The Brussels Salon (French : Salon de Bruxelles; Dutch : Salon van Brussel) was a periodic exhibition of works by living artists that was held in Brussels between 1811 and 1914. It was primarily aimed at painters, but sculptors, draughtsmen, engravers and architects were also present. Participants were given a unique opportunity to present their work to the general public and to offer it for sale if desired. They could also enter anonymously in a competition whose first prize was a gold medal. The catalogues were eagerly received and newspapers and art critics followed the event closely. The national Museum of Fine Arts was enriched mainly by works purchased at the Salon. [1]
Antwerp, in 1789, then Ghent, in 1792, were the first cities in the Low Countries to set up a Salon following the example of Paris. [2] In 1803, these initiatives were followed in Brussels, where a painting museum was opened in the Palace of Charles of Lorraine. In the summer of that year, it hosted a first exhibition of contemporary artists, organised by the Société de peinture, sculpture et architecture de Bruxelles ("Brussels Society of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture"). [2]
The real starting point for the Salon came in 1811. Under the impetus of Charles-Joseph, 4th Duke d'Ursel, and the Ghent bibliophile Charles van Hulthem, the Société de Bruxelles pour l'encouragement des beaux-arts ("Brussels Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts") was founded. On 4 November, visitors could attend the first edition (in the autumn, so as not to compete with the Paris Salon). A jury had selected the participants, while another jury had awarded the prizes (painting, landscape, sculpture, architecture and drawing) on 17 November, in the presence of some forty artists. [3] . From the outset, it was planned that the Ghent and Brussels salons would alternate annually. As Antwerp also established a Salon in 1813, a triennial system was adopted, with each city organising its own Salon alternately. [1]
In 1817, King William I of the Netherlands concluded a general arrangement on the organisation of official exhibitions in the Southern Netherlands. In 1830, the Salon coincided with the third General Exhibition of the Products of National Industry. The new Grand Gallery had just opened and had received, among other works, The Sacrifice of Mayor Pieter van der Werff by Gustave Wappers. It drew sharp criticism from his colleague François-Joseph Navez, and two camps were formed. [4] However, the work was a great success with the crowds, as its exhibition was held just before the Belgian Revolution broke out in September 1830, and the organising association decided to withdraw in view of the context of unrest in the kingdom. [5] The government of the newly independent Belgium saw an opportunity to take the organisation into its own hands and gave a more national interpretation to the concept. From the next edition in 1833, the Salon was known as the Exposition nationale des Beaux-Arts ("National Exhibition of Fine Arts"). Historical pieces were strongly encouraged to legitimise the new state. Visitors were granted free admission during the September festivities (until 1880).
In the 19th century, the institutional art system limited the possibilities for exhibitions. Apart from the initiatives of a few circles organising artistic events and charity exhibitions, official exhibitions were a crucial step for artists seeking visibility. While such exhibitions existed in many Belgian cities, those of Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent were the only ones to claim a national character and were part of a triennial system that ensured their periodicity. The official nature of the Brussels Salon was due to the direct intervention of the State in its organisation. [1]
In spite of its success, the Brussels Salon began to be challenged through the actions of intellectual circles. In 1845, the Les Joyeux society held its first Salon caricatural ("Caricatural Salon"). The student-like group published its own "catalogue", in which it mocked the lack of innovation. Its members included the future writer Charles de Coster and the young artist Félicien Rops, who published Le Diable au Salon (1851) at the age of eighteen. [6] The group continued its satire until 1869. [7]
A new step was reached with the 1851 edition. An effort was made to attract foreign artists, and to emphasize this, the Salon was henceforth called the Exposition générale des Beaux-Arts ("General Exhibition of Fine Arts"). Realism began to manifest itself, but met fierce resistance. In the decades that followed, modern movements gained a foothold. Art critics such as Émile Verhaeren and Camille Lemonnier proved to be keen observers.
The decline of the official Salon began with the increase of private initiatives (the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts ("Free Society of Fine Arts") was one of the first, later followed by groups such as Les XX , La Libre Esthétique , Pour l'Art, etc.). For the 1887 edition, the selection committee halved the number of participants, but this did little to improve quality. The rejected artists retaliated by organising a Salon des Refusés ("Salon of the Refused") at the Musée du Nord, following the example of the 1863 Salon in Paris, alongside the official Salon. [8] Artistic circles argued in favour of privatising the Salon, and this option was partly accepted in 1893. A new Société des Beaux-Arts (de Bruxelles) ("Society of Fine Arts (of Brussels)") was entrusted with the organisation, albeit still under government control. Alongside the grand Salon, it also organised annual exhibitions (the first in 1894; from 1908 called the Salon du Printemps ("Spring Salon")). The tradition of the triennial Salons continued until 1914. After that, despite declarations of intent, the Salon was not revived. [9]
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Museum, the Magritte Museum, the Fin-de-Siècle Museum, the Modern Museum, the Antoine Wiertz Museum and the Constantin Meunier Museum.
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels is an art school in Brussels, Belgium, founded in 1711. Starting from modest beginnings in a single room in Brussels' Town Hall, it has since 1876 been operating from a former convent and orphanage in the Rue du Midi/Zuidstraat, which was converted by the architect Victor Jamaer. The school has played an important role in training leading local artists.
Ignace Brice was a neoclassical painter of genre, portraits and religious scenes from Brussels.
Henri Van Assche was a Belgian painter; primarily of landscapes. He was especially well-known for his depictions of waterfalls and water mills. Some of his scenes contain animals painted by Balthasar Paul Ommeganck.
Paul Bouré or Paul-Joseph Bouré was a Belgian artist. Poised to become one of the most notable sculptors of his time, he died at the age of 25.
Hippolyte Emmanuel Boulenger was a Belgian landscape painter influenced by the French Barbizon school, considered to be "the Belgian Corot".
Rodolphe Paul Marie Wytsman was a Belgian Impressionist painter. He trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and was one of the founding members of Les XX, a group of avant-garde Belgian artists.
The Société Libre des Beaux-Arts was an organization formed in 1868 by Belgian artists to react against academicism and to advance Realist painting and artistic freedom. Based in Brussels, the society was active until 1876, by which time the aesthetic values it espoused had infiltrated the official Salon. It played a formative role in establishing avant-gardism in Belgium.
Antoine-Félix Bouré, known in his own time as Félix Bouré but sometimes found in modern scholarship as Antoine Bouré, was a Belgian sculptor, best known for his monumental lions.
Jules Lagae was a Belgian sculptor and medallist, born in Roeselare.
Éliane Georgette Diane de Meuse was a Belgian painter. She was the wife of Max Van Dyck. They met at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels where they attended the courses of the same professors.
Sculpture in Brussels has been created since the Middle Ages to the present day. It began to shine in the second half of the 14th century with Claus Sluter's arrival in Brussels and the construction of the city's Town Hall. It continued without interruption and reached its momentum during 15th and 16th centuries. Until the end of the Ancien Régime, sculptors in Brussels were members of the Quatre Couronnés Guild of the Nation of St Nicholas and then the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
Marie Collart-Henrotin was a Belgian artist who mainly painted landscapes and animals.
Joseph Stevens, birth name Edouard Joseph Léopold Stevens was a Belgian animalier painter and engraver. He is mainly known for his paintings with dogs as the principal subject. This included dog portraits, dogs interacting among themselves or with their masters and dog markets. From depicting sentimental scenes in a Romanticist manner his art developed towards a more Realist rendering of dogs living on the street or working for travelling entertainers. He won the admiration of the French realist painter Courbet for these efforts. He was a pioneer of Realism in Belgian art. He further painted horses and singeries, scenes with monkeys engaging in human activities. A few marines by his hand are also known.
Andries Cornelis Lens or André Corneille Lens was a Flemish painter, illustrator, art theoretician and art educator. He is known for his history paintings of biblical and mythological subjects and portraits. Wishing to contribute to the revival of painting in Flanders, he took his inspiration from the classical traditions of the 16th century and drew inspiration from Raphael. He was thus a promoter of Neoclassicism in Flemish art. He was a teacher and director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp. Lens was court painter to the governor-general of the Austrian Netherlands and settled in Brussels where he married. Lens was also a writer and historian who published an illustrated book which discussed the costumes, ornaments and furnishings of the various people in Antiquity and another book setting out his art theories.
Gisbert Combaz, or Ghisbert Combaz, was a Belgian painter, lithographer, illustrator, poster artist, furniture designer, sculptor, art educator, art historian and lawyer. He originally trained and practised as a lawyer, but gave up his legal career to dedicated himself to art education and art. He was one of the leading Belgian Art Nouveau artists. Despite his talents as a painter, he is now mainly known for his poster designs and postcards as well as his First World War drawings expressing his hatred for the German occupiers. His work showed a strong influence of his in-depth study of Japanese and Chinese art.
L'Escaut en amont d'Anvers, le soir or An Evening is an oil on canvas painting by Belgian painter Théo van Rysselberghe. Painted in 1892, the painting is considered a very good example of Van Rysselberghe's pointillist technique, which, by the time he painted this oeuvre, had been completely absorbed and adjusted by the Belgian artist.
Élisa de Gamond, born in Brussels on 3 April 1804 and died in Ixelles on 3 March 1869, was a Belgian painter known for her neo-classical works in the field of mythology.
Charles Mertens, Karel Jozef Mertens or Karel Mertens was a Belgian draughtsman, painter, muralist, etcher and illustrator. He is known for his portraits, landscapes and genre scenes. He painted many scenes with fishermen and fishing boats.