Salon de la Société des Artistes Français

The Salon de la Société des Artistes Français succeeded the Salon of the Académie des Beaux Arts and continued a lineage tracing back to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded in 1663 under Jean Baptiste Colbert. It was reestablished in 1881 following an initiative by Jules Ferry. On 27 December 1880, Ferry called upon artists previously admitted to the Salon to form the Société des Artistes Français, which assumed responsibility for organising the annual exhibition of fine arts in place of the State.

In 1883, the Palais de l’Industrie was made available to the Société for a symbolic fee of one franc, establishing the physical framework for the annual exhibition, which later moved to the Grand Palais. The salon maintained a juried system and awards structure, presenting painting and sculpture aligned with academic traditions and institutional standards.

Artists associated with the Société included Eugène Delacroix, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Édouard Manet, Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Raoul Dufy, and Francis Picabia.