Waves, Clouds and Floating Hair in Glass

Waves, Clouds, Floating Hair....in Glass

In past chapters we have seen how the Art Nouveau artists made abundant use of the subject of nature, be it flowers, trees, butterflies or birds. In this post we will see the handling of clouds, waves or ondulating long hair in the composition of stained glass windows, some of them obtaining world wide fame.

Maison Autrique

In my post of "Flowers in Glass" we have seen already a beautiful staircase window in Horta´s Autrique house. Right above this window but directed towards the sky we find this second window in the same delicate colors ranging from white to mauve and brown. While the inferior window depicts flowers and trees the subject of this stained glass is a cloudy sky interrupted only by the flight of grouses. The flowing lines of the clouds and the soft colors like cream, mauve or brownish transmit the airiness of the composition. The choice of different glass textures - as for instance glittering ripple glass for the grouses - serves to enhance the moving birds.

Staircase window in Maison Autrique

Rue Jef Lambeaux 36

Several Art Nouveau houses built by the architect Georges Peereboom line this street. The number 36 shows this charming fanlight above its door. We contemplate here a picture of exuberant nature in most lively colors where clouds and water occupy an important place pronounced by the masterly choice of glass colors and textures. A white swan is overflying the water surface. The intense green of a group of trees made of opalescent glass is contrasting with the declining sun and its white and mauve rays. White and greyish clouds in sparkling ripple glass cross the sun rays. The mirror-like water surface at the bottom of the picture is glittering, another proof of the wise selection of glass.

Fanlight in Rue Jef Lambeaux 36

Rue de l´Arbre Benit 123

Now I present you with one of the most famous stained glass windows in all Art Nouveau. The design of this window is due to the well-known designer and painter Privat-Livemont, largely influenced by the artistic current of symbolism  as well as to the emerging interest in japonism. The glass artist Raphael Evaldre has been able to translate this extraordinary design in stained glass. Paul Saintenoy, the architect of the famous "Magasins of Old England" in the centre of Brussels commissioned these artists to finish his recently acquired house. 

A young woman with folded hands like in prayer is looking out across the sea. Foaming waves and the woman´s long floating hair are exploited to develop arabesques characteristic for the style of Art Nouveau. The inherent symbolism of waves and ondulating hair stand for the woman´s anguish. This violent movement at the bottom of the picture constrasts with the lineal calm of the clouds in the superior part of the composition. The same yuxtaposition of turbulence  and calm can be followed in the decrease of colors, from the rich palette at the bottom to the single blue tonalities in the superior part. The expert handling of glass colors and textures by master Evaldre are most evident in the waves´ sparkling quality or the soothing blue of the linear clouds. 

Living room window in Hotel Saintenoy

The staircase of Hotel Saintenoy is lighted by another stained glass window, probably a product of the same artists as of "The Wave". The subject of huge waves with their white foam is repeated in this window. They seem to come alive contrasting strongly with the static flowers at the bottom of the window. A frame in stained glass repeats the wave motif, but in regular sequences and in golden colors. 

Staircase window in Hotel Saintenoy

Rue Vogler 17

A rather unobtrusive building with only few Art Nouveau embellishments surprises with this delicious little window above the entrance. It is one of the numerous anonymous works of stained glass all over Brussels indicating the great liking it found among its people. A boat with its white opaque sails above the turquoise-colored sea is set in front of the golden rays of the sky. Again we see the use of opalescent glass for the sea underlining its prominence.

Fanlight in Rue Vogler 17

Rue Philip le Bon 55

A lovely Art Nouveau house in the European quarter, built by Armand van Waesberghe in 1902, includes in its exterior decorations beautiful sgraffiti pannels on the second floor as well as this big fanlight forming a perfect unit with the door. The water surface in light blue glass  at the bottom and the mauve-colored clouds in the upper part are held together by an ondulating plant. The whole picture  is kept in delicate pastel colors. 

Fanlight in Rue Philip le Bon 55

Flowers in Glass

Flowers in Glass

Stained glass may be considered an art of painting, but a painting with light. Its most unique effect is always the product of coloring, refracting, obscuring and fragmenting the light. Throughout its thousand-year history stained glass was almost exclusively used in church windows. Only in the 19th century it entered in private houses, finding its real breakthrough with the Art Nouveau architects who considered natural light one of their foremost interest in quality house building.

Rue Vanderschrick 25

The architect Ernest Blérot designed a splendid corner house in Art Nouveau style, nowadays used as a bar called "Porteuse d'Eau". Applying the new concept of light in the style en vogue he integrated into the building a profusion of stained glass windows and this stunning glass dome at its centre, sustained by a massive marble column. Green and blue glass represent the oversized flowers against a bright yellow background.

Dome in Rue Vanderschrick 25

Pure Art Nouveau lines can be devised in the design of these beautiful window frames in the same building "Porteuse d'Eau" by Ernest Blérot, in the popular quarter of St. Gilles. Thanks to its present function of  bar the building can be easily accessed for due admiration. Several of these windows light the ground floor of the establishment. Its lower parts are kept in transparent glass interrupted only by curvy wooden lines while the upper parts contain this elegant stylized flower motif composed with differently textured glass. Red petals in opalesque glass encircle a white flower on a creamy background in ripple glass.

Window in Rue Vanderschrick,25

Fanlight in Rue Charles V, 58

Surprisingly, this otherwise classic façade on Rue Charles V, 58 in the European quarter shows a huge two-floor staircase window with a precious Art Nouveau design. The image presented here is the small fanlight over the entrance. Stylized flowers in lively green and delicate mauve shades, cut from opalescent glass, are set against a squared backdrop in ripple glass. The round yellow pieces are cut from bottoms of bottles. This masterly handling of different glass qualities indicate great skill of the anonymous glass master making the window particularly attractive.  

Fanlight in Rue CharlesV,58

Maison Frison

Victor Horta, the prodigious Art Nouveau architect, created a highly innovative dwelling in Rue Lebeau 25, next to Sablon, in Brussels for the Frison family. The condition of a typical narrow but deep building site induced him to devise a plan with new sources of light. Here he connected the front of the house with the back garden by a curbed glass roof. An iron structure elaborated in beautiful curves, reminiscent of stylized trees, sustain the glassed roof.  Simple transparent glass squares are bordered by a highly attractive curvy design in bright yellow while the centre displays one single tree-like image with a roundish crown.  Most stained glass works are anonymous but this masterpiece has a signature: Raphael Evaldre. Maison Frison has been habilitated as Art Gallery and as such may provide a glimpse into the building’s interior. Horta's faculty of producing a total art work is evident also in other decorative details such as the beautiful stair landing in whiplash curves.

Galerie in Maison Frison

Rue Darwin, 15

One of the few houses where E. Blerot not only used decorative Art Nouveau elements but created an entire building according to the principles of the new style in all its concepts. A grand bow window on its lower floor decorates the façade. Its wooden frame  is marked by characteristic Art Nouveau curved lines. Transparent glass at its central section is surrounded by designs inspired in nature. Colorful lilies are sprouting from the blue of water while the upper part is dominated by a bird set against the blue sky.

Bow window in Rue Darwin 15

Maison Autrique

Victor Horta built his first house with clear ideas about the new style already in 1893, in Chaussee de Haecht 266. He opted for a relatively simple interior, due to financial restrictions of the owner, but applied already basic concepts of the new style like the harmonious combination of industrial and handmade materials or in nature inspired elements as the stair landing.
Two stained glass windows in the staircase flood the house with light. Their design show influences of japonism, a style emerging in Europe in the 19th century and very appreciated by Art Nouveau designers. The window presented here is the lower one of the two, facing the garden. Its subject is a stylized landscape with lys flowers and a fruit tree. The glass artist chose soft pastel colors for the design but enhanced the tree with a deep brown tonality. Opalesque glass with marble effect for the fruits complete this artistic panel.

Staircase window in Maison Autrique