Octave Van Rysselberghe

Octave van Rysselberghe (22 July 1855, Minderhout – 30 March 1929, Nice)

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.

He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent 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 Prix de Rome competition for architecture. At the next edition for architecture, in 1879, he again took second prize, together with Eugène Dieltiens.

After a stay in Italy, he was a trainee with Joseph Poelaert as part of the construction of the Palais de Justice in Brussels Between 1882 and 1889 he built the Royal Observatory in Uccle, using eclectic and neoclassical styles.

Octave van Rysselberghe was soon regarded as one of the most important representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium.

Selected works

1882: Hôtel Goblet d'Alviella in Saint-Gilles, Brussels, Belgium 1885: Winkelhuis in Ghent, Belgium 1894–98: Hôtel Otlet in Brussels, Belgium 1898: Hôtel de Brouckère in Brussels, Belgium 1906: Villa Le Pachy in Bellecourt, Belgium 1906: Concert hall of the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (current Miry Concert Hall) 1907: Villa Beukenhoek in Uccle, Belgium 1908: Residence Kreuzberg in Dudelange, Luxembourg 1909–11: Grand Hôtel Bellevue in Westende, Belgium 1910: Villa Le Pin in Le Lavandou, France 1910: Burgerhuis on Koningin Elisabethlaan in Ghent, Belgium 1912: Van Rysselberghe House in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium