Salon des Jeunes Peintres

The Salon des Jeunes Peintres was established in 1950 as an exhibition dedicated to emerging artists in postwar Paris. The term Jeune Peinture was introduced on 28 March 1946 by Galerie Drouant-David with the creation of the Prix de la Jeune Peinture, first awarded to Pallut. The first Salon des Jeunes Peintres took place on 26 January 1950 at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts, and was later held at various venues, at the instigation of Denys Chevalier and Pierre Descargues. It brought together a large number of young artists, providing a platform for nearly a thousand painters over the course of the 1950s.

The salon functioned as an early platform for younger painters and presented contemporary work without a fixed long term venue structure. At its inaugural edition, approximately 120 works were exhibited, including paintings by Bernard Buffet, André Minaux, Paul Rebeyrolle, Simone Dat, De Gallard, Thompson, Collomb, Singer, and Mireille Miailhe, as well as Ellsworth Kelly, who exhibited in Europe for the first time, presenting Wood Cutout with String III (1949). Jean Pierre observed that “on the whole, this Salon conveys an impression of gravity.”