Paris Salon

Paris Salon (Salon de Paris), annual exhibition, held in Paris, of works by living artists, the official exhibition of work by the members of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture), a body later known as the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts).

Although there is some doubt as to when the first Salon (from the French word for “reception room”) took place, it appears to have its roots in exhibitions held, with the approval of Louis XIV, in the mid-1660s and early 1670s. The Académie was originally founded in 1648 and was housed in the Louvre Palace after the king moved his court to Versailles. The first of a more frequent series of exhibitions was held in 1699, with artists’ submissions displayed in the Grande Gallerie of the Louvre. The event took its present name from the 1725 exhibition, which was held in the Louvre’s Salon Carré (Square Salon). By 1737 the exhibitions had become regular public events: for a time they were held biennially, but by the end of the century they had become an annual event.

For two centuries, success in France for any artist was dependent on his work being exhibited at the Paris Salon. In 1748 a system of selection by jury was instituted. By the end of the 18th century all French artists were permitted to submit works to the Salon; however, in reality the Académie retained control through most of the 19th century of both teaching and the exhibitions, and the juries became increasingly conservative, rigid, and academic. In 1863, by command of Napoleon III, an exhibition known as the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Refused) was set up to show the work of artists turned down by the Paris Salon. It featured works by artists such as Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, and James Whistler, and is generally regarded as a major turning point in art history. The Salon des Refusés was revived in 1874 and held further exhibitions in 1875 and 1886.

By 1881 the Académie had relinquished responsibility for holding the Paris Salon to the Société des Artists Français, which, combined with the rise of independent exhibitions of the new artistic movements, heralded the decline of the Salon’s prestige and influence.

Catalogues of each Paris Salon are considered important primary documents for art historians.