In 1884, a group of Belgian artist formed a new group in Brussels with the intention of staging exhibitions of modern, avant-garde art. Aside from the program of concerts and lectures that were to accompany the yearly exhibitions, one of the stipulations was that twenty artists, both Belgian and foreign, would be invited each year to exhibit with the founding members of Les XX. In the first year's show the foreign invitees included Rodin, Sargent, Liebermann, Whistler and  William Merrit Chase.

Théo Van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) was one on the committee that formed Les XX