| Pavilion of Human Passions | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Pavilion of Human Passions | |
| Alternative names | Horta-Lambeaux Pavilion |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | |
| Location | Parc du Cinquantenaire / Jubelpark, 1000City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°50′35.02″N4°23′14.48″E / 50.8430611°N 4.3873556°E /50.8430611; 4.3873556 |
| Current tenants | Saudi Arabia (until 2068)[1] |
| Construction started | 1892 (1892) |
| Completed | 1896 (1896) |
| Inaugurated | 1 October 1899 |
| Renovated | 2014[2] |
| Cost |
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| Renovation cost | €800,000[2] |
| Client | Belgian Government |
| Owner | Belgian Government |
| Landlord | Royal Museums of Art and History |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 20 by 15 metres (66 ft × 49 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Victor Horta |
| Other designers | Jef Lambeaux |
| Main contractor | Alphonse Balat[1] |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
ThePavilion of Human Passions (French:Pavillon des Passions humaines;Dutch:Paviljoen der Menselijke Driften), also known as theHorta-Lambeaux Pavilion, is aneoclassicalpavilion in the form of aGreek temple that was built byVictor Horta in 1896 in theParc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark ofBrussels, Belgium. Although classical in appearance, the building shows the first steps of the young Victor Horta towardsArt Nouveau. It was designed to serve as a permanent showcase for a large marblereliefThe Human Passions byJef Lambeaux.
Since its completion, the building has remained almost permanently closed. Since 2014, it is accessible during the summer time.[2]
In 1889,Victor Horta was commissioned for 100,000Belgian francs[1] to design a pavilion to houseJef Lambeaux's sculptureThe Human Passions on the recommendation of his teacherAlphonse Balat,King Leopold II's favourite architect.[3][4]
The small pavilion of classical look already announced theArt Nouveau manner associated with the architect. Although loyal to the formal vocabulary of classical architecture, Horta already managed to incorporate all elements of the new style. At first sight, the building looks like a classical temple. However, there is not a single straight line in the building.[5] Every classical detail is revisited and reinterpreted. Horta succeeded in designing an almost "organic" interpretation of the classical temple, without completely abolishing any reference to an historical style.[6] Slightly bent like the foot of a tree, the walls seem to have sprung organically. AfterWorld War I, Horta would return to this classicism in his designs for theCentre for Fine Arts and theMusée des Beaux-Arts inTournai.
The building, though, has had a turbulent history. The smallneoclassical pavilion was originally planned for the1897 Brussels International Exposition,[7] of which it is one of the few physical remnants. Although completed in time for the fair, the collaboration between the architect and the artist soon led to an irreconcilable disagreement delaying its official opening until 1899. At first, Horta designed the pavilion's façade to be open, serving as a shelter on rainy days — without the wall and bronze doors behind the colonnade — so that the relief would always be visible for passers-by. But Lambeaux, against Horta's will, wanted a gallery wall behind the columns. The dispute remain unsolved for years: on the inauguration day on 1 October 1899, the unfinished temple stood open with the relief visible from the surrounding park. Under pressure of public opinion and the authorities, Horta had to alter his plans and close the temple with a wooden barricade, and it was left unfinished only three days after inauguration.[8]
Lambeaux never knew the pavilion as it currently stands. Shortly after Lambeaux's death, Horta acceded to his wishes by building the wall that would permanently hide the bas-relief with a closed front to enhance the natural light coming through the glass roof.
In 1967, the building was given inleasehold for 99 years by KingBaudouin to KingFaisal ibn Abd al-Aziz ofSaudi Arabia, on an official visit to Belgium, together with the East Pavilion of the 1880 National Exhibition that would later become theGreat Mosque of Brussels, to house a museum of Islamic art.[notes 1][9] The building and the relief were protected by a royal decree on 18 November 1976. Two years later, the donation to KingKhaled of Saudi Arabia was made official by the royal decree of 12 September 1979.
TheSaudi Government eventually gave its operation back to theRoyal Museums of Art and History.[1] The pavilion remained closed to the public except on occasional open days.[5][10] Since 2002, the pavilion is open one hour per day, except on Mondays.[11] In recent years, this was not due to the public's prudishness, but out of fear for vandalism.[10]
The building was left unattended for more than a century, and by the early 21st century, it required urgent renovation works. In 2008, theBelgian Government officially started contracting out the renovation works by publishing two Government procurements in theBelgian official journal.[12][13] The restoration Jef Lambeaux's work should follow.[11]
Renovation works of the building began in May 2013 and were completed in 2014 for a total cost of €800,000 financed byBeliris. The renovation of the relief itself was finished in 2015.[2]
The Horta pavilion houses the monumental achievement of the sculptorJef Lambeaux (1852–1908):The Human Passions relief. The draft on paper was presented at the Triennial Salon of Ghent in 1889, creating immediately a big commotion. The journalL'Art Moderne in 1890 described the work as:
(…) a pile of naked and contorted bodies, muscled wrestlers in delirium, an absolute and incomparable childish concept. It is at once chaotic and vague, bloated and pretentious, pompous and empty. (…) And what if, instead of paying for 300,000francs of "passions", the Government simply bought works of art?[14]
Commissioned in 1890 by King Leopold II for 136,000 francs,[1] the 12 by 8 metres (39 ft × 26 ft) work was centered around the theme of mankind's happiness and sins dominated by death.[6] It also depicted mankind's "negative" passions, such as war, rape and suicide.
The relief had been very controversial ever since the project's presentation in 1886. Although enthusiastic at the beginning, art critics especially regret the work's lack of cohesion.[6] Despite the controversy, the Belgian State acquired the work in 1890 for installation in theCinquantenaire.[6] Werner Adriaenssens is also inclined to deny the work mythical status:[5]
Sure it is large, as Lambeaux intended, but hardly a masterpiece. The relief consists of separate groups rather than forming a whole. Unfortunately Lambeaux never explained his intentions. Even the title is not his.
On 1 October 1899,[6] Horta's pavilion was officially inaugurated and the work revealed to the public. The unveiled way in which Lambeaux depicted the male and female nude was highly debated in the press. The relief depicting uninhibited nudes in any manner of carnal delights caused scandal. Nudity was not the only problem: the representation of the crucified Christ below Death outraged conservative Belgium.[15] The open building was concealed from public view with a wooden barricade only three days after its first public presentation. Finally, the Government responded to the criticisms by asking Horta to close the front of the building with durable materials in 1906.[9] The front wall came in 1909. The building finally reopened in 1910, without an official opening, and remains unfinished.
The Belgian State ordered a plaster copy of Lambeaux's relief for its display in severalWorld's fairs.[16] The copy is today on display at theFine Arts Museum of Ghent, Belgium.[17] A fragment of the work won in 1900 a medal of honour at theWorld's fair of Paris.
![At the time as well as much later, the sculpture was deemed indecent.[citation needed]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aThe_Human_Passions_(Happiness)_-_Jef_Lambeaux.jpg)
Before the Government finally took over the building, it was owned bySaudi Arabia (a gift from KingBaudouin).
(…) There we had got to know (…) Joseph Lambeaux, a sculptor who was famous at the time. (…) When Joseph Lambeaux had completed his enormous work in high relief entitled "Passions Humaines" KingLeopold wanted to see it and came to Lambeaux's studio. Observing that the crucified Christ was placed lower than Death, which reigned over everyone, he asked the sculptor to make the necessary adjustment and place Christ above Death. But Joseph said modestly,"Your Highness, that is how I see and feel it. I cannot alter it." Nor did he. He was something of an excentric. (…)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)A 'shocking' sculpture which has been kept behind locked doors for more than a century is finally on view in the Parc du Cinquantenaire. Jef Lambeaux's marble relief of Les Passions Humaines — carved in 1899 for a neo-classical temple built by the young Victor Horta — outraged conservative Belgium when it was unveiled and the building was closed to the public after just two days.
Media related toPavilion of Human Passions at Wikimedia CommonsConstituent museums of theRoyal Museums of Art and History (Belgium) | ||
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1 Formerly the Cinquantenaire Museum. | ||
