Société des Artistes Indépendants
Encyclopedia
—The Société des Artistes Indépendants (Society of Independent Artists) formed in Paris
in summer 1884 choosing the device "No jury nor awards" (Sans jury ni récompense). Albert Dubois-Pillet
, Odilon Redon
, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac
were among its founders. Two years later, in 1886, the Artistes Indépendants mounted their second exhibition, and since then for three decades their annual exhibitions set the pace. All trends in art of the early 20th century were first displayed and widely discussed there. World War I brought a cruel ceasure, though the Artistes Indépendants remained active: With headquarters in the vast basements of the Grand Palais
since 1920 (next door to the Société des Artistes Français
, the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts
, the Société du Salon d'Automne
, and others), their annual exhibition is held there in the spring at the Espace Champerret.
, artists not backed by the official Académie de peinture et de sculpture
in charge of the exhibits at the annual Salon or without support supplied by actual political constellations had little chance to advance. From year to year the number of artists working in Paris, the number of artists submitting works to the official Salon
and the number of works refused by the jury increased, but neither the Second Empire nor the Third Republic
found an answer to this situation.
For years, the artists had counted on official support. In 1884, finally, the artists began to organise themselves, and a "Group of independent artists" was authorised by the Ministry of Fine Arts to arrange an exhibition, while the City of Paris agreed to supply rooms for the presentation. So, from May 15 through July 15, the first "free" exhibition of contemporary art showed more than 5000 works by more than 400 artists.
Although sustained by Mesureur, deputy chairman of the Council of Paris and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge
of France, by Frédéric Hattat, chairman of the Fine Art commission in the same council, by Albert Dubois-Pillet, commanding the Republican Guard
, member of the Grand Orient de France
, the beginning of the Company, considered as a nest of revolutionaries, were difficult.
, officially confirmed the establishment of the Société
Article 1 of the organization's statutes reads,
But financially the result was a catastrophe.
Nevertheless, in spring 1885, the "Groupe" organised its next exhibition, this time with some success.
, and the art of Henri-Edmond Cross
, Odilon Redon
, Albert Dubois-Pillet
, Louis Valtat
, Armand Guillaumin
, and Charles Angrand
.
But at the beginning of the 20th century, all the tendencies of the Ecole de Paris would succeed to one another in the Salon des Indépendants: neo-impressionism
, fauvism
, cubism
.
for the exhibitions of its Salon.
After World War II, the Salon des Indépendants was renewed with the artist group La Jeune Peinture: Dunoyer de Segonzac, Bernard Buffet
, Jean Carzou
, Maurice Boitel
, Yves Brayer, Aristide Caillaud, Daniel du Janerand
, among others.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in summer 1884 choosing the device "No jury nor awards" (Sans jury ni récompense). Albert Dubois-Pillet
Albert Dubois-Pillet
Albert Dubois-Pillet , was a French painter and army officer.He graduated from the École Impériale Militaire at Saint-Cyr in 1867, and fought the Franco-Prussian War, during which he was made prisoner by the Germans...
, Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon
Bertrand-Jean Redon, better known as Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.-Life:...
, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac
Paul Signac
Paul Signac was a French neo-impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the pointillist style.-Biography:Paul Victor Jules Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863...
were among its founders. Two years later, in 1886, the Artistes Indépendants mounted their second exhibition, and since then for three decades their annual exhibitions set the pace. All trends in art of the early 20th century were first displayed and widely discussed there. World War I brought a cruel ceasure, though the Artistes Indépendants remained active: With headquarters in the vast basements of the Grand Palais
Grand Palais
This article contains material abridged and translated from the French and Spanish Wikipedia.The Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, commonly known as the Grand Palais , is a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France...
since 1920 (next door to the Société des Artistes Français
Société des artistes français
The Société des Artistes Français is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the Salon....
, the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts
Société Nationale des Beaux Arts
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions....
, the Société du Salon d'Automne
Salon d'Automne
In 1903, the first Salon d'Automne was organized by Georges Rouault, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Angele Delasalle and Albert Marquet as a reaction to the conservative policies of the official Paris Salon...
, and others), their annual exhibition is held there in the spring at the Espace Champerret.
History
During the Second EmpireSecond French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
, artists not backed by the official Académie de peinture et de sculpture
Académie de peinture et de sculpture
The 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...
in charge of the exhibits at the annual Salon or without support supplied by actual political constellations had little chance to advance. From year to year the number of artists working in Paris, the number of artists submitting works to the official Salon
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...
and the number of works refused by the jury increased, but neither the Second Empire nor the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
found an answer to this situation.
For years, the artists had counted on official support. In 1884, finally, the artists began to organise themselves, and a "Group of independent artists" was authorised by the Ministry of Fine Arts to arrange an exhibition, while the City of Paris agreed to supply rooms for the presentation. So, from May 15 through July 15, the first "free" exhibition of contemporary art showed more than 5000 works by more than 400 artists.
Although sustained by Mesureur, deputy chairman of the Council of Paris and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge
Grand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
of France, by Frédéric Hattat, chairman of the Fine Art commission in the same council, by Albert Dubois-Pillet, commanding the Republican Guard
Republican Guard
Republican Guard is the organization of a republic which serves to protect the President and the government. Usually synonymous with Presidential Guard.* Albanian Republican Guard* Algerian Republican Guard...
, member of the Grand Orient de France
Grand Orient de France
The Grand Orient de France is the largest of several Masonic organizations in France and the oldest in Continental Europe, founded in 1733.-Foundation:...
, the beginning of the Company, considered as a nest of revolutionaries, were difficult.
Establishment
June 11, 1884, Maître Coursault, notary at MontmorencyMontmorency
- Places :In Australia:* Montmorency, Victoria, suburb of Melbourne** Montmorency railway stationIn Canada:* Montmorency Falls, Quebec* Montmorency , Quebec* Montmorency , Quebec...
, officially confirmed the establishment of the Société
Article 1 of the organization's statutes reads,
- ...the purpose of Société des Artistes Indépendants – based on the principle of abolishing admission jury – is to allow the artists to present their works to public judgement with complete freedom.
"Groupe" vs. "Société"
Members of the Groupe challenged this foundation and succeeded to have an exhibition arranged "for the victims of the recent cholera epidemic", inaugurated December 1, 1884, by Lucien Boué, President of the Paris City Council.But financially the result was a catastrophe.
Nevertheless, in spring 1885, the "Groupe" organised its next exhibition, this time with some success.
Heroic years
Among the works exhibited were Une Baignade, Asnières by Georges Seurat and Le Pont d’Austerlitz by Paul SignacPaul Signac
Paul Signac was a French neo-impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the pointillist style.-Biography:Paul Victor Jules Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863...
, and the art of Henri-Edmond Cross
Henri-Edmond Cross
Henri-Edmond Cross was a French pointillist painter.- Life and career :Cross was born in Douai and grew up in Lille. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. His early works, portraits and still lifes, were in the dark colors of realism, but after meeting with Claude Monet in 1883, he painted in...
, Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon
Bertrand-Jean Redon, better known as Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.-Life:...
, Albert Dubois-Pillet
Albert Dubois-Pillet
Albert Dubois-Pillet , was a French painter and army officer.He graduated from the École Impériale Militaire at Saint-Cyr in 1867, and fought the Franco-Prussian War, during which he was made prisoner by the Germans...
, Louis Valtat
Louis Valtat
Louis Valtat[p] was a French painter associated with the Fauves.Valtat is noted as a key link that accounts for the stylistic transition in painting from Monet to Matisse....
, Armand Guillaumin
Armand Guillaumin
Armand Guillaumin , was a French impressionist painter and lithographer.Born Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin in Paris, he worked at his uncle's lingerie shop while attending evening drawing lessons. He also worked for a French government railway before studying at the Académie Suisse in 1861...
, and Charles Angrand
Charles Angrand
Charles Angrand was a French artist who gained renown for his Neo-Impressionist paintings and drawings. He was an important member of the Parisian avant-garde art scene in the late 1880s and early 1890s.-Early life and work:...
.
But at the beginning of the 20th century, all the tendencies of the Ecole de Paris would succeed to one another in the Salon des Indépendants: neo-impressionism
Neo-impressionism
Neo-impressionism was coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat’s greatest masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, marked the beginning of this movement when it first made its appearance at an exhibition...
, fauvism
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
, cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
.
Since 1920
In 1920, the Société des Artistes Indépendants obtained the Grand PalaisGrand Palais
This article contains material abridged and translated from the French and Spanish Wikipedia.The Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, commonly known as the Grand Palais , is a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France...
for the exhibitions of its Salon.
After World War II, the Salon des Indépendants was renewed with the artist group La Jeune Peinture: Dunoyer de Segonzac, Bernard Buffet
Bernard Buffet
Bernard Buffet was a French painter of Expressionism and Member of the Anti-Abstract Art Group "L'homme Témoin [the Witness-Man]".-Life and work:...
, Jean Carzou
Jean Carzou
Jean Carzou , born Garnik Zouloumian, was a French-Armenian artist. Jean arrived in Paris in 1924 to study architecture. He started working as a theater decorator but he then quickly realized he preferred drawing and painting...
, Maurice Boitel
Maurice Boitel
Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007 in Audresselles (Pas-de-Calais), was a French painter.-Artistic life:Maurice Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris, with painters like Bernard Buffet, Yves...
, Yves Brayer, Aristide Caillaud, Daniel du Janerand
Daniel du Janerand
Daniel du Janerand was a French painter artistborn in the "Marais", center of Paris, on 18 July 1919.-Artistic life:*École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris;*Member founder of the Salon "Comparaisons";...
, among others.
External links
- Société des Artistes Indépendants, Official website
- Timeline of the Paris salons