The Société Libre des Beaux-Arts ("Free Society of Fine Arts") was an organization formed in 1868 by Belgian artists to react against

academicism Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins i ...

and to advance Realist painting and artistic freedom. Based in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, the society was active until 1876, by which time the aesthetic values it espoused had infiltrated the official Salon. It played a formative role in establishing

avant-gardism In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable t ...

in Belgium.

History

The first exhibition of the Free Society was held in 1868 to provide an alternative art space beyond the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

. Three exhibitions were held in 1872. The society's

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

was written by Camille van Camp and published 31 January, 1869. It emphasized the "free and individual interpretation of nature," a hallmark of Realist art, while also embracing avant-garde ideals such as struggle, transformation, liberty, progress, innovation, and inclusivity." The society published the periodicals ''L'Art Libre'', a bi-monthly review (1871–72), and ''L'Art Universel'' (1873–76). In the first issue of ''L'Art Libre'', they collectively asserted: The goals of the Free Society were influenced by aesthetic ideals set forth by

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

and the Barbizon artists and by the poet

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

. "Modernity" and "sincerity" were keywords. Official cultural critics were at first openly hostile. Two early champions, however, were the critics Camille Lemonnier, a member, who urged that they should "be of their own time," and Théo Hannon (1851-1916), who saw them as rebels against artificiality.

Membership

A group portrait by society member Edmond Lambrichs shows the 16 artists of the original organizing committee. The society attracted in particular landscape painters working at the

Atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

Saint-Luc of Brussels, also known as the Académie de Saint-Luc (''ca.'' 1846–1864). Louis Dubois,

Félicien Rops Félicien Victor Joseph Rops (; 7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism (arts), Symbolism, Decadence, and the Parisian , a member of the Les XX group. He was a painter, illustrator, caricaturist and a proli ...

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and mi ...

and Louis Artan de Saint-Martin are considered leading members. Most of the society's members had also belonged to the Artistic and Literary Circle of Brussels and the Royal Belgian Society of Watercolorists. After the society dissolved, several members joined groups such as ''La Chrysalide'' and ''

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 a ...

''.

List of original members

* Edouard Agneessens * Louis Artan de Saint-Martin * Alphonse Asselbergs *

Théodore Baron Théodore Baron (19 August 1840 - 4 September 1899) was a Belgian landscape painter in the Realism (arts), Realistic style. Biography He was initially trained in the Academicism, Academic style; first by Hippolyte de la Charlerie in Brussels, ...

Antoine-Félix Bouré Antoine-Félix Bouré (8 July 1831 – 8 April 1883), known in his own time as Félix Bouré but sometimes found in modern scholarship as Antoine Bouré, was a Belgian sculptor, best known for his monumental sculpture, monumental lions. Life an ...

* Paul Jean Clays * Marie Collart-Henrotin * Joseph Coosemans * Charles de Groux * Hippolyte de la Charlerie * Louis Dubois * Adrien-Joseph Heymans * Edouard Huberti * Edmond Lambrichs (1830-1887) * Paul Lauters * Camille Lemonnier *

* *

* Eugène Smits * Camille van Camp * Henri Van der Hecht (1841-1901) *

Isidore Verheyden Isidore Verheyden (24 January 1846, in Antwerp – 1 November 1905, in Elsene) was a Belgium, Belgian painter of landscapes, portraits and still life. He was the son of painter Jean-François Verheyden; his first teacher at the Académie Roya ...

Alfred Verwee Alfred Jacques Verwee (23 April 1838, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode – 15 September 1895, Schaerbeek) was a Belgian painter known for his depictions of animals, landscapes and seascapes. Life His father was the painter Louis-Pierre Verwee and his bro ...

The society expressed an internationalist desire by inviting Courbet,

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etching ...

Théodore Rousseau Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (; 15 April 181222 December 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school. Life Youth He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family. At first he received a basic level of training, but soon displa ...

and

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realis ...

to join as honorary members.''Grove'', p. 343; William Orpen, ''The Outline of Art'' (W.H. Wise, 1934), p. 359.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Societe Libre des Beaux-Arts Culture of Belgium Belgian art 19th-century art groups Belgian artist groups and collectives

History

Membership

List of original members

See also

References