Charlier Museum, Art museum in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium.
The Charlier Museum occupies the former mansion of collector Henri Van Cutsem at 16 avenue des Arts. Its white neoclassical facade has a rusticated grey stone ground floor, a central arched entrance with a fanlight, and tall windows with small black balconies on the second floor. Inside, Victor Horta's 1890–1893 remodelling added two skylights that light the ground-floor rooms.
The building was bought by art collector Henri Van Cutsem in 1890, who had architect Victor Horta remodel and extend it between 1890 and 1893, adding two skylights to light the ground-floor rooms. On Van Cutsem's death in 1904, the house passed to sculptor Guillaume Charlier, who left it to the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode on his death in 1925. It opened as a public museum on 21 October 1928.
The collection features European decorative arts from the 18th and 19th centuries, including silverware, glassware, and furniture alongside Belgian artwork. You see these objects arranged within rooms decorated as they would have appeared in that era.
The museum is at 16, avenue des Arts/Kunstlaan in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, on the Small Ring of Brussels. It opens Monday to Thursday from 12 to 17 and Friday from 10 to 13, and is closed at weekends and on public holidays. A plaque is mounted beside the arched entrance, where the red and green museum banners hang.
Victor Horta skillfully transformed the interior of this neoclassical building without altering its exterior facade, creating a hidden blend of old and new design. This careful approach reveals how a historic structure could be modernized while maintaining its original appearance from the street.
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