Philosophically, Art Nouveau was a movement of “Art in All” and “Art for All”. In reality it was the preserve of the wealthy who could afford the fabulous handmade furniture, glassware and interior decoration. While the style graces department stores, restaurants and office buildings, it is the private houses of the haute bourgeoisie that are the most resplendent. The Solvay House built by Victor Horta for the fabulously rich industrialist Armand Solvay, is a prime example.
Art Nouveau sought to restore great craftsmanship and upend the traditional hierarchy of the arts, which viewed painting and sculpture as superior to decorative arts and crafts. It was also a repudiation of the industrialised production processes that by the late 19th century dominated building – cheap but shoddy goods were rejected by the proponents of Art Nouveau. Most of whom were men who didn’t reject the female form in art.
There are some houses, such as Brussels’ La Maison Cauchie, with exquisite exteriors, covered with symbolic illustrations and refined metalwork. But they pale in significance to the sumptuous interiors that create an almost dreamlike universe for those who live there. They are wonderful to visit but, beautiful though they are, it’s hard to shake the feeling that living in them would be totally impractical
Despite efforts to destroy them in the post-war period, Brussels has one of the finest collections of Art Nouveau buildings of any city or town in Europe. In 2023, as part of Art Nouveau Year, several were opened to the public, including some that had never been accessible previously. The four we visited encapsulated all the fantastical and whimsical glories of Belgian Art Nouveau – and opened our eyes to its relationship with colonialism in the Congo.
Maison Autrique
In 1893, the Hôtel Tassel designed by Victor Horta, became the first ever Art Nouveau building to be constructed. It was a busy year for Horta, because across the other side of Brussels from Hôtel Tassel he also completed the Maison Autrique for his friend, the engineer Eugène Autrique. Bought by the commune in the 1990s, it went through a full renovation before being opened to the public
The house sits on an underwhelming street in Schaerbeek and, without the ostentatious exteriors of some other houses, looks almost ordinary. Inside though, it transforms into a splendid Art Nouveau interior that is perfectly preserved as a bourgeois home. Autrique’s budget was modest, and the house isn’t as flashy as some, but gives a clear sense of how it functioned as a family home.
Hôtel Hannon
Built by the architect Jules Brunfaut in 1902 for the engineer Eduard Hannon, before an extensive refurbishment the house had been long-closed and was in a pitiful state. It reopened – just in time for Art Nouveau Year – in June 2023 with the assistance of the Musée de l’École of Nancy. It recreates the original home of French-Belgian couple Marie and Édouard Hannon, but the renovation is ongoing and won’t be complete until 2030.
Hôtel Hannon is wonderful. The elegant golden ironwork of the exterior is complemented inside by mosaic floors, furniture designed by French Art Nouveau pioneer Emile Gallé, and remarkable stained-glass windows by Raphaël Evaldre, who studied at Tiffany’s, and the pièce de résistance, frescoes painted by Paul-Emile Baudouin. The sublime curved stairway is utterly beguiling.
Hôtel van Eetvelde
Hôtel van Eetvelde was designed between 1895 and 1897 by Victor Horta for Edmond van Eetvelde, a diplomat and general secretary of the Congo Free State. At the time Congo was ‘owned’ by one man, Belgian King Leopold II, known to history as the ‘Butcher of the Congo’. Van Eetvelde was one of Leopold’s closest advisers. The house design is clearly influenced by the riches and oddities that flowed from Congo to Brussels.
Opened to the public for the first time in May 2023, it houses LAB·AN, an Art Nouveau interpretation centre that investigates Belgian Art Nouveau’s links with the colony in the Congo. The house is arranged around a central light well above a delightful stained-glass dome that has to be seen to be believed. Horta described it as “the most daring plan” he had ever undertaken. It is now an UNESCO World Heritage site.
La Maison Cauchie
As if an exterior illustrated with symbolic paintings and beautiful ironwork, along with stained glass and Sgraffito frescoes in the interior wasn’t enough, La Maison Cauchie has a location close to the grand Cinquantenaire Park. It was built in 1905 by the artist couple Paul and Lina Cauchie. Paul Cauchie was a successful architect, painter and decorator, and this house was his Art Nouveau calling card.
There’s no denying the impact of the house’s façade, at the centre of which is the legend, Par Nous-Pour Nous (By Us-For Us). Which begs the question of why Lina allowed the house to fall into ruin after Paul’s death, a parlous state from which it has yet to recover. The story of the house – it was only just saved from demolition in the 1960s – is told on a short but interesting guided tour. Its fate is now in the hands of new owners, an insurance company.
Notes from Camelid Country 
Fantastic houses, but as you say, only for the well-heeled.
By the way, if you want to read more about the appalling Congo colonisation, I recommend In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in the Congo: Amazon.co.uk: Wrong, Michela: 9781841154220: Books