Octave Maus (12 June 1856 – 26 November 1919) was a Belgian art critic, writer, lawyer and cousin of the painters Anna and Eugène Boch.

[3] [4] 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.

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

[citation needed] The composer Poldowski (daughter of Henryk Wieniawski) 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.