1900 Paris

Discontent towards the conventional Salon of art was already heightening by mid-19th century. A corrupt system of closed unfair screening practices allowed only a limited gro up of artists access to the Salon, and it had been sustained for too long. In 1863, Salon des Refusé, an exhibition of works by artists rejected by the official Salon took place, becoming an epoch-making event in French art history. Depicting a smiling nude woman in the midst of a group of suit-clad men enjoying a picnic, Manet's Déjuner sur l'herbe (Picnic on the Grass) roused a scandalous riot. It was an early gesture of challenge towards the hypocritical school of Salon art; soon later in 1884 the landmark Indépendant Exhibition took place in Tuileries gardens, a novel event open to any artist who would pay the application fee. Following Manet came the Impressionists -- Degas, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, and Seurat were among those who invigorated the turn-of-the-century art scene with brushstrokes painting beautiful light and natural surroundings, true to the era they lived in. It was the long-awaited release from the Salon's restrain, the guidelines that confined art within borders. The advent of a new century brought further blossoming of the flowers of art. Fauvism, developed by Matisse, Derain, and Vlaminck, rose above realistic nature using strong and wild colors, bringing about intuitive changes in modeling and composition as well as color. Picasso, a Spanish newcomer to Paris before the turn of the century, completed the masterpiece of his Bateau-Lavoir atelier period in Montmartre, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Girls of Avignon) in 1907. Here was born Cubism, through which even form was released from its natural figure. Picasso and Braque continued to further metamorphose their styles, cementing the birth of the era of abstract art, which was soon to connect with contemporary art trends. With the progress of printing technology, the 1900s succeeded in transmitting the new Parisian art throughout the world through the new media: publications. Art magazines and publications loaded onto ships and trains carried the latest art news from Paris, extending its strong influence even to Japan in the Far East.