The Paris Salons of the mid-19th century are more famous today for the paintings that were rejected than for those that were actually shown. The rejected works form today’s canon of art history and are regarded as heralds of a modern age. This book looks to reassess the other side of the art history of the 19th century. Salon painting has often been dismissed as overly academic or staid. Art historian Norbert Wolf turns back the pages of history as he reintroduces readers to the artistry and excellence of Salon painting in Europe, Britain, Russia and the US. In an opulent new book, illustrated throughout with gorgeous reproductions of masterpieces by Cabanel, Manet, Biertstadt, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Sargent, naming a few, Wolf looks at Salon painting from a variety of perspectives, such as the rise of the bourgeoisie and Paris’s position as Europe’s cultural capital. He explores styles and themes that were especially prevalent in Salon painting: history painting; portraits from home and in society; the rise of “Orientalism”; and the nationalism of landscape. Readers will come away from this well-researched and absorbing book with a steadfast appreciation of the Salon’s disciplined and academic approach to painting, and an understanding of why these works were once so revered by the general public.
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