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Article: BRUSSELS' ART NOUVEAU: LETTING IN THE LIGHT
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 8, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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BRUSSELS - The banister looks like a pliant ribbon, curling and
knotting its way up the staircase. The ceiling in the drawing room
curves like a calla lily. The lamp glass is a bouquet of riotous
colors. The door handles erupt like leaves growing out of twisted
brass plates. Curving mirrors, the shapes of water lily pads,
reflect the tangled ironwork, adding to the building's almost
hallucinogenic effect. The house, part fairy tale, part ingenious
practicality, belonged to Victor Horta, one of the leaders of
Brussels' Art Nouveau movement.
If this city has an architectural symbol, it is the Grand
Place, the great square surrounded by Gothic-flavored buildings
that include the town hall ...