Secrets of the workshop, Art Nouveau decoration

the Horta Museum immerses itself in the creative processes of late 19th century artists and architects. It will exhibit over 80 drawings (61 of them previously unpublished) by designers such as William Morris, Henry van de Velde, Josef Hoffmann, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The works in question, all designs for fabric or wallpaper, will be displayed as a large fresco—a kind of herbarium—of motifs and decorative ornaments. Every stage of the creative process will be illustrated, from the first pencil-stroke to the finished work. At the same time, the room originally occupied by Horta’s team of draughtsmen will be opened up permanently to the public, providing the perfect opportunity for a display of metalwork and casts, 60 in all, that give a sense both of Horta’s approach to ornament and of his method of working. Stepping into these painstakingly restored and adapted surroundings, visitors will find themselves at the very heart of the building that was creative home to the master of Art Nouveau.