78 / 242
EUGÈNE GRASSET (1845-1917)
76
●
SALON DES CENT. 1894.
23
1
/
4
x15
1
/
2
inches, 59x39
1
/
2
cm. G. de Malherbe, Paris.
Condition A-: repaired tears, minor staining and time-staining in margins; minor rippling in image; toned
overall. Framed. Unexamined out of frame.
With all of his Art Nouveau credentials, it is no wonder that the Salon des Cent dedicated their first
one-man show (and second exhibition) to Grasset in 1894. The Salon des Cent was famous for having
artists design their own exhibition posters and Grasset’s sensitive and impeccable work proved to be
one of his best images, visually summing up his decorative principles. It is a harmonious, simple,
symbolic representation of a young artist, a flower in one hand, pencil and a sketch pad in the other:
a personification of the credo of Art Nouveau. The poster was enormously popular and successful,
inspiring many young artists to gravitate towards the movement. Grasset p. 6, Weill p. 32, Maitres pl.
98, Word & Image p. 34, Reims 684, Arwas p. 6, Salon des Cent 8 (var), Art Nouveau p. 102, DFP-
II 410.
[2,000/3,000]
SALON DES CENT
LOTS 76-81
The
Salon des Cent
was an artistic salon established by the fledgling art magazine
La Plume
. The magazine was founded in 1889 by the young poet Léon Deschamps.
As a mark of its humble beginnings, the magazine’s office was the room in which
Deschamps lived. An artistic and literary magazine,
La Plume
drew on the talent
of all young artists, regardless of their creative background, styles or fame. Under
Deschamps’ watchful eye, and thanks in large part to his personal flair, the
publication quickly became successful - so much so, that by 1891 they could afford
to move their office to a good location. The new premises, at 31 rue Bonaparte,
near the
École des Beaux-Arts
, was large enough to be used as a gallery, and by
1894 was the site of the first exhibition of the
Salon des Cent
. Despite its concise
and symbolic name, which implied a finite and elite membership, no actual
restrictions on the number of members or participants ever existed. It had no
specific aesthetic agenda and was open not only to established artists, but to
young, undiscovered talents as well. Deschamps was a major proponent of poster
art, and commissioned a new poster for every show that the
Salon
held. Over the
course of those six years, forty-three different posters were published, each
announcing a group or one-man show at the
Salon
. Feeding the existing craze of
postermania,
these posters became almost instantly collectable, with many of
them being issued in deluxe, limited edition runs. Deschamps’ premature death in
1899 (at only 36 years old) put an end to the exhibitions and their accompanying
posters. The
Salon des Cent’s
legacy of forty-three posters, the unique selection
of artists, and the consistently high quality of the printing reflects a splendid
panorama of the artistic poster in the 1890s.