Hôtel Tassel Footnotes
  1. Victor Horta - Hôtel Tassel p.116
  2. Ibid. p.117
  3. Mémoires p.60 edited by Cécile Dulière, 1985, Ministère de la Communauté Francaise.
  4. The façade usually showed more individuality, but only that of the architect how followed whichever historical style was in fashion at the time.
  5. Haussman style apartment blocks, like those in Paris, had been attempted during the previous few decades, but had proved unpopular. Instead, individual houses in terraces were preferred. The size of lot was governed by individual communes (or boroughs), which also regulated building height and even cornice details.
  6. In fact Balat referred to the house as "The Pregnant Woman" when he saw it, but more in criticism than praise. The quote comes from Un arriviste: Victor Horta architecte, written anonymously by one Horta's jealous colleagues.
  7. The influence of Japanese art and architecture is often visible in Horta's work. The Japanese style had become increasingly popular following the trade agreements between Japan and the west made form 1854 onwards. Horta was a subscriber to Le Japon Artistique which was started in 1888 by Siegfried Bing, who's shop in Paris gave its name to the style of Art Nouveau. James Whistler, who's paintings such as La Princesse du Pays de la Porcelaine show a large debt to Japanese art, was a regular contributor to exhibitions run by Le Goupe des XX founded in Brussels in 1884. The avant-garde group, founded by Max Hallet and twenty of the city's artists (including Ensor, Khnopff, Rodin, Toorop and van der Velde), was responsible for bringing the work of all the major contemporary artists to Brussels including Gaugin, Seurat, van Gogh, Morris and Beardsley.
  8. It is easy to see references to the Arts and Crafts movement in Horta's work, especially in his use of craftsmen. However, Horta was far more realistic when it came to the use of technology in his designs.
  9. Art Nouveau en Belgique p.56