The Salon des Refusés

In 1863 for the first time ever an exhibit was created in Paris from the artwork which was rejected by the jurors of the Salon of the French Academy.

The French Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture was founded in 1648.  The Academy set a very high standard for artists and had a specific set of guidelines for students to follow.  French artists of that period sought to create art in the manner of Ancient Classical works, Raphael and Poussin (1594-1665).  There was a strict hierarchy in the importance of a painting based on subject matter, the apex being history painting and still-life painting was at the bottom (still-life in French is "morte nature" or dead nature).

 In 1666 the French Academy in Rome opened, and then a century later the British Royal Academy in 1768.  The Academies provided a place to train artists worthy of royal commissions.  Because of its association with royalty and the upper classes in society, the Academy was closed by the public during the French Revolution in 1789.   

 The Birth of Venus, Alexandre Cabanel, 1875 copy of his 1863 painting

Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1795 the academy was re-opened as a state school under the name of École des Beaux-Arts.  In the École students learned drawing, anatomy and perspective.  The new Academy, which was opened again as a branch of the school in 1816, also taught history painting.  The tradition of a strict hierarchy of work continued, painting in a classical tradition or history painting was still considered the highest form of art.

Besides being an art school, the French Academy also held regular "Salons" or art exhibitions, biannually and later annually of both students and members of the art world who wanted to exhibit their work and attract the attention of possible patrons.  Since the hierarchy and guidelines at the Academy were so rigid, there were hundreds of artists who were rejected from each of the Salons by the jury. 

Of the works that were accepted to the 1863 Salon, Alexandre Cabanel's Birth of Venus (above) was the recipient of much acclaim and was even purchased by Napolean III.  Cabanel made several copies of this painting which was influenced both by ancient art and the Renaissance.

Luncheon on the Grass, Manet, 1863, Musee D'Orsay, Paris

However in 1863 more than half of the works of art, over 2,000, that were submitted by artists were refused. Which is why in that same year the first "Salon des Refusés" was held, giving those artists another chance to exhibit their work.  The idea for this alternative Salon was that of Napolean III who felt that the jury was much too strict and that the public should have a chance to decide for themselves.

As Robert Rosenblum writes in the book 19th-Century Art:

"Napoleon III himself, having seen samples of the rejects, could find little difference between them and those selected for the official Salon, and the temporary exhibition space seemed a happy compromise.  This so-called Salon des Refusés, however, immediately took on the stature of a counterestablishment manifestation, where artists at war with authority could be seen and where the public could go either to jeer or to enlarge their ideas of what a work of art could be.  The counter-Salon opened two weeks after the official one, on May 15, and immediately attracted hordes of Parisians, who numbered as many as four thousand on a Sunday, when admission was free."*

Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada, Manet, 1862

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not every artist wanted to be part of a "reject's gallery of art", but Édouard Manet submitted three paintings which he displayed as a triptych.  The centerpiece of this, and perhaps one of the most well known works of the 19th century is his Luncheon on the Grass, a work that also reflected Italian Renaissance ideas but with subjects shown in a modern setting.

While it was ridiculed by some critics at the time, it was also praised by writers such as Emile Zola.  The Luncheon on the Grass was instantly an influential painting and many artists were to be influenced by Manet's contemporary style, broad brushstrokes, modern figures and flattened areas of color.  It appeared to many to be a painted sketch that would have later been turned into a finished painting.  Manet was influenced quite a bit by the Old Masters in much of his work, in particular this work shows influenced by Titian and Raphael.

 Manet's favorite model Victorine Meurent, the same model who posed nude in Luncheon in the Grass,was also featured in his Mademoiselle V (above) showing her dressed as a traditional matador.

 Symphony in White no 1: The White Girl - Portrait of Joanna Hiffernan,  

James Abbott McNeil Whistler, 1862, National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)

Manet was not alone in presenting unknown subjects using loose brushstrokes.  James Abbott McNeil Whistler's painting known as The White Girl, was more focused on all the different colors that white can appear in a work than on its subject, who was his mistress.  In this painting we see a work with no story or historical reference, in this sense neither Manet's nor Whistler's paintings would have been considered hierarchically important enough to have been chosen for the Salon.  Whistler was more concerned with light and shadow and the composition of the subject.  In fact it was Whistler who coined the phrase "art for art's sake" which was not a common concept in the mid-19th century.

Art was created for many reasons through the centuries: to memorialize an event, to teach, as political propaganda, for prayer and devotion, to pay honor to someone, but the idea of creating art for art's sake was relatively new.

Homage to Delacroix, Henri Fantin-Latour, 1864, Musee D'Orsay, Paris

Another artist who showed in the Refuses, Fantin-Latour, painted the above group portrait in 1864 as a reaction to the idea of the Salon des Refuses and the rigidity of the Salon jurors, it was an homage to the Romantic painter Delacroix who died shortly after the Salon opened.  

Henri Fantin-Latour  was born in Grenoble and began his studies with his father who worked in pastels. After he studied with Lecoq de Boisbaudran, and later under Couture.  He befriended Whistler who introduced him to English painters, and he lived for some time in England.  He had a successful career in both France and England.

Fantin-Latour painted a variety of subject matter including still-lives and several group portraits of the leading avant-garde artists of the day.  However he is perhaps best known for his still lives of flowers.  Though he was friends with many of the avant-garde artists, his own style was extremely realistic and highly traditional.  However in 1863 he exhibited several of his works in the famous Salon des Refuses when they were not accepted into the Salon, he was uncertain about including them but Whistler talked him into it. 

The next year he painted his group portrait, Homage to Delacroix as the famed Romantic painter died in 1863.  The artists in the portrait were all fans of Delacroix's style and several were artists whose work had been featured in the Salon des Refusés.  Included in the portrait was a self-portrait (in white), a framed portrait of Delacroix, Manet, Whistler and Charles Baudelaire as well as other painters and writers.

With both the death of Delacroix and the new ideas of modernity in painting that were excluded from the official Salon, the year 1863 and the Salon des Refusés proved to be a turning point in French 19th century art.




For more information on the subject of The Salon des Refusés read-  
The Judgement of Paris by Ross King. 2006

For more information on the subject of 19th century painting read-
19th-Century Art. by Robert Rosenblum and H.W. Janson. 1984.

 

*Rosenblum, Robert. and H.W. Janson. 19th-Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984. p. 281.

How to Make a Beat Like the Top Producers

Remember when your parents told you- 'Don't be with the in-crowd... Don't follow the crowd?' Well, if you're into making beats, then, the 'crowd' is your 'promise land' or 'end all, be all', isn't it? You want that response like cooks want about their cooking!

So, how do we make beats like the top producers?

Well, we all know that anyone can beat on a table with their hands and have a distinguishing bass drum and snare going. And, with a little basic instruction of some beat making software, transfer that rhythm into an actual recording, but we also all know that's not going to deem them a top producer.

What I'm saying is that it's not making beat patterns and basic melodies that the top producers start with. They start with a feeling. Nope! Scratch that! We humans cannot have a feeling without first being inspired by a thought. And in that thought, ought to be knowledge. Thus, it's knowledge of 'feeling' that these top producers start with in order to keep coming up with hits.

What do I mean when I say 'knowledge of feeling?'

Is he feeling the crowd or is the crowd feeling his music?

You may say the latter, but I say think about the former- 'Is he feeling the crowd?'

One might ask, 'How can he feel the crowd before he makes a beat?'

This is what I mean when I say 'knowledge of feeling'. Sound shapes everything, and when it comes to us humans, music toys with our emotions day after day. Knowledge of how this works is the key to making beats like the top producers.

We've all heard people say things like, 'Ooh, that's my song!' Maybe you have a favorite song that you listen to over and over again. The music is resonating with you... and you like it!

You can make music that has that same type of affect on people! Anyone could do it if they were interested in it and had a little knowledge and understanding about the subject. One would need knowledge such as how a certain sequence of numbers work. You would need to know why when two lovers get together or even think about each other they get that 'feeling.' This knowledge can make you understand how a club DJ makes the 'air' sound when he's mixing.

If you're worrying about being able to afford the type of equipment that the top producers use... fret not! Technology has taken care of that. Not only is there very affordable software in 2012 that replicates the state-of-the-art equipment commonly used in the big studios, technology also provides a cyber display platform in the form of the internet with exposure sites such as YouTube and Facebook. Technology makes things affordable and achievable. As a matter of fact, nowadays an artist could possibly write his/her own lyrics, produce the music, and promote themselves.

You can get my free eBook, 'What The Top Producers Don't Want You To Know', wherein I discuss the above topics and also things like how to conjure different 'feelings' in your listening audience via the particular sounds and beat patterns you choose.

Multiple versions of the same painting

It is interesting that throughout art history we can find one artist who will paint multiple versions of the same painting- why is this?  There are many reasons but usually the first version of the painting was so successful that the artist had received another commission.  Let's look at several well known versions of the same theme by the same artist.

1483, Louvre (left) and 1506, The National Gallery (London) (right) 

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci 

Leonardo da Vinci created this new type of Madonna and Child painting when he first moved to Milan.  The figures aren't seated on a throne or a chair, but enclosed in a unique landscape which seems otherworldly.  The Virgin Mary puts her arm around the infant St. John the Baptist as he is given the sign of benediction by the infant Christ while being watched over by an angel.  A foreshadowing to Christ's baptism by St. John can be seen in the body of water in the foreground.  Leonardo is here using several techniques he is famous for: chiaroscuro (modeling form with lights and darks), sfumato (using this glazes of paint like smoke) and the use of atmospheric perspective in the blue-gray landscape in the distant background.  The gestures, colors and forms all act as symbols as Leonardo took great care to copy this painting nearly exactly in the second version.

Why two versions of this painting?  The web site of the Louvre museum has a good hypothesis regarding the two versions of Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks.  The following text is taken from the website and was written by Séverine Laborie:

"The Louvre version of the picture was to have been the central part of a polyptych which the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception commissioned Leonardo and the de Predis brothers to paint for a chapel in the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan in 1483. The other version, now in the National Gallery in London and known to have formerly been in this chapel, and several archive documents indicate that the Louvre painting was never installed there. Its presence in the French royal collection is attested from1627, but several clues suggest it may have been acquired much earlier.

The most convincing hypothesis is that the picture, painted between 1483 and 1486, did not meet with Leonardo’s clients’ full satisfaction, which enabled Louis XII to acquire it around 1500−1503. The second, replacement picture, now in London, may have been painted by Ambrogio de Predis under Leonardo’s supervision between 1495 and 1508."

                1528, Metropolitan Museum of Art (left) and 1530, St. Louis Art Museum (right)

 The Judgment of Paris, Lucas Cranach the Elder 

German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder was a court painter in Saxony and above we see two versions of The Judgment of Paris.  This told a story from the start of the Trojan War where the shepherd Paris had to judge which of three Greek goddesses was the most beautiful.  Cranach made several versions of this theme, he depicts the goddess as young and lithe (if proportionally inaccurate) and shows Paris dressed as a Renaissance man.  This was a popular theme for a few reasons: it showed the patron was educated and had knowledge of the classics and it depicted beautiful women.  Yet there was another reason this story was popular among Cranach’s patrons.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art states on their website:

“Just as the emperor Augustus had claimed descent from Aeneas, a son of Venus, so many Italian princes traced their ancestry to the participants in the Trojan War or sought to equate their own accomplishments with the deeds of these heroes.”*

Patrons wanted to tie themselves to the events portrayed in either a painting or sculpture and so commissioned a well known historic or mythological theme from an artist.

*Source of quote: Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints | Thematic Essay |Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1601, The National Gallery (London)

The Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio has a few examples of multiple versions of the same painting.  His two versions of Christ's Supper at Emmaus are unique in this blog entry as being quite different from one another.

A Roman nobleman Ciriaco Mattei, commissioned the earlier version (above) in 1601.  In this first version Caravaggio pays as much attention to the detailed still-life objects on the table as to his figures.  The gestures that each figure makes are quite theatrical, Christ is shown as clean shaven and this version is not as dark.  In fact a figure casts a shadow that seems to represent a halo over the head of Christ.  While this is a well done painting, it isn't as realistic as his later version.

The second version of this painting was done after Caravaggio committed murder and fled to Naples.  Today it hangs in the Brera Gallery in Milan where I was fortunate enough to have recently seen it, in fact I spent quite a long time sitting in front of this painting.  This later version is more somber and powerful for the viewer, the figures appear in a naturalistic way rather than as having been posed dramatically for the scene.  The sobering changes in the artist's own life are clearly reflected in this work, done in 1606.

Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1606, Brera Gallery, Milan

 

Vanitas Still-Life, Pieter Claesz                                                              Vanitas Still-Life, Pieter Claesz     

1630, Mauritshuis, Holland                                                               1656, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna

Seventeenth century Dutch painter Pieter Claesz was a prolific artist who specialized in the Vanitas painting.  In Latin Vanitas means vanity and the Vanitas painting uses symbols to reflect on mortality.  The message for the viewer was a reminder that while earthly life is fleeting, your soul is eternal. While variations of the Vanitas had been used for centuries, its rise in Dutch art coincided with a difficult time in the countries history.  The Twelve Years Truce with Spain ended in 1621 and much of the next decade was spent under siege.  In 1624 a plague swept through Holland, the plague returned in 1635 and struck most heavily in Leiden where over 14,000 died.  

The Vanitas painting became increasing popular through the 1620’s and went from being metaphorical to an allegory of death.  Symbols of mortality included: skulls, candles (both lit and extinguished), timepieces, extinguished oil lamps and empty hourglasses. Claesz painted many versions of Vanitas paintings as they were a popular style of painting and middle and upper class patrons were buying these from galleries to display in their homes.

 1638-43, Metropolitan Museum of Art (left) and 1640-45, Louvre, (right)

                                        The Penitent Magdalene, Georges de la Tour

 French artist Georges de la Tour paints another version of the Vanitas, the penitent Mary Magdalene reflecting on her sins.  He owed much of his style to that of Caravaggio and is considered a "Caravaggisti" or one of Caravaggio's stylistic followers.  de la Tour painted at least four versions of this work, The Repentant Magdalene, is now housed in the National Gallery of Art (DC) and The Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, at the LACMA.
This was typical for the artist, he also painted multiple versions of other themes during his career.

Like the Claesz paintings we have symbols of mortality, such as the skull and the candle.  There are also other symbols of earthly vanity such as jewelry.  Like Caravaggio he creates a somber mood with a strong light source, all four versions of this painting are illuminated by a single candle.  Though the earliest version is unique in that the flame of the candle is reflected in a mirror that Mary Magdalene looks into with a meditative gaze.  Like Pieter Claesz, Georges de la Tour was also selling his work for a broad market and therefore would paint additional versions of his paintings that were the most popular.

 

 Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome, Pannini, 1758, Louvre

Giovanni Paolo Pannini painted his famous pair of works: Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome and Painting Gallery of Modern Rome while he was the professor of perspective at the French Academy of Rome.  French painter Hubert Robert began working in his studio and Pannini was to become the biggest influence on his artistic style.  Pannini took on the role of a mentor for Robert and the younger artist proclaimed him to be the greatest painter of ruins in the world.  While under his supervision Robert assisted with the master’s well known first version of his paintings of imaginary gallery views of ancient and modern Rome, of which he would make several other versions.  The first version was commissioned in 1756 by the Comte de Stainville (the future Duc de Choiseul) who had himself and his friends painted into the scenes as visitors to the galleries.  This pair of paintings proved to be so popular with de Stainville that the year after he finished them Pannini created a second set of these paintings again for the Comte, now in the Louvre.  Robert himself owned a later third version of Pannini’s gallery view paintings as well as several other works by him.

 Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome, Pannini, 1756-57, Stuttgart, Germany

These are just a handful of examples of multiple versions of the same painting by the same artist, but many more can be found throughout history.