Art Chowder July | August 2017, Issue 10 | Page 41

THE SALON OF 1874
By Melville Holmes
Jean-Andre Rixens (1846-1925)
Death of Cleopatra
1874
Oil On Canvas200x290 cm
Musee des Augustins, Toulouse,
France
The scene derives from the story of
Cleopatra’s suicide after the death of
Marc Antony, according to one version
of which she died from the bite of an
asp hidden in a basket of figs, which is
visible at the bedside beneath her, but not
the snake. Paintings of the event usually
show the queen holding the snake at her
breast as a way to enable the viewer to
recognize the subject. Plutarch reports
that two small puncture woulds were
found on her arm but no snake was
found. At the top left to men approach the
scene from the shadows, one cloaked and
hooded, likely Octavian, followed by a
Roman soldier.
François Joseph Heim (1787 - 1865)
Charles X Distributing Awards to the Artists
at the Close of the Salon of 1824
oil on canvas
68 x 101”
Louvre Museum
Charles X became king following the death of Louis XVIII. The
painting gives the viewer an idea of the splendor of the Salon setting
in the gallery of the Royal Palace.
Henri Gervex (1852 - 1929)
A Session of the Painting Jury
c. 1883
120 x 125”
Musée d’Orsay
The French government had stopped producing the Salons
in 1881 and the duty was taken up by the Société des artistes
français, made up of artists who selected the juries and dis-
tributed awards. The Salon now took place in the Palais de
l’Industrie that was part of the World’s Fair of 1855. Artists
among the jurors in the painting are said to include Bou-
guereau, Cabanal, Carolus-Duran (John Singer Sargent’s
teacher), and Puvis de Chavannes.
July | August 2017 41