Sunday 6 September 2020
From 10h30 to 12h30 (+ optional lunch)
Horta Museum
Rue Américaine 25, Brussels
A must-see for art lovers! But also for those expats who would like to get to know Brussels a bit better. The Horta Museum is housed in two residential buildings that Victor Horta constructed between 1898 and 1901 for his home and workshop. This immense work has produced a marvel of harmony and elegance. The staircase inside the house is one of Horta’s most beautiful decorations: the lightness of the metal structure is underlined by the light diffused by the stained glass windows. Join Expat Club for a visit to both the house and the workshop during a guided tour with an expert storyteller to guide us through unknown stories about Victor Horta and his museum.
The date of this event is not yet confirmed.
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Overview
What is included in this visit?
- Museum entrance fees
- Professionally guided tour of the museum
- Free time
- Lunch (optional)
- Great group of international people
- A lifetime expat memory
Who can join?
Expat Club events are attended by singles, couples, retirees, groups of friends or colleagues, and families. We welcome people from all over the world with a wide variety of backgrounds. Expat Club Membership is not required to join this visit.
How to add a child ticket?
Expat Club loves welcoming young expats, too! If you want to bring your child(ren) up until 18 years, please first add the regular adult ticket(s) to the cart and then go to the cart page. On the cart page, there is a child ticket available for [price to be announced].
Pictures
Program
Our event today does not only concern a visit to the Horta Museum. We are starting the day with a welcome coffee and end it with a magnificent Lebanese lunch at Châtelain. If you only want to come for any of these three parts, that’s also fine. For the coffee you can simply show up, for the museum you must book in advance, and for the lunch it is also required to make a pre-paid reservation.
09h00 – Welcome coffee (place t.b.d.)
10h30 – Start guided tour Horta Museum
12h30 – End guided tour
12h45 – Lunch in Châtelain du Liban
14h15 – End lunch
Victor Horta
Victor Horta was born on January, the 6th, 1861 in Ghent. In 1873 he enrolled in the architecture section of the Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent). Five years later he left to work in an architect’s workshop in Paris. It was during his walks in the city that he immersed himself in the world of architecture, and he was greatly inspired by this period of his life in his work. However, after two years, he returned to Belgium when his father passed away. After that, he got married, entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and obtained an internship at Balat’s workshop.
This meeting with Balat will make his career take off since it is him who recommends Horta for a project: “Les Passions Humaines”. Following this project, Horta becomes popular and builds houses and hotels in Brussels. In 1913, he even became director of the Brussels Fine Arts. During the First World War, he travels to the United Kingdom and America as he cannot return to Belgium. On his return, he was raised to the title of baron and designed the Brussels central railway station (1937). He then wrote his memoirs and died in September 1947.
© Musée Horta. Photographie de Paul Louis
The museum
Join us to visit this amazing jewel of Art-Nouveau architecture! If you like art, architecture and history, this museum is made for you! The Horta Museum is located in Horta’s former house and workshop, in Saint-Gilles, a municipality of Brussels. It has been build in 1898-1901, on two plots of land with a total width of 12.5 meters. Although the two buildings are independent, they communicate with each other from the outside. Horta’s aim in making this particularity was to keep his private and professional life separate, which is still a current trend in our society with the work/life balance!
At number 23, we will be able to visit the architecture office and sculpture workshop with three levels under the roof. At number 25, it will be the three-level house with a mansard roof. The interior design, conceived at the same time as the architecture, is an intrinsic part of the latter. The constructive and functional elements are ornamental. The inside of the house is a permanent display of furniture, objects and utensils designed by Horta and his contemporaries as well as documents related to his life and work. This visit is the perfect occasion to learn more about both Horta and his work!
The building, alongside three others in Brussels, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the listing “Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta”.
Our tour
During our guided tour, we will have the chance to have an expert storyteller to guide us through the history of Horta and Art-Nouveau! Our little group will follow the guide to have a museum overview and discover all the unknown stories about Horta’s life. Let’s dive together into this real-life museum! This professional expert guide will explain to us all about the history of the house, the art inside, the art nouveau designs and of course Horta’s life. We bet you will be totally amazed by all the amazing works of art, the incredible design, and the stories.
We are convinced, also based on our previous experiences, that you will be very happy you joined us on this special visit and that you have again discovered another unique part of Brussels.
Lunch
After our guided tour, we would like to make this moment of conviviality last a bit longer by having lunch all together! We have chosen to make you discover the restaurant “La Châtelaine du Liban” in Ixelles. This restaurant is offering you the tastiest and most colorful Lebanese cuisine! It opened its doors in 1997 and was created by Mr. Elie Harika. The Harika family has been known for more than 70 years in Lebanon for its refined cuisine (Zahle, Rayfoun).
© Châtelaine du Liban
Many customers want to know the history of the name of the restaurant, so here it is (before you even had the time to ask yourself)! The name is not inspired by Pierre Benoît’s book of 1934, but by the location of the restaurant “Place du Châtelain”. Being from Lebanon, they also wanted to transmit a bit of their history in the name of the establishment, that’s where “La Châtelaine du Liban” was born. A little extra: the photograph used in the restaurant room was taken by French missionaries at the beginning of the world photography, and represents a traditional Lebanese woman from 1835. She has become the emblem of the restaurant.
As mentioned before, lunch is optional but we would be more than happy to enjoy this extra time with you!
Text source & pictures: © Horta Museum & © Châtelaine du Liban
Who is going?
0 people are attending Horta Museum Visit
6 RSVPs, including 3 members
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