Musée Charlier

The Charlier Museum was the residence of the Brussels patron and art lover Henri Van Cutsem. In 1890, in order to exhibit his collections, he had his private mansion fitted out by the young architect Victor Horta. When he died in 1904, his friend the sculptor Guillaume Charlier inherited the building. He built up his own collection there.

In 1925, Guillaume Charlier bequeathed the hotel and his collection to the municipality of Sint-Joost-ten-Noode so that it could become a public museum. It was inaugurated on 21 October 1928.

The Charlier Museum is a late 19th century mansion located in the heart of Brussels, at 16 Avenue des Arts. Its owner, the patron and art lover Henri Van Cutsem, had it fitted out inside in 1890 by Victor Horta. He welcomed the sculptor Guillaume Charlier, whose talent he admired and supported from the time he left the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts - a lifelong friend whom he made his heir. After Van Cutsem's death in 1904, Guillaume Charlier continued his friend's work by collecting works by Belgian artists, his contemporaries. In 1925, the mansion with all its collections was bequeathed to the municipality of Sint-Joost-ten-Noode on condition that it became a public museum.