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La Libre Esthétique

Poster
1897 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster, designed by Théo van Rysselberghe, advertises the fourth exhibition of the artists group 'La Libre Esthétique', held at the Musée Moderne, Brussels, from February to April 1897. The group was a part of the lively art scene in late 19th-century Brussels, where intellectuals and artists formed avant-garde groups such as 'Les-Vingt', of which van Rysselberghe was a founder member. He was mainly a painter, but also produced prints and designed posters. He was influenced by Impressionism, and Pointillism in particular, in the 1880s, and became a leading painter in the genre in Belgium. He gradually moved away from the style, and was later influenced by Art Nouveau, as seen in this image. This poster was included in the V&A's Art Nouveau exhibition in 2000.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLa Libre Esthétique (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
Colour lithograph poster La Libre Esthétique by Théo Van Rysselberghe, Belgian, 1897.
Physical description
A poster of two women dressed in red, admiring a statue. They have their backs turned to the camera, and they are wearing little black hats and red capes. They are seated in a room with a wooden floor. Text on the bottom of the image.
Dimensions
  • Height: 95.7cm
  • Width: 70.9cm
Style
Gallery label
'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' This poster advertises the forth exhibition of the artists' group La Libre Esthétique, at the Musée Moderne, Brussels, in 1897. Its designer, Van Rysselberghe was a painter, printmaker and art critic. A classical painter at first he was influenced by Neo-Impressionism after meeting Seurat in 1886.He belonged to the group, Cercle des XX (1884-1894), founded in Brussels by twenty artists who wished to exhibit outside official salons; when it was transformed by the critic Octave Maus (1856-1919) into La Libre Esthétique (1894-1914), he became a founder member.(1987-2006)
Subjects depicted
Summary
This poster, designed by Théo van Rysselberghe, advertises the fourth exhibition of the artists group 'La Libre Esthétique', held at the Musée Moderne, Brussels, from February to April 1897. The group was a part of the lively art scene in late 19th-century Brussels, where intellectuals and artists formed avant-garde groups such as 'Les-Vingt', of which van Rysselberghe was a founder member. He was mainly a painter, but also produced prints and designed posters. He was influenced by Impressionism, and Pointillism in particular, in the 1880s, and became a leading painter in the genre in Belgium. He gradually moved away from the style, and was later influenced by Art Nouveau, as seen in this image. This poster was included in the V&A's Art Nouveau exhibition in 2000.
Bibliographic reference
Greenhalgh, Paul (Ed.), Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 . London: V&A Publications, 2000
Collection
Accession number
E.280-1982

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Record createdJanuary 7, 2004
Record URL
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