Horta and the Grammar of Art Nouveau

by Iwan Strauven, Benjamin Zurstrassen, Aniel Guxholli

Que reste-t-il de l'Art Nouveau d'Horta, à part son style et son vocabulaire végétal typique ? Cet ouvrage ouvre de nouvelles perspe ctives sur l'oeuvre du plus célèbre des architectes belges.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2023

Reviews

[Rob Ledegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains essays of a diverse group of authors, making the book an interesting collection of perspectives and topics.
Horta and the grammar of art nouveau is not an average coffee table book with some beautiful pictures but a deeper look at the design and context of the architect. This makes the content of the book perhaps niche and requires some knowledge about art nouveau and architectural history.
It is a great source for (student)papers and I recommend it to every art nouveau enthousiast

[Lou Braibant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice edition, with beautiful photographs by Maxime Delvaux. Especially the last chapter on the colonial roots of Horta's Art Nouveau was very, very enlightening. Never will I look the same at those frivolous buildings in Brussels and other Belgian cities again as it has inspired me to see the streets I walk through through a decolonial lens. Pity and ironic that the Horta Museum, besides the exhibition and this catalogue, doesn't spend as much time on architectural colonialism/colonial architecture in Horta's work (the ivory statues deserve at least some explanation, no? Idem for the colonial grammar that swirls throughout the building). Nevertheless, first steps in the right direction, very impressed!