View of the Salon in the Year 1753

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin French

Not on view

Though he was never admitted to the Académie Royale, it is, ironically, to Saint-Aubin that we owe our knowledge of what their biennial exhibitions, known as Salons, looked like. In this early example, he showed visitors ascending the stairs to the Louvre’s Salon Carré, with its windows overlooking the Seine.

Saint-Aubin was an untrained and intuitive printmaker. Here, he covered the plate with atmospheric tone, making clear that his interest was not the details of the densely hung paintings but, rather, the palpable anticipation of the crowds. As with many of his scenes of Paris, the space becomes a setting for public entertainment and discourse.

View of the Salon in the Year 1753, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (French, Paris 1724–1780 Paris), Etching

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