The Belgian star designer Henry van de Velde (1863–1957) and the German patron and cultural politician Harry Graf Kessler (1868–1937) met in a time of crucial personal and social changes. Their correspondence comprises 40 years and consists of over 400 preserved documents. Herein their time in Weimar, where they worked together for the modern art movement between 1902 and 1914, takes up the most important time span. While van de Velde worked as head of the Weimar Kunstgewerbeschule, Kessler got involved as honorary director of the Museum für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe. The so far unpublished correspondence between the two cosmopolites gives deep insight into their exchange of ideas as much as into their creative examination. All letters are commented elaborately. With this, for the very first time the complex art and cultural historical coherences can be reasonably recognised. The correspondence reflects a considerable piece of cultural history of the beginning of the 20th century. The editor of the book, Antje Neumann, works on the "catalogue raisonné Henry van de Velde" at Weimar Classics Foundation.
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