The XX society and its role in the formation of the Belgian avantgarde

Authors

  • Elena V. Klyushina Saint Petersburg State University

Abstract

The article investigates the organizational peculiarities of the exhibition activity of the Belgian art society XX, which existed in Brussels from 1883 to 1893. Despite the high level of knowledge of this problem in the West, in Russia XX is mentioned most often in the context of the French Neo-Impressionism. Such an assessment lacks objectivity and requires some adjustments, which is the main aim of the author of this paper. The article describes in detail the organizational features of the XX activity. Particular attention is paid to such issues as the regulation of the number of the participants, the selection of the paintings presented at the exhibition, the three permanent members committee and its function in the absence of the jury, the secretary’s role, the public activities of the XX, the communication of the artists with the literary arts magazine L’Art Moderne. The international relations of the XX are regarded mostly at the example of the participation in the exhibitions of the British and French artists such as Whistler, Seurat, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec. A comparative stylistic analysis of the paintings allows us to take a fresh look at the problem of the artistic influences on Belgian art of the 1880–1890-ies. The author of the article also attempts to define the place of the group “XX” in a number of other arts organizations, operating in Belgium and abroad in the era of fin de siècle.

Keywords:

XX society, XX group, Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, jury, exhibition, Octave Maus, James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, James Whistler, Willy Finch, Henry van de Velde, Jan Toorop, Christ’s entry into Brussels in 1889, Archibald database, group «Septem», Gesamtkunstwerk

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Author Biography

Elena V. Klyushina, Saint Petersburg State University

art critic, senior lecturer at the Institute of History

References

Литература

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4. Сарабьянов Д. В. Стиль модерн. М.: Искусство, 1989. 296 с.

5. Legrand F.-C. Le Groupe des XX et son temps. Brussels: Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts; Otterlo: Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, 1962. 148 р.

6. Legrand F.-C. Le symbolisme en Belgique. Brussels: Laconti, 1971. 277 p.

7. Legrand F.-C. Ensor, cet inconnu. Brussels: La Renaissance du Livre, 1971. 127 p.

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9. Block J. Belgium: The Golden Decades. New York: P. Lang, cop., 1997. 264 p.

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13. MRBAB/AACB, numéro d’inventaire AACB 5213. Lettre de Edward Burne-Jones à Octave Maus, 13.11.1888. URL: http://193.190.214.119/archibaldweb/Picture.csp?Profile=Default&OpacLanguage=fre&Picture=/art-foto/maus/1890/5273r.cezanne.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=j*8E*D4Y*F2*E8*ADt*0E*3D*00*E9sr*09*15 (дата обращения: 05.05.2015).

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19. Verhaeren E. Un peintre symbolist // L’Art Moderne. 1887. Vol. 7. P. 129–131.

20. MRBAB/AACB, numéro d‘inventaire AACB 6330. Lettre de Théo Van Rysselberghe à Octave Maus, Paris, s.d., 1887. URL: http://193.190.214.119/archibaldweb/Picture.csp?Profile=Default&OpacLanguage=fre&Picture=/art-foto/maus/1887/6330r.tvr.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=*BF*C4*84*F9*BC*11*E8*EC*8F*01*C6*DD*A6*13*BE*B8 (дата обращения: 05.05.2015).

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References

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3. Kriuchkova V. A. Simvolizm v izobrazitel'nom iskusstve. Frantsiia i Bel'giia, 1870–1900 [The Symbolism in fine art. France and Belgium, 1870–1900]. Moscow: Izobrazitel'noe iskusstvo Publ., 1994. 272 pp. (In Russian)

4. Sarab'ianov D. V. Stil' modern [The modern style]. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1989. 296 pp. (In Russian)

5. Legrand F.-C. Le Groupe des XX et son temps. Brussels: Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts; Otterlo: Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, 1962. 148 p.

6. Legrand F.-C. Le symbolisme en Belgique. Brussels: Laconti, 1971. 277 p.

7. Legrand F.-C. Ensor, cet inconnu. Brussels: La Renaissance du Livre, 1971. 127 p.

8. Block J. Les XX and Belgian Avant-Gardism 1868–1894. Ann Arbor: UMI Research press, 1984. 436 p.

9. Block J. Belgium: The Golden Decades. New York: P. Lang, cop., 1997. 264 p.

10. Archives of Belgian Art — Letters and Documents. Available at: http://www.opac-archibald.be/fr/begin.htm (accessed: 05.05.2015).

11. Berman P. G. James Ensor: Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002. 114 p.

12. Revald Dzh. Postimpressionizm [Post-Impressionism]. Moscow: Respublika Publ., 1996. (In Russian)

13. MRBAB/AACB, numéro d’inventaire AACB 5213. Lettre de Edward Burne-Jones à Octave Maus, 13.11.1888. Available at: http://193.190.214.119/archibaldweb/Picture.csp?Profile=Default&OpacLanguage=fre&Picture=/art-foto/maus/1890/5273r.cezanne.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=j*8E*D4Y*F2*E8*ADt*0E*3D*00*E9sr*09*15 (accessed: 05.05.2015).

17. Block J. A Study in Belgian Neo-Impressionist Portraiture. Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies. 1987. Vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 36–51.

18. Siebelhoff R. Jan Toorop’s early Pointillist paintings. Our Holland. 1975. Vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 86–97.

19. Verhaeren E. Un peintre symbolist. L’Art Moderne. 1887. Vol. 7, pp. 129–131.

20. MRBAB/AACB, numéro d‘inventaire AACB 6330. Lettre de Théo Van Rysselberghe à Octave Maus, Paris, s.d., 1887. Available at: http://193.190.214.119/archibaldweb/Picture.csp?Profile=Default&OpacLanguage=fre&Picture=/art-foto/maus/1887/6330r.tvr.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=*BF*C4*84*F9*BC*11*E8*EC*8F*01*C6*DD*A6*13*BE*B8 (accessed: 05.05.2015).

21. Maus O. Catalogue de la sixième exposition des XX, 1889. Delevoy R. L. Les Vingt: Catalogue des dix expositions annuelles. Bruxelles: Centre internationale pour l’étude du XIXe siècle, 1981. 310 p.

22. Block J. Les XX. The Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Available at: http://proxy.library.spbu.ru:2733/subscriber/article_citations/grove/art/T089756?q=Les+XX&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1 (accessed: 05.05.2015).

23. Thomson R. Les XX. Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts. The Burlington Magazine. 1994. Vol. 136, no. 1091, pp. 135–136.

24. Swinbourne A., Canning S. James Ensor. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2009. 208 p.

Published

2016-02-03

How to Cite

Klyushina, E. V. . (2016). The XX society and its role in the formation of the Belgian avantgarde. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts, 5(4), 42–54. Retrieved from https://artsjournal.spbu.ru/article/view/2032

Issue

Section

Visual arts

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