Four contemporary artists at the Horta Museum
With the exhibition "Pushing Back the Walls", from 3 September to 14 November, five designers will dress five spaces with original and unique wallpapers. These are four rooms at the house and studio of the famous Belgian architect Victor Horta, one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium. This event is part of Brussels Design September.
For the artists involved: Nicolas Stolarczyk, Christophe Hefti, Pierre Marie and the Chevalier-Masson design duo, the idea is not to copy a Belle Époque wallpaper but to create a bold and respectful modern work the patterns and colours of which are in keeping with the rooms, their furnishings and their decor. The only requirement is that they immerse themselves in the artistic reality of the museum and the refinement of the materials of this precious place where all of Victor Horta's precepts are concentrated, both theoretical and intimate, since he designed this house to live in with his family.
The four rooms are: Victor Horta's study, his smoking room, his daughter Simone's bedroom and sitting room, as well as the studio. These are of course walls that do have no original murals. This is the first time that the Horta Museum has used contemporary artists for such daring creations. The exhibition takes its title from a quote by another great Belgian master of the time, Henry van de Velde, who took great care over his creations down to the smallest ornamental detail: "Ornamental wallpaper pushes back the wall, because it nonetheless participates in the outside that it evokes. It suggests life while no longer affirming it."
Prepare for your visit by consulting the website