The Rubenshuis opens the Rubens Experience, redesigned garden and library

28 August 2024

After a thorough makeover, the Rubenshuis will reopen on 30 August 2024. All visits now start from Hopland 13, with the brand-new building by Robbrecht and Daem architecten serving as a gateway to the Rubens Experience, the lush redesigned Baroque garden and library. The first major phase of the remodelling of the Rubenshuis is thus complete.

The new entrance to the Rubenshuis at Hopland 13 is a contemporary portal to another universe. Conceived as two imposing bookcases, the building’s design is a subtle reference to the place where Rubens kept his books and where the art historical library is located today. The façade of the enormous bookcase structure by Robbrecht and Daem architecten conceals Rubens’s Baroque world. Here he was an extraordinary talent but also an ordinary man, with a passion for his garden and his library, the drive to create and innovate, a nose for stories and a bold mix of architectural styles when it came to his own home. And that is precisely what visitors can expect when they come to admire the Rubens Experience, the redesigned garden and the library.

The eye-catcher in the reception area is the lushly redesigned garden that serves as a green link between the historic dwelling and the new-build. Ars Horti’s contemporary design features 17,500 plants and is a garden for all seasons, thanks to colour advice from Antwerp-based fashion designer Dries Van Noten. From this green oasis in the heart of the city, visitors enjoy stunning views of Rubens’s residence, which remains closed for restoration. In the Rubens Experience, technology immerses visitors in Rubens’s life and world. In the library, meanwhile, everyone has an opportunity to browse thousands of documents. The Rubenshuis will be celebrating the opening for a whole month with a diverse programme of concerts, performances, tours, lectures and DJ sets. The final tickets for these events are available through the Rubenshuis website.

A nod to Rubens's work

Rubens enjoyed a bold mix of architectural styles. His own home is a combination of a Renaissance house with a Baroque studio and a garden with a portico and pavilion. In keeping with Rubens’s eclectic tastes, Robbrecht and Daem architecten deliberately opted for a contemporary look and feel for the new entrance to the Rubenshuis at Hopland 13. The modern volume stands somewhat to the side of the historic dwelling. By placing the building outside the perspective lines, the architects were able to preserve the view of the portico and garden from the artist’s residence and their connecting role.

The building’s design references Rubens’s vision and personality on various levels. The rows of columns on the outside refer to the male musculature, the archetype of the strong body that was often so centrally featured in his paintings. The many rounded shapes, meanwhile, illuminate the spaces, creating shadows that add surprising depth and texture to the building, both during the day and at night. Rubens was a ‘master of shadows’, after all. Inside, too, the architects remained subtly faithful to Rubens’s style. The three enormous diagonal spiral staircases symbolise the movement in his dynamic compositions. Instead of following a straight line, the staircases wind through space diagonally, attracting visitors’ gaze as soon as they enter. A trick that Rubens also liked to use, directing the spectator’s gaze upward, both literally and figuratively.

A colourful garden for all seasons

For Rubens and his family, the garden was a meeting place for family and friends and a place to play for the children. The artist used his garden for networking, as an exhibition venue, a backdrop and a showroom, a garden for love and a picking garden. Above all, it was his little ‘paradise on earth’. Rubens helped conceive the design and drew inspiration from gardens in Antwerp, Brussels and Italy, as well as illustrated garden books. Unfortunately, Rubens’s garden design has not survived. Among the many letters he wrote, there is only one from 1638 in which he refers to his beloved garden. The museum team scoured old sources, still lifes and documents to get a better idea of what the garden would have looked like at the time and which plants would have been growing in it. The most representative source was Rubens’s painting The Walk in the Garden. This work from 1630 depicts his garden as having several parterres separated by gates, a flowering tulip meadow, an extensive collection of citrus trees in pots and tubs and a gurgling fountain.

Today, the parterres of the newly landscaped garden have been planted with 17,500 plants, trees, shrubs, bushes and bulbs, with the portico and garden pavilion providing a stunning backdrop. Visitors stroll past aquilegia, marigolds, rose bushes, peonies, citrus plants and fig trees, as well as medlars, black oaks, evergreen magnolias, Kentucky coffee trees and the yew tree, which was planted here almost 300 years ago. A garden for all seasons, its palette changes from bronze, yellow and brown in summer to vibrant red in autumn. Even during the coldest winter months, the garden remains attractive, with new varieties flowering every week. The garden designers looked to leading Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten for colour advice. Sustainability and energy efficiency also played a crucial role in the redesign. With its layered vegetation structure and the reuse of rainwater that is harvested in six enormous underground buffer tanks, the Rubenshuis aims to help halt climate change.

Come face to face with Rubens

The Rubens Experience tells the story of a polymath, an artist and a husband and father. Visitors can get to know Rubens better through an audiovisual show, interactive applications and art objects such as his famous self-portrait. To be so extraordinarily productive, Rubens also had to be very well organised. Instead of rapid tryouts, his sketches and studies were the well-thoughtout key ingredients of the masterpieces he painted. Check out the sources of inspiration he studied and even copied so meticulously.

Visitors are invited to explore his oeuvre in various experience zones. One moment, his work is projected life-size on screens, the next in minute detail. Rubens takes us from 16th-century Antwerp on a journey to Rome, London, Paris and Madrid.

A penchant for books

Rubens relied heavily on his library, broadening his world view with a private collection of more than five hundred titles. A true book lover, he liked to share his passion with his friends and his son. The new entrance to the Rubenshuis and library are in the same exact place where he used to browse his own version of the Internet into the morning hours four centuries ago. With one hundred thousand publications, old prints, artwork documentation and archival documents, the library of the Rubenshuis is the perfect place for enthusiasts and researchers to delve deeper into the work and life of Rubens and his Flemish and European contemporaries. Recent and centuries-old pieces populate the library’s long shelves, including monographs and the catalogues of art dealers, exhibitions and auction houses, as well as files full of photos, clippings and articles. From here, visitors also enjoy a lovely view of the garden and house. In the new library, the emphasis is on openness. Everyone is welcome and can take books from the shelves to browse them. Admission is free and does not need to be requested in advance.

A month-long celebration

Amenra, mehro, Pleun van Engelen, Hantrax, Meskerem Mees, Tsar B, OVERLAST, Sven Rayen, Joost Zweegers, Soe Nsuki... and a host of other artists will be on hand for the festive opening of the Rubenshuis from 30 August, which will last one month. Artists and experts will join forces for a surprising programme of concerts, performances, tours, talks and DJ sets. The final tickets for these events are available through the website.

Artist’s residence still undergoing restoration

With the opening of the new reception area of the Rubenshuis, the first phase of the remodelling is now complete. The second phase of the master plan consists of the renovation of the artist’s residence. For now, the house remains closed. Rubens’s architectural design can be admired from the garden, however, and visitors also get to walk through to the monumental courtyard with its loggia.

The phased remodelling will bring the two historic buildings into the 21st century with the greatest respect. The restoration of the artist’s residence and the adjoining Kolveniershof is a complex exercise which will continue to be worked on in the coming years. It will be completed by 2030 at the earliest.