At the last salon of Les Vingt, in 1893, van de Velde exhibited his tapestry Angels' Vigil, which marks his transition within artistic disciplines. With that, the circle of the specifically Belgian version of Art Nouveau closes.
The tapestry is a practical example of van de Velde's theories of the reciprocal influence of colours on each other and their relationship. In form, it exemplifies a modern insight into the rhythm of line. A contemporary critic remarked of the embroidery: "The composition is at once naive and solemn; it reminds one of the illustrations for fairy stories by Maurice Maeterlinck."
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