Salons 1894 - 1914

                                         PARIS ARTIST SALONS

                                                  1893 - 1914

 

The Salons were....

Salon des artistes français

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Salon national des beaux arts

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Tankard
Enid Yandell, Kiss Tankard, 1899
Mary Fairchild McMonnies, "Roses and Lilies"
Mary Fairchild McMonnies, "Roses and Lilies"

As the new century dawned, it is unclear if the AWAA mounted its own exhibition(s). In lieu of the regularly-scheduled Salon de la Societé nationale des beaux-arts, the Exposition Universelle dazzled hundreds of thousands of visitors at the Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts. The rival Salon de la Societé des artistes francais still opened in 1900.

The United States was among the foreign nations given its own pavilion at the Exposition Universelle. Many native sons and daughters were invited to represent their country by exhibiting their work. Such an opportunity was a great honor for any American artist, including the 13 women who were either associated with the AWAA or the Girls' Art Club (or both). Biographical information about all the artists and a complete overview of the United States pavilion can be found in the Official Illustrated Catalogue.

In alphabetical order, the women artists associated with 4 rue de Chevreuse were:

 

1901

Marion Holden Pope, The Minstrel, color etching, n.d.
Marion Holden Pope, "The Minstrel," color ethching, n.d.

The annual AWAA exhibition was held at 4 rue de Chevreuse from March 2 to March 9, 1901. The association president for the year was Mary Fairchild MacMonnies and the vice president was Elisabeth Kruseman Van Elten. In January 1901, the AWAA hosted a competition open to all American women in Paris. California artist Marion Holden designed the winning "Die" for the Association.

1902

May Audubon Post, Marken Child Island of Marken, Holland, AskArt
May Audubon Post, Marken Child Island of Marken, Holland

Mary Fairchild MacMonnies, painter and president of the AWAA, coordinated the annual exhibition, which opened on February 15, 1902. The judges were H.S. Bisbing (painter and engraver), S. Seymour Thomas (also a painter and engraver), and Henry Ossawa Tanner (renowned African American artist in 19th-century Paris). The show included 200 paintings as well as pastel drawings, watercolors, and miniatures, all by American women artists.

Among those who exhibited were:

The exhibition details were published on February 16, 1902 in The Chicago Tribune (10).

1903

Florence Esté, "Pêcher en fleurs," oil on canvas, n.d.
Florence Esté, "Pêcher en fleurs," oil on canvas, n.d.

A brief mention of the annual exhibition was printed in The Baltimore Sun on February 22, 1903 (5). Sculptor Frederick MacMonnies was erroneously listed as the AWAA president for the year; in fact, his wife, Mary Fairchild MacMonnies, was serving as president for the third year in a row. Some of the artists who exhibited were:

Gil Blas also covered the exhibition in a February 23, 1903 article. The only artist acknowledged for her work was "Mlle Pliffer," a misspelling of the name Clara Marie Pfeifer, a St. Louis-born sculptor who studied with Mercié and Bourdelle.

1904

Alice Schiller, "Porto Rican Mother and Child," oil on canvas
Alice Schiller, "Porto Rican Mother and Child," oil on canvas

American painters Walter Gay, John Humphreys Johnston, and Edward Simmons formed the jury that selected 93 works (88 paintings, five sculptures) for the annual exhibition.

A review was published in The New York Times on March 6, 1904: "This year's exhibition was opened a couple of days ago in the Rue de Chevreuse, and is generally admitted to be an improvement on its predecessors. It contains, of course, examples of that pathetic striving after the unattainable which has ended in irremediable failure, but so do most picture galleries" (4). 

Mercifully, the reviewer does not name those artists whose work he considers pathetic, but he does praise:

Victor Ducieu published a highly detailed French review of the two-week AWAA show in L'Art (147-149). He not only listed many of the artists but also the titles of their works on display. 

1905

Frances Murphy Goodwin, "President Schuyler Colfax," bust
Frances Murphy Goodwin, "President Schuyler Colfax," bust

The New York Times reported on the exhibition opening in "Paintings by American Women" (7). Many of the works on display were landscapes. Notable exhibitors were:

A magazine called The Index also highlighted the AWAA exhibition in 1905 (28), featuring three artists originally from the state of Indiana:

1906

Nancy Maybin Ferguson, "The Red Banner," oil on canvas, c. 1913
Nancy Maybin Ferguson, "The Red Banner," oil on canvas, c. 1913

The annual exhibition was described on February 25, 1906 in The Chicago Daily Tribune (B1). Mary Fairchild MacMonnies and Florence Esté were invited to participate. Other artists who submitted their work to the jury and were selected are listed below:

1907

Ada Irene Vose Congdon, "Place Ste Geneviève, Paris," print, 1911
Ada Irene Vose Congdon, "Place Ste Geneviève, Paris," print, 1911

The AWAA exhibition opened at 4 rue de Chevreuse on February 16, 1907. The president for that year was Florence Esté and the vice president was Adairene Vose Congdon. Further details are not extant.

1908

Gabrielle de Veaux Clements, "Avenue Bridge, Baltimore," 1927, etching on paper
Gabrielle de Veaux Clements, "Avenue Bridge, Baltimore," 1927, etching on paper

A brief mention of the annual exhibition by Arsène Alexandre appeared in Le Figaro on Feb. 17, 1908. As usual, he lists those artists whom he deems most successful in their efforts:

The Baltimore Sun also wrote about the exhibition (February 23, 1908, 5), praising artists

1909

Clara Josephine Kretzinger, "Nu féminin," 1906, bronze
Clara Josephine Kretzinger, "Nu féminin," 1906, bronze

The 1909 exhibition was reviewed in The Advance by Miss Kilbourne Cowles (April 1, 1909, page). Cowles cites two artists from Chicago:

Town & Country noted that the 14th [sic] annual exhibition was held February 14 to March 1, 1909. There were also plans to host a summer salon at the Club for those who wanted to exhibit or sell their work before traveling (17). No artists' names were mentioned and it is unclear if the summer salon ever came to fruition.

1910

Kathleen McEnery, "Going to the Bath," ca. 1905-1913, oil on canvas
Kathleen McEnery, "Going to the Bath," ca. 1905-1913, oil on canvas

Robert Bacon, American ambassador to France, presided over the 1910 exhibition opening. Judges Walter Gay and two French artists selected one hundred and thirty works by American women. Anne Goldthwaite was president of AWAA for the year, while Maud Squire served as vice president.

Artists featured in the show included:

The French press also covered the exhibition, with a small review published in La chronique des arts et de la curiosité on March 5, 1910 (75).

 

1911

Ethel Mars, "Woman with a Monkey," 1909
Ethel Mars, "Woman with a Monkey," 1909

The New York Times review of the exhibition, published on Sunday, February 19, 1911, remarks on the trend toward Impressionism at the well-attended opening: "The newer impressionism runs riot at the annual exhibition of the American Women's Art Association, which opened to-night in the Rue de Chevreuse, with the usual grand reception, attended by the elite of the American colony" (C2). The reviewer also notes the increase in works of sculpture, acknowledging pieces by

Artists mentioned by name were:

Other sources indicate that Frances Hodgkins, a New Zealand artist appointed as the first female instructor at Colarossi's, also exhibited in the 1911 show (RH archives).

1912

John Singer Sargent, "Mrs. Edward Darley Boit," 1887, oil on canvas
John Singer Sargent, "Mrs. Edward Darley Boit," 1887, oil on canvas

According to the New York Tribune, the board of the AWAA included: Mrs. Reid (president); Mrs. Myron T. Herrick, wife of the American ambassador to France (vice president); Mrs. Robert Blick; Mrs. Stanford White; Mrs. Edward Tuck; Mrs. Charles Laurence; Mrs. George Munroe; Mrs. Henry Ridgway; Mrs. Hamilton Russell; Mrs. Fitzhugh Whitehouse; and Mrs. Walter Gay (December 15, 1912, 9).

The 1912 exhibition featured 200 loaned works, of which eight were sent by the Luxembourg Museum, including three portraits by John Singer Sargent (one of Mrs. Edward Boit, and another of his friend Jacques Blanche), as well as three watercolors by Whistler. Other major artists including Auguste Rodin had also been invited to exhibit. 

The show, curated by George Howland, was favorably reviewed in The New York Times, which documented its popularity in the American colony: "the great success with which it is attended is striking proof of the activity of American students in Paris." (C2). Unlike the AWAA exhibitions of previous years, this show focused entirely on established, successful artists rather than students. Only a few American renowned women were included in this exhibition: Florence Esté, Elizabeth Nourse, and Janet Scudder.

1913

Jane Peterson,
Fishing Boats, Gloucester, ca. 1915-1920. Oil on canvas
Jane Peterson, Fishing Boats, Gloucester, ca. 1915-1920. Oil on canvas

American Art News covered the 1913 exhibition at 4 rue de Chevreuse, which was officially opened by American ambassador to France Myron T. Herrick on December 5 (5). 

Winners of the exhibition competition:

Three exhibitors did not participate in the competition, designated as "Hors Concours":

Exhibitors of watercolors, etchings, woodcuts:

Exhibitors of miniatures:

The review concludes by acknowledging that the exhibition "has reached a high standard of excellence this year." It also notes an upcoming exhibition of oil paintings at the Club in February 1914 and one of sculpture and "objets d'art" in March 1914.

1914

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, "Caryatid," 1912-1913, bronze
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, "Caryatid," 1912-1913, bronze

There are unfortunately no details about the AWAA's February 1914 oil painting exhibition. But a solo exhibition in January by Blondelle Malone was covered by L. De Cremone for Le Figaro (6). An article in American Art News states that Malone exhibited more than 100 paintings and watercolors, representing her work over the past 2-3 years: "She has considerable sense of color, and her watercolors are particularly attractive. Among the paintings the snow scenes may be specially mentioned (5).

The March sculpture exhibition was mentioned in a New York Times article about the Paris Salons (C3). Fifteen artists were represented in the show with the $100 prize (given by Elisabeth Mills Reid) shared by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (for her two bronzes) and Maud M. Noel (for her two "decorative heads"). Some of the other sculptors were:

  • Ada Gilmore
  • Alice Morgan Wright
  • Grace Hill Turnbull: In her autobiography Chips From My Chisel, Turnbull recalled the sculpture exhibit, in which her piece, Mother and Child, was the focal point: "I am undergoing a brief exposure to the limelight that makes my feeble eyes blink. Ambassador Herrick was asked to make the inaugural speech this afternoon at the Private View, and Matisse honored the occasion with his presence; and though from an excess of something or other I did not attend the vernissage, but worked in my studio instead, I took time off to look at the latter from the gallery - a quiet avuncular gentleman, conventionally dressed, not at all what you would expect from his paintings" (39).
  • Mrs. Katherine T. Hobson-Kraus
  • Jenny Petria Collin
  • Grace Hoerger

Although not directly related to the Club or the AWAA, Blondelle Malone (4 scenes in gardens), Frances Thomason (20 Parisian scenes), and Edith Fry (7 watercolors) participated in a June exhibit hosted by Miss Blanche Stanley in her studio on rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, with six other artists (American Art News, July 18, 1914).

Salon d'Automne

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