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Art & Architecture in the Brussels area
Brussels is the capital of Art Nouveau and magnificent structures throughout the capital city are recognized as "world heritage" by UNESCO. The brilliant creative works of Victor Horta, Paul Hankar, as well as those of other architects, bring pleasure to thousands of visitors who enter the private world of these opulent houses every year.
At the turn of the 19th century Brussels went through a period of unrivaled effervescence. The middle classes, merchants and artists opted to have their houses built in the style in vogue: Art Nouveau, marking the beginning of modern architecture and design.
The Austrian architect Josef Hoffman and painter Gustav Klimt, the French architect Hector Guimard all joined the Belgian architects Victor Horta en Paul Hankar, Henry van de Velde, the furniture designer Serrurier-Bovy and the jeweler Philippe Wolfers to get their inspiration or produce themselves for the first time in a more liberal city.
Art Nouveau & Art Deco
It should be noted that most of the Art Nouveau buildings listed below can be used as venues for meetings and special events.
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Architecture and furniture drawn by V. Horta.
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In a masterpiece of Art Nouveau designed by Victor Horta (1906), the Belgian Comic Strip Center brings together everything related to the comic strip, from its prestigious beginnings to its most recent developments, on more than 4,000 square meters of museum floors.
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Private building, built between 1924 and 1928, Art Deco style. Architectural elements, carpets, furniture, Art Deco glassware. Important collection of paintings and sculptures from the 15th to the 20th century, of which a version of the famous "Fall of Icarus", by Breugel the Old, works by H. Seghers, F. Guardi, Fantin Latour, James Ensor, V. Van Gogh, R. Wauters, G. Van de Woestyne, ...Park of 1,30 ha with the "picturesque garden" by Jules Buyssens (1924), the "labyrinth" (1968) and "the garden of the heart" (1970) by R. Pechère and modern sculptures.
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| Cauchie House
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. 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.
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A visit to Square Ambiorix will be a delightful experience for the lovers of formal gardens with geometrical layout in almost perfect symmetry. The name of the square is a tribute to the Belgian national hero, the Gaul, Ambiorix, who belonged the resistance of a Belgian Gallic tribe against the rule of Caesar. The Ambiorix Park is placed in the centre of the Belgian capital city, in the heart of the European District. The construction of this site was a result of a town planning scheme of the north-eastern district.
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Castles in the Brussels area
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The Castle of Seneffe calls on all your senses to discover the new permanent plates collection from the French-speaking Community. "Splendor and intimacy" plunges you in a particular vision of 18th century. |
Abbeys and Monateries in the Brussels area
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The farm and the barn are all that remain of the former 13th-century Cistercian abbey. These are remarkable 18th-century buildings. In the barn, one of the largest in the country, visitors can marvel at the monumental roof timbers supported by impressive columns. The stables consist of an enormous hall whose ceiling is a triple brick semicircular vault. The entire construction is listed and has been converted into a seminar and reception centre with a theatre hall. A fruiticum can be visited in the abbey's old orchards.
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A combination of monastic history and daily life... These guided tours cover different themes: cistercian history, evolution of the abbey throughout the centuries, architectural approach, description of the monks' daily life through various buildings, such as the refectories, the dormitories, the kitchen, the pharmacy, the guest quarters, the workshops, etc.
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Religious
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Cathedral of Saints Michael & Gudule Built on the top of a hill, the cathedral reflects the three stages of the gothic style in its construction. It is a remarkable building because of the remnants of the old Roman collegiate church, its 16th century stained-glass windows, the statues of the apostles in the nave, the baroque style "chair of truth", its treasure and its large organ.
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Church of Notre Dame du Sablon Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, Notre Dame du Sablon is noted for its four-fold gallery with brightly colored stained-glass windows (illuminated from the inside at night), which make a striking contrast with the gray-white Gothic arches and walls.
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Church of Notre Dame de la Chapelle Construction began on the church in 1210 and was completed by the end of the 13th century. It marks the period of transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles; the transept and choir are Romanesque-Gothic, while most of the remainder is in the flamboyant Gothic style. Renaissance painter, Pieter Bruegel was buried here.
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National Holy Heart Basilica Museum for Religious Art (Koekelberg) The fifth biggest church in the world. Exceptional panorama: "Brussels at your feet".
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Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude The collegiate church of Nivelles was consecrated in 1046 by Wazon, bishop of Liège, in presence of Henry III, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and is the city's masterpiece. The interior of this imposing Roman style sanctuary impresses through its dimensions.
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Museums
| Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium |
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The Museum of Ancient Art has got a vast collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15th until 18th century. Built up around a core of revolutionary captures and deposits of the French state, this collection was constantly enriched by the acquisitions, but also by gifts and legacies of numerous patrons.
Designed by the architecture Roger Bastin, inaugurated in 1984: underground architecture articulated around a light shaft and a groundless building in front of the Place Royale.
The collection is a perfect proof of René Magritte's oeuvre and covers all the periods from his life. The works on display, among which his most important masterpieces, are mainly from the legacies of Irène Scutenaire-Hamoir and Georgette Magritte and from purchases made by the Royal Museums for Fine Arts of Belgium, completed with works on loan from private persons.
The live-in studio that Constantin Meunier (1831-1905) built in 1899 at the edge of the Bois de la Cambre, close to the homes of his artist chums, Théo Van Rysselberghe and Isidore Verheyden, was purchased for the nation in 1936 by the artist's daughter and niece and taken over by the Museum of Modern Arts in 1978. Upon his death at the age of 74, Constantin Meunier left behind numerous works (around 800 in total): paintings, sculptures, water-colors and drawings. Their theme: realism, social concerns. Art in perfect tune with the new industrial age.
Antoine Wiertz, the 19th century Belgian artist, had ambitions to be Raphaël, Michelangelo and Rubens all rolled into one. His predilections were religious subjects, philosophical and allegorical scenes and portraits, and he often painted giant canvasses with a frenzied romanticism.
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Royal Museums of Art and History A group of museums in Brussels. It is part of the Belgian Federal Institute of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) |
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The Antiquity collection evokes ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, retracing the major artistic developments in Europe from the 10th century to the present day through tapestries, altarpieces, lace, silver and porcelain.
From the time the luxurious Old England shops opened, at the end of the 19th century, they acquired a strong reputation thanks to their very particular building. While the entrance is Art Nouveau, the rest of the building is in perfect harmony with the neoclassical whole of the Place Royale. The MIM chose this architectural gem in June 2000 to be housed in. The museum's extraordinary collections in particular stand out. When you enter the museum, you embark on a world journey through music, with more than 1,150 masterpieces.
Very well preserved six hundred year old neogothic building. It is the only preserved gate from the Brussels medieval surrounding wall. This is due to the fact that it served as prison during the demolition of the walls in the 18th century. In 1869 architect Beyaert made some alterations that changed the primitive appearance of the building.
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First building by Victor Horta, realized in 1889 to protect the impressive relief named "Human passions", sculpted by Jef Lambeau.
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The only museum that reveals the history of Belgium right in front of you. From the popular uprising in 1830 to the federal state of today: unique historical documents, remarkable film fragments, striking photos and impressive objects. The very location and history of the building itself are also worth a visit. Before it became a museum, the former 18th century luxury hotel was also a royal residence. You will still find aspects from that era: with the recent renovation, the atmosphere of the old days was restored.
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The collections of the Ixelles museum present a vast panorama of the Belgian art from the 19th and 20th centuries, a view on the different artistic movements of this time: realism, impressionism, luminism, neo-impressionism and symbolism for the 19th century, and fauvism, expressionism, cubism, surrealism, abstraction and the most popular actual movements for the 20th century. A full collection of original posters made by Toulouse-Lautrec complete the exhibited collection.
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| Museum of Architecture- The Lodge
The museum is situated in a former Masonic lodge, property of architect Fernand Bodson (1934). The museum allows the Archives of Modern Architecture (AMA) to present its collections (drawings, pictures, scale models, furniture). Themed exhibitions offer the visitor a general view of the architectural creation of the 20th century in Belgium.
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A spectacular new museum dedicated to Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi, who created the comic-book hero Tintin. Fanny Rodwell, Hergé's wife, privately funded the 20 million dollars needed to construct the museum. Designed by acclaimed French architect Christian de Portzamparc, the Hergé Museum marks the first public exhibition of the artist's monumental body of work that, until now, had been sitting in bank vaults and studios. Along with Hergé's work, the museum also includes permanent and temporary exhibition areas, a video projection room, a cafeteria, shops, studios storehouses and administrative premises.
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