Creative Renewal
Europe at the turn of the twentieth century was seething with the effects of growing industrialization and major social and cultural reform movements. For the artists of the time, it was time to break the shackles of sclerotic historicism and imagine a new art... an Art Nouveau. Innovative indeed, but nourished by numerous influences, three of which stand out: the work of Viollet-le-Duc, Japanese art and the Arts and Crafts movement. These currents shared characteristics that Art Nouveau would largely adopt: respect for materials, frankness and honesty in construction, the absence of distinction between minor and major arts, and the need to create an organic whole. From Japanese art, it also borrowed a relationship with nature, whose most subtle changes were to be expressed in art. But Art Nouveau did not exclude the contributions of modernity. Where some detractors have seen the style as nothing more than a purposeless ornamental overload, it is in fact a hybrid art form that combines the splendor of ornamentation and functionalism in total works of art of great modernity, where everything, from the very structure of the building to the smallest decorative and utilitarian details, is designed to form an organic, fluid whole. In this way, Art Nouveau broke new ground by seeking to combine form, function and material, all of which must contribute to the aesthetic effect. The material is the focal point of these new architectural forms. Expressive forms, rich and flexible, combine intimacy and power in the treatment and shaping of surfaces and textures. Each material is shown in its raw beauty, in particular iron, the great novelty of the period, seen in the exposed load-bearing structures supporting superb skylights, all in dialogue with wood, marble or brick, all traditional materials magnificently worked and chiselled. The iridescence of the plant and animal worlds inspires the artists to create astonishing color schemes in which emerald green, golden ochre and deep blue light up the space as they design the mosaics and skylights. Curves and counter-curves materialize the movements of these artists' souls, also deeply imbued with symbolism. This is why Art Nouveau is a highly personal style. Belgium was a particularly fertile breeding ground for this artistic revival. At the time, Brussels was a major financial center and a progressive city. Thus, on the one hand, the great magnates of the New World became generous patrons of Art Nouveau, commissioning numerous private mansions with self-aggrandizing ornamentation; on the other, architects designed utilitarian buildings for the general public (stores, Maisons du Peuple, etc.). Among the great figures of Belgian Art Nouveau were Henry Van de Velde, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, Paul Hankar and, of course, Victor Horta.
Art Nouveau according to Horta
The son of a shoemaker, Horta was brought up to love hard work and things that are beautiful and well-made. His uncle, an entrepreneur, took him to his building sites, and it was there that the young man developed a passion for architecture. After a hard-fought battle with his parents, who saw him as more of a lawyer or doctor, Horta became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. After an internship with the Parisian architect-decorator Dubuysson, and an in-depth study of the great classical buildings, Horta enrolled at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts, where he excelled. He then attracted the attention of the architect Alphonse Balat, who designed the superb royal greenhouses at Laeken. The architectural possibilities of iron thus revealed were to have a profound effect on Horta. After graduating from the Académie with a medal, Horta began a period of alternating competitions and small-scale construction, before joining the Masonic lodge "Les Amis Philanthropes". There, he met wealthy industrialists who commissioned him to build private mansions. The Maison Autrique still tends towards a certain classicism, while the Hôtel Tassel is considered the world's first Art Nouveau building. The building is narrow. But to counteract this, Horta used a superb arched window as a central motif, flanked by two narrow surfaces in ochre and blue stone, slightly arched towards the center. Structures, columns and beams are exposed, freeing the light and giving the spaces lightness and transparency. Horta also uses paint to extend the undulating movements of the other materials, creating a great organic harmony. He also innovated with his superb spiral staircase, entirely devoted to ornamentation, and the glass roof overhanging the circulation space between the different rooms of the house. The Hotel Tassel is a manifesto of the Horta style. Lines inspired by the stems and feet of plants (for which Horta's style was dubbed the "whiplash" style), ironwork in scrolls and arabesques, luminous skylights and attention to detail (Horta made absolutely everything, from carpets to radiators to light bulbs) are all to be found in the master's finest creations: the Hôtel Solvay, the Hôtel Van Eetvelde and, of course, his workshop house. Horta also created utilitarian buildings in which functionalism prevailed over ornamentation, as shown in the images of the Maison du Peuple, which was sadly destroyed in 1965. An architecture that heralds future developments. Indeed, as quickly as it came, Art Nouveau was gone, making way for more sobriety and geometry. Horta then embarked on a career as a teacher (notably in the USA), before returning to the drawing board to design large-scale projects, this time resolutely classical, such as the Brugmann Hospital, the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Brussels Central Station. Despite these successes, Horta ended his career criticized... then forgotten. He was reborn in the 21st century, when his Brussels townhouses were listed by Unesco, and the Brussels Art Nouveau & Art Deco Festival showcased their superb interiors. A unique heritage, witness to an era of astonishing upheaval.
