The Centre for Fine Arts (, ; , ) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in the Royal Quarter of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or by its initials PSK in Dutch. This multidisciplinary space was designed to bring together a wide range of artistic events, whether music, visual arts, theatre, dance, literature, cinema or architecture. The building housing the Centre for Fine Arts was designed by the architect Victor Horta in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, and completed in 1929 at the instigation of the

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Henry Le Bœuf. It includes exhibition and conference rooms, a cinema and a concert hall, which serves as home to the Belgian National Orchestra (BNO). It is located at 23, /, between the and the headquarters of BNP Paribas Fortis, and across the street from the . This site is served by

Brussels-Central railway station Brussels-Central railway station (; ) is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, Belgium. It is the second busiest railway station in Belgium and one of three principal railway stations in Brussels, together with Brussels-South and ...

and Parc/Park metro station on lines 1 and 5 of the

Brussels Metro The Brussels Metro ( ; ) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three '' premetro'' lines. The metro-grade lines are M1, M2, M5, and M6 wi ...

History

Construction (1923–1929)

Victor Horta began designing the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in a more geometric classical style than his earlier works, influenced by

. The Belgian Parliament initially denied funding for the plans. With the founding of the ''Société du Palais des Beaux-Arts'' in 1922, the project was revived. Construction started in 1923, albeit with several restrictions: the Brussels authorities supplied a very irregular area on the slope between the city's upper and the lower part, the main façade had to house shopping facilities, and the height of the building was restricted so as not to compromise the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

's view of Brussels' skyline from the Royal Palace.Wonderful Concert Halls in Europe
Echo, Neils Le Large The building was originally intended to be built of stone, but Horta made a new plan of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

with a steel frame. He had intended the concrete to be left exposed in the interior, but the final appearance did not meet his expectations, and he had it covered. It took more than a decade to complete the complex, which contains a large concert hall—the Henry Le Bœuf Hall—in an unusual ovoid, or egg shape. It is accompanied by a recital room, a

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

room, lecture rooms, and a vast gallery for temporary exhibitions. He managed to put together this array of different functions on a rather small building plot with restricted conditions using more than eight building levels with a large part situated underground.

Contemporary (2000–present)

Since 2002, the Belgian federal intuition has chosen the brand name ''BOZAR'', which has eight artistic departments: ''BOZAR Expo'', ''BOZAR Music'', ''BOZAR Cinema'', ''BOZAR Dance'', ''BOZAR Theatre'', ''BOZAR Literature'', ''BOZAR Studios'' and ''BOZAR Architecture''. ''BOZAR'' is home to the

National Orchestra of Belgium The Belgian National Orchestra (, ) is a Belgian orchestra, based in Brussels. Its principal concert venue is the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR). The orchestra also gives concerts outside Brussels in such cities as Sankt-Vith and Hasselt. ...

, the /, which invites the world's major orchestras and performers to appear at the Henry Le Bœuf Hall. The finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for classical singers and instrumentalists, one of the most challenging and prestigious competitions of the kind, are also held there. Up to ten exhibitions a year are organised at ''BOZAR'', and have included

Jeff Wall Jeffrey Wall, Order of Canada, OC, Royal Society of Canada, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian photographer. He is artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he h ...

, Luc Tuymans,

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

, Lucas Cranach,

Gilbert & George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942) are artists who work together as the collaborative art duo Gilbert & George. They are known for their formal appearance ...

, Wim Delvoye, Venetian, Flemish Masters,

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

and "It's not only rock'n'roll Baby".

Directors

* Robert, 7th Duke d'Ursel, President of the Centre for Fine Arts * 1974–1986 Karel Geirlandt, Director-General of exhibitions of the Centre for Fine Arts * 1998–2021: Etienne Davignon, President of the Centre for Fine Arts * 2002–2021: Paul Dujardin, Director-General of ''BOZAR'' * 15 October 2021–29 May 2022: Sophie Lauwers, Director-General of ''BOZAR'' for a brief period of seven months * 1 February 2023–ongoing
Christophe Slagmuylder
Director-General of ''BOZAR''

Facilities

* Henry Le Bœuf Hall, with seating capacity for 2,200 * Chamber Music Room, with seating capacity for 476 * Victor Horta Hall (Great Sculpture Hall) * Studio Recital Hall, with seating capacity for 210 * Terarken Hall, a multi-purpose hall * Exhibition rooms

Gallery

File:Bozar 02.JPG, Vestibule File:Brussel Bozar Grote zaal Henry Le Boeuf 29-01-2019.jpg, Henry Le Bœuf Hall File:Brussels Bozar exhibition room.jpg, Exhibition hall File:Bozar 29-01-2019 13-40-10.jpg, Interior File:New year's event 2018 in BOZAR (14).jpg, Window

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Centre For Fine Arts, Brussels Museums in Brussels Concert halls in Brussels City of Brussels Culture in Brussels Art Deco architecture in Belgium Victor Horta buildings Event venues established in 1928 Buildings and structures completed in 1928 1928 establishments in Belgium