Victor Pierre Horta (1861 – 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theorist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1892–93), is often considered the first Art Nouveau house. He is also considered a precursor of modern architecture for his open floor plans and his innovative use of iron, steel and glass.The curving stylized vegetal forms that Horta used in turn influenced many others, including the French architect Hector Guimard, who used it in the first Art Nouveau apartment building he designed in Paris and in the entrances he designed for the Paris Metro. With a decade of the building of Hotel Tassel, Art Nouveau architecture had been realised throughout the cities of Europe and far flung locations such as Buenos Aires. At this time Argentina was the fourth wealthiest country in the world. The association of great wealth and Art Nouveau buildings is not a coincidence.
Along with many other Art Nouveau architects he could be regarded not as just an architect but more as an all around designer who designed lighting, furniture and decoration. Everything.
Horta’s career was long and distinguished but the period in which he designed his most important Art Nouveau works was brief. During the 1880s his work was broadly Beaux Arts in inspiration, typified by the Edicule Lambeaux, an exquisite little classical pavilion he designed in 1890 for the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels. The Maison Autrique, built in 1893, was innovative in the way it introduced riveted ironwork into a domestic interior, but it was the Hôtel Tassel (designed 1892–93) that marked a decisive stylistic and spatial departure. This work was Horta’s first fully realised art nouveau design, a remarkable and revolutionary new architectural style.
Horta’s achievements were largely confined to houses for Brussels’ wealthy bourgeoisie. The Maison du Peuple was one of the very few public buildings he completed during his art nouveau period and was, inexplicably, demolished in the mid 1960s. Commissioned by the Société Coopérative Ouvrière de Bruxelles, it provided public space for gatherings and political discussion as well as musical and theatrical performances.
After 1900, Horta’s work grew in scale but reduced in ambition. His urban planning and smaller-scale schemes for rural housing became more traditional and familiar in both language and intent. The dream-like interiors of his art nouveau houses were gone.
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| Victor Horta |
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| Pavilion of Human Passions, circa 1890-97 Brussels |
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| Stairway of the Hôtel Tassel, circa 1893 |
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| Maison Tassel Huis, circa 1893 |
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| Floor of the Hôtel Tassel, circa 1893 |
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| Facade of the Hôtel Tassel, circa 1893 Brussels |
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| Entrance of the Hôtel Solvay, circa 1895–1900 Brussels |
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| Detail of the Winter Garden of the Hôtel van Eetvelde, circa 1895-1901 |
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| Detail of the Winter Garden of the Hôtel van Eetvelde, circa 1895-1901 |
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| Design of Hôtel Solvay interior decoration, circa 1898 |
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| Detail of the door of the Horta Museum, circa 1898-1901 Brussels |
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| Detail of the door of the Horta Museum, circa 1898–1901 Brussels |
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| Upper part of the hall in the Hôtel Aubecq, circa 1899-1902 Brussels |
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| Mahogany chair, circa 1900 |
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| Chair from the Hotel Aubecq, circa 1902–04 |
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| Dining room furniture and wall panel from the Hôtel Aubecq, circa 1902–04 |
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| Furnishings of the Hôtel Aubecq, circa 1902-04 |
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Entrance hall of the former Magasins Waucquez, circa 1905
now the Belgian Comic Strip Center |
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| Ceiling of Brussels-Central railway station, circa 1913-52 |
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| Stairway with exposed steel beams, Brussels-Central railway station, circa 1913-52 |
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| Centre for Fine Arts, circa 1923-29 Brussels |
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| Henry Le Bœuf Hall at the Centre for Fine Arts, circa 1923-29 |
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| Window of the Centre for Fine Arts, circa 1923-29 |
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| Museum of Fine Arts, circa 1928 |
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| Victor Horta’s Brussels home |
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| Victor Horta’s Brussels home |
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| Victor Horta’s Brussels home |
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| Victor Horta’s Brussels home |
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| Art Nouveau chairs |
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| Peacock Chair from the Hôtel Tassel |
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