Salon-de-Provence, town (1990 pop. 35,041), Bouches-du-Rhône dept., SE France. Its major manufactures are olive oil, petroleum products, coffee, and soap. In the town are churches dating from the 12th to the 14th cent. It has been the site of the French air force academy since 1936.

Salon, annual exhibition of art works chosen by jury and presented by the French Academy since 1737; it was originally held in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre. By the mid-19th cent. the Salon had become an expression of conservative, established tastes in art. Until 1863 it was the only major public art exhibition held in Paris. That year the Salon des Réfusés was organized in protest by artists whose works were rejected by the Salon jury. See academies of art.

Official exhibition of art sponsored by the French government. It originated in 1667 when Louis XIV sponsored an exhibit of the works of the members of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. The Salon derives its name from the exhibition's location in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre Palace. After 1737 it became an annual event, and in 1748 the jury system of selection was introduced. During the French Revolution, the Salon was opened to all French artists, though academicians continued to maintain near-total control over the teaching and exhibition of art through most of the 19th century. In 1881 the new Société des Artistes Français began to oversee the Salon, and with the growing importance of independent exhibitions of the works of avant-garde artists, it gradually lost its influence and prestige.

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