Société Libre des Beaux-Arts

The Société Libre des Beaux-Arts ("Free Society of Fine Arts") was an organization formed in 1868 by Belgian artists to react against academicism and to advance Realist painting and artistic freedom. Based in Brussels, 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 Belgium. 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:

Société Libre des Beaux-Arts

The Société Libre des Beaux-Arts ("Free Society of Fine Arts") was an organization formed in 1868 by Belgian artists to react against academicism and to advance Realist painting and artistic freedom. Based in Brussels, 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 Belgium. 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: