Victor Horta and the Grammar of Art Nouveau
What remains of Horta's Art Nouveau if we abstract the style and if we discard his typical vegetal vocabulary? The exhibition Victor Horta and the Grammar of Art Nouveau probes the fundamental themes and lines of force in the oeuvre of the most famous Belgian architect of all time. The intimate link between Horta's Art Nouveau and Leopold II's Congo Free State is also scrutinised for the first time.
Curators: Iwan Strauven, Benjamin Zurstrassen
Centre for Fine Arts - Bozar
Brussels
Exhibition
Victor Horta and the Grammar of Art Nouveau
L'hôtel Solvay et ses innovations techniques
Solvay House
Ixelles
Guided tours
L'hôtel Solvay et ses innovations techniques
Hungarian Art Nouveau without Borders
The Liszt Institute will mark this year the World Art Nouveau Day by a photo exhibition of Dorka Demeter.
The Liszt Institute will mark this year the World Art Nouveau Day by a photo exhibition of Dorka Demeter. It is no coincidence that from Budapest (Hungary) to Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș (Romania) and from Pozsony/Bratislava (Slovakia) to Szabadka/Subotica (Serbia) one can find the handiwork of the same architects: at the turn of the century this region formed not only a solid cultural region, but also a single administrative territorial unit as the Kingdom of Hungary. The photographs of Dorka Demeter present this rich architectural heritage.
Born in Transylvania, the influencer has lived in Brussels for 12 years, where she had the opportunity to explore the city's Art Nouveau heritage in depth during the first COVID lockdown. It was then when she launched her @magicofartnouveau Instagram profile, which counts by now almost 30,000 followers. This was followed by the @artnouveau.brussels Instagram profile that focuses on the Art Nouveau heritage of Brussels. In 2022, she became individual member of the Reseau Art Nouveau Network (RANN). Wherever she travels, she photographes and shares Art Nouveau gems with her increasingly widening audience. This is how she has turned into a true ambassador of Hungarian Art Nouveau.
Dorka Demeter
Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Center Brussels
Brussels
Exhibition
Hungarian Art Nouveau without Borders
Victor Van Dyck, painter-decorator 1862-1943
As part of the Brussels Art Nouveau Year. Rediscovery of some fifty paintings and preparatory drawings designed for wall paintings by the Belgian painter Victor Van Dyck (1863 - 1943).
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the profession of decorative painter allowed artists from the Academy to make a decent living by responding to bourgeois commissions. The career of Victor Van Dyck (1863 - 1943) began in the 1980s with the interior decoration of brasseries and restaurants located on the central boulevards and on Place De Brouckère. He also created interior decorations for bourgeois houses, especially ceilings. He was invited to work in London and Blackpool on the decoration of theatre ceilings. In Brussels, in 1902, Van Dyck worked with Adolphe Crespin on the decoration for the Solvay Library. The exhibition will show the numerous drawings and design projects that were found at the home of the artist's heirs, after a hundred years sleep.
The present exhibition reveals some fifty watercolour projects by Victor Van Dyck. Thanks to their rediscovery, it has been possible to restore his authorship of a mural in the main hall of the Hallet Hotel and the decoration of the Solvay Library. A good number of his projects are also linked to his stay in England, where some of his works have been preserved. The exceptional nature of these rediscoveries is one of those nice surprises that art history can offer from time to time.
Curator: Pierre Loze
With catalogue. 16,5 x 24 cm. Text: P. Loze
Curator : Pierre Loze
Painter : Victor Van Dyck
Association du Patrimoine Artistique asbl
Brussels
Exhibition
Victor Van Dyck, painter-decorator 1862-1943
The Art Nouveau Woman: From Muse to Femme Fatale
This exhibition, presenting items from the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, features works by Mucha alongside many other items – posters, furniture and furnishings – that highlight the essence of Art Nouveau: its celebration of the vitality represented by nature and femininity.
Woman, the female body, has traditionally been a compelling and attractive subject for art, where she appears as a goddess or muse, or as the personification of events, situations, virtues or vices. While Rococo art had celebrated some aspects of the physicality and eroticism of the female body, it was not until the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries that art fully appreciated woman in all her different likenesses and roles, and for her physical and mental qualities too. Art Nouveau, the international decorative style of the time, looked to nature and natural forms, and its ornamental and decorative repertoire made extensive use of the female figure, dramatically revising traditional forms. Alongside the opulent and sensuous botanical elements that introduced dynamism and organic forms in architecture, arts and crafts, and manufacturing, there was also woman, with her softly modelled body, or at least her face and stylised tresses of hair. This adoration of nature and femininity was conspicuous in all forms of visual art and literature, a product of the fundamental and complex changes that society was undergoing in the late 19th century. These changes were accompanied by a reappraisal of values and a challenging of traditional hierarchical structures, together with wide-ranging emancipatory processes that would also greatly influence women’s status in society. An appetite for everything new, and the abandoning of the old certainties, brought innovation in all branches of industry, science and culture, but also an anxiety over the perils of the modern world. Artists responded by turning to nature, fascinated by its forms, its vitality and volatility as something elemental and unfathomable. For them it was a source not just of inspiration, but also of the authenticity and continuity guaranteed by the natural order. And these qualities were personified by woman, who artists depicted in her authenticity, corporeality and sensuality, or alternatively as a melancholy, dreamy and innocent maiden, a new muse for this new generation. The repertoire of femininity also encompassed the no less attractive femme fatale, seductive and dangerous, with Salome as her traditional archetype. Now, as emancipation gained ground, she represented woman’s new role in society. The alluring changeability of woman, simultaneously muse, fairy and femme fatale, is revealed in Alphonse Mucha’s photographs of his models, captured in various poses and settings in his studio in Paris. Mucha based his own compositions on these photographs, and through his albums Figures décoratives and Documents décoratifs they also influenced many other artists, and manufacturers too. Although Mucha was neither the first nor the only artist to depict women in this way, his work perfectly encapsulated the time.
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
Delegation of Prague to the EU
Brussels
Exhibition
The Art Nouveau Woman: From Muse to Femme Fatale
Mers & Océans
TALK C.E.C
Ixelles
Exhibition
Mers & Océans
Le design, c'est par sorcier
Design Museum Brussels
Laeken
Guided tours
Le design, c'est par sorcier
Art Nouveau et Art Déco à Bruxelles
Itinéraires
Ixelles
Guided tours
Art Nouveau et Art Déco à Bruxelles
Back to nature 1900
With this temporary exhibition, the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles wishes to draw attention to the rich Art Nouveau heritage preserved in the city's collections. These collections are wide and diverse: from embroidery and painting to fashion and architecture. The starting point of the exhibition is the inspiration that artists found in nature at the turn of the century. The subtle aesthetics and powerful lines and shapes of flowers and plants attract attention, as does the sublime representation of women, in all their variations, presented by the artists. The exhibition presents a small but enchanting selection of works, most of which are previously unseen or rarely exhibited.
Museum of the City of Brussels
Brussels
Exhibition
Back to nature 1900
Victor Horta versus Art nouveau. Horta's vocabulary
To understand Horta from the inside by going off the beaten track. This is the aim of this exhibition: to understand his expression and vocabulary without any preconceived ideas...
In 1893, Victor Horta drew up the plans for the Tassel Hotel. For art historians, this date corresponds to the birth of Art Nouveau, a style that would spread throughout the Western world until 1914. Yet behind this term lies a multitude of architects and designers with a singular, personal and sometimes antithetical expression. Behind this title, the exhibition seeks to question Victor Horta's approach without any considerations of style or belonging to a movement.
Sponsors : Delen Bank, Baillet Latour Fund.
Curator: Benjamin Zurstrassen Scenography: Aurélie Ranalli.
Guest artist: François Schuiten.
Partners: IRPA, Alice Laboratory, La Cambre Horta Faculty of Architecture, Institut Saint Luc secondaire Brussels
Museum Horta
Saint-Gilles
Exhibition
![Victor Horta versus Art nouveau. Horta's vocabulary]()
Victor Horta versus Art nouveau. Horta's vocabulary
Privat Livemont. Fleurs à l'affiche! Bloemenpracht!
The Autrique House presents the work and life of Privat Livemont, an emblematic Art Nouveau artist from Brussels.
From March 2023 to January 2024, the Autrique House presents the work and life of Privat Livemont, an emblematic Art Nouveau artist from Brussels. Working as a versatile artist, a craftsman, and a teacher at the Industrial Academy in Schaerbeek, Livemont seems to have been a tireless worker. He is best known for his posters and the sgraffiti on many facades in Brussels.
The delicacy of his line, his taste for decorative plant elements and their stylisation, his fertile imagination and his colourful palette make Privat Livemont an important figure that Maison Autrique has chosen to honour in 2023, the year of Art Nouveau.
Discover the programme of our discussions and lectures on the work and era of Livemont on autrique.be.
With the complicity of Galerie Le Tout Venant, ARCHistory & Commune de Schaerbeek/Gemeente Schaarbeek
In collaboration with Musée d’Ixelles/Museum van Elsene, Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles/Archief van de Stad Brussel, KBR, Hôtel Solvay, Cauchie House & Jonathan Mangelinckx
With the support of urban.brussels, Loterie Nationale/Nationale Loterij, Brussels Capital Region, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles & A Step Forward
Autrique House
Schaerbeek
Exhibition
Privat Livemont. Fleurs à l'affiche! Bloemenpracht!
Style Congo. Heritage & Heresy
“Style Congo” explores the politics of cultural representation and appropriation through contemporary artistic and architectural interventions as well as historic documents and materials from CIVA’s collections. The exhibition chronicles the representation of Congo in international expositions held between 1885 and 1958, using Art Nouveau as its anchor point.
“Style Congo. Heritage and Heresy” explores the politics of cultural representation and appropriation through contemporary artistic and architectural interventions as well as historic documents and materials from CIVA's collections. The exhibition visually chronicles the representation of Congo in international expositions held between 1885 and 1958, using Art Nouveau as its anchor point. The movement—at the time also called Style Congo—coincided with King Leopold II’s exploitation of the Congo and reflects a widespread fascination with “exotic” materials and forms.
The works in the exhibition question and destabilize canonical histories and the colonial roots of this heritage. By examining marks of colonization in the city of Brussels and in the Congolese urban landscape, they present a decolonial resignification of private and public spaces, seeking to rewrite the margins of history into the center.
CIVA, KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Living Traces, Twenty Nine Studio
Sammy Baloji, Silvia Franceschini, Nikolaus Hirsch, Estelle Lecaille, Judith Barry, Rossella Biscotti, Peggy Buth, Ayoh Kré Duchâtelet, Jean Katambayi, Johan Lagae & Paoletta Holst, Chrystel Mukeba, Daniela Ortiz, Ruth Sacks, Traumnovelle
CIVA
Ixelles
Exhibition
Style Congo. Heritage & Heresy
The Cauchie House, a masterpiece of Art Nouveau in Brussels
THE CAUCHIE HOUSE
A masterpiece of Art Nouveau in Brussels
“The Cauchie House, the private house of Paul Cauchie, built in 1905, can be considered as one of the most beautiful works of Art Nouveau in Brussels. (…) The artist has striven to assert and enhance his taste, his culture and position within a social context where conformism reigns supreme. (…) Paul Cauchie’s special quality lay in the fact that he understood that constructive logic — French architect Viollet-le-Duc and the iron myth, as adopted by Horta — could be refuted by a simple pictorial solution or, at the very least, by a purely figurative hypothesis“
Franco Borsi, Bruxelles 1900
Come and discover with our passionate guides what lies behind the sumptuous facade of The Maison Cauchie.
Private guided tours tailored to your needs and those of your group: associations, companies, language schools, etc.
We offer tours in French, Dutch, English and Italian
Prices and admissions on our website: https://cauchie.be/en/admissions
Dates: dates and times according to availability
Do not hesitate to contact us: info@cauchie.be.
The Cauchie House
Etterbeek
Guided tours
![The Cauchie House, a masterpiece of Art Nouveau in Brussels]()
The Cauchie House, a masterpiece of Art Nouveau in Brussels
Art Nouveau and Freemasonry Tour in Brussels
Tour of Art Nouveau and Freemasonry in Brussels
As part of the Art Nouveau Brussels 2023 year, the Belgian Museum of Freemasonry is proposing a new itinerary that allows visitors to discover the mark made by Freemason architects and sculptors on the urban fabric. Despite the strong urbanisation at the end of the 19th century, Art Nouveau found its place in public places: shops, cinemas, factories, schools, etc. Most Art Nouveau artists were members of one of the two major Brussels lodges of the time, Les Amis Philanthropes and Les Vrais Amis de l'Union et du Progrès Réunis. Architects such as Victor Horta, Paul Hankar and Paul Hamesse, sculptors such as Julien Dillens, Jef Lambeaux and Victor Rousseau, and goldsmiths such as Philippe Wolfers often found their main patrons and clients among the Brothers of these lodges.
10 € / person for a maximum of 20 people. If less than 10 people: fixed price of 100 €. Duration: +/- 2 hours.
Belgian Museum of Freemasonry
Brussels
Guided tours
![Art Nouveau and Freemasonry Tour in Brussels]()
Art Nouveau and Freemasonry Tour in Brussels
Du square Ambiorix au Cinquantenaire: Horta du début à la fin
Van Eetvelde Hotel & LAB·An
Brussels
Guided tours
Du square Ambiorix au Cinquantenaire: Horta du début à la fin
Horta, Solvay et les Autres: Art Nouveau à Ixelles et Saint-Gilles
Museum Horta
Saint-Gilles
Guided tours
Horta, Solvay et les Autres: Art Nouveau à Ixelles et Saint-Gilles
Belgian Art nouveau. Van de Velde, Serrurier-Bovy, Hankar & Co
For its first exhibition, Maison Hannon presents Art Nouveau in its plurality through some of the main artworks from the most prestigious collections of belgian art.
In 1900, while the industrial revolution was in full swing, Brussels was the site of experiments in a subversive style: Art Nouveau. A style? No, a state of mind and an insatiable faith in modernity!
While Victor Horta addressed himself to a wealthy clientele, Paul Hankar, Henry van de Velde and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy worked to invent a modern way of life, simpler and more uncluttered, destined for wide distribution. Through this committed approach, they wanted to be actors of change and to establish the foundations of the first modernity.
Hannon House
Saint-Gilles
Exhibition
Belgian Art nouveau. Van de Velde, Serrurier-Bovy, Hankar & Co
Cycling through the belle époque
Why did bicycles have a small and a big wheel? How did the first bicycle races look like? And did you know that the bicycle also promoted the emancipation of women? You will find out all this and much more in this exhibition!
The temporary exhibition 'Cycling through the belle époque' runs from 01 October 2022 to 18 June 2023 at the Belle Epoque Centre. This time, 'the bicycle' is in the spotlight.
The bicycle is all over the street these days. In many cities, the bicycle is the means of transport by excellence. The first 'walking bike' was invented around 1817. By 1900, the bicycle is more fashionable than ever among the middle classes. The bicycle is not only a status symbol. It also offers the freedom to explore nature: it is the start of bicycle tourism.
The Belle Epoque Centrum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 2 pm to 5 pm. The temporary exhibition is included in the entrance fee.
Belle Epoque Centre in cooperation with KOERS. Museum of Cycling, Vives SpellenLab, Eperon D'or Izegem, Cinematek Brussels, Het Letterenhuis Antwerp and the Professeur VélO.
Belle Epoque Centrum
Blankenberge
Exhibition
Cycling through the belle époque
Geometrical Art Nouveau in Anderlecht : Jean-Baptiste Dewin
Service du Tourisme d'Anderlecht
Anderlecht
Guided tours
![Geometrical Art Nouveau in Anderlecht : Jean-Baptiste Dewin]()
Geometrical Art Nouveau in Anderlecht : Jean-Baptiste Dewin
Foundation Frison Horta "A Living museum"
Maison muse L'art Nouveau Victor Horta
Foundation Frison Horta is an Active Cultural Bridge Between East & West Restoring, Preserving and Sustaining Rich Art & Craft of the By-Gone Era, in an Artistic Art-de-Vivre form. “Excellence in Craftsmanship and Métiers d’Art”. The Foundation Aims to Foster Greater Understanding and Appreciation of the Rich Heritage & Cultural Traditions of the East particularly of Indian Sub-continent In Europe and vice versa.
Foundation Frison Horta is working Extensively in Restoring the image of Brussels with Art Nouveau as its National Identity to a Global Audience.
Maison Frison is the Only one of a kind house of Victor Horta that was Constructed for Double Function Maurice Frison ( Lawyer of the Court of Belgium) office and living space. Foundation frison Has Continued the double function of Horta with Foundation museum activities and the living space making it a One of a kind in the world “A Living Museum” an Exceptional Unique Time capsule of 19th Century Total Art, Art Nouveau Gem of Victor Horta!
Entry Fee: 35 Euros (Minimum 2 person)
Foundation Frison Horta
Brussels
Guided tours
Foundation Frison Horta "A Living museum"
Art nouveau et Art Déco aux étangs d'Ixelles
Sur le parvis de l'église Sainte-Croix.
Ixelles
Guided tours
Art nouveau et Art Déco aux étangs d'Ixelles
Horta, Autrique et les autres: Art Nouveau à Schaerbeek
Eglise Saint-Servais
Schaerbeek
Guided tours
Horta, Autrique et les autres: Art Nouveau à Schaerbeek
Gratis wandelzoektocht: Op stap met Belle
Belle Epoque Centrum
Blankenberge
Various
Gratis wandelzoektocht: Op stap met Belle
En route avec Hendrik
Belle Epoque Centrum
Blankenberge
Various
En route avec Hendrik
Visite de l'Hôtel Max Hallet le 03/06/2023
Max Hallet House
Ixelles
Guided tours
Visite de l'Hôtel Max Hallet le 03/06/2023
Traces d'Art nouveau des Marolles au centre de Bruxelles
Place Rouppe
Brussels
Guided tours
Traces d'Art nouveau des Marolles au centre de Bruxelles
