Victor Horta: Art Nouveau Movement

Victor Horta: Art Nouveau Movement

How Does Victor Horta's Work Reflect the Aesthetics of the Art Nouveau Movement and What Were Some of the Limitations of the Art Nouveau Movement?

The enduring popularity of some older architectural works makes them stand out from their less attractive contemporary counterparts, and the art nouveau-inspired works by Victor Horta stand out among these. Horta was the son of a Belgian shoemaker who went on to become the pioneer of the art nouveau movement in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and many of his buildings and the homes he designed remain influential today. In fact, Horta is even credited with introducing central heating into homes in Brussels. To determine where, when and why Horta pursued this radically new approach to architectural design and construction, this paper provides an overview of the architect's life and times, followed by a discussion of Horta and the art nouveau movement. An analysis of Horta's influence is followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Background and Overview.

The art nouveau movement occurred during a period in Western history when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and things were changing quickly. Social patterns were being altered in fundamental ways and people were looking for something new and exciting in their lives, and many found it in the works created by Victor Horta and his like-minded designers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this regard, Vogel and Miller (1993) report that, "Victor Horta created buildings that are the embodiment of art-nouveau architecture in Belgium" (97). According to Cantor (1988), the art nouveau movement was primarily concerned with detail elements: "It displayed an aesthetic appreciation not for the grand and the large, but for the small. How to make a dramatic window or a better door, and specifically a more attractive stairway were among its preoccupations. Just as the artists of the eighteenth century had spent a lot of time on doorways (Robert Adam), art nouveau occupied itself with the improvement of stairways (Victor Horta), wallpaper and chairs" (11). The art nouveau movement, though, was not restricted to just architecture. In his essay, "A Glorious Jungle of Art Nouveau," Greer (2000) emphasizes that:

Many artists have claimed to ride a wave of the future. Usually this has to do with arrogance and a somewhat overblown idea of what an artist supposes himself to be. In the case of Art Nouveau, the claim (though it was never made quite like that) would have been legitimate. Begun in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was the first movement in art expressly aimed at "improving" (i.e., manipulating) a mass society; to that end it covered almost every genre -- from painting and sculpture to architecture and all sorts of crafts, such as furniture making, ceramics, glass works, and jewelry. (80)

In fact, the art nouveau movement was originally referred to as "the aesthetic movement" because of its emphasis on such details, and art nouveau sought to bring beauty, sensibility and maximum utility to objects that ordinary people use on a daily basis or otherwise experience up close and personal (Cantor 11). For example, "A piece of household furniture, a decorative object, tableware, wallpaper, lithographs, were examined close up in detail, thereby articulating significant ingredients of Modernism, Art nouveau (called Jugendstil in Germany) was an important transition from the beginnings of cultural upheaval in the 1880's, to the actual focusing of a movement which around 1900 became Modernism" (Cantor 11). One of the major proponents and innovators of this new design style was Victor Horta, credited by some with introducing some of the very first art nouveau architectural and interior designs. For instance, Lenning (1951) reports that, "Before the Paris Exposition of 1900, the Belgian architect Victor Horta stands out as the Art Nouveau's most important precursor. He led the field from the very outset, having begun to practice a few years before Van de Velde, and later subscribed wholeheartedly to the French school, as is indicated by his display rooms at the Turin Exposition of 1902" (75-76).

According to one of his many biographers, Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1861 and went on to become the leading European architect of the movement to create a modern architecture during the 1890s (Stennott 2004:650); Horta died in 1947 (Joedicke 1959:44). Horta studied in Ghent and in Paris before enrolling in the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; he is widely regarded as being a pioneer of modern architecture in Belgium and one of the Continent's most influential practitioners of art nouveau (Levin 2002:1). Horta's work combined what Stennott describes as "a structural rationalism influenced by the writings of E.E. Viollet-le-Duc" with a personal, curvilinear decoration that was inspired by the abstracted botanic form as proposed by V.-M.-C. Ruprich-Robert to create works of unsurpassed internal spatial complexity and organic completeness (Stennott 65).

Like some other architect-designers that would follow, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Horta's architectural projects were considered to be complete works of art because when he was provided the opportunity, Horta would design every object, "from furniture and table linens to doorknobs and andirons" (Stennott 65). Likewise, according to Levin (2002), "Victor Horta designed not only homes, but their decor and furniture as well" (1). Although Horta is frequently characterized as being just one of the practitioners of the Art Nouveau style, he was in fact the chief innovator of that style (Stennott 65). Moreover, Stennott suggests that Horta's ability to use iron and glass instead of the traditional load-bearing masonry remained unsurpassed among turn-of-the-20th century architects (650). According to this author, "In Paris in the late 1870s, Horta discovered the power of Beaux-Arts design, as exemplified by both the urban planning of Baron Haussmann's boulevards and the architecture of Charles Garnier's opera house" (Stennott 651).

Furthermore, it is clear that Horta was just the right man in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the best of what technology was providing to transform traditional design practices into something more: "Returning in 1889 for the world's fair, he was similarly drawn to the Galerie des Machines, an iron and-glass building whose trusses spanned almost 400 feet. He was amazed not only by the possibilities of Victor Contamin's engineering but also by the curvilinear decoration created by the architect Charles Dutert" (Stennott 651). In reality, though, just as Horta was heavily influenced by these events and works, his own efforts would have a profound effect on the art nouveau movement itself, and these issues are discussed further below.

Victor Horta and the Art Nouveau Movement.

There were a number of instances of inspiration, if not collaboration, between England and the rest of Europe, most particularly France, that appear to have contributed to the rise of the art nouveau movement during the closing years of the 19th century. In this regard, Stennott reports that, "Horta's mature style was perfectly tuned to the values of the haute bourgeoisie of the 1890s throughout Europe. His architecture strongly influenced emerging architects, such as Hector Guimard, whereas the superficial aspects of his decorative forms were easily copied by lesser designers" (651). Likewise, Langui and Pevsner (1962) report that, "Technique had in fact triumphed over decoration. At this point a dialogue was engaged between these two forces. The work of the architects and decorators of Art Nouveau -- in spite of the predominance of decoration and arbitrary proliferation -- began to show signs of functional intention, of concern with the practical comfort of the customer" (21). At this time, and in a dramatic departure from traditional architecture, the Art Nouveau movement began to inspire simple plans with straight lines as witnessed in the works of designers such as van de Velde, Mackintosh, Behrens, Hoffmann and, of course, Horta (Cassou, Langui and Pevsner 21).

According to Schmutzler (1962), "Victor Horta achieved, with his Maison Tassel in Brussels, the first true example of Art Nouveau architecture and of Continental High Art Nouveau in general" (114); however, as this author emphasizes, in 1893 "A style of curved and linear High Art Nouveau had thus attained full maturity in England twelve years before Victor Horta built the Maison Tassel in Brussels" (Schmutzler 111). The art nouveau movement itself was also being influenced by a range of associates with various other movements and the continuous development of the early English Art Nouveau stands in sharp contrast to the fits and starts that took place elsewhere.

For instance, Schmutlzer reports that, "From about 1870 until the end of the century, a few initiatives in this general direction occurred in France, the steel skeleton buildings of the engineer-architects probably remaining the most important" (114). Citing buildings such as Gustave Eiffel's Tower and Contamin's Hall of Machines, both built for the Paris World's Fair of 1889, have some association with the art nouveau movement that was taking place at the time by virtue of their swinging outlines; moreover, the structure of their framework, with its apparent absence of substantive weight and lines that were both decorative as well as functional, combined with the transparent character of these buildings which were frequently enclosed in a thin sheath of glass, were all features which they have in common with the later architecture of "High Art Nouveau," characterized by its innovative linear conceptions of mass and space. According to Schmutlzer, "The buildings of Horta reveal the full importance of architectural initiative" (114).

In his book, a History of Modern Architecture, Joedicke (1959) reports that, "In the nineteenth century a circle of adventurous artists, known as 'Les XX,' had already appeared in Brussels, who were strongly influenced by William Morris and his followers. In 1893 Victor Horta, who belonged to this group, built the house in the Rue de Turin in Brussels at a period when there were still few signs of the new movement on the Continent" (44). A number of innovations can be identified for the first time in this project, as well as in Horta's the Maison du Peuple (1897), wherein iron was systematically used; prior to these pioneering efforts, iron had only be used in factories and exhibition buildings. "Iron as a building material," Joedicke enthuses, "which permitted a more open floor plan, now made its undisguised appearance in domestic building" (44). According to Boyd and his associates (1963), the Maison du Peuple was "Built at the same time as Berlage's Stock Exchange in Amsterdam, this is far more advanced in its use of glass and iron. They fill the entire facade" (324).

Although the cast-iron stanchions used in Horta's Rue de Turin remained, at least from a decorative perspective, Horta's efforts in the Maison du Peuple were clearly inspired by botanicals, and the horizontal, vertical and diagonal structures evinced in the structural frame of the Hall in the "Maison du Peuple" are likewise "connected to a delicately articulated network, which in its transparency and lightness goes beyond ornamental effect and becomes an expression of the principles of construction" (Joedicke 45). In this regard, Goldwater (1998) suggests that, "Horta composed in terms of space and structure and although he 'interpreted his metal structures... As something plant-like' this biological analogy contained no broader suggestions" (70). According to Farmer and Louw (1993), the Maison du Peuple has since been demolished, but "with its elegant concave facade, and its undulating iron trusses, it was among the most inventive of late nineteenth-century buildings" (331).

In this regard, Horta modified the techniques and the style of engineering to the requirements of functional architecture, but as he clearly showed in his Maison du Peuple in Brussels, he also adapted them the needs of private home owners, a combination that Schmutzler suggests truly made him a pioneer in his field; however, the steel skeleton was not developed as an architectural element only in France. For example, "Paxton Crystal Palace of 1851 certainly remains as an important example of earlier English achievements in this field; but later French examples appear to have inspired the architects of Art Nouveau more directly" (Schmutzler 114).

As to his Maison du Peuple in Brussels, Kohn (2001) reports that, "By far the most significant house of the people, from the architectural standpoint, was Victor Horta's Maison du Peuple in Brussels. Commissioned in 1895, the massive building was inaugurated on Easter of 1899, dubbed 'red Easter' in the press" (503). Besides being regarded as being one of the important examples of Art Nouveau, the Maison du Peuple also featured a number of innovative approaches to realizing the unique function of the building. In this regard, Horta summarized his objective as follows: "To construct a palace that wouldn't be a palace but rather a 'house' in which the air and light would be the luxury so long excluded from the workers' hovels" (47 quoted in Kohn at 503).

In truth, Horta developed the effect of grandeur through his innovative use of light and air instead of the traditional finery and ornamentation that characterized the bourgeois palaces of the day (Kohn 503). Moreover, Horta managed to communicate a sense of power through his use of a skeletal frame of iron and steel, a process that created an impression of stability and massiveness without the associated heaviness characteristic of the concrete used in most monumental architecture; in addition, Horta's application of new industrial materials such as steel symbolized the progress, achieved through labor and industrialization, that would result in a new society (Kohn 503). According to this author, "The two main central spaces of the Maison du Peuple were the bar-cafe-restaurant on the first floor and the 1500-seat auditorium on the top floor. The building was organized to create the greatest possible opportunity for communal life. Whereas the restaurant was designed primarily for social life, the auditorium emphasized the exigencies of political life" (Kohn 504).

In his book, Modern Architecture since 1900, Curtis (1996) makes the point that, "A good plan would be one which found the central meaning, as it were, of the institution housed" (313) and this is just what Horta's design accomplished. For instance, Lenning reports that, "The requirements of the building, now used by the Socialist Party, defined the interior plan: the ground floor housed cooperative stores and a large cafe; the upper stories were given over to administration offices, exhibition galleries, and a large auditorium. There was also a roof garden" (77). Likewise, "The furnishings and fixtures for which Horta was also responsible, were simple and substantial, in keeping with the spirit of the building itself" (Lenning 77).

The interior of the Maison du Peuple is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Interior of Maison du Peuple, 1896-1900.

Source: www.datarq.fadu.uba.ar/.../horta/homepage.html

Like Frank Lloyd Wright's consideration of the physical place in which a building would be situated, Horta too carefully considered the space in which the Maison du peuple would be constructed: "The dimensions and features of a site are important in other ways. Some sites are an awkward shape and this may determine the form of the building. The Maison du Peuple in Brussels, was located on a circular place and its curved facade was designed by Victor Horta to reflect this" (Conway and Roenisch 126).

These features can be clearly seen in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2. facade of Maison du Peuple, 1896-1900.

Source: www.drexel.edu/comad/Archsoc/Archsoc3/maison2.htm.

It should also be noted, though, that both of the above-described spaces defied the traditional concepts of such architectural initiatives by incorporating things people would actually want to use and enjoy on a daily basis. For example, "Daily newspapers were available in the bar/cafe, which was also the setting of informal political discussions. The auditorium employed new acoustical principles in order to provide a state-of-the-art space for musical and theatrical performances" (Kohn 504). To this end, Horta's auditorium was situated on the top floor, thereby enabling it to take maximum advantage of the available natural light; likewise, in the restaurant/bar area, Horta introduced the innovative technique of employing removable panels in order to adjust the available space to achieve its most effective use at a given point in time (Kohn 504).

In his book, Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, and Meaning, Roth (1993) points out that Horta's modernity "came from the use of metal for both structural and decorative elements and the artistic assimilation of lighting fixtures, all woven together in a continuous curvilinear pattern" (455). According to Roth, Horta "deliberately rejected historical styles and invented a new architectural idiom for his progressive, wealthy industrialist clients, using ornamental motifs in metal and glass derived from plant forms" (456). Noting the similarities between rococo architecture, this so-called "new art," or as the Parisian collectors termed it, "Art Nouveau," was used primarily at first for interiors:

It appeared fully developed in the interiors of the Tassel house, Brussels, that Horta designed in 1893. The Tassel house staircase, with its integration of pattern and line in floor mosaic, foliate column with budlike capital, wall painting, tendrillike gas lighting fixture, and curvilinear stair balustrade, was the prototype for the other houses Horta designed in Brussels and was matched by similar work by Hector Guimard in Paris at the turn of the century. This was a self-consciously modern expression, owing little in a strictly formal sense to earlier historical periods. (Roth 456)

These continuous curvilinear patterns can be clearly seen in the graphics of Tassel house's staircase and a detail from a staircase in the Maison du Peuple shown below:

Figure 3. Interior Stairwell of the Tassel House, 1892. Brussels.

Source: home.psu.ac.th/~punya.t/19th%20art/Nou2e.jpg.

Figure 4. Detail of Staircase from Maison du Peuple, 1896-1900.

Source: kunstiveeb.arhiiv.ee/.../horta/hortapildid.html.

In the Horta House Museum in Brussels, Levin reports that the three concepts of light, space and air are used harmoniously throughout the structure and as well as its decor: "Horta used many kinds of high-quality woods, and his designs feature many elements of nature, such as butterflies and other insects - especially the dragonfly - flowers, trees and clouds. Those curved motifs are repeated over and over in furniture design, on the balustrade and in windows and doors" (Levin 1).

Horta's house emphasizes various earth tones in light woods and creamy colors; the design elements also incorporate white Carrara marble; iron sculpture on railings, lights and door handles; and superb examples of glazed brick (Levin 1). According to this author, "He provided symmetry in the construction, but an asymmetric decor. Each floor, for example, features rooms in a straight line so that someone standing at the front of the house can look deep into the back and through the rear window" (Levin 1). Not content with traditional design methods, no design aspect was too small to escape Horta's notice and attention to detail: "Horta always played with the eyes - he rounded many corners that normally would be angular - and wherever one looks, there's something else to see" (Levin 1).

Influence and Limitations of Art Nouveau.

While many architectural styles may quickly become outdated and irrelevant in the modern world, there is something about the Art Nouveau movement that has sufficiently enduring qualities that it remains popular even today. For instance, in his essay, "What's Old Is New Again," Goode (2000) reports that, "Art nouveau was very much in vogue in the early part of the 20th century. Although the movement lasted only a short while, it produced spectacular objets d'art that still delight and dazzle 100 years later" (28). Although these designers were seeking to reach the skies - at least figuratively -- they also managed to convey this subtle sense of sweeping motion in their works.

According to Cordulack (1992), "The Art Nouveau artists represented the more progressive and optimistic aspects of Belle epoque France and Germany in the 1890s; they were striving to create a new language of form. This is evident, when, for example, their work is contrasted with that of the Symbolists or when we contrast the two towers by Obrist and Auguste Rodin" (270). Although Obrist's tower sought to communicate "man's eternal striving to reach upwards" through the use of spiraling forms, Rodin's version, while earlier, is somewhat weighed down by its lofty and socially relevant symbolism and the greater control of its spiral form (Cordulack 270). "The Art Nouveau aspirants could envisage Pegasus as a flying machine, Night as rising, Athena Triumphant and angels as ascending. The Art Nouveau artists chose the symbol of wings and flight to express this optimism and did so in a new style" (Cordulack 271). In his house in Brussels, Levin reports that Horta's expression of this new style extended to virtually every aspect of exterior as well as interior design elements: "The floral design of fabric on a chair may be repeated in the wainscoting, on drawer pulls and on doors. Carpets also carry out the floral motif; one of the carpets Horta designed is on display at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The ironwork on the fourth-floor balcony of his home is graced by the wings of a dragonfly whose stone body extends upward from the base of the bay window one floor below" (1).

These design elements were popular then and they remain popular today and Horta's efforts did not stop there, but in the process, he failed to take into account a number of technological innovations that continued to take place while he refined his art nouveau style. According to Lenning, "Discarding the rigid neo-classicism of his teacher, Alphonse Balat, Horta developed a style of 'animated coloristic facades,' and graceful restrained ornamentation, using for textural contrasts such local materials as blue and white fieldstone and colored brick" (76). The contents of an article in "L'Art Decoratif" report that Horta managed to "avoid the uncompromising rigidity of the right angle by substituting the curved for the straight line, and the bowed for the plane surface" in the facades of two houses in Brussels built in 1892, at 12 Rue de Turin and 37 Rue Lebeau (Lenning 76). According to this author:

Unfortunately here, as well as in the more audaciously simple Hotel Solvay completed a year later, Horta shows little interest in the basic architectural problem of the relationship between interior function and exterior design. Like virtually all the decorator-architects of this style, Horta preoccupied himself with the cachet of the facade and the furnishings of the interior alone, rather than with such possibilities as enlarging the window areas and eliminating interior walls. Consequently, he did not attempt to modify conventional arrangements and remained unaware of the possibilities afforded by lighter construction materials and methods (emphasis added) (Lenning 76)