Exhibition : Art nouveau on display !

Among the prominent figures of the Art nouveau period, mainly from Brussels, the architects Paul Hankar, Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde are considered as precursors. They are followed by artists of genius: Privat Livemont, Gisbert Combaz, Henri Meunier, Georges Gaudy, Victor Mignot, Adolphe Crespin, Edouard Duyck, Fernand Toussaint and many others who illustrate themselves on the walls of the capital through advertising, commercial or cultural promotion posters. These posters with new shapes and bright colors echo the bold facades of Art nouveau buildings, designed as relief prints.

This exhibition aims to discover through an infinitely generous medium, the talent and avant-garde choices of Belgian poster artists, the "Art nouveau" and "Belle Epoque" style, and the city of Brussels that sounds and lives behind the paper screens.

The visitor will be led to follow an iconographic journey in three stages:

• A presentation of an anthology of posters around the leading figures of Art nouveau: Privat Livemont, Gisbert Combaz and Henri Meunier;
• A selection of "Belle Époque" posters that distinguish themselves from the "Art Nnouveau" style by a series of more traditional and realistic aesthetic choices;
• The presentation of three contemporary artists Teresa Sdralevich, Ammo, Elzo Durt who are taking up the challenge of revisiting the Art nouveau poster with their own universe and codes. By proposing them to give their 2023 version of the Art nouveau poster, the exhibition creates a strong link between heritage and contemporary creation