Memories of Salons

La fille du cabaretier
Source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k110430p/f235.item

In my previous blog post, I discussed the works by Richard Hall that were selected for exhibition at the Salons between 1883 and 1900. Hall recounted his memories of the Salons in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Uusi Suometar on October 24, 1909.

The interview reveals where some of the works exhibited at the Salons were purchased. In addition, information about the works can be found in the database maintained by the Musée D'Orsay. It contains titles of the works and artists presented at the salons. Some titles include the name of their owner at the time. This information helps me in my search for Hall's works.

Interview with the newspaper Uusi Suometar

Here are the artist's own views on the Salons. The interview was conducted in 1909 during the artist's visit to Finland:

- I have heard that you were not as interested in the Paris art salons as you were in the high society salons? I asked jokingly.

-How so? I have participated in the Paris “salon” almost every year since 1883. But in an exhibition that includes so many thousands of paintings, one gets lost in the crowd. In my opinion, I have not had much luck at the salon. I have received a few mentions honorables... and at least three paintings have been purchased from me by the French state...

- Portraits?

- No, genre paintings. I am, after all, a genre painter. When I lived in Brittany, I painted many genre and interior paintings, some of which can be found in the museums of Nantes and Rennes... I have sold most of the others to America... and I remember selling one old man's head to Dr. Antell...

Hall notes the same thing that can be observed in the exhibition catalogs of the Salons — there was such a huge amount of art on display that individual paintings were lost in the crowd. On the other hand, being accepted into the Salon was a merit for an artist, which promoted the sale of works and helped to obtain more commissions.

French state acquisitions

Hall received the mention honorable once between 1883 and 1900, in 1890. At that time, two of his paintings were on display in the Salon: La classe manuelle: - école de petites filles (Finistère) and La partie de cartes: - Bretagne. The French state acquired La classe manuelle. It was also exhibited at the Salon de l'Union artistique in Toulouse in 1891. La classe manuelle appears to be one of Hall's key works. It is now part of the collection of the The Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes. I will return to it in more detail later.

In an interview, Hall mentions that he sold at least three paintings to the French state. So far, I have only found one, the aforementioned La classe manuelle. The Fine Art Museum of Nantes has one of Hall's paintings in its collection, but it was donated to the museum in 1940. For now, it remains a mystery as to which museums the other two works are currently located in.

Works in private collections

The database maintained by the Musée d'Orsay provides information on the owners of some of the works when they were exhibited in Salons. The owner of La partie de cartes: - Bretagne, which was exhibited at the 1890 salon, is listed as M. le Comte de Polignac. The owner of La fille du cabaretier, which was exhibited in 1892, is listed as M. Douault from Nantes. 

The paintings Soleil d'automne; - panneau décoratif and Le vieux moine, which were exhibited in the Salons of 1893 and 1894, are listed as belonging to Richard Hall. This means that the works were not for sale, as the artist wanted to keep them for himself. The paintings may have been personally important to the artist. Soleil d'automne, or Autumn Sun, may be related to the death of his wife, Julia Cornetz, in 1891.