The Salon des Refusés Opens in Paris

The “exhibition of rejects,” a response to the rejection of many artists' works by the official Salon in Paris, begins. Since 1667, the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture held public exhibitions for their standout students. This exhibition came to be known as the Salon. For artists rejected from the conservative Salon’s jury, it meant patrons would be nearly impossible to find. In 1863, there was uproar after the jury selections and it took Emperor Napoleon III to order a separate exhibition to be organized for these rejected works. The simultaneous exhibition was called the Salon des Refusés (“Exhibition of the Rejects”). The Salon des Refusés featured the work of Manet, Cézanne and Pissarro yet the critical reception was poor with visitors only attending to ridicule the event. The exhibition radically challenged the established norms of the art world, sparking debates and paving the way for new artistic movements like Impressionism. The Salon des Refusés not only challenged the authority of the Salon jury but also contributed to a broader redefinition of artistic expression, marking a significant shift towards modern art and challenging traditional academic standards.