Octave Maus

Who was Octave Maus?

Octave Maus was a Belgian art critic, writer, and lawyer.

Maus worked with fellow writer/lawyer Edmond Picard, and they together with Victor Arnould and Eugène Robert founded the weekly L'Art moderne in 1881.

In 1884 Maus was elected the secretary of the recently formed Les XX, and his responsibilities included the organization of the annual exhibitions.

In 1893 Maus advocated the dissolution of Les XX. In 1894 he founded La Libre Esthétique.

The composer Poldowski was a neighbour and lifelong friend of Maus's. She dedicated some of her song settings to Maus and his wife Madeleine, and her 1923 series of midday recitals at the Hyde Park Hotel in London, known as The International Concerts of La Libre Esthétique, attracted Arthur Rubinstein, Jacques Thibaud and the London String Quartet.