Les XX

Poster of the 1889 Les XX exhibition

Les XX was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors. It was formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years 'Les Vingt', as they called themselves, held a yearly exhibition of their art. Each year twenty international artists were also invited to be in the exhibition. Artists invited over the years included: Camille Pissarro (1887, 1889, 1891), Claude Monet (1886, 1889), Georges Seurat (1887, 1889, 1891, 1892), Paul Gauguin (1889, 1891), Paul Cézanne (1890), and Vincent van Gogh (1890, 1891).

In 1893, the society of Les XX was changed into "La Libre Esthétique".

Eleven founding members

• James Ensor 1860-1949 (member until 1893)^[1]
• Théo van Rysselberghe 1862-1926 (member until 1893)^[2]
• Fernand Khnopff 1858-1921 (member until 1893)^[1]
• Alfred William Finch^[2]
• Frantz Charlet b 1862^[2]
• Paul Du Bois^[2]
• Charles Goethals c1853–85^[2]
• Darío de Regoyos (Spanish)^[2]
• Willy Schlobach b 1864^[2]
• Guillaume van Strydonck 1861–1937^[2]
• Rodolphe Wytsman 1860–1927^[2]

Nine invited members

• Guillaume Vogels
• Achille Chainaye 1862–1915
• Jean Delvin 1853-1922^[3]
• Jef Lambeaux^[3]
• Périclès Pantazis (Greek) 1849-1884^[3]
• Frans Simons 1855–1919
• Gustave Vanaise 1854–1902
• Piet Verhaert 1852–1908
• Théodore Verstraete 1850–1907

Twelve later invited members

• Felicien Rops 1833-1898
• Georges Lemmen 1865-1916 (member from 1888)
• George Minne 1866-1941
• Anna Boch 1848-1926 (member from 1885-1893: only female member)^[4]
• Henry van de Velde (member from 1888)^[5]
• Guillaume Charlier
• Henry De Groux
• Robert Picard b 1870
• Jan Toorop (Dutch)^[6]
• Odilon Redon (French)
• Paul Signac (French)^[1]
• Isidore Verheyden (member from 1884-1888)^[4]

References

1. Walther, Ingo F.; Suckle, Robert and Wundram, Manfred (2002). Masterpieces of Western Art. Vol. 1. Taschen. p. 760. ISBN 978-3-8228-1825-1. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
2. Clement, Russell T.; Houzé, Annick (1999). Neo-impressionist painters. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-313-30382-1. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
3. State, Paul F. (2004). Historical dictionary of Brussels. Scarecrow Press. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-8108-5075-0. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
4. Gaze, Delia (1997). Dictionary of women artists, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 1512. ISBN 978-1-884964-21-3. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
5. James, Kathleen (2006). Bauhaus culture: from Weimar to the Cold War. University of Minnesota Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-8166-4688-3. Retrieved 22 December 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. Frijhoff, Willem; Spies (2004). Dutch Culture in a European Perspective. Vol. 3. Marijke. Van Gorcum. p. 598. ISBN 978-90-232-3965-9. Retrieved 22 December 2009.