The Salon de Mai (the '' May Salon'') is a group of French artists which formed in a café on the Rue Dauphine in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1943 during the
German occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
.Ferrier, Jean-Louis. (Ed.) (1999) ''Art of the 20th Century''. Paris: Chene-Hachette, p. 431.
In 1943, the Salon de Mai was founded as an Association (declared in 1944) in opposition to
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
ideology and its condemnation of degenerate art. It founder members were the art critic
Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl (10 August 1912 – 12 December 1999) was a French professor of art history and an art critic.
Biography
Diehl graduated from the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie in 1934 and the Ecole du Louvre in 1936. In October 1935, Diel and his ...
and the painters, sculptors and engravers
Henri-Georges Adam
Henri-Georges Adam (14 January 1904 – 27 August 1967) was a French engraver and non-figurative sculptor of the École de Paris, who was also involved in the creation of numerous monumental tapestries. His work in these three areas is regarded ...
,
Emmanuel Auricoste
Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David.
The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...
Jean Le Moal
Jean Le Moal (30 October 1909 – 16 March 2007) was a French painter of the new Paris school, designer of stained glass windows, and one of the founder members of the Salon de Mai.
Biography
Jean Le Moal enrolled at the "Ecole des Beaux-Art ...
Édouard Pignon
Édouard Pignon (12 February 1905 – 14 May 1993) was a French painter of the School of Paris.
Biography
Pignon was born into the family of a miner involved in the workers' movement. From a young age he was inspired by the paintings of Franci ...
,
Gustave Singier
Gustave Singier (11 February 1909, Warneton5 May 1984, Paris) was a Belgian abstract art, non-figurative painter active in France as part of the new Paris School of Lyrical Abstraction and the Salon de Mai.
Early life
He spent his childhood in ...
,
Claude Venard Claude may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter
* Claude Debussy (1862–1918), ...
and
Roger Vieillard
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
, who together formed it direction committee. Several of them (Coutaud, Gischia, Le Moal, Manessier, Marchand, ORAZI, Pignon, Singier) participated in the 1941 exhibition .
Under its president
Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl (10 August 1912 – 12 December 1999) was a French professor of art history and an art critic.
Biography
Diehl graduated from the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie in 1934 and the Ecole du Louvre in 1936. In October 1935, Diel and his ...
the first Salon de Mai exhibition took place in the art galerie "Pierre Maurs" (3, avenue Matignon) from 29 May to 29 June 1945. Its honorary committee was made up of
Germain Bazin
Germain René Michel Bazin (24 September 1901 – 2 May 1990) was a French art historian, curator at the Louvre Museum from 1951 to 1965.ené Michel">Bazin, Germain Jacques Dupont, René Huyghe">Jacques Dupont (director)">Jacques Dupont, René Huyghe, Bernard Dorival">René_Huyghe.html" ;"title="Jacques Dupont (director)">Jacques Dupont, René Huyghe">Jacques Dupont (director)">Jacques Dupont, René Huyghe, Bernard Dorival, Michel Florisoone, Pierre Ladoué and Marc Thiboutet. Its judging panel was headed by
Jean Follain
Jean Follain (29 August 1903 – 10 March 1971) was a French writer, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group.
. The catalogue of this first Salon had a preface by Gaston Diehl, with texts by René Bertelé and André Rolland de Renéville, poems by
Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the Poetic realism, poetic ...
Jean Follain
Jean Follain (29 August 1903 – 10 March 1971) was a French writer, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group.
and Guillevic.
Even after the liberation of Paris, and subsequently of France, logistical problems in the city remained serious and the lack of public spaces was a limitation. Consequently, in 1946 the ''Salon de Mai'' was organized on the fourth floor of the famous department store "Galeries Lafayette", in 1947 it was held at the art gallery "Arts" (140, Faubourg Saint-Honoré), in 1948 at the art gallery Lambert-Marie (22, Place Vendôme).
Only in 1949 the ''Salon de Mai'' was organized in the large rooms of the "Palais de New-York" (Avenue du Président Wilson), which then hosted it until 1954. In the following years, until 1968, it was held at the "Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris". From 1969 onwards, the ''Salon de Mai'' had to deal with major logistical problems, so its exhibition often changed address. The 64th and last ''Salon de Mai'' took place from 6 to 11 May 2014 at the "Espace Commines" (17, rue Commines).
Gaston Diehl has been the Founder - President of the ''Salon de Mai'' until his death, in 1997.
See also
*
Salón de Mayo
The Salón de Mayo (May Salon) was an art exhibition held in Havana, Cuba, in July 1967. It took its name from the Salon de Mai, an artists collective founded during the Nazi occupation of France. It was organized by Carlos Franqui with the assist ...
, Havana, 1967
References and sources
;References
;Sources
*Laurence Bertrand Dorléac, ''Histoire de l'art, Paris 1940-1944, Ordre national, Traditions et Modernités'', preface by Michel Winock, Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris, 1986, .
*Gaston Diehl, ''La Peinture en France dans les années noires, 1935-1945'', Z'éditions, Nice, 1999.