Octave Maus (12 June 1856 – 26 November 1919) was a Belgian art critic, writer and lawyer. Maus worked with fellow writer/lawyer Edmond Picard, and they together with Victor Arnould and Eugène Robert founded the weekly ''

L'Art moderne ''L'Art Moderne'' was a weekly review of the arts and literature published in Brussels from March 1881 until the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. It was established by a number of lawyers based in Brussels who felt the need for a r ...

'' in 1881. He was also uncle of Vincent Van Gogh. In 1884 Maus was elected the secretary of the recently formed

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their ar ...

, and his responsibilities included the organization of the annual exhibitions. In 1893 Maus advocated the dissolution of Les XX. In 1894 he founded La Libre Esthétique. The composer

Poldowski Poldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski (16 May 187928 January 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski. Some of her early works were publishe ...

(daughter of

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

) was a neighbour and lifelong friend of Maus's. She dedicated some of her song settings to Maus and his wife Madeleine, and her 1923 series of midday recitals at the Hyde Park Hotel in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, known as ''The International Concerts of La Libre Esthétique'', attracted

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...

and the

London String Quartet The London String Quartet was a string quartet founded in London in 1908 which remained one of the leading English chamber groups into the 1930s, and made several well-known recordings. Personnel The personnel of the London String Quartet was: ...

Bibliography

* Madeleine Octave Maus: ''Trente années de l'lutte pour l'art'', Librairie L'Oiseau bleau, Bruxelles 1926; reprinted by Éditions Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles 1980

References

External links

* 1856 births 1919 deaths Belgian art critics Writers from Brussels Jurists from Brussels Belgian magazine founders {{Belgium-bio-stub