Painting for The Salon? The French State, Artists and Academy, 1830-1852
Prof James Kearns is Principal Investigator for the AHRC-funded project 'Painting for The Salon? The French State, Artists and Academy, 1830-1852'. The project explores the role of the Paris Fine Art Salon between 1830 and 1852.
The project aims to replace a limited representation of the Salon's role with the first study of the Salon as a network of relationships bringing together government policy, administrative structures and artistic and cultural practices in an institution for which art was produced, through which it was circulated and in which it was analysed or ignored, sold or returned unsold.
The project will generate a critical mass of new published research (one co-authored book, one co-edited volume of conference proceedings, one co-authored dual-language English/French exhibition catalogue and one PhD thesis) designed to embed the institutional dimension in future art historical research, and an exhibition whose aim will be to educate the public and the wider academic community about the significance of the institutional dimension in cultural and art history.
A three-day conference linked to the project, The Paris Fine Art Salon, 1791-1881, will be held at the University of Exeter, 4-6 September 2013.
A Database of Salon Artists, which is free to access and fully searchable, has been created as part of this project.
Conference papers to be delivered in either English or French.
Keynote speakers:
- Professor Susan Siegfried (University of Michigan)
- Professor Pierre Vaisse (University of Geneva)
- Professor Richard Wrigley (University of Nottingham)
The Paris Fine Art Salon dominated French artistic life throughout the nineteenth century. Organised by the State, and usually lasting between two and three months, the Salon was an annual or biennial showcase for the contemporary visual arts and a conspicuous manifestation of French artistic hegemony. It provided artists with the most important opportunity available to present their work to the public, attract a clientele, launch and sustain a career, and compete for state honours and prizes, and public and private buyers and commissions. For the public it was a huge social and cultural event, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from across Europe and beyond.
The conference will coincide with the completion of a three-year, AHRC–funded project, entitled Painting for the Salon? The French State, Artists and Academy, 1830-1852. The participants in the project, Professor James Kearns (Principal Investigator), Dr Alister Mill (Research Fellow) and Harriet Griffiths (doctoral candidate) will each present elements of their research at the beginning of the second day, which will be devoted to the period 1830-1852. The first day will be devoted to the period 1791-1830, the third to 1852-1881.
A draft conference programme can be viewed here.
Le Salon, 1791-1881
Un colloque aura lieu sur ce sujet dans l’université d’Exeter, Royaume-Uni, du 4 au 6 septembre 2013
Communications en français ou anglais.
Conférenciers d’honneur:
- Susan Siegfried (Université de Michigan)
- Pierre Vaisse (Université de Genève)
- Richard Wrigley (Université de Nottingham)
Le Salon, exposition des ouvrages des artistes vivants, a dominé la vie artistique à Paris tout au long du dix-neuvième siècle. Organisé par l’État jusqu’en 1881, ayant lieu à intervalles réguliers d’un an ou deux pour la plupart, et d’une durée moyenne de plusieurs mois, il présentait une vitrine de la production artistique contemporaine qui devait aussi démontrer la suprématie artistique française sur le plan international. Les artistes y trouvaient l’occasion la plus importante de présenter leurs œuvres à un public diversifié, se faire une clientèle, s’attirer l’attention dans la presse artistique et participer à la course des prix et des honneurs. Pour le public c’était un événement considérable sur le plan social et culturel, comme en témoignent les visiteurs qui y venaient par centaines de milliers d’Europe et mëme au-delà.
Le colloque coincidera avec l’aboutissement du projet de recherches financé par le Arts and Humanities Research Council et qui a pour titre: Peindre pour le Salon? L’État, les artistes et l’Académie des beaux-arts, 1830-1852. Chaque membre de cette équipe de recherches de l’université d’Exeter, James Kearns (directeur), Alister Mill (chercheur associé), Harriet Griffiths (doctorante), présentera des éléments de leurs travaux au début de la deuxième journée du colloque, consacrée aux années 1830-1852, la première étant consacrée à celles de 1791-1830, et la troisième à celles de 1852 à 1881
Vous trouverez ici un programme préliminaire.