Salon de Mai
Encyclopedia
The Salon de Mai is a French group of artists which formed in a café in place du Palais Royal
in Paris
in October 1943 during the German occupation of France. It was founded in opposition to Nazi
ideology and its condemnation of degenerate art
. It founder members were the art critic Gaston Diehl
and the painters, sculptors and engravers Henri-Georges Adam
, Emmanuel Auricoste, Lucien Coutaud, Robert Couturier
, Jacques Despierre (who suggested naming the salon after the month in which its first meetings were held), Marcel Gili, Léon Gischia, Francis Gruber
, Jean Le Moal
, Alfred Manessier
, André Marchand
, Edouard Pignon, Gustave Singier
, Claude Venard and Roger Vieillard, who together formed it direction committee. Many among them (Coutaud, Gischia, Le Moal, Manessier, Marchand, Pignon, Singier) participated in the 1941 exhibition "Vingt jeunes peintres de tradition française".
Under its president Gaston Diehl
the first Salon de Mai exhibition took place in the galerie Pierre Maurs (3, avenue Matignon) on 29 May to 29 June 1945. Its honorary committee was made up of Germain Bazin, Jacques Dupont
, René Huyghe
, Bernard Dorival, Michel Florisoone, Pierre Ladoué and Marc Thiboutet. Its judging panel was headed by Jean Follain
. The catalogue of this first Salon had a preface by Gaston Diehl, with texts by René Bertelé and André Rolland de Renéville, poems by Jacques Prévert
, Lucien Becker, André Frénaud, Jean Follain
and Guillevic
.
Gaston Diehl was president of the Salon de Mai until 1997.
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in October 1943 during the German occupation of France. It was founded in opposition to Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
ideology and its condemnation of degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
. It founder members were the art critic Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl was a French professor of art history and an art critic.-Biography:Diehl graduated from the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie in 1934 and the Ecole du Louvre in 1936...
and the painters, sculptors and engravers Henri-Georges Adam
Henri-Georges Adam
Henri-Georges Adam was a French engraver and non-figurative sculptor of the École de Paris, who was also involved in the creation of numerous monumental tapestries...
, Emmanuel Auricoste, Lucien Coutaud, Robert Couturier
Robert Couturier
Robert Couturier was a French sculptor. He was born in Angoulême.-Biography:In 1920, he joined the École Estienne à Paris and trained in lithography. On his father's death he was forced to interrupt his studies and joined a lithography studio in Paris. In 1929 he met the sculptor Alfred Janniot...
, Jacques Despierre (who suggested naming the salon after the month in which its first meetings were held), Marcel Gili, Léon Gischia, Francis Gruber
Francis Gruber
Francis Gruber was a French painter and founder of the Nouveau Réalisme school.He was born in Nancy, the son of stained glass artist Jacques Gruber....
, Jean Le Moal
Jean Le Moal
Jean Le Moal was a French painter of the new Paris school, designer of stained glass windows, and one of the founder members of the Salon de Mai.-Biography:...
, Alfred Manessier
Alfred Manessier
Alfred Manessier was a non-figurative French painter, stained glass artist, and tapestry designer, part of the new Paris School and the Salon de Mai.-Biography:...
, André Marchand
André Marchand (painter)
André Marchand was a French painter of the new Paris school and one of the founder members of the Salon de Mai.-Life:Marchand was born at Aix-en-Provence, a few months after the death of Paul Cézanne; in 1918 he lost his mother...
, Edouard Pignon, Gustave Singier
Gustave Singier
Gustave Singier was a Belgian non-figurative painter active in France as part of the new Paris School of Lyrical Abstraction and the Salon de Mai. He is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery....
, Claude Venard and Roger Vieillard, who together formed it direction committee. Many among them (Coutaud, Gischia, Le Moal, Manessier, Marchand, Pignon, Singier) participated in the 1941 exhibition "Vingt jeunes peintres de tradition française".
Under its president Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl
Gaston Diehl was a French professor of art history and an art critic.-Biography:Diehl graduated from the Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie in 1934 and the Ecole du Louvre in 1936...
the first Salon de Mai exhibition took place in the galerie Pierre Maurs (3, avenue Matignon) on 29 May to 29 June 1945. Its honorary committee was made up of Germain Bazin, Jacques Dupont
Jacques Dupont (director)
- Life :Formerly of the IDHEC, and a specialist in exotic cinema, he appeared less comfortable in Les Distractions, in which he directed Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alexandra Stewart, than he did in evoking French volunteers in Korea in Crève-cœur.-Short films:...
, René Huyghe
René Huyghe
René Huyghe was a French writer on the history, psychology and philosophy of art. He was also a curator at the Louvre's department of paintings , a professor at the Collège de France and from 1960 a member of the Académie française...
, Bernard Dorival, Michel Florisoone, Pierre Ladoué and Marc Thiboutet. Its judging panel was headed by Jean Follain
Jean Follain
Jean Follain, was a French author, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group. Follain was a friend of Max Jacob, André Salmon, Jean Paulhan, Pierre Pussy, Armen Lubin, and Pierre Reverdy...
. The catalogue of this first Salon had a preface by Gaston Diehl, with texts by René Bertelé and André Rolland de Renéville, poems by Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...
, Lucien Becker, André Frénaud, Jean Follain
Jean Follain
Jean Follain, was a French author, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group. Follain was a friend of Max Jacob, André Salmon, Jean Paulhan, Pierre Pussy, Armen Lubin, and Pierre Reverdy...
and Guillevic
Eugène Guillevic
Eugène Guillevic was one of the better known French poets of the second half of the 20th century. Professionally, he went under just the single name "Guillevic".-Life:...
.
Gaston Diehl was president of the Salon de Mai until 1997.