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| 2878 Stoclet Palace in Brussels |
The Stoclet Palace is a mansion in the Woluwe-Saint-Pierre area of Brussels, built between 1905 and 1911. When banker and art collector Adolphe Stoclet commissioned this house from one of the leading architects of the Vienna Secession movement, Josef Hoffmann, he imposed neither aesthetic nor financial restrictions on the project. The result was Hoffman's masterpiece, one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the 20th century, which austere geometry marked a turning point in Art Nouveau, foreshadowing Art Deco and the Modern Movement in architecture.
Its decoration was the work of a very large number of artists from the Wiener Werkstätte, including Koloman Moser, Gustav Klimt, Franz Metzner, Richard Luksch, and Michael Powolny, embodying the aspiration of creating a "total work of art" (Gesamtkunstwerk). The house is still occupied by the Stoclet family and retains a high level of integrity, both externally and internally as it retains most of its original fixtures and furnishings.
The starkness of the exterior is softened by artistic windows, which break through the line of the eaves, the rooftop conservatory and bronze sculptures of four nude males by Franz Metzner. Regimented upright balustrades line the balconies, touched with Art Nouveau ornamentation. The interior is as spartan as the exterior, with upright geometric furniture and minimal clutter. This was an avant-garde approach, presenting a 'reformed interior' where function dictated form.
About the stamps
The stamps were stolen.
References
Stoclet Palace - UNESCO official website
Stoclet Palace - Wikipedia
Sender: Pumipat
Sent from Brussels (Brussels / Belgium), on 29.10.2016
Photo: Wim Robberechts
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