A salon style exhibit features art displayed in a non-conventional manner, often stacked in no particular order,  from floor to ceiling. Quite opposite the standard 'all in a row evenly spaced' gallery style display commonly seen in most galleries and museums.

Although the popular French Salon shows were government juried and considered a regal event in the early 1700s, it wasn't until 1863 that an uproar took place as a result of a conservative jury's lack of appreciation for  the non-traditional styles of the Impressionistic painters. That year, the jury members with their taste for the traditional rejected a disproportionate amount of impressionistic works for display.  To unruffle the feathers of the multitude of regular participants that were rejected, Napolean III made a democratic move when he implemented an entirely separate show (the Salon des Refuses), which was held on May 17 in 1863. From that date forward, continuing throughout the 1800s, the artists we know from our art history lessons as the 'The Impressionists'  held their own independent exhibitions. This was the beginning of the avant garde movement.  

In 1881, the government officially bowed out of their sponsorship of the annual Salon exhibits, turning the event over to the Société des Artistes Français, which is still in existence today, and continues to organize the annual "Salon des Artistes Français".

Artists, who left an impression on the world in more ways than one.
9/30/2013 04:32:55 pm

Artists, who left an impression on the world in more ways than one.

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