''Salon des Cent'' ("Salon of the One Hundred") was a commercial art exhibition in Paris, based at 31

Rue Bonaparte Rue Bonaparte is a street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It spans the Quai Voltaire/Quai Malaquais to the Jardin du Luxembourg, crossing the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the place Saint-Sulpice and has housed many of France's most famo ...

. The ''Salon'' sold color posters, prints and reproductions of artwork to the general public at reasonable prices. It was established in February 1894 by Léon Deschamps, founder of '' La Plume'' ("The Pen") an avant garde literary and artistic magazine. It became known for its exhibitions showcasing the works of contemporary graphical artists. The salon held exhibitions until 1900. Many of the posters advertising ''Salon des Cent'' exhibitions have themselves become collectors' items.

La Plume

'' La Plume'' was an artistic and literary journal founded by Léon Deschamps in 1889, at first located on 36 Boulevard Arago. Articles in ''La Plume'' covered a broad range of subjects ranging from realism, socialism and anarchism to Catholic mysticism and the aristocracy. The journal moved to 31 Rue Bonaparte in July 1891, where the spacious new offices gave room to mount art exhibitions. Before these began, ''La Plume'' displayed various objects in the "Salon de la Plume", with the visual arts taking second place to objects associated with literature, poetry and philosophy. Advances in color lithography in the 1890s made it practical to make large posters for use as advertisements, and also for art collectors. A poster craze developed, with huge demand for Art Nouveau lithographs in Europe and America. The growing focus of ''La Plume'' on contemporary graphical art was clearly established by the publication of an issue of ''La Plume'' in November 1893 dedicated to the history of the poster. At times the magazine would devote a special issue to one artist. These included

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beaux ...

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...

Alexandre Falguière Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière (also given as Jean-Joseph-Alexandre Falguière, or in short Alexandre Falguière) (7 September 183120 April 1900) was a French sculptor and painter. Biography Falguière was born in Toulouse. A pupil of the � ...

, André des Gachons,

Eugène Grasset Eugène Samuel Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) was a Swiss decorative artist who worked in Paris, France in a variety of creative design fields during the Belle Époque. He is considered a pioneer in Art Nouveau design. Biography G ...

, Henry de Groux,

Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...

and Auguste Rodin.

Salon

In theory ''Le Salon des Cent'' was a group of one hundred artists, hence the name, but there was never a precise list and participation varied. Some artists were invited to become members, including Puvis de Chavannes,

Jules Chéret Jules Chéret (31 May 1836 – 23 September 1932) was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of ''Belle Époque'' poster art. He has been called the father of the modern poster. Early life and career Born in Paris to a poor but ...

, Grasset and Marcellin Desboutin. Others were simply artists who had been asked to participate in exhibitions. The salon had no jury and no prizes, and the artists could choose what they wanted to exhibit, being constrained only by the available space. The Salon des Cent publicized itself as a permanent, constantly changing exhibition of its members' works. It exerted considerable influence on development of the Art Nouveau poster. ''Le Salon des Cent'' usually exhibited in a set of rooms within the magazine premises. An exhibition of the Salon des Cent was announced in October 1891, and again in February 1892, but in fact the first exhibition at 31 Rue Bonaparte was not until 1 February 1894. In addition to the sales catalogs for the works of various artists, the many special editions of ''La Plume'' served as catalogs for specific exhibitions. The ''Salon'' also commissioned special posters for its exhibitions. The ''Salon'' built up a huge collection of original posters from many countries, and acted as both wholesaler and retailer of these works. The collection included all of Mucha's posters and paintings, and many by

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

, Berthon, de Feure and the Glasgow Four as well as American artists.

Artists

Exposition Eugène Grasset au Salon des Cent

Eugène Grasset was active in the ''Salon des Cent''. He first tackled the Art Nouveau poster style in his posters for the 1894 ''Salon des Cents''. The second exhibition, which opened on 3 April 1894, was entirely devoted to his works. A special edition of ''La Plume'' of 15 May 1894 was dedicated to Grasset. The poster by

Georges de Feure Georges de Feure (real name Georges Joseph van Sluijters, 6 September 1868 – 26 November 1943) was a French painter, theatrical designer, and industrial art designer in the symbolism and Art Nouveau styles. De Feure was born in Paris. His f ...

for the fifth ''Salon des Cent'' announced the themes that would dominate painting in the following years, and has been widely reproduced. In many ways it copies the poster for the second Salon. It reflects de Feutre's interest in medieval times. The poster, filling the frame with a bold composition, shows a simply-dressed young woman gazing thoughtfully at an umbel of

angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

. In January 1895 Mucha's Art Nouveau poster for Sarah Bernhardt as '' Gismonda'' was displayed across Paris. The next year Mucha created the poster for the 20th ''Salon'' exhibition, which opened on 22 April 1896. When Léon Deschamps saw the draft he told Mucha, "Execute this design just as it is, and you will have created the masterpiece of the illustrated decorative poster." In June 1897 the ''Salon'' put on an exhibition dedicated to Mucha. Some of the posters by Mucha and Grasset were printed in very limited editions on silk satin.

exhibited for the first time at the fourth ''Salon des Cent'', which took place at the

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

Casino for the whole month of August 1894. The fifth exhibition, at 31 rue Bonaparte from 5–30 October 1894, exhibited almost the same works. Georges de Feure was to exhibit at the ''Salon'' for several years. Léon Deschamps and ''La Plume'' played a major role in the artistic development of his posters. Toulouse-Lautrec exhibited several times at the ''Salon des Cent'' between 1895 and 1898. Lautrec's ''La Passagere du 54 – Promenade en Yacht'' was used as the poster for the 1896 opening of the International Poster Exhibition at the Salons des Cent. His series ''Elles'' was exhibited as a whole for the first time in 1896 at the 20th ''Salon'' exhibition.

exhibited some of his etchings at the ''Salon'' in 1898, using an 1888 drawing called ''Demons teasing me'' as a poster for the exhibit. ''La Plume'' published a special edition to accompany the show that included several articles praising his work. This was Ensor's first one-man exhibition outside Belgium. Other posters included classic Art Nouveau images by Paul Berthon, Fernand Fau, Arsène Herbinier and

Firmin Bouisset Firmin Bouisset (2 September 1859 – 19 March 1925) was a French painter, poster artist and printmaker. Early life He was born on 2 September 1859 in the town of Moissac in the Tarn-et-Garonne département in southwestern France. As an artis ...

. Notable artists who showcased at the ''Salon des Cent'' also included Albert André, Pierre Bonnard, Frédéric-Auguste Cazals, Edgar Degas, Henri Evenepoel,

Henri-Gabriel Ibels Henri-Gabriel Ibels (30 November 1867 – February 1936) was a French illustrator, printmaker, painter and author. Biography He was born in Paris and studied at the Académie Julian with Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard. He was a membe ...

, Gustave-Henri Jossot,

René Lalique René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments. Life Lalique' ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

and

Louis Valtat Louis Valtat (; 8 August 1869 – 2 January 1952) was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Fauves ("the wild beasts", so named for their wild use of color), who first exhibited together in 1905 at the Salon d'Automne. ''Les Fau ...

Gallery

(Albi) Salon des Cents 1894 - Henri-Gabriel Ibels lithographie.jpg,

poster for the first Salon des Cent exhibition 1893. The exhibition actually opened on 1 February 1894. File:Salon affiche 2 Rassenfosse.jpg, 1895 poster by

Armand Rassenfosse Armand Rassenfosse (6 August 1862 – 28 January 1934) was a largely self-taught Belgian graphic artist, book illustrator and painter. His masterwork was a set of illustrations for Charles Baudelaire's ''Les Fleurs du mal''. Early years Armand Ra ...

. File:Aff Salon des 100-Georges de Feure.jpg, Poster by

, advertising the fifth Salon. File:Lautrec passenger poster.jpg, 1895 poster by

, ''La Passagere du 54'', used for the 1896 Salon exhibition of international posters. File:Affiche Salon des Cents 1901.jpg, Post by

for the twentieth Salon des Cent, April 1896 File:1897 Salon des Cent poster by Andrew Kay Womrath.png, Poster by Andrew Kay Womrath for the 25th exhibition, March 1897 File:Salon des Cent Herbinier 1897.gif, 1897 poster by Arsène Herbinier File:Mucha poster for Salon des Cents exhibition June 1897.png, Mucha poster for the Salon des Cent exhibition of June 1897. File:1899 Salon des Cent poster by Henri Evenepoel.png, 1899 poster for the 40th exhibition of the Salon des Cent by Henri Evenepoel. File:Fernand-Louis Gottlob Salon de Cent poster 1899.jpg, Poster for a Salon des Cent exhibition in December 1899 by Fernand Louis Gottlob

References

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La Plume

Salon

Artists

Gallery

References

Further reading