''La Libre Esthétique'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

; "The Free Aesthetics") was an artistic society founded in 1893 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

to continue the efforts of the artists' group ''

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 ...

'' dissolved the same year. To reduce conflicts between artists invited or excluded, artists were no longer admitted to the society, thus all exhibitors were now invited. The first annual exhibition was opened on 14 February 1894, and the exhibition of 1914 was the last: a year later German troops had occupied Belgium, Brussels included.

The Annual Exhibitions, 1894-1913

All exhibitions were accompanied by a bibliophile catalogue, printed at Veuve Monnon, Brussels.

1894

* First exhibition, 17 February - 15 March 1894

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

showed five paintings, one from Martinique 1887, the others from his trip to Tahiti, 1891-1893. He even traveled to Brussels to assist at the opening, and published a review.Paul Gauguin: ''Exposition de la Libre Esthétique'', Essais d'art libre V, February/April 1894, pp. 30-32 Another artist showing works at the exhibition was Eugène Laermans.

1896

* Third exhibition, 22 February - 30 March 1896

1897

* Fourth exhibition, 25 February - 1 Avril 1897 With six recent paintings by Gauguin.

1898

* Fifth exhibition, 24 February - 1 April 1898

Resources

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Madeleine Octave Maus: ''Trente années de lutte pour l'art'', Librairie L'Oiseau bleu, Bruxelles 1926; reprinted by Éditions Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles 1980 * ''Les XX & La Libre Esthétique: Honderd jaar later/Cent ans après'', Brussels 1993 no ISBN {{DEFAULTSORT:Libre Esthetique, La Belgian artist groups and collectives 19th-century art groups 1893 establishments in Belgium 1914 disestablishments in Belgium Art exhibitions in Belgium