Explore the Background of the Salon of 1863 of this artwork, Salon des Refusés.
The Paris Salon, sponsored by the French government and the Academy of Fine Arts, took place annually, and was a exhibition of the best academic art.  A medal from the Salon was assurance of a successful artistic career; winners were given official commissions by the French government and were sought after for portraits and private commissions.  Since the 18th century, the paintings were classified by genre, following a hierarchy;  history paintings were ranked first, followed by the portrait, the landscape, the "genre scene" and the still life.  The jury, headed by the Comte de Nieuwerkerke, the head of the Academy of Fine Arts, was very conservative; near-photographic but idealized realism was expected.Much intrigue often went on to get acceptance, and to be given a good place in the galleries.  In 1851, Gustave Courbet managed to get one painting into the Salon, Enterrement à Ornans, and in 1852 his Baigneuses was accepted, scandalizing critics and the public, who expected romanticized nudes in classical settings, but in 1855 the Salon refused all of Courbet's paintings.  As early as the 1830s, Paris art galleries mounted small, private exhibitions of works rejected by the Salon jurors.  Courbet was obliged to organize his own exhibit, called The Pavillon of Realism, at a private gallery.  Private exhibits attracted far less attention from the press and patrons, and limited the access of the artists to a small public.
In 1863 the Salon jury refused two thirds of the paintings presented, including the works of Gustave Courbet,  Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Antoine Chintreuil, and Johan Jongkind. The rejected artists and their friends protested, and the protests reached Emperor Napoleon III. The Emperor's tastes in art were traditional; he commissioned and bought works by artists such as Alexandre Cabanel and Franz Xaver Winterhalter, but he was also sensitive to public opinion. His office issued a statement: "Numerous complaints have come to the Emperor on the subject of the works of art which were refused by the jury of the Exposition.  His Majesty, wishing to let the public judge the legitimacy of these complaints, has decided that the works of art which were refused should be displayed in another part of the Palace of Industry."More than a thousand visitors a day visited the Salon des Refusés. The journalist Émile Zola reported that visitors pushed to get into the crowded galleries where the refused paintings were hung, and the rooms were full of the laughter of the spectators. Critics and the public ridiculed the refusés, which included such famous paintings as Édouard Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe and James McNeill Whistler's Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl. The critical attention also legitimized the emerging avant-garde in painting. The Impressionists exhibited their works outside the traditional Salon beginning in 1874. Subsequent Salons des Refusés were mounted in Paris in 1874, 1875, and 1886, by which time the popularity of the Paris Salon had declined for those who were more interested in Impressionism.
Paris Salon Alexandre Cabanel Gustave Courbet James McNeill Whistler Napoleon III Impressionists Impressionism Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl Franz Xaver Winterhalter Camille Pissarro history painting Émile Zola  Salon Antoine Chintreuil Academy of Fine Arts Édouard Manet Paris Johan Jongkind genre scene Déjeuner sur l'herbe