An expertly written and exquisitely photographed study of the buildings of Victor Horta, a central figure of Art Nouveau whose work was fundamental to modernist architecture
In the decade following the success of his design for the Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1893, Victor Horta, the creator of Art Nouveau architecture, produced more than forty buildings―and a movement. Prepared in close collaboration with the Horta Museum, Brussels, Victor Horta: The Architect of Art Nouveau discusses the many influences on Horta’s designs and his legacy. The richly ornamental style of Art Nouveau, characterized by fluid lines based on natural forms, expressed a desire to abandon the historical styles of the nineteenth century and to develop a language that was beautifully crafted and thoroughly contemporary, laying the foundations for the development of modernism in architecture and interior design.
Detailed descriptions of nineteen projects representing the full range of Horta’s work―including Edicule Lambeaux, Hôtel Autrique, Hôtel Max Hallet, and the Brugmann Hospital, are illustrated with Horta’s original drawings and specially commissioned photographs by award- winning photographer Alastair Carew-Cox. Extensive photographs of Hôtel Solvay―to which access had been denied for twenty years before Carew-Cox was granted special access, in recognition of his and David Dernie’s significant contribution to the study of Horta―are also included.
300+ illustrations, 210 in color
Victor Horta David Dernie * Alastair Carew-Cox The collection of photographs, drawings and text brought together in this monograph represents the most significant contribution to studies on Victor Horta in recent years. David Dernie and Alastair Carew-Cox present much new material and a fresh insight into the work of this most influential architect of late nineteenth-century Europe. Their intention has not been to provide an encyclopaedic coverage of Horta's work, but to illuminate the themes, conflicts and inspirations which lie behind his most important buildings. In a series of essays David Dernie examines Horta's training and formative years in Paris and Brussels: the influence of Viollet-le-Duc, Alphonse Balat, and most importantly the new avant-garde movements and the dominant Symbolist aesthetic in Belgian art and literature which were powerfully synthesised in the annual exhibitions of Les XX. Having thus provided a basis for the interpretation of Horta's oeuvre, the richly illustrated second section of the book presents the key buildings of his Art Nouveau period, from 1889 to 1923, including the Hôtels Tassel and Van Eetvelde, and the Maison and Atelier Horta. The book has the full support of the Musée Horta in Brussels and almost all of the images are unpublished elsewhere, making this collection an invaluable source.
