- La Libre Esthétique
La Libre Esthétique - a term difficult to adapt in English, perhaps best as "aesthetical freedom" - was an artistic society founded in 1893 in
Brussels to continue the efforts of the artists' groupLes XX 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 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
Gauguin 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]1896
* Third exhibition, 22 February - 30 March 1896
1897
* Fourth exhibition, 25 February - 1 Avril 1897With six recent paintings by
Gauguin .1898
* Fifth exhibition, 24 February - 1 April 1898
Resources
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Madeleine Octave-Maus: "Trente années"
* "Les XX & La Libre Esthétique: Honderd jaar later/Cent ans après", Brussels 1993 no ISBN
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