Salon de Paris

Detail from the exhibition catalog of the Salon of 1889.
Source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k202497x/f7.item

 

After studying in Stockholm, Richard Hall moved to Paris. With a travel grant from the Swedish government, he continued his studies at private art schools. So far, I have found little source material on Hall's years in France, so let us first take a look at the works he exhibited at the Salons in Paris. At the time, it was the world's largest and most famous annual art exhibition, featuring thousands of paintings and sculptures.

The Salon has its roots in the exhibitions organized by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) from 1667 onwards. In 1725, the salon was moved to the Louvre Museum, and from 1737 onwards, the exhibitions were open to the general public. Having a work exhibited at the Salon meant royal approval, which was the greatest possible merit for an artist at the time. The official name of the exhibitions was Salon de peinture et de sculpture, meaning exhibition of painting and sculpture.

From 1880 onwards, the influence of the Salon changed when the state stopped organizing the exhibition. The task was transferred to the French artists' association Société des Artistes Français. After this, the exhibition became known as the Salon des artistes français, (the exhibition of French artists). Despite their name, the exhibitions were also open to foreign artists.

I will return to the Salon as an exhibition institution in later blog posts. The Salon was heavily criticized in the late 19th century, which led to changes in its operations. Gradually, the Salon lost its position as the world's most important art exhibition.

Edouard Dantan: Un Coin du Salon en 1880
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Exhibition catalogs of the Salon

Exhibition catalogs were printed for the works of the Salon, listing the works on display. In addition, some of the works are accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations. For example, the 1882 exhibition catalog lists nearly 5,000 works and contains 278 pages of illustrations of paintings and sculptures. There are even more illustrations than this, as some pages contain more than one image. In total, the exhibition catalog has over 450 pages. Today's museum workers can only marvel at how enormous a task it must have been to compile such an exhibition and catalog!

The Salon exhibition catalogs are the main source for this blog post. The French National Library (BnF) has published them in digital form up to 1913, so the catalogs are easily accessible on the Internet. The exhibition catalogs contain very limited information about the works: the artist's first initial and last name, and the title of the work. The year, dimensions, or technique of the work were not recorded, as is done today. In addition, the names of portraits were often abbreviated in the exhibition catalogs, and only the first letter of the surname of the person depicted was recorded. In 1895 the artist's address was also published in the catalog for the first time.

Many exhibition catalogs from the 1890s contain pictures of Hall's paintings. These give an idea of the works, even though the pictures are in black and white. In the catalogs where the artists' addresses are listed, Richard Hall's address is given as 43 Avenue Victor-Hugo.

Detail from the 1897 exhibition catalog of the Paris Salon.
Source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k206775h/f26.item

Hall's works at the Salon

Between 1883 and 1900, a total of 30 works by Richard Hall were exhibited at the Salons. In 1889, none of his paintings were selected for the exhibition. In the 1898 exhibition catalog, the portrait numbered 992 is listed under the name Hall (S.). This is apparently a typing error, as the work is mentioned as having been done by Richard Hall in the Musée D'Orsay's database on the salons, and the artist's address is the same, 43 Avenue Victor Hugo. The following is a list of Hall's works mentioned in the exhibition catalogs of the Paris salons. Unless otherwise stated, the works are oil paintings:

1883
no 1158 Hall (R.). Portrait de Mme P...

1884
no 1158 Hall (R.). Entrée de l'église Saint-Germain-des-Prés; - jour de l'an
no 1159 Portrait de ma belle-soeur
no 2855 Jeune mère, pastel
no 2856 Portrait de Mlle M. G..., pastel

1885
no 1213 Hall (R.). Oeuvre de l'hospitalité de nuit; - le bain de pieds réglementaire du soir. 
no 1214 Mon savetier.

1886
no 1154 Portrait de Mme la Comtesse René de B...

1887
no 1158 Hall (R.). Dans mon atelier

1888
no 1251 Hall (R.). Le voeu; - Bretagne

1889
No works included in the exhibition

1890
no 1163 Hall (R.). La classe manuelle: - école de petites filles (Finistère).
no 1164 La partie de cartes: - Bretagne

1891
no 796 Hall (R.). Avant la classe; - soleil de printemps (Finistère)

1892
no 841 Hall (R.). La fille du cabaretier

1893
no 875 Hall (R.). Soleil d'automne; - panneau décoratif

1894
no 898 Hall (R.). Portrait du comte B. de S…
no 2289 Le vieux moine, pastel

1895
no 912 Hall (R.), avenue Victor-Hugo, 43. - Portrait de Mme E.-P C.-L.
no 913 Portrait du Dr A.-E. Rykert

1896
no 993 Hall (R.). - Portrait de Miss Marquerite D...
no 994 Buveur d'absinthe

1897
no 811 Hall (R.), avenue Victor-Hugo, 43. - Moines trappistes; abbaye de Melleray (Loire-Inférieure)
no 812 Portrait de Mme la baronne de X...

1898
no 992 Hall (S.), avenue Victor-Hugo, 43. - Portrait de Mme P…
no 2551 Moines en méditation ; abbaye de Meilleraie, pastel
no 2552 Mlle. B. M... dans le rôle de la "Poupée", pastel

1899
no 948 Hall (R.), avenue Victor-Hugo, 43. - Portrait de M. Albert Brasseur, du théatre des Variétés.
no 949 Portrait du Dr E. Bureau
no 2506 Portrait de Mlle H. d'O…, pastel

1900
no 635 Hall (R.), avenue Victor-Hugo, 43. - Portrait du marquis de Castellane

The titles and images of the works give an insight into the stages of Hall's artistic career during those decades. In his first year, a portrait was selected for the Salon. The works from 1884 and 1885 seem to have dealt with the social inequality seen on the streets of Paris. In 1888, 1890, and 1891, paintings with Breton themes were on display. In addition to these, portraits were also accepted into the salon.

In the 1890s, portraits were the main works selected for the Salon. In 1892 and 1896, two works depicting the life of the ordinary people were exhibited. According to Hall's account, his time spent at a Trappist monastery is reflected in the Salon works of 1897 and 1898, which depict monks at the Melleray monastery.

Despite their limited nature, this information helps me in my search for Richard Hall's surviving paintings.

Le voeu, Bretagne
Source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k110428c/f294.item