Heritage brochure - Centre for Fine Arts

© « archives KMSKA »

EN

the centre for fine arts, the leading cultural centre in europe

O

rigin

As vast as it is unexpected, this cultural centre occupies a building designed by one of Belgium’s master architects, Victor Horta, the uncontested leader of Belgium’s art nouveau movement.

The context behind the creation of the centre is clear: Belgium, and Brussels in particular, was in dire need of exhibition venues for its artists.

In the 19th century, the first «Centre for Fine Arts», designed to host concerts and exhibitions, was opened on the Rue de la Régence. It was built between 1874 and 1880 according to plans by Balat, architect to Léopold II, who also designed the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, among other projects. From 1887 on, it was the urgent need to find a place for the ancient art collections that was the primary function of the building. Today, the building houses the Museum of Ancient Art, a branch of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Although the current Centre for Fine Arts was built between 1922 and 1929, it had been given the go-ahead in 1919, sponsored by the Minister of Public Works and a senator. Nevertheless, this was not an era of opulence: the effects of the post-war period were being felt, and the Senate rejected Horta’s project, giving priority to funding war victims. The project was restarted due to the arrival of Henri Le Bœuf, a banker and great music lover who dreamt of a beautiful concert hall - a concert hall that would therefore become both a major challenge for Horta and the subject of some complications (see below). As a result of this impetus, and the support of the mayor of Brussels, Adolphe Max, the project took on a more solid basis, becoming a non-profit organisation. In his inaugural speech, Max underlined the additional support of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who backed the development of the ambitious project.

Because of the First World War, Horta had been in exile in the United States for two years: it was there that he discovered the concept of a polyvalent arts centre. Earlier, the site had been home to four major institutions: first, the Terarken or Arche de Dieu hospice, opened in the 13th century, and closely linked to the Clutincs, an influential Brussels family. Originally a ‘Béguinage’, a French term that refers to a semi-monastic community of women called Beguines, it became a home for the old and infirm, before taking in the elderly women of the Clutinc family. It was then a shooting range belonging to the Grand Serment des Arbalétriers, a guild of Brussels crossbowmen, originally a sort of bourgeois militia, and a fashionable meeting place.

In the 17th century it was the home of the painter David Teniers the Younger, who was known for having administered the art collection of a Hapsburg prince, the governor of our regions. Finally, it became the Héger boarding school for young women, which was attended by Emily and Charlotte Brontë, two leading figures in 19th century English literature.

Not to be forgotten is the presence - following a deliberate conservation effort - of part of a wall belonging to the first city walls (13th century), an earthworks retaining wall about 20 metres high, between rue Baron Horta and the Place des Palais. On this section of the wall a tower has also been preserved, and is occasionally accessible from the palace. Ceded by the City, the land is barren, sandy and wet. It contains the remains of innumerable foundations and is surrounded by many precarious buildings. Furthermore, the site is located on what is now called the Mont des Arts, which means it is on a steep 18-metre slope. Finally, as if all that were not enough, the plans were subject to two major constraints. The city ordered commercial space to be included in the main façade; strict regulations were placed on the building so that it could not obstruct the view from the neighbouring Royal Palace to the lower part of the city. The monumental aspect of the building was therefore to be expressed in its interior rather than its exterior.

«The word palace never came into my head: for me it was a simple art centre. I could not allow this name to be used for a building whose main façade was occupied by shops. « V. Horta The project foresaw the construction of a building of 8000 m² spread over 3 floors and 40 rooms, of which three were musical spaces: a large concert hall (the Henry le Boeuf Hall); a chamber music hall, and a studio.

A

rchitecture and decor

Overall, the architect has rejected the curved lines of art nouveau and favoured a more geometrical arrangement. However, Horta conserved his driving force, natural light, which is the essence of his work. In this case, the confined, partly-buried building was designed to receive zenithal natural light. The light enters the building from a series of skylights in the roof, as well as windows above the shops on the main façade.

The building’s structure uses three basic materials: a metal framework, reinforced concrete and glass.

The exterior is in the Art Déco style, blending both classicism (balance, symmetry, sober lines) and modernism (form follows function), in harmony with other surrounding buildings (the Royal Palace, the Academy Palace, the Palace of Justice and the Palace of the Nation). The building is clad entirely in blue stone.

The rotunda, a remarkable feature initially conceived as a tea-room, constitutes the main entrance.

The Henry le Bœuf hall, which occupies the exact location of the former interior garden of the Héger boarding school, features a remarkable organ designed by Victor Horta himself, the only musical instrument that he designed. The building was listed in 1977.

I

tinerary and detours

The construction and layout of the great concert hall were the stumbling block in a power struggle between Horta and Le Bœuf; the latter considering the architect to be incompetent in the field of acoustics.

The slow pace of construction was very unprofitable for Horta, and he found himself in financial difficulties for the last ten years of his life. According to Michèle Goslar, he was even obliged to sell his villa in La Hulpe, the place where he had drawn up the plans for the Centre for Fine Arts.

It should be noted that the former decorative art hall has housed the cinema museum or Cinematek since 1934.

Since 1947, the palace has hosted an internationally prestigious music competition: initially named the Ysaÿe Competition after the famous Belgian violinist and now the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition.

Throughout the 20th century, the building’s interior underwent restoration and alterations with no regard for the exactitude and precision of Horta’s work. The changes included white paint instead of shades of brown, the introduction of new materials that make a mockery of the acoustics in the concert hall, and changes to the use of certain rooms involving substantial refurbishment work. During the Second World War, the building was occupied by German troops, the Red Cross and the gendarmerie. The Germans even planned to build a casino in the sculpture hall - now the great marble entrance hall, renamed after the architect- a project that fortunately was shelved. The repercussions of May 1968 would also reach the Centre: certain artists accused the palace of being «the stronghold of an infatuated upper class, based on the promotion of confirmed artistic values and recognised names» in contradiction to the initial spirit of the project, which was to make art accessible to the masses. In 1972, the sculpture hall was turned into an «entertainment hall» and the refurbishment work massacred, among other things, the polychrome marble floor! Beginning in the 1990’s, large-scale restoration work aimed at returning to the spirit imparted by Horta was undertaken, not only in terms of materials and the general appearance, but also in terms of the use of space. Over time, various spaces had taken on an administrative function: an effort was made to return the building to a true exhibition space and a place to receive the public.

The ‘Bozar’ concept was adopted in 2003 to label the events organised by the centre, which were arranged by activity: Bozar Music, Bozar Expo, Bozar Cinema, and so on. The role of the Centre for Fine Arts can be summed up as follows: creation, quality and artistic diversity have been at the heart of the purpose of the Centre for Fine Arts since its foundation. But so that art is not a mere abstract object, so that it truly forms part of the culture of a society - particularly in a town as diverse and international as Brussels- the public must be able to access it in its natural, living state. And for each person to find something to their taste.

www.visit.brussels copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles