Salón de Otoño — LLMpedia

Salón de Otoño
Name	Salón de Otoño
Location	Madrid, Spain
Established	19th century
Founder	Asociación Española de Pintores y Escultores
Type	Art exhibition

Contents

Salón de Otoño is an annual or periodic art exhibition historically held in Madrid that showcased contemporary painting, sculpture, and printmaking alongside international trends such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Founded in the late 19th century by Spanish and European artists and institutions, the event became a focal point for debates involving figures from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the Museo del Prado, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and private galleries. Over decades the Salon intersected with artistic movements represented by artists linked to Francisco Goya, Diego Velázquez, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and newer generations influenced by Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, and Georges Braque.

History

The Salón emerged amid a European network of exhibitions including the Salon (Paris), the Venice Biennale, and the Exposition Universelle (1889), and was shaped by patrons such as the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and collectors linked to the Banco de España and municipal authorities of Madrid City Council. Early editions featured works discussed alongside collections of the Museo del Prado and commissions related to the Instituto Cervantes and the Comunidad de Madrid. The Salon evolved through periods defined by the Spanish Civil War, the Second Spanish Republic, the Francoist Spain, and the transition marked by institutions like the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and cultural policies of the Ministry of Culture (Spain). Curators and directors connected to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Museo Sorolla, and the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático influenced selection panels and circulation to cities such as Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia.

Organisation involved municipal, academic, and private stakeholders including the Asociación Española de Pintores y Escultores, the Real Sociedad Económica Matritense, and sponsors from banking houses such as Banco Santander and foundations like the Fundación Mapfre and the Fundación Telefónica. Format conventions borrowed from the Salon des Indépendants and the Armory Show: jury selection panels drawn from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, gallery directors from Galería Marlborough (Madrid), curators associated with the Museo del Prado and the Museo Reina Sofía, and competition prizes named after patrons connected to the Museo Sorolla and the Fundación Picasso. Exhibition spaces rotated among venues including the Palacio de Cristal, municipal exhibition halls, and private venues linked to the CentroCentro and the CaixaForum Madrid.

Participants ranged from academic painters trained at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando to avant-garde groups influenced by Les Nabis, Der Blaue Reiter, Fauvism, and Fluxus. Notable Spanish participants included artists in the orbit of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Antonio Saura, Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, Francisco Bores, and Maruja Mallo, while international names echoed trends from Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee, Georges Braque, Amedeo Modigliani, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Max Ernst, René Magritte, André Derain, Arshile Gorky, and Jackson Pollock. Collectives and schools with presence included the Escuela de París, the Generación del 27, the Grupo El Paso, the Colectivo de Artistas Contemporáneos, and visiting contingents from institutions like the Royal Academy of Arts, the Académie Julian, and the Slade School of Fine Art.

Exhibitions at the Salon displayed paintings, sculptures, prints, and installations connected to masterpieces comparable in context to works held by the Museo del Prado such as studies after Diego Velázquez and Francisco Goya, modern pieces resonant with works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, and conceptual projects reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys. Notable entries included early presentations of artists who later exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Documenta exhibitions in Kassel, or at galleries like Gagosian Gallery and Galerie Maeght. Commissions and acquisitions linked Salon presentations to the collections of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Fundación Telefónica, the Fundación Juan March, and corporate collections such as those of Iberdrola and Repsol.

Critical reception involved debates in periodicals such as El País, ABC, La Vanguardia, and art journals connected to the Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música and the Real Academia Española. Critics compared Salon selections to precedents set by the Salon (Paris), allegations of conservatism invoked names associated with the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando while defenders cited innovation linked to Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and younger figures aligned with Arte Povera and Minimalism. Controversies mirrored disputes in international contexts like the Armory Show (1913) and the Degenerate Art exhibition, with responses from curators and directors at institutions including the Museo Reina Sofía, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and academic voices from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

The Salon's legacy is visible through acquisitions by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, pedagogical links to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and influence on later fairs such as the ARCOmadrid and the PHotoEspaña festival. Its role in cultural policy intersected with initiatives by the Ministry of Culture (Spain), municipal programs of the Madrid City Council, and private foundations like the Fundación Mapfre and the Fundación Juan March, shaping trajectories for Spanish artists who later exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Documenta, and in major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and the Centre Pompidou.

Category:Art exhibitions in Spain Category:Madrid culture