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 20th
century, further establishing the eminence of Rodin, Renoir, Cezanne, and
Gaugin among others.
The Salon, 1932.
