Salon d'Automne

Salon d'Automne.
Annual exhibition founded in Paris in 1903 as a more progressive alternative to the official Salon and other current exhibiting venues, including the Salon des Indépendants; it was held in the autumn (October or November), so as not to clash with these other shows, which took place mainly in spring and summer. The early Salons d'Automne played an important role in establishing the reputations of Cézanne and Gauguin. There was a small Gauguin exhibition in 1903 (the inaugural show) and a major retrospective in 1906; Cézanne was strongly represented in 1905 and was given a memorial exhibition in 1907. However, the Salon d'Automne is famous above all for the sensational launch of Fauvism at the 1905 exhibition.