View source for French art salons and academies

{{French art history}}

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 '''[[Salon (gathering)|salons]]'''. In France, [[Academy|academies]] are  institutions and learned societies which monitor, foster, critique and protect French cultural production.

Academies were more institutional and more concerned with criticism and analysis than those literary gatherings today called [[salon (gathering)|salons]] which were more focused on pleasurable discourse in society, although certain gatherings around such figures as [[Marguerite de Valois]] were close to the academic spirit.

==History==
Academies first began to appear in France in the [[Renaissance]]. In 1570 [[Jean-Antoine de Baïf]] created one devoted to music and poetry, the [[Académie de Poésie et de Musique]], inspired by Italian models (such as the academy around [[Marsilio Ficino]]).

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.<ref name=Viala>Viala, 1985. Viala's first chapter is entirely devoted to these academies.  By his count, 70 were created during the 17th century.</ref> By the middle of the century, the number of private academies decreased as academies gradually came under government control, sponsorships and patronage.

The first private academy to become "official" and to this day the most prestigious of governmental academies is the [[Académie Française]] ("French Academy"), founded in 1634 by [[Cardinal Richelieu]]. It is concerned with the [[French language]]. In the fine arts, the [[Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture]] ("Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded by [[Cardinal Mazarin]] in 1648 and was soon followed by a number of other officially instituted academies: the [[Académie Royale de Danse]] ("Royal Academy of Dance") in 1661; the [[Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Médailles]] ("Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Medals") in 1663 [renamed the Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres ("Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Literature" or "Royal Academy of Humanities") in 1716]; the [[Académie Royale des Sciences]] ("Royal Academy of Sciences") in 1666; the [[Académie d'Opéra]] ("Academy of Opera") in 1669 [renamed the Académie Royale de Musique ("Royal Academy of Music") in 1672 and the Académie de Musique in 1791]; and the [[Académie Royale d'Architecture]] ("Royal Academy of Architecture") founded by [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] in 1671.<ref name=Viala/><ref>Howard Mayer Brown and Iain Fenlon, "Academy" in Sadie 2001.</ref>

In 1793 during the [[French Revolution]] the academies were suppressed, but in 1795 the Institut national des sciences et des arts (now the [[Institut de France]]) was established and consisted of three Classes: Sciences Physiques et Mathématiques ("Physical and Mathematical Sciences"); Sciences Morales et Politiques ("Moral and Political Sciences"); and Littérature et Beaux-Arts ("Literature and Fine Arts"). In 1803 under [[Napoleon]] the name was changed to Institut National de France, and it was reorganized into four Classes: 1. Sciences Physiques et Mathématiques; 2. La Langue et Littérature Françaises ("French Literature and Language"); 3. Histoire et Littérature Anciennes ("History and Ancient Literature"); and 4. Beaux-Arts ("Fine Arts"). The Institut was renamed the Institut de France in 1806 and Institut Impérial de France in 1811.<ref name=NameChanges>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gZ9e2B-WfU0C&q=%22institut+national+des+sciences+et+arts%22%22&pg=PT661 Lane 1989] and South Kensington Museum 1891, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mnc_AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA453 p. 453].</ref>

The Institut was renamed again in 1814 under the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] to Institut Royal de France, and in 1816, the older appellation of "Académie" was revived, when it was reorganized into four sections: the Académie Française; the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres; the Académie des Sciences; and the Académie des Beaux-Arts.<ref name=NameChanges/> The last consisted of three subordinate academies, those of painting and sculpture, music, and architecture. In 1833 the earlier class, Sciences Morales et Politiques, which had been suppressed in 1803 under Napoleon, was revived as a fifth academy, the [[Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques]].

==French Academy in Rome==
The Académie de peinture et sculpture is responsible for the [[French Academy in Rome|Académie de France]] in the [[Villa Médicis]] in [[Rome]] (founded in 1666) which allows promising artists to study in Rome.

==Salons as exhibitions==
From the 17th to the 20th century, the Académie de peinture et sculpture organized official art exhibitions called [[salon (art)|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 XIV of France|Louis XIV]] and continued from 1667 to 1704. After a hiatus, the salons started up again in 1725. Under [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]], the most prestigious Salon took place in [[Paris]] (the [[Paris Salon|Salon de Paris]]) in the Salon Carré of the [[Louvre]], but there were also salons in the cities of [[Bordeaux]], [[Lille]] and [[Toulouse]].

In 1881, the government withdrew official sponsorship from the annual Salon, and a group of artists organized the [[Société des artistes français]] 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 [[Édouard Manet]] or [[Gustave Courbet]]) would not be received or would be greatly censored 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 [[Impressionism|Impressionists]] and [[Fauvism]].

See also:
* [[Salon (gathering)]] - the expression "salon" is also used to refer to literary gatherings
* [[Academic art]]
* [[Paris Salon]] - Main page for the official ''Salon de Paris''
* [[Salon des Refusés]] - started in 1863
* [[Salon des Indépendants]] -started in 1884
* [[Salon d'Automne]] - started in 1903

==Other major art exhibitions in France==
{{See also|List of world's fairs}}
France has been the host of a number on important '''international fairs and exhibitions''':
*The ''[[Exposition Universelle (1889)|Exposition universelle de Paris]]'' &mdash; a kind of World's Fair &mdash; was held in Paris in 1889. It was for this fair that the [[Eiffel Tower]] was built (1887–1889).
*The ''[[Grand Palais]]'' and the ''[[Petit Palais]]'' were built as exhibition halls for the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)]].

Paris was also the site of two world exhibitions of decorative arts:
*The ''[[Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes|Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes]]'' in 1925 launched the style called "Moderne", or "Streamline Moderne" or "[[Art Deco]]".
*The subsequent exhibition, the "[[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)]]", in 1937 saw, to a certain degree, the last flowering of this style; the ''[[Palais de Tokyo]]'' 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]] ([http://www.artparis.fr/ ArtParis website])
*''SAGA'' ("Salon des Arts Graphiques Actuels"), specialized in lithography, etching and illustration

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}

;Sources
* Lane, Harlan (1984). ''When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf''. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-0-679-72023-2}}.
* South Kensington Museum (1891). ''Catalog of the Science Library in the South Kensington Museum''. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mnc_AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR1 View] at [[Google Books]].
* [[Stanley Sadie|Sadie, Stanley]], editor (1992). ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-1-56159-228-9}}.
* Sadie, Stanley, editor; John Tyrell; executive editor (2001). ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-1-56159-239-5}} (hardcover). {{OCLC|419285866}} (eBook).
* [[Alain Viala|Viala, Alain]] (1985). ''Naissance de l'écrivain''. Paris: Minuit. {{ISBN|978-2-7073-1025-5}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Salon de peinture et de sculpture|French art salons and academies}}
*[http://lesalon-artistesfrancais.com/ Société des Artistes Français] (official website of "Le Salon des Artistes Français" )
*[http://www.salonartists.org Database of Salon Artists, 1827-1850 (salonartists.org)].
*[http://www.nga.gov.au/Research/Salons.cfm#chron Timeline of the Paris salons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421191507/https://nga.gov.au/Research/Salons.cfm#chron |date=2021-04-21 }}
*[http://www.paddytheque.net/article-34425326.html Information about Fiac 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327012834/http://www.paddytheque.net/article-34425326.html |date=2016-03-27 }} {{in lang|fr}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:French Art Salons And Academies}}
[[Category:Art exhibitions in France]]
[[Category:French art]]
[[Category:Arts and culture in the Ancien Régime]]