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Josef Hoffmann's unknown masterpiece: the garden of Stoclet House in Brussels (1905–1911)

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14601176.2010.485733

1943-2186

Anette Freytag,

French Literature and Poetry

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgements The German text was translated by Monika Streissler, Vienna. The author gratefully acknowledges that 'Österreichisches Kulturforum' in Brussels financed this translation project. It is also gratefully acknowledged that the representatives of the Stoclet family in Brussels provided the author with colored photographs of the garden that were taken in July 2009 and gave their permission to publish them for the first time. However, the publication of these photographs would not have been possible without Guy Hoeberechts and without the financial support of the Gallery Yves Macaux in Brussels, the Österreichisch-Schweizerische Kulturgesellschaft in Zurich. Grandchildren of Adolphe and Suzanne provided unpublished photographs from the time when the ensemble came into being. The author also wishes to thank Eduard F. Sekler and Mary Patricia Sekler for their feedback and encouragement and Professor Christophe Girot at the ETH Zürich for his open-minded support of all her research work. ETH Zürich Notes 1. Motto of the periodical Kunst, founded by Peter Altenberg. Quoted from Carl E. Schorske, Fin-de-Siècle Vienna. Politics and Culture (New York: Knopf, 1980), p. 306. 2. Subject to the restriction that the Stoclets' art collection was divided up among their heirs and is no longer in situ. The layout of the reception rooms and many of the furnishings crafted by members of the Wiener Werkstätte, such as pedestals, plinths, frames or showcases, were designed specifically for that art collection. 3. Quoted from Jacqueline du Pasquier, 'Adolf Loos' in Patrimoine et Arts Contemporains, Séminaire Histoire des Arts, Semaine Culturelle de l'Académie de Bordeaux (Mollat-Bordeaux), 23–27 October 1995, pp. 45–50, here p. 46. For this reference I am grateful to Stéphane Duquesne. 4. Postcard by Gustav Klimt to Emilie Floege, Brussels, 18 May 1914, Handschriftensammlung der ÖNB (Autograph Collection of the Austrian National Library), Inv. no. 959/50. 5. Quoted from 'L'Excursion des Architectes belges du 22 septembre', Tekhne, 2/79 (1912), pp. 801–802, here p. 801. 6. The major literary sources for the garden continue to be the following: (a) the report of A. S. Levetus, 'Das Stoclethaus zu Brüssel von Architekt Josef Hoffmann', Moderne Bauformen, 1 (1914), pp. 1–34. The text is illustrated by numerous black-and-white photographs of the garden and a plan of the garden drawn ex post. (b) In 1967 Eduard F. Sekler published the most important work on the Stoclet House. As his interest centers on the architecture of the ensemble his remarks on the garden are comparatively brief, but he covered the garden's important architectural features. See Eduard F. Sekler, 'The Stoclet House by Josef Hoffmann' in Essays in the History of Architecture presented to Rudolf Wittkower (London: Phaidon Press, 1967), pp. 228–244 (on the garden see especially p. 231f), and (c) Eduard F. Sekler, Josef Hoffmann, Das architektonische Werk (Salzburg: Residenz Verlag, 1982); for the Stoclet garden see pp. 85–89 and p. 303 (text and illustrations). An English translation of this book is in preparation and will be published in 2010. 7. See the unpublished study: Anette Freytag, Le Jardin Stoclet crée par Josef Hoffmann et la Wiener Werkstätte, 1905–1911. Etude historique pour la Direction des Monuments et Sites, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale (2 volumes finished in 2004). The results of this study are presented in this essay. They are complemented by an in-depth study of the site that was made possible in 2007 and revealed important details on the relation between the garden and the house and the role of time, movement and light in Hoffmann's architecture. Furthermore, research work on the stylistic principles in the gardens by which Hoffmann was influenced has been undertaken for this essay. Conceptional research work regarding the owners and the interior design has already been partly published before in the exhibition catalogue: Yearning for Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House, ed. Peter Noever, Paul Dujardin et al. (Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2006). See Anette Freytag, 'Close to Paradise. The Stoclet House: Masterpiece of the Wiener Werkstätte, pp. 360–374; and 'Above all, it was the proportions that excited me'. Anette Freytag in conversation with Marc Hotermans, pp. 379–381. The current essay focuses again on the garden and presents a synthesis of the former research work. 8. See the Bibliography compiled by Anette Freytag and Amélie Dehoux and presented by the date of appearance in the exhibition catalogue: Yearning for Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House, ed. Peter Noever, Paul Dujardin et al. (Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2006), pp. 406f. 9. See 'Allocution de Monsieur Jacques Stoclet, séance académique du 4 octobre 1955 en hommage au professeur Jozef [sic] Hoffmann et à la mémoire de Monsieur Stoclet', p. 2, typescript in the collection of the Academy (now: University) of Applied Arts, Vienna, Inv. No. 4437/Aut/1a. 10. See Lucien Solvay, 'Stevens (Arthur-Philippe-Louis-Léopold-Victor-Gishlain)' in Biographie Nationale (ed. Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique), Vol. XXIII, Brussels: E´ditions E´mile Bruylant, 1921–24, pp. 850–854. For the history of this 'artistic family' see also Claude Arthaud, 500 ans d'art contemporaine XVe–XXe. Les Stevens, Stoclet, Mallet-Stevens, Hébert-Stevens, Arthaud (Paris: E´ditions Arthaud, 2003). 11. This may be seen from J. P. van Goidsenhoven, ed., Collection Adolphe Stoclet. Choix d'oeuvres appartenent à Madame Féron-Stoclet, 2 vols (Brussels: J. P. van Goidsenhoven, 1956). 12. See Georges A. Salles in the foreword to Collection Adolphe Stoclet (as in note 11), here pp. vii–viii. 13. The Wiener Werkstätte condemned the industrial production of interior furnishings and the lamentable working conditions of industrial laborers. It wanted to improve the lives of its clients by providing them with handsome and high-quality objects for everyday use. Art was to permeate all walks of life. Thus Hofmann and the Wiener Werkstätte designed not only the reception rooms and the family's living quarters of Stoclet House but also the kitchen and servants' quarters and — naturally — the garden. See Wiener Werkstätte Arbeitsprogramm 1905, Reprint MAK Vienna 2003/2004 for 'Der Preis der Schönheit. Zum 100. Geburtstag der Wiener Werkstätte', Vienna, 10 December 2003 to 7 March 2004. 14. As to the biographies of Victor and Adolphe Stoclet see Ginette Kurgan-van Hentrijk et al., eds, Dictionnaire des Patrons en Belgique (Brussels: De Boeck universite´, 1996), p. 565f. 15. The engineer and banker worked for the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Vienne–Aspang, presided over by his father. At the same time Adolphe Stoclet acted as an administrative counselor in the Vienna Lombard und Escompt Bank. See: Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv, registration forms 'Adolphe Stoclet'. 16. On the Hohe Warte site originally selected for the Stoclets Hoffmann built Villa Ast in 1909–1911. See Sekler 1967 (as in note 6), p. 236. 17. Letter from Adolphe Stoclet to Philippe Wolfers, Vienna, 8 May 1904. Private collection in Brussels. I am grateful to Werner Adriaenssens for informing me of the existence of these letters. Adolphe Stoclet was to become the most successful member of his family. In the course of his life he became administrative counselor of about 40 different companies, and his activities went far beyond the core business of the bank, viz. railroads and the steel industry. (See: Ginette Kurgan-van Hentrijk, ed. (as in note 14), p. 566. 18. Dossier 'Palais Stoclet', Direction des Monuments et Sites, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale. 19. Dossier 1906/359 '303, avenue de Tervuren', Service de l'Urbanisme, Commune Woluwe-Saint Pierre, plan ground floor and elevation street façade. Additional plans were submitted on 12 May and 15 May 1906. 20. Originally, the servants' wing adjoined the terrace of the neighboring house; therefore Hoffmann bounded the building at the western end by a wall on top of which he put trellises, with semicircular openings and a narrow roof, between upright piers. This construction was an extension of the loggia with piers on top of the servants' wing over the driveway to the garage. In 1954 Adolphe Stoclet's son bought the adjacent property and had the house on it pulled down. (See cataster plan and register, Dossier 'Palais Stoclet', Direction des Monuments et Sites, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale, as in note 19). Thus, today Palais Stoclet appears as a 'maison quatre façades', i.e. free-standing, on Avenue Tervuren. 21. See Josef Hoffmann 'Selbstbiographie' (published posthumously), Ver Sacrum. Neue Hefte für Kunst und Literatur, 1972, pp. 105–123, here p. 116. 22. These measurements are indicated in the 'Elevation et coupe; mur de cloîture avec pourtour rez-de-chaussée', 12 May 1905 (as in note 19). 23. As to the ground plan of Palais Stoclet see Sekler 1967 (as in note 6), p. 229. 24. Today, Avenue de Tervuren is a four-lane boulevard going straight across the oval (Square Léopold II). The street that takes one to Palais Stoclet is a side-lane today. 25. This was remarked upon by Alessandra Muntoni, Il Palazzo di Stoclet di Josef Hoffmann 1905–1911 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1989), p. 139. 26. See 'Moderne Kunst' in Hohe Warte, 2/3 (1905–1906), pp. 68–70, here p. 70. 27. The Direction des Monuments et Sites, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale, has confirmed that there are documents referring to a purchase of additional ground after 8 April 1905. These documents are not in the public domain, however. Alessandra Muntoni has published (illegally) an extract of the plan, in which the additions are documented without the date of purchase. According to that plan, the site was enlarged in 1910. See Muntoni (as in note 25), here p. 82f. 28. Published by Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 77. 29. See Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 78. Sekler refers to the measurements/dimensions of the hall on the first floor, where this square module is repeated three times and thus determines the size/volume of this entire floor. 30. See the early sketch of the ground plan published by Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 77. 31. Extrait de la matrice catastrale, no. 12646, reg. 436, 12 September 1974 (Dossier Palais Stoclet DMS, as in note 18). 32. The architect Robert Mallet-Stevens noted that already in 1924: 'Grâce au judicieux tracé adopté, ce jardin de dimensions moyennes donne l'illusion d'un vaste parc'. Quoted from 'Hotel particulier à Bruxelles. Josef Hoffmann architecte' in L'Architecte, N.S., 1/3 (1924), pp. 21–24; here p. 23. 33. According to the measurements as documented in 1983/84 by the team of Professor Hnizdo (University of Applied Arts, Vienna), for the purpose of constructing a model. A copy of the plans is held in the archives of the Direction des Monuments et Sites, Région Bruxelles-Capitale. The pergola above the southern edge of the servants' wing is 2.5 m high. I think that originally the hedges were as high as the servants' wing so that the pergola above it would still be visible, for its design is related to that of the pavilion below, which is situated on its very axis. Today the hedges partly conceal this pergola; they have grown to a height of seven meters. 34. Cf. Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 88. 35. See Sekler 1967 (as in note 6), p. 232. Sekler is one of the few historians of architecture who have actually entered the house in this way and has given a description of it. Today the location is inaccessible. The viewing visitors enter the house by the entrance at the backyard; therefore I use Sekler's description. 36. Idem, p. 232f. 37. Idem, p. 235. 38. Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 89. Peter Behrens writes: 'On my visit I received my strongest impression of the house from this hall, and had a feeling that one must not speak too loudly within its walls'. Quoted from Peter Behrens, 'The work of Josef Hoffmann' in Architecture 1923, pp. 589–599, here p. 594. 39. Eduard F. Sekler, 'Das Palais Stoclet in Brüssel', Alte und Moderne Kunst, 15/113 (1970), pp. 329–348, here p. 339. 40. Maria Auböck, 'Zur Gartenarchitektur der Otto-Wagner-Schule und ihrer Zeit', Die Gartenkunst, 7/2 (1995), pp. 291–297, here p. 294. 41. Sekler 1970 (as in note 39), p. 41. Sekler names Ruskin and Morris as 'intellectual' models, Ashbee and Mackintosh as 'practical' models. Sekler considers Mackintosh's design for the 'house of an art lover' of 1901 as the proximate model for the design of Palais Stoclet (cf. Sekler, 1970, p. 42, illus. 30, 31). 42. See Gertrude Jekyll and Lawrence Weaver, Arts & Crafts Gardens. Gardens for Small Country Houses, 1981 (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Garden Art Press, 1981 (first published by Country Life, 1912), here p. 13f. The watercolors and plans published here show quite clearly how far Josef Hoffmann had left his models behind. 43. It is a special feature of baroque gardens that spaces should first appear as 'folded up': the viewer's gaze is directed onto some attractive sight, but it will take him much longer to get there than expected — built-in detours heighten the tension, and on the way one always finds new attractions. The distance to one's goal is subjectively lengthened. Instances of this can also be found in the Stoclet garden. 44. With the exception of a few wicker chairs all these elements are still extant. They are no longer placed in the garden, however, for conservational reasons and also because the house is no longer in full use. 45. The sculptures and the marble relief are also stored in the house, for conservational reasons. 46. Joseph Maria Olbrich, 'Der Farbengarten', quoted from Hohe Warte, 2 (1905/06), pp. 184–189; here p. 187. 47. Joseph August Lux, Die schöne Gartenkunst (Esslingen: Neff (Schreiber), 1907), here p. 61. Lux's book of 1907 contained his ideas for reforming garden art and architecture; those ideas had first seen the light as articles in Hohe Warte, ever since 1904. In the 1907 edition of his book, Lux discusses various models for the 'new' garden: Arts-and-Crafts gardens on pp. 24–26, Biedermeier gardens on p. 36f. and baroque gardens on p. 53f. 48. For example in the gardens by Franz Lebisch, one of Hoffmann's pupils, whose perspective drawings of 'architectural' gardens may have been an inspiration to Hoffmann. Joseph August Lux illustrated his programmatic essays on the new garden architecture with perspective drawings by Lebisch, and Lebisch himself wrote an essay on the architectural garden in 1908, illustrating it with his own designs, which show a certain similarity to the Stoclet garden. See Franz Lebisch, 'Der architektonische Garten', Erdgeist, 3/2 (1908), pp. 46–49. As to Lebisch cf. Géza Hajós, 'Gartenarchitektur des Jugendstils und der Zwischenkriegszeit', Die Gartenkunst, 7/2 (1995), pp. 177–181. 49. The actual shape of the wire scaffolds is hard to describe. They are not proper cylinders, but show a certain entasis and have rounded, cap-like tops. 50. See André Véra, Le Nouveau Jardin (Paris: Emile Paul, 1912), p. 131f. Max Laeuger designed the parterres of his rose garden in the Jubilee Horticultural Show in Mannheim in the same manner. Cf. Gärten von Max Laeuger. Ausstellung Mannheim (Munich: Bruckmann, n.d. [1907] ). For the reference to Véra I am grateful to Holger Schröder, for the reference to Laeuger I thank Sibylle Hoiman. 51. Apart from the roses there are also red geraniums in the vases on the terrace and in some of the plant pots, surrounding the box globes or yew cones. Most probably, those were not intended by Hoffmann. 52. Nowadays replaced by hydrangeas. 53. Sekler still saw glass panes in the panels on the front wall. Cf. Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), p. 303. In the meantime, the pavilion has been renovated. 54. Most of the windows, e.g. of Stoclet House, are double windows. The duplication of the wooden grilles on the glass panes has a nicely rhythmic effect. 55. It was Muntoni who first pointed out the relation between pavilion and pergola. Cf. Muntoni 1989 (as in note 25), p. 135. 56. In his prize-awarded show garden for the garden exhibition 'Villengarten-Konkurrenz', Titus Wotzy also placed the utilitarian parts of the garden, in front of the servants' rooms and the ornamental parts in front of the representative rooms of the villa. See: Österreichische Garten-Zeitung, 2 (1907), pp. 298–308; here p. 305. 57. This may be seen in photographs of the garden taken by Sekler in 1982, of which I was kindly permitted to see the contact prints. The statue by Minne is 83 cm high and was exhibited in Brussels in 2006. See Yearning for Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House, 2006 (as in note 8), p. 441: Cat. No. ST13. 58. Ibid., p. 397: colored photograph of the wooden model for the Diana relief by Czeschka (Cat. No. ST 49). As Diana is the goddess of the hunt, I suppose that this relief was originally placed in a part of the garden with deciduous trees in it and farther away from the house. 59. Nowadays these are accompanied by narrow herbaceous borders, not in the original plans. 60. In 2007 the exedra was destroyed by a storm. It will be rebuilt according to its original state. 61. Information given to me by Professor Franz Hnizdo, with reference to a conversation he had with Madame Anna Stoclet in 1983 or 1984 when he took the measurements of the house in order to build a model of it. 62. According to the building regulations of Brussels 12 meters is the distance that a free-standing building must be from the street. 63. As in note 18 (cataster plan and register, Dossier 'Palais Stoclet', Direction des Monuments et Sites, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale). 64. On the eastern façade of the house there is the statue of the Indian elephant-headed deity Ganesha, who is to be invoked before starting out on any venture as he helps the faithful to master difficulties. He is the god of wealth, protector of traders and artists. In the front garden one encounters a Romanesque sculpture of a lion, with a ram in its paws and a small upright figure on its back that balances a vase on its head (originally, this vase contained a small myrtle-tree). The lion stands for power, wisdom and justice. The main entrance is watched over by Powolny's statue of Pallas Athena on its roof. Endowed with helmet, lance and shield she is the protectress of the arts and sciences, and every visitor must pass underneath her. Note that Athena sort of hides her shield from the incoming visitor by holding it behind her back. Legend has it, that her shield shows the head of Medusa, the sight of which unfailingly kills. On the western boundary of the site, next to the driveway, an obelisk has been placed. Obelisks hail from Egypt and mark sacred places. Their high-rising tips are intended to be the first and the last spots to catch the rays of the sun. 65. Usually, Heracles appears as one figure, not as a foursome, as on the Stoclet tower. But the stylized lion cap and the cornucopias are in my view indications that the figures represent Hercules. Compare the legend in: Robin Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (London/New York: Routledge, 2004), p. 279f. 66. René Brion; Jean-Louis Moreau, A Flutter of Banknotes. From the First European Money to the Euro (Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 2001). 67. Sekler was the first to notice that; cf. Sekler 1967 (as in note 6), p. 231. 68. See Michel Czenave, ed., Encyclopédie des Symboles (Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1996), p. 282. 69. For a further interpretation of the mosaics see: Alice Strobl, 'Klimts Fries für den Speisesaal des Palais Stoclet in Brüssel', in Friedrich Kurrent and Alice Strobl, eds, Das Palais Stoclet in Brüssel von Josef Hoffmann mit dem berühmten Fries von Gustav Klimt (Salzburg: Residenz Verlag, 1991), pp. 65–90. 70. Friedrich Kurrent, 'Das Palais Stoclet — Der Schrein von Brüssel', in Friedrich Kurrent and Alice Strobl, eds, Das Palais Stoclet in Brüssel von Josef Hoffmann mit dem berühmten Fries von Gustav Klimt (Salzburg, 1991), p. 22. 71. See Ilona Hofer-Marzona, Die Hausgärten des Jugendstils in Deutschland und Österreich (unpublished master's thesis, University of Agriculture, Vienna, 1997). 72. Ibid, illus. on p. 163. 73. In 'Jubiläums-Ausstellung in Mannheim 1907', Hohe Warte 1906/07, p. 125. 74. Cf. Dekorative Kunst 1904/05, p. 390. Quoted from Hofer-Marzona 1997 (as in note 71), p. 44. 75. Kirsten Eickhoff-Weber, 'Ein Garten von H. van de Velde und L. Migge: Hohenhof, Hagen', Die Gartenkunst 1/1 (1989), pp. 79–90. 76. Karl Ernst Osthaus, 'Die Gartenvorstadt an der Donnerkuhle', Jahrbuch des deutschen Werkbundes, 1912, pp. 93–97, illus. 25, 26. Quoted from Eickhoff-Weber 1989 (as in note 75), p. 99. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid., p. 84. 79. Ibid., p. 86. 80. Letter from Osthaus to Migge, 16 February 1914, quoted from Eickhoff-Weber 1989 (as in note 75), p. 99. 81. See the opinions on Stoclet House expressed in: 'L'Excursion des Architectes belges du 22 septembre', Tekhne, 2/79 (1912), pp. 801–802, here p. 802. 82. Jos Vandenbreeden, 'Le palais Stoclet: une révolution en architecture', Maisons d'hier et d'aujourdhui, 128 (2000), pp. 16–23. 83. For this piece of information (personal communication, 24 February 2004) I am grateful to the garden architect Willem Beerens whose father Pierre Beerens, a gardener at the Pepinière Buyssens in Uccle, actually worked in the Stoclet garden. Regrettably, the Buyssens archives are no longer in existence, therefore it cannot be ascertained whether this nursery supplied the plants for the garden. 84. van Billoen, 'Le Nouveau Jardin Pittoresque — Association Nationale pour la Rénovation dans l'Art des Jardins', in Le Nouveau Jardin Pittoresque, 1/2 (1913), pp. 4–20, here p. 5. 85. See Archives d'Architecture Moderne (AAM), ed., Rob Mallet-Stevens. Architecte, Brussels: E´ditions des AAM, 1980. Exh.cat. Robert Mallet-Stevens. L'oeuvre complète (Paris: E´ditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, 2005). 86. See Sekler 1982 (as in note 6), pp. 332–336. 87. The path-breaking (though unpublished) work on the garden of Villa Primavesi is: Maria Auböck, Villa Skywa-Primavesi. Denkmalpflegerisches Gartenkonzept (Vienna, 1997). I am grateful to Professor Auböck for letting me have a look into her study.