Henri Beyaert's banknote

Blog 5
Donna Hoang


The front of the Belgian Honderd Frank banknote is a picture of architect Henri Beyaert with a 
background of the National Bank of Belgium.  Beyaert is one of the most influential and highly regarded 
architects in Belgium. He landed a spot on a banknote for his contribution in designing the National Bank 
of Belgium, especially the Bank’s Hotel in Brussels, and his design served as an inspirations for other 
countries such as the National Bank of Japan. The back of the bill depicts a geometric architecture with a 
background of iron fencing. Beyaert would often focus on space and structure more than decorative 
appearance, flexibly using geometry to visually expand the space that he was given. His emphasis of 
modern comfort through color and light inspired a new architecture movement, the Art Nouveau.

In regards to his personal life, he married an older, wealthier woman at a young age to enter into the 
“right circles”. He knew how important this sort of networking was, especially if he wanted to pursue his 
dream in becoming an architect. With her help, he made some of his most famous designs in his thirties 
(during 1850-1860) and made his name known at a relatively young age. He later on falls in love with a 
young lady who is 25 years younger than him.

The banknote and the story of Beyaert is interesting because it provides numerous social commentaries. 
First, because countries normally put influential people on their bills, the fact that an architect was a part 
of that list of influential people shows the high regard people had for the arts. The history of the country is 
not limited to the life story of past politicians and presidents but is rather explored through different 
aspects of the country, such as buildings. Second, I wanted to include Beyaert marriage story because I 
believe it connects well with Pere Goriot. He was a case of marrying a rich woman to network with the 
right group of people, and considering the fact that he considered the lady who was 25 years younger 
than him his true love, his first marriage was most likely transactional (just like Delphine and Anastasia). 
Only when he achieved financial stability was he able to go and find his true love. There seems to be a 
big disconnect between passion for love and passion for money/connection, where emotional fulfillment 
can only occur when materialistic fulfillment has been achieved. The act of finding love is secondary to 
all of the other passions an individual may have, but once the prioritized passions are fulfilled, then 
humans seem to resort back to ideas like love. I think this tells us something about human nature and how 
materialistic passions are never enough and satisfying.  

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