From the seventeenth century to the early part of the twentieth century, artistic production in France was controlled by artistic
academies which organized official exhibitions called
salons.
In France, "Academies" are institutions and learned societies which monitor, foster, critique and protect French cultural production.
AcademiesAn academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, north of Athens, Greece.-The original Academy:Before the Akademia was a...
first began to appear in France in the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
(
Jean-Antoine de BaïfJean Antoine de Baïf was a French poet and member of the Pléiade.-Life:He was born in Venice, the natural son of the scholar Lazare de Baïf, who was at that time French ambassador at Venice...
created one devoted to poetry and music), inspired by Italian models (such as the academy around
Marsilio FicinoMarsilio Ficino was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance, an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism who was in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day, and the first translator of Plato's complete extant works into Latin...
).
From the seventeenth century to the early part of the twentieth century, artistic production in France was controlled by artistic
academies which organized official exhibitions called
salons.
Academies and Salons
In France, "Academies" are institutions and learned societies which monitor, foster, critique and protect French cultural production.
AcademiesAn academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, north of Athens, Greece.-The original Academy:Before the Akademia was a...
first began to appear in France in the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
(
Jean-Antoine de BaïfJean Antoine de Baïf was a French poet and member of the Pléiade.-Life:He was born in Venice, the natural son of the scholar Lazare de Baïf, who was at that time French ambassador at Venice...
created one devoted to poetry and music), inspired by Italian models (such as the academy around
Marsilio FicinoMarsilio Ficino was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance, an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism who was in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day, and the first translator of Plato's complete extant works into Latin...
). The first half of the seventeenth century saw a phenomenal growth in private learned academies, organized around a half-dozen or a dozen individuals meeting regularly. . Academies were more institutional and more concerned with criticism and analysis than those literary gatherings today called
salonsA salon is a gathering of intellectual, social, political, and cultural elites under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation...
which were more focused on pleasurable discourse in society, although certain gatherings around such figures as
Marguerite de ValoisMargaret of Valois was Queen of France and of Navarre during the late sixteenth century.-Early life:...
were close to the academic spirit.
By the middle of the century, the number of private academies decreased as academies gradually came under government control, sporsorship and patronage. The first private academy to become "official" and to this day the most prestigious of governmental academies is the "
Académie françaiseL'Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution, it was...
", founded in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu. It is concerned with the
French languageFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
.
In the fine arts, the
Académie de peinture et de sculptureThe Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture , Paris, was founded in 1648, modelled on Italian examples, such as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Paris already had the Académie de Saint-Luc, which was a city artist guild like any other Guild of Saint Luke...
("Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded by Cardinal Mazarin in 1648; the
Académie d'architecture ("Academy of Architecture") was founded by
Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
in 1671; the "Académie de musique" ("Academy of Music") was founded in 1669. In 1816, these three academies were consolidated into the
Académie des beaux-artsThe Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:...
("Academy of Fine Arts"), which is (along with the "Académie française") one of the five academies that make up the "
Institut de FranceThe Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française....
" ("French Institute").
From the 17th to the 20th century, the "Académie de peinture et sculpture" organized official art exhibitions called Salons. To show at a salon, a young artist needed to be received by the Académie by first submitting an artwork to the jury; only Académie artists could be shown in the salons. Salons were started under
Louis XIVLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
and continued from 1667-1704. After a hiatus, the salons started up again in 1725. Under
Louis XVLouis XV ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774...
, the most prestigious Salon took place in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(the
Salon de ParisThe Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the western world...
) in the
Salon carré of the
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
, but there were also salons in the cities of
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
,
LilleLille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
and
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
.
In 1881, the government withdrew official sponsorship from the annual Salon, and a group of artists organized the
Société des artistes françaisThe Société des Artistes Français is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the Salon....
to take responsibility for the show.
In the 19th century, the salon system frequently incited criticism from artists for the bland or academic quality of the artwork, while radical artists (like
Edouard ManetÉdouard Manet , 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883, was a French painter. One of the first nineteenth century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
or
Gustave CourbetJean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement , with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists...
) would not be received or would be greatly censured by the "respectable" public. The salon system thus forced radical and modern artists to seek alternative or
unofficial exhibition sites. This is especially true for
ImpressionistsImpressionism was a 19th-century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s...
and
FauvismLes Fauves were a short-lived and loose grouping of early 20th century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
.
The "Académie de peinture et sculpture" is also responsible for the
Académie de FranceThe French Academy in Rome is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio in Rome, Italy.-History:...
in the
villa Médicis in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
(founded in 1666) which allows promising artists to study in Rome.
See also:
- Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of intellectual, social, political, and cultural elites under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation...
- the expression "salon" is also used to refer to literary gatherings
- Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies or universities.Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des beaux-arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and...
- Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the western world...
- Main page for the official Salon de Paris
- Salon des Refusés
The Salon des Refusés, French for “exhibition of rejects” , is generally an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon, but the term is most famously used to refer to the Salon des Refusés of 1863....
- started in 1863
- Salon des Indépendants -started in 1884
- Salon d'Automne
In 1903, the first Salon d'Automne was organized by Georges Rouault, André Derain, Henri Matisse and Albert Marquet as a reaction to the conservative policies of the official Paris Salon...
- started in 1903
Other major art exhibitions in France
France has been the host of a number on important
international fairs and exhibitions:
- The Exposition universelle de Paris
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from May 6, to October 31, 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
— a kind of World's Fair — was held in Paris in 1889. It was for this fair that the Eiffel TowerThe Eiffel Tower is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in...
was built (1887-1889).
- The Grand Palais
The Grand Palais is a large glass exhibition hall that was built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. It is located in the 8e arrondissement of Paris, France....
and the Petit PalaisThe Petit Palais is a museum in Paris, France. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 to Charles Girault's designs, it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts ....
were built as exhibition halls for the Exposition Universelle (1900)The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. The style that was universally present in the Exposition was Art Nouveau....
.
Paris was also the site of two world exhibitions of decorative arts:
- The Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes
The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes was a World's fair held in Paris, France from April to October 1925. The term Art Deco was derived by shortening the words Arts Décoratifs in the title of this exposition...
in 1925 launched the style called "Moderne", or "Streamline Moderne" or "Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
".
- The subsequent exhibition, the "Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held in 1937 in Paris, France. The Musée de l'Homme was created at this occasion.-Exhibitions:...
", in 1937 saw, to a certain degree, the last flowering of this style; the Palais de TokyoThe Palais de Tokyo is a contemporary art museum in Paris, France. The museum is situated in the eponymous building, the "Palais de Tokyo" built in 1937, located near the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement and also hosting the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris . The museum opened in...
was built for this exhibition.
Today, France is host to one of Europe's most prestigious international contemporary art fairs, the
FIAC ("Foire internationale d'art contemporain"), and to
Paris Photo (an international photography exhibition). Other art fairs and salons include:
- ArtParis - held in the Carrousel du Louvre
The Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
. ArtParis website
- SAGA ("Salon des Arts Graphiques Actuels") - specialized in lithography, etching and illustration
See also
List of world's fairs.
External links