Paul Hankar (11 December 1859 – 17 January 1901) was a
Belgian architect and furniture designer, and an innovator in the
Art Nouveau style.
Career
Hankar was born at
Frameries, in
Hainaut, Belgium, the son of a stonemason. He studied at the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he met fellow student (and future architect)
Victor Horta. Like Horta, he closely studied the techniques of forged
iron, which he would later use in many of his buildings. He began his career as a designer and sculptor of funeral monuments. From 1879 to 1904, he worked in the studio of the prominent architect
Henri Beyaert, a master of
eclectic and
neoclassical architecture. Through Beyaert, Hankar became an admirer of
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the French architect who advocated the use of innovative new materials such as iron and glass, while drawing from historical architecture for inspiration.[1] Under Beyaert, he was chief designer for the Palacio de Chávarri (1889) in
Bilbao, Spain, constructed for the businessman Víctor Chávarri.
He opened his own office in Brussels in 1893, and began construction of his own house, the
Hankar House, at 71, rue Defacqz/Defacqzstraat, in the
Saint-Gilles municipality of Brussels. This and Victor Horta's
Hôtel Tassel (constructed at the same time), are considered the first two houses built in the Art Nouveau style. A circa-1894 poster by his friend and frequent collaborator,
Adolphe Crespin, advertises Hankar's practice there. The Hankar House's facade expresses the building's structure—the eastern third, containing the entrance and stairs, is offset a half-story from the western two-thirds, containing the public rooms. A three-story projecting box-bay, supported on stone
corbels, provides ample light to the second and third floor rooms and a balcony for the fourth. Mural panels by Crespin appear under the windows and in an arcaded frieze at the eaves. The interplay between heavy
neo-Renaissance elements and materials versus light Art Nouveau detailing and decoration results in a vivid composition.
In 1896, he presented a project for a Cité des Artistes ("City of Artists") for the seaside town of
Westende, in
West Flanders, Belgium, an artists' cooperative with housing and studios.[2] Although the project never was realized, it would later inspire the
Darmstadt Artists' Colony in
Darmstadt, Germany, and the artists of the
Vienna Secession. For the
1897 World's Fair in Brussels, he contributed to the design of the Congo section, which became known for its full employment of the Art Nouveau. He also lectured on "New Brussels," his vision for an urban redevelopment of the city, that was never realized. Later that year, he participated in the Colonial Exposition in
Tervuren, near Brussels, where he coordinated the works of several artisans and furniture designers.
He designed a monumental stone bench (1898–99), carved by the Ecausines and Soignies quarries, to be exhibited in the Mine and Metallurgy Section of the
Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris. King
Leopold II of Belgium bought the bench at the close of the exposition, and donated it to a park in the Koninginlaan neighborhood of
Ostend, where it was installed by 1905.[3] The bench was removed in 1971 to expand a parking lot, and destroyed. Using Hankar's surviving drawings, a replica bench was carved for the park (2003–04), and installed on the same foundations as the original.[4]
During his career, he was a professor of engineering at the School of Applied Arts in
Schaerbeek (1891–97), and a professor of architectural history at the Institut des Hautes Etudes of the
University of Brussels (1897–1901). He worked as editor of L'Emulation (1894–96), a magazine that promoted the Art Nouveau style.
He died in January 1901 at the age of 41, when his work was just becoming known,[5] but his style influenced the work of younger Brussels' artists, including Paul Hamesse, Léon Sneyers, Antoine Pompe and the modernist
Victor Bourgeois.[1]
Hankar and Horta
The first Art Nouveau houses of Hankar and
Horta were completed in the same year, 1893, and the styles of the two architects were similar in several ways. They both renounced traditional historical styles, made visible use of new materials, such as glass and iron, and had as well a strong preference for arches, and for curving lines, a style sometimes called à membrures, which characterised the early work of both architects. There was a great difference, however, in their available budgets; Hankar was building homes for his artist friends, with modest budgets, while Horta had very wealthy patrons, who could afford expensive materials and larger houses. The chief feature of Horta's houses was the interior, while the focus of Hankar's houses was primarily the facade. Hankar believed that Horta's work was excessively lavish; he called it "Louis XV".[6]
Hôtel Janssens, 50 Rue Defacqz, Brussels (1898).[9]
Hôtel Kleyer, 25 Rue de Ruysbroeck, Brussels (1898).
Maison Aglave, 7 Rue Antoine Bréart, Brussels (1898).
Maison Bartholomé and its Studio, Brussels (1898, demolished).
Jean-François Willems Monument,
Place Saint-Bavon, Ghent (1899), Isidore De Rudder, sculptor. Hankar designed the pedestal.
Monumental stone bench – exhibited at the
Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris – (1898–99, demolished 1971). Replica stone bench, Koninginlaan Park,
Ostend (2003–04).[10]
Culot, Maurice; Pirlot, Anne-Marie (2005). Bruxelles Art Nouveau (in French). Brussels: Archives d'Architecture Moderne.
ISBN978-2-87143-126-8.
Sembach, Klaus-Jürgen (2013). L'Art Nouveau- L'Utopie de la Réconciliation (in French). Cologne: Taschen.
ISBN978-3-8228-3005-5.
Further reading
Charles de Maeyer, Paul Hankar, Mertens, Brussels, 1963.
Francois Loyer, Paul Hankar: La Naissance de l'Art Nouveau. Archives d'Architecture Modern a Bruxelles. 1986.
[1]Archived 23 September 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
Francois Loyer, Paul Hankar, Architecte: Dix Ans d'Art Nouveau / Ten Years of Art Nouveau. Archives d'Architecture Moderne a Bruxelles. 1991.
ISBN978-2-87-143078-0.
[2]
Francois Loyer, et al., Paul Hankar, Architecte d'Intérieur, Fondation Roi Baudouin. 2005.
ISBN978-2-87212-464-0.
[3]