Living room of autumn of 1905

The Salon of autumn of 1905 is an artistic event which was held between the October 18th and November 25th 1905, with Paris, with the Large palace. By the exposure, in room VII, of young painters like Henri Matisse, it marks the beginning of the Fauvisme.

Fast history of the Living room of autumn before 1905

The Salon of autumn was created the October 31st 1903 with the Petit Palais, on the initiative of the Belgian Frantz the Jordan (1847-1935), architect, man of letters and large art lover, chairs trade union of the art critic, and friends like the decorator and architect Hector Guimard, the painters Eugene Carrière, Georges Desvallières, Felix Vallotton, Edouard Vuillard, Adrien Schulz, or the decorator Jansen… the goal is double: the Living room of autumn must at the same time offer outlets to the young artists and make discover the Impressionnisme and its prolongations with a popular public. The choice of the autumn as season of presentation is strategic in more than one way: not only it makes it possible to the artists to present their small sizes carried out in outside during the summer, therefore to place itself at the point of the artistic topicality, but it is dissociated from the two other large living rooms (the Nationale and the French Artistes ) which have, them, place in spring.

The Living room of autumn is made conspicuous by its multidisciplinarity, since are mixed paintings, Sculpture S, Photographie S (as from 1904), drawings, engravings, applied arts… and the clearness of its fitting, more or less by school. The foreign painters are particularly represented there. Since 1904, the Living room will not expose any more in the cellars, which proves success that it meets very quickly. It leaves the Petit Palais for the Large palace. At the time of this edition, thirty-three tables of Paul Cézanne, sixty two of Odilon Redon and thirty-five of Auguste Renoir are joined together, forming a unit accepted still rather well, contrary to what will be the scandal of 1905. To note that Matisse, Manguin, Marquet and Camoin was already present, in room XVII.

The organization of the Living room of 1905

1905 mark the swing of the Living room towards the modernism: a quarter of the members of association in charge of the installation of the Living room in 1904, rather conservatives, are eliminated, in favor of artists pupils of Gustave Moreau, more turned towards the avant-gardes. The committee, elected for two years in order to manage the Living room, is then composed of Matisse, Desvallières, Rouault, Rene Piot, all old of the class of Gustave Moreau, as well as Louis Vauxcelles and Roger Marx. The jury decides to support the originality on “edulcorated impressionism”, and accepts works which their authors regard to them-even as experimental. André Derain will even write: “I will never have done such a complex and such a different work, such a disconcerting for criticism”. The placement of works is entrusted to the architect Charles Plumet, who, approximately, adopts the same classification as the previous year.

The Living room comprises eighteen rooms, counts 1625 numbers, and is scheduled while following key periods. One finds thus in the hall of the sculptures of Rodin and in room I, room of pageantry of great names like Cézanne, Renoir, Armand Guillaumin, Jean-François Raffaëlli, Redon. In the same way, room III gathers artists with the reputation established already well, like Carrière, Desvallières, the Nabis, Vuillard, Bonnard, Vallotton, Roussel. Two great retrospectives occupy the following rooms, one relating to Ingres, other Manet. Many foreigners are also introduced to the wire of the rooms: Alexej von Jawlensky, Kandinsky and Czobel forms part of it.

But it is obviously, room VII, placed by Plumet in the middle of the exposure which occupies all the glances. Located beside space where works of the Rousseau customs officer are exposed, in particular “the lion being hungry”, it gathers works of Matisse, Manguin, Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, Camoin. The painters Puy, Fleming, Rouault, Van Dongen, Girieud, though compared to the deer are in other rooms. Among these paintings with the violent colors (a “pot of painting thrown to the face of the public” will write Camille Mauclair) in the middle of the part two busts of Albert Marque (1872-1939) trônent, in a very traditional style.

The works exposed in room VII

39 works occupy room VII:

Of Henri Matisse, six oils on fabrics and two Watercolour S

Young woman out of Japanese dress at the edge of water (oil on fabric)
Window open (oil on fabric)
Still life (oil on fabric)
Morning of summer (oil on fabric)
Woman to the hat (oil on fabric)
Japanese (oil on fabric)
Navy (fisherman) (oil on fabric)
Navy (boats) (oil on fabric)
Bathers (watercolour)
Walk (watercolour)

Of Andre Derain, five oils on fabrics and four pastels

Portrait (oil on fabric)
Oak Liege (oil on fabric)
Seen of Collioure (oil on fabric)
Sêchage of the veils (oil on fabric)
Fishing port (oil on fabric)
decorative Fragment (pastel)
Barges (pastel)
Seen of Collioure (pastel)
Old houses with Collioure (pastel)

Of Maurice de Vlaminck, five oils on fabric

Valley of the Seine with Marly
House of my father
Twilight
Garden
Pond of Saint-Cucufa

Of Henri Manguin, five oils on fabric

Nap
On the balcony
Under the trees
Oak cork
the Pre

Of Charles Camoin, five oils on fabric

On the terrace
Agay, the hotel
Agay, seaside
Wearing of Blackcurrant, setting sun
Wearing of Blackcurrant, gray time

Of Albert Marquet, five oils on fabric

Wearing of Chin
Anthéor
Agay
Trayas
red Rocks of Trayas

Reactions to the Living room of autumn of 1905

Though one thinks about it, the Living room of autumn of 1905 is rather well accommodated, the critics speaking in praise in particular retrospectives Ingres and Manet. The artists who expose are known, even most innovative, which exposed a few front months to the gallery Berthe Weill (1904 and 1905). However, of many detractors react with violence, so much in the daily press, which is addressed to many people and remains conventional, that in the specialized press, whose certain members, holding of the symbolism, refuse with virulence the rise of the new generation. The fact that the President of the Republic, Loubet, refused to inaugurate the Living room because it had been prevented presence of “unacceptable” works is also symptomatic.

In the supplement with the Gil Blas (daily Parisian created on November 19th, 1879 by Auguste Dumont (1816-1885)) October 17th 1905, the Critic art Louis Vauxcelles (1870 - 1943) written: “In the center of the room, a chest of child and a small marble bust of Albert Marque, who models with a delicate science. The frankness of these busts surprises in the middle of the orgy of tons pure: Donatello among the deer”. Much later, in 1939, in its book the fauvism , Vauxcelles recognizes with half-word that this comparison was inspired to him by a critic unknown passing by there and saying to Matisse: “Donatello in the cage with the deer”, to qualify what it had just seen

Several points considered as shocking are proposed by the opponents, in particular the lack of know-how and the visibility of the technique, the lack of finished; they draw two types from them of conclusions. For some, it is about a sinistrality, and the artist can be comparable with a “savage”, a child or “insane”. Thus, Marcel Nicole, art critic to the Journal of Rouen speaks about “cruel and naive plays of a child who is exerted with the box with colors”. For other, it acts anarchistic charlatans, who protest their hatred of the middle-class. The table is then seen like aggressive, and either like foolish. “Is this art that? Or is this one mystification and the Living room of autumn it has, with its gallery of attraction, desired to add the surprise of a large joke? ” can one thus read in freedom . In the same way, Gertrude Stein note, while speaking about the Woman to the hat of Matisse: “The visitors pouffaient by looking at the fabric, and one tried to lacerate it”.

Some criticisms, in particular on behalf of intellectuals, are however different. André Gide writes as follows: “When I intended to shout in front of Matisse: “it is madness! ” I wanted to retort: “but not, Sir, quite to the contrary. It is a product of theories. ” Very can there result, to explain; the intuition has there to only make. Undoubtedly when Mr. Matisse paints the face of this woman color apple and this red tree trunk frankly, it can say to us: “it is because…” Yes, reasonable, this painting, and arguer even. ”. Like him, Maurice Denis reproach with the deer an excess of theory.

A handling?

Very quickly, the idea of a handling orchestrated by the creators of the Living room makes surface. Indeed, if Vauxcelles is the principal craftsman of the reputation of the demonstration, it also belongs to the jury which selected works, and knew works and the artists, (it had even congratulated Matisse for his research and its courage at the time of the presentation of works of this one with the Barthe-Weill gallery, a little earlier) whereas in its article, it seems to discover them. It is noticed besides that, even if it raises the polemic, Vauxcelles remains much more understanding than the remainder of the press, and is held extremely far away from the mockeries of L ''' Illustration '', for example. This scandal thus seems to be orchestrated more than one cannot accept it the first access. Nevertheless the Living room of autumn remains an big event in the history of the art of the 20th century.

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