Un Jour de vernissage au palais des Champs-Élysées
Jean-André Rixens. Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts de 1890. A droite:Tigresse apportant un paon à ses petits par Auguste Cain
Albert Wolff, Figaro-Salon 1890
Paris Goupil & cº éditeurs, Boussod, Valadon & cº, succ. 1890, p.66.
ABOUT OGLC AND THE ART LIBRARY. . .
As part of the Deering renovation, the Art Library in the Martin Reading Room will look a little different. The elimination of non-original shelving means that there is less space available for books, and the collection has been carefully curated to reflect that. Many older, more fragile items, as well as items that have never been checked out, have been moved to the library’s off-site storage, the Oak Grove Library Center. A climate-controlled location, OGLC will help prolong their life, ensuring that they will remain useful tools for scholarship well into the future. Items remaining in Deering have been carefully chosen to include both fundamental resources in art history, as well as the most recent scholarship in the discipline.
The most important fact to keep in mind is that while the space will be changing, the Art Collection will not. Every single item that was in the Martin Reading Room remains easily accessible via the library catalog, and can be delivered from OGLC within 24 hours. Every. Single. Item.
Introduction to the Salon catalogs
Beginning in the late 17th century, France’s Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture held periodic exhibitions to highlight the work of Academy members. As official, government sanctioned events, they were the pronouncement on the state of French art and, when the Salons were opened to all artists in 1795, their imprimateur was extended across the Continent.
Initially sponsored by the French monarchy, the Salons enjoyed the sponsorship of different government bodies until 1881, when control was ceded to the Societe des artistes francais. In addition, several other groups mounted parallel exhibitions, often as critical commentary to the official version. These include the Salon des refuses of 1863, the Salon des independents, beginning in 1884, the salons of the Societe nationale des beaux-arts, from 1890, and the 20th century Salon d'automne.
Printed catalogs called livrets have accompanied each exhibition, beginning in 1673. The library has several multi-volume sets of salon catalogs, including the Liepmannsohn et Dufour covering 1673-1800, and the more current Sanchez reprint series of post-1800 catalogs. In addition, there are a large number of single-year volumes, often by independent authors, each offering a more individual assessment of the relevant works.