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This year, Brussels puts things in their place, where it all really started, before spreading the world.
At the end of the 19th century, Art Nouveau began its history in the Belgian capital and this year 2023, Brussels celebrates Art Nouveau in all its diversity and stake its claim as the capital of this international artistic movement.



"Throughout 2023, a multidisciplinary programme will highlight the richness of the capital's architectural heritage and the impact of Art Nouveau on many other artistic fields.
The goal is to be anything but classical, to approach this artistic movement with a fresh eye and open up more contemporary perspectives. Expect many highlights and new discoveries, including large-scale exhibitions, openings of new Art Nouveau venues, exceptional guided tours and exciting lectures and debates!" announced Visit.brussels.



When you search the inventory of the architectural heritage of Brussels with the mention "Art Nouveau", there are more than 1180 property records and 2110 places listed in the inventory!
Women, nature and exoticism are the three main themes of Art Nouveau architecture, which is an identity of the city, a signature that can be found in countless streets and avenues of the capital. Sometimes a simple urban detail, the handle of a building or door embellishments, sometimes feminine voluptuousness or the sublime feathers and curves of the peacock spread their colours over entire facades, the lines that end in a whiplash defined by Victor Horta trace everywhere in Brussels the new concepts of Art Nouveau, a multicoloured and greedy art, beautiful and all curves, born here in the city that has become the capital of Europe.



There is a very lifestyle aspect to Art Nouveau, because it is not just about architecture, but about an intention to change the art of living and to define new codes, in all creative industries, be it construction, interior decoration, furniture, graphic arts and design.




So, this style was not very codified, each person contributed according to his or her own vision: for example, Gaudí's Spanish 'Modernism', the American 'Tiffany' style or the 'Viennese Secession' (represented in Brussels by the Stoclet Palace) all stemmed from this same movement, which explains why in Brussels the great architects Victor Horta, Paul Hankar and Henry Van de Velde were all able to coexist and write a page in the history of Art Nouveau, each in his or her own way.


"The first Art Nouveau building was built in 1893 by the architect Victor Horta in Brussels. It is the Tassel Hotel (considered the founding act of Art Nouveau)".

The Art Nouveau movement was mainly inspired by Nature, be it flowers, plants, animals or other non-living elements. The style is easily recognizable: whether it is architecture, Art Nouveau furniture, fashion or painting, the aesthetic is very similar. This artistic movement is characterized by its almost purely decorative side. Soft and feminine, rounded forms are in the spotlight.
The asymmetry is an important point: indeed, it is necessary to reproduce as well as possible what Nature offers us and Nature obeys only its own law: generous, nourishing but also wild and untamable, and goes against the industrial precepts of rationalization or austerity.
The color is also an important element that we find very often in the Art Nouveau style. Polychromy is omnipresent, and underlines all the power of volutes, imperfect rosettes or intertwined lines.

The term Art Nouveau first appeared in the Belgian newspaper L'Art Moderne in 1884, referring to a group of avant-garde sculptors, designers and painters called Les XX (or The Twenties), whose founding members included James Ensor (1860-1949) and Theo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926).
The spirit of the new movement quickly spread throughout Europe and its name was translated into various languages: Jugendstil, Modernismo, Secession, Stile Floreale and other similar terms.
From the outset, artists working in the Art Nouveau style advocated the unity of all the arts and opposed the discrimination between the fine arts (painting and sculpture) and the supposedly less prestigious decorative arts.
Art Nouveau artists sought to integrate art into everyday objects, producing beautiful objects to elevate the lives of the people.

To find out all about the "Brussels, Capital of Art Nouveau 2023" programme, visit the Visit.brussels website.
Very soon (from 6 to 26 of March), BANAD Festival 2023, not to miss > Visit the website to know more about the program.

Photos. LB Image bank - Visit.Brussels Jean-Paul Remy & Eric Danhier - Hotel Solvay - Hotel Tassel.