A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SALON DE PARIS

The Salon (or more formally the Salon de Paris), with roots extending as far back as 1667, was the official exhibition of art by the Académie des Baux-Arts. In the years between 1748 and 1890 the Salon de Paris without doubt, staged the greatest art events held in the western world. In 1667, the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, part of the Académie des Baux-Arts, held its first art exhibition at the Salon Carré, with its focus on the works of recent graduates of the École des Baux-Arts. In short order, to have one’s work shown at the Salon de Paris was considered vital in order for any artist to achieve even a modicum of success in France and it remained so for the next two hundred years.

Salon de Louvre, 1737.

In the year 1725, the Salon was held in the Palace of the Louvre and received its name, Salon or Salon de Paris. While up until that time exhibitions had been regarded only as more or less private, beginning with the 1737 exhibition in the Grand Salon, they indeed became fully public (within limitations), and were held annually; and later, biennially in odd-numbered years. Beginning in 1748, the task of judging the exhibitions was given to a jury of award-wining artists, thus establishing the Salon’s preeminence over French art.

Honoré Daumier 'Free day at the Salon' From the series "Le

Public du Salon," published in Le Charivari (May 17, 1852)

By modern standards, the exhibitions of art at the Salon were what could well be termed, “chaotic magnificence,” with paintings hung floor-to-ceiling, utilizing every inch of space possible — far removed from today’s orderly, moderated gallery exhibitions. At the same time, for good or bad, critical accounts of the exhibitions were published in the local newspapers and journals, giving birth to the (still) dreaded art critic.

 

The Salon, 1865

The Salon, 1866

While attendance to the earlier, royal-sanctioned art exhibits had been limited to the aristocracy and “upper-classes” and exhibitors limited solely to French artists, the French revolution, in keeping with the motto of “Liberté, égalité, fraternité,” opened the exhibitions up to not only foreign artists as well as French, but to the public, or at least to those who could afford tickets; and opening night became a grand social event. After the 1848 revolution, the number of refused works grew less and less and the practice of awarding medals was instituted.

As time passed however, the Salon jurors became increasingly conservative and as Impressionism began to gain in prominence in some art circles, Impressionist artists found themselves either rejected with increased frequency or that at the very least, their works were placed in obscure locations — all because their style was a decided turn away from accepted, traditional painting styles. An unusually high number of submissions were turned away in 1863, resulting in a furor which included artists who had up to that time been regular exhibitors but found themselves excluded. In response, as though somehow to prove that the Salons were in fact “democratic,” Napoleon III began the Salon des Refusés, literally the “exhibition of rejects,” which opened in May of 1863, simultaneously marking the advent of the avant-garde. Ultimately, the Impressionists held their own series of independent expositions in 1874, 1876, 1877, 1880 – 1882, and in 1886. The French government however, which had historically sponsored the annual Salon exhibitions, withdrew its sponsorship, with the Société des Artistes Francais, stepping in.

The Salon, 1890.

In 1890, the Société suggested to the French art community that the Salon should be limited to an exhibition by young artists who had not previously won awards. This idea went over like a lead Montgolfier balloon, particularly with such “senior” artists as Auguste Rodin and his colleagues, who then broke away to form their own Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and it was the Société that began its own exhibition, the Salon du Chap de Mars or more properly the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, chaired by Théophile Gautier. Dissatisfaction continued on into the next century when in 1903 a group of artists led by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse and Auguste Rodin formed the Salon d’Automne (Autumn Salon), which became the showcase for development and art innovation in the early 20^th century, further establishing the eminence of Rodin, Renoir, Cezanne, and Gaugin among others.

The Salon, 1932.