempo, are a re-examination of the relationship between nature and the man-made world, a re-evaluation of our perceptions of reality of how we read the information, meaning, and poetry in the physical world around us.

Where Time Becomes Art

Artempo

Interieurs im Portrait

Shoichi Hirai

Norio Imai

Norio Imai (born 1946) joined the Gutai movement in 1965, becoming their youngest member. This handsome overview surveys his austere, minimalistic work in sculpture, installation, film, video, photography and performance, with abundant archival documentation.

Museo Fortuny

Following the path open by the trilogy, Artempo (2007), Accademia (2008) and Infinitum (2009), the exhibition Tra. Edge of Becoming (2011) is aiming to create a new gate for aesthetic experience with the will of enhancing revelation, pleasure, and knowledge. Organized by the Axel Vervoordt Foundation (Wijnegem, Belgium) and the Museum Palazzo Fortuny (Venice), Tra. Edge of Becoming continues to explore the transversal connections between place, history, creative heritage and universal wisdom. The rich and multidisciplinary legacy of Mariano Fortuny, the wabi inspirations of Axel Vervoordt, the reflexions of economy thinker Bernard Lietaer, scientist Eddie de Wolf, or architect Tatsuro Miki (Taro) created the starting ground for this exhibition. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Tra. Edge of Becoming, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice: 1 June-21 November, 2011

Edge of Becoming

Academia: Qui es-tu, examines the dynamical process of artistic creation. The site of the Chapelle de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris serves as the venue to examine the interplay between inherited academic knowledge accumulated over centuries, education, and the subsequent transformation and transmission of that knowledge into a novel artistic creation; for short the cross-fertilization between art and knowledge.

Academia - Qui es-tu? : La Chapelle de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, [10.09.-23.11.2008] ; [Marina Abramovic, El Anatsui, Graziano Arici ... , Ilya et Emilia Kabakov, Anish Kapoor ...]

Tsuyoshi Maekawa

Koichi Kawasaki

Tsuyoshi Maekawa (1936, Japan) is one of the few remaining members of the Gutai Art Association, Japan's most important avant-garde (1954-1972), which has been receiving a lot of international attention the last few years. This book is the first monograph about Maekawa. It brings together many historic images and documents of the Gutai period, found in the archives of the Ashiya City Museum of Art & History and contains an unpublished interview with Maekawa, held by Gutai expert Koichi Kawasaki, as well as an essay by Shoichi Hirai, chief curator at the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, placing the artist in an international artistic context.

Proportio' features specially commissioned artworks by contemporary artists, 20th century masterpieces, Old Master paintings, archaeological artefacts, as well as architectural models and a large library of historical books on proportions. All these works provide a lens to help us see what proportion can teach us about the essential design of the present and how we can use this knowledge to create a blueprint for the future. This exhibition is an opportunity to explore universal proportions and an invitation to reflect upon the interconnectedness of our universe.00'Proportio' includes newly commissioned installations by contemporary artists such as Marina Abramovíc, Anish Kapoor, Massimo Bartolini, Rei Naito, Michaël Borremans, Ettore Spaletti, along with existing masterpieces by Ellsworth Kelly, Carl André and Sol Lewitt, as well as antiquities, Old Masters and antique architectural models. 00Exhibition: Biennale of Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy (2015).

Proportio

Christian Sarramon

Armelle Baron

A rare insight into the stunning interiors created by one of the worlds leading antiques dealers. Axel Vervoordts Castle of sGravenwezel and his Kanaal gallery in Belgium attract visitors from all over the world. Previous books on Vervoordt have brought the splendid objects on display in these remarkable locations to an even wider audience. In this new work, the great antiques dealer reveals for the first time the other interiors he has created in locations both in Europe and the United States. The extent of Vervoordts talent is revealed in the unique atmosphere of the twenty-three houses presented in this book. The variety of styles reflects Vervoordts love of eclecticism, and his authentic and welcoming interiors are inspirational for amateurs and professionals alike. From a Swiss chalet to a Miami mansion or a Bordeaux château,Vervoordts creations are perfectly in tune with the character and history of each space.

Axel Vervoordt

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