ANTWERP | Rubens House opens Rubens Experience, renovated garden and library

After a thorough makeover, the Rubens House or Rubenshuis in Antwerp reopens its doors today, 30 August 2024. A visit starts now from Hopland 13. The brand new building by Robbrecht en Daem architecten provides access to the Rubens Experience, the lushly renovated baroque garden and the library. This completes the first major renovation of the Rubens House.

The new entrance to the Rubens House at Hopland 13 is a contemporary building that leads to another universe. The building is conceived as two impressive bookcases. A subtle reference to the place where Peter Paul Rubens kept his own books and where the art historical library is housed today.

Behind the facade of the immense bookcase structure by Robbrecht en Daem architecten lies the baroque world of Rubens. In this place he was an extraordinary talent, but also an ordinary man. With a passion for his garden and his library, with a drive to create and innovate, with a nose for stories and with a daring mix of architectural styles on his private domain.

“Exactly what the visitor can expect with the opening of the Rubens Experience, the redesigned garden and the library. The eye-catcher from the reception is the lushly redesigned garden that functions as a green link between the historic house and the new building”, the press release says.

The contemporary design by Ars Horti shows 17,500 plants and is beautiful in every season with the color advice of the Antwerp fashion designer Dries Van Noten.

From this green oasis in the middle of the city, the visitor has a beautiful view of Rubens’ house, which is still closed for restoration. In the Rubens Experience, technology immerses the visitor in Rubens’ world and in the library everyone can do their own research in the thousands of documents.

The Rubens House celebrates for a whole month with a surprising range of concerts, performances, guided tours, lectures and DJ sets.

Alderman for culture Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA): “Peter Paul Rubens has given Antwerp so much and continues to do so to this day: his art, his intellect, his prestige and international appeal, but also his venerable Rubens House. With the new reception building by Robbrecht en Daem architecten, with Rubens Experience, the new library and the lavishly redesigned baroque garden, the first phase of the Masterplan Rubens House has been completed, and as a city we are making it clear how grateful we are to the artist. We are giving Peter Paul Rubens back to the visitor and the people of Antwerp in all his glory and mastery!”

A nod to Rubens’ work

Rubens himself was not averse to a daring mix of architectural styles. His own house is a combination of a Renaissance house with a Baroque studio and a garden with a portico and pavilion. For the new entrance to the Rubens House, at Hopland 13, Robbrecht en Daem architecten deliberately opted for a contemporary look, in keeping with Rubens’ eclectic taste. The modern volume is somewhat to the side of the historical section. By placing the building outside the perspective lines, the view of the portico and the garden from the artist’s house is preserved and their connecting function is maintained.

The building frequently nods to Rubens’ vision and personality. For example, the rows of columns on the outside refer to the muscular male musculature, the archetype of the strong body that was often central to his paintings. The many round shapes in the design provide a surprising side effect: both during the day and at night, light and dark play an intriguing game. It was not without reason that Rubens was ‘the master of shadow’.

The architects also subtly remain true to Rubens’ style inside. The three enormous diagonal spiral staircases symbolise movement and dynamism. They do not go up in a line, but work their way up diagonally. This attracts attention as soon as the visitor enters. A typical Rubens trick that literally and figuratively makes you look up.

Colourful spectacle in every season

For Rubens and his family, the garden was a meeting place for family and friends and a playground for the children. The artist used his garden as a networking place, exhibition space, decor, showroom, love garden and picking garden. It was above all a small ‘earthly paradise’.

Rubens helped devise the design and drew inspiration from gardens in Antwerp, Brussels and Italy and illustrated garden books. Rubens’ design for his garden has not been preserved and of his many letters, only one from 1638 exists in which he writes about his garden. Using old sources, still lifes and documents, the museum team and Ars Horti discovered what the garden looked like at the time and which plants were there.

The most representative source was the painting ‘The Walk in the Garden‘. The work by Rubens from 1630 shows his garden with various parterres separated by gates, a flowering tulip meadow, a large collection of citrus trees in pots and tubs and a splashing fountain.

Flemish Minister of Immovable Heritage Matthias Diependaele (N-VA): “The portico and the garden pavilion are original 17th-century elements and the eye-catchers of the Rubens House. The impressive restored portico gives visitors access to the garden. The garden was designed by Rubens himself and he had his gardeners grow flowers and plants for himself and the local residents. The renovated garden has regained its baroque splendor. Rubens had the garden laid out as a place for people and that is what the garden still is after 400 years. The archive research and design by Ars Horti and the plant and color advice from Dries Van Noten ensure an inspiring and state-of-the-art result. With the Rubens Experience and the renovated garden pavilion, we honor the Flemish master Rubens in a fitting manner.”

Today, 17,500 plants, trees, shrubs, bushes and bulbs have been planted in the newly laid out garden in parterres with the portico and the garden pavilion as a magnificent backdrop.

Visitors walk through wild columbines, marigolds, rose bushes, peonies, citrus plants and fig trees. But also past medlars, black oaks, evergreen magnolias, deadwood trees and the almost 300-year-old yew tree. The garden is a colourful spectacle in every season. From bronze, yellow and brown in the summer to vibrant red in the autumn. Even during the coldest winter months, the garden remains attractive, with new flowering species every week.

The colour advice comes from leading Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten. Sustainability and energy efficiency play a crucial role in the redevelopment of the garden. With, among other things, a layered vegetation structure and the reuse of rainwater, thanks to six immense buried buffer tanks, the Rubens House wants to help put a brake on climate change.

Get under Rubens’ skin

For those who want to know the story of the all-rounder, Rubens Experience shows who the artist and the man behind the brush really were. With the help of an audiovisual show, interactive applications and art objects such as his famous self-portrait, the visitor gets under his skin. Rubens was not only exceptionally productive, but also very well organised. His sketches and studies were not quick attempts, but well-considered basic ingredients for the masterpieces that followed. View the sources of inspiration that he studied so carefully and even copied.

Via various experience zones, the visitor can do his own research. One moment his work is on display life-size, the next down to the smallest details. Via old Antwerp, Rubens takes us to Rome, London, Paris and Madrid.

A heart for books

For Rubens, his library was indispensable. With a private collection of no fewer than 500 titles, he broadened his view of the world. He shared his passion for books with his friends and his son.

The new entrance to the Rubens House and the library is now located exactly where he browsed through his internet avant la lettre until late at night four centuries ago.

With its 100,000 publications, old prints, artwork documentation and archive documents, it is the place for enthusiasts and researchers to delve into the work and life of Rubens and his Flemish and European colleagues at the time. The long open shelves exhibit recent and centuries-old pieces.

From monographs and art trade, exhibition and auction catalogues to files full of photos, clippings and articles. From here, visitors can enjoy a beautiful view of the garden and the house. The new library exudes more openness. Everyone is welcome and can take books from the shelves themselves. A visit is free and does not have to be requested in advance.

A whole month of celebration

Amenra, mehro, Pleun van Engelen, Hantrax, Meskerem Mees, Tsar B, OVERLAST, Sven Rayen, Joost Zweegers, Soe Nsuki,… and many other artists will festively open the Rubens House from 30 August.

For a month, the musical and verbal talent of today and tomorrow will provide a varied and surprising range of concerts, performances, guided tours, lectures and DJ sets. The last tickets for these events are available via the website.

Artist’s house still under restoration

With the opening of the new reception of the Rubens House, the first renovation phase has been completed. The second phase of the master plan includes the renovation of the artist’s house. It is currently still closed. The architecture by Rubens can be admired from the garden and visitors will also have access to the monumental inner courtyard with the loggia.

The work is being done step by step. These are needed to guide the two historic buildings – with the greatest respect – into the 21st century. The restoration of the artist’s residence and the adjacent Kolveniershof is a complex exercise, which will continue to be worked on in the coming years.

It will be completed in 2030 at the earliest.

Mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever (N-VA): “Antwerp is sometimes called the Baroque city of the Low Countries, but as the home of Rubens, we are rightly and reasonably a true world city of the Baroque. We also find that spirit in the typical Antwerp sense of opulence and beauty, as our monumental churches beautifully illustrate. Rubens is without a doubt one of the greatest Antwerpianss. Not only as a painter, but also as a homo universalis. Rubens was a jack of all trades. His own home, in the heart of our Scheldt City, is a lasting reminder of that. Just like many other heritage gems, the Rubens House deserved a careful and dignified restoration so that this monumental site can be handed over to the next generations in all its glory. The Rubens House and Kolveniershof will continue to be expertly restored for a few more years, but I am delighted that we can already open the new experience centre with library and especially the incredibly beautiful garden to our fellow citizens. I hope that all Antwerp residents will come and admire this beautiful piece of Antwerp’s past. And I also cherish the fervent wish that all Antwerp Rubens paintings will be on display in Antwerp again in 2027, when we celebrate the 450th anniversary of Rubens’ birth. Including the paintings that were stolen during the French occupation and that unfortunately have still not been returned by the French state.”

Flemish Minister of Tourism Zuhal Demir (N-VA): “The opening of the Rubens Experience and the new baroque garden marks an important milestone in honouring a great Flemish artist. Rubens was already world-famous during his lifetime as a painter, diplomat, designer, entrepreneur, visionary and lover of the outdoors. He was a true all-rounder. He is and remains one of our most important cultural export products, a figurehead for Flanders. This internationally recognised Flemish master deserves a place where all his talents come together and his mastery is fully honoured.”

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