In the midst of a new curfew time and talk of a new lockdown here in France, inspiration is more and more lointaine. Besides books and movies there is not much else to take the mind off the melancholy that comes with the season and this endless wintery month.
This week I’ve been spending time into Axel Vervoordt’s universe. He has such a unique vision, teaching us all to see beauty in every single detail. “Living with beautiful things makes everyday a feast” states the Belgian architect, dealer and curator, antiquarian and world-renowned designer. (Minford)
An excerpt about his life from the Financial Times:
At the age of 14 he began buying and selling antiques, which he’d track down while staying with family in England during the school holidays. … “There were a lot of sales in the 1960s due to inheritance tax. I brought back pieces I loved on my shoulders and in suitcases,” he recalls.
By the age of 21, he had bought and sold his first Magritte (“That was around the time I realised I was a born art dealer,” he jokes), and started renovating a street of 15th- and 16th-century houses in the centre of Antwerp (“I made a deal and ended up buying the entire street, because I couldn’t just buy two houses. It was all or nothing”), adorning them with art and antiques, which set him on a path to restoration and interior design.
Much of his work as a designer, he concludes, is about knowing his clients on a deep level. “I want to understand what they really want and how I can help them discover another level in their lives, which is why, for the most part, we end up becoming friends for life. I think that is because I bring something extra to their lives,” he says. The key, he adds, is that he “finds art, furniture and objects that are portals to the people who will own them”. But he also listens to his instincts: “For me, the only way to be creative is to be open-minded.” And his plans for the future? “When I look forward I don’t know what is coming next, I never have,” he says. “All I know is that I want to be useful.”
“The way one looks at things is of the utmost importance. Seeing is feeling with the eyes.”
