The Art Of Living In Brussels

An exclusive private itinerary leads the reader to the discovery of the refined style that characterises the places where life is lived in Brussels today. The Art of Living in Brussels reveals different facets of Belgium's capital and highlights the surprising mixture of classicism and contemporary style, of magnificence and minimalism that distinguish this cosmopolitan European city awarded UNESCO world heritage status owing to the stately architecture of Grande Place, heart of the metropolis. The city is renowned for its blend of gothic art, art nouveau and art deco, as well as for its medieval architecture, in a miscellany of different aesthetics where the splendid sixteenth and seventeenth century Flemish and Walloon mansions complement the delicate, almost mystic art nouveau style, whose extraordinary forerunner, Victor Horta, is a native son of Brussels. Author Fiametta d'Aremberg Frescobaldi offers a novel journey that takes the reader through some thirty homes designed by famous names and located in different areas of the city and its environs. Thus we are privy to the living quarters of passionate art collectors, seeing with our own eyes that the taste and personal history of those dwelling there is in perfect keeping with the distinguishing spirit of the capital: a passion for art. Shown for the first time ever, these exclusive places are captured in lovely pictures by photographer Jean Pierre Gabriel, who interprets them in a way that reflects their refined taste. Designers and artists featured include: Axel Vervoordt, Michael Borremans, Jan Fabre, Christine Bekaert, Anatoly Stolnikoff, Christophe Decarpentrie, Edouard Vermeulen, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Adrien Blomme, Marc Corbiau and Bataille and Ibens. ILLUSTRATIONS: 250 colour

This elegant book offers an inside look at the art, decoration, and architecture behind the ornate interiors and magnificent gardens of Brussels, Belgium. 278 color illustrations.

* A stunning book of the art collections in the most exclusive homes in Belgium by Fiammetta d'Arenberg Frescobaldi, author of The Art of Living in Brussels, with photography by noted photographer Jean-Pierre Gabriel* An exclusive tour of the private homes of notable artists, entrepreneurs, and royalty* The gardens of the royal Belgian residence, Belvédère Castle, have been photographed here for the first timeArtists, art collectors, entrepreneurs, even King Albert II and Queen Paola, welcome you into their homes with an exclusive invitation to see their art-filled, unique interiors and gardens. Author Fiammetta d'Arenberg Frescobaldi and photographer Jean-Pierre Gabriel take you to into places that are normally hidden from outsiders behind high hedges and closed doors. The owner's collections are highlighted with stunning photographs that illustrate the way their artwork resonates with the home's architecture and interior design. Peek over the fence of the royal residence, the Belvédère Castle, and look inside the houses of Jan Fabre, Gérald Watelet, Isabelle Werner de Borchgrave, Boris Vervoordt, Gert Voorjans, Sybille de Spoelbergh, and many others.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Brussels covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Brussels.

Looking at suburbs as places of creativity gives rise to novel and thought-provoking narratives that typically run counter to the idea that suburbs are sites of "ordinary," "mundane," and "everyday" practices. Far from being geographies of "nowhere" – dull, materialistic, and monotone – suburbs are unpacked as being heterogeneous and historically layered places of living, work, and creation. Situating creativity in place and time, Creativity from Suburban Nowheres displaces mainstream understandings of creativity and widespread stereotypes commonly associated with the suburbs. Contributors explore the particular forms of creativity that suburbs elicit both in the process of their making, materialization, and community construction, and in the myriad ways in which suburbs are inhabited and experienced. They highlight accounts of suburbs as places that give people the space and latitude to shape individual and collective identities through creative practices at odds with mainstream culture, and often remote from the classic agglomeration "assets" associated with inner cities. Anchored in historical and geographical research, this volume highlights how and in what forms creativity should be understood in the suburbs, why and when creativity can be found, and how the notion of suburban creativity overthrows ingrained and dominant normative viewpoints. Rather than seeing creativity arise despite its suburban location, Creativity from Suburban Nowheres illuminates the emancipatory potential of suburbs for creativity.

Focusing on Belgium from the mid-nineteenth century until the First World War, Vleugels presents a study of the drunkard in society.

In this first comprehensive full length study in English on the art of Jan Brueghel the Elder, Leopoldine Prosperetti discloses the nature of the philosophical culture of Antwerp at the time, show its importance in the lives of cultivated citizens, and reveals the patterns of thought and visual stratagems by which his landscapes underwrite the pursuit of wisdom. The book presents a new model for the interpretation of a range of visual genres, including various types of landscape, that were popular in the Antwerp picture trade.