The Literary Salon

A rich female history

Jean Francois de Troy

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Although the Literary Salon is often associated with its French origins, there is some evidence that it actually originated in ancient Greece, where Athenians used to bring both influencers and commoners together in order to discuss the arts, including philosophy, music, and history.

Romans later adopted this tradition, allowing for citizens to share their opinions through open events which continued into the Renaissance, from there spreading throughout Italy and France.

There have even been some reports that salons ran back as far as the pre-Islamic period, where literary salons were initiated for Arabic women, as well as examples within Chinese women’s society, although these were often in remote areas and were not formally termed a ‘salon’.  They were nevertheless an arena in which to share women’s knowledge in conversation. 

Fascinatingly, in the Chinese tradition, women who were forbidden a formal education developed their own writing system known as Nu Shu, literally translating as ‘Women’s writing’.  This was written in secret and meant for women only, and provided a way to share their poetry and hold private conversations around art and creativity. 

The more popularly known French literary salons began in 1610, led by an Italian-born French aristocrat, Catherine de Vivonne, the Marquess de Rambouillet, who initiated a literary event not unlike a book club.  There, discussions were held around books, art, music, and philosophy, in the tradition of the earlier Athenian gatherings.  Vivonne’s gatherings also included games and social activities, and were a home to artistic critique and a way to provide informal lessons in social etiquette to young girls entering society.  They also allowed for the aristocracy to show off their style and intellectual prowess.  

In a man’s world, what was interesting about these new salons were that they were run by women, and somewhat surprisingly, salons such as Vivonne’s held a high esteem and influence in the wider community.  These were particularly popular with the nobility, who could basically practise their etiquette and develop their intellectual conversation in a safe environment, outside of the usual control of royalty.  Women within these settings were able to speak their minds more openly, as well as share their artistic and philosophical ideas.  

As such salons developed and spread throughout Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, women cultivated powerful positions within their own communities as hostesses of them within their own homes.  This allowed them the opportunity to engage with intellectual discussions despite many not being formally educated and not allowed to participate in political discourse elsewhere.  

These aristocratic women, in other words, not only joined the conversation, they became the conversation by acting as facilitators.

The hostess became able to curate a guest list and to theme salons around her own interests, allowing for her to not only raise questions on music or literature which interested her personally, but also to share her own accomplishments in these areas. 

This provided a means of eradication of social barriers for such women, who previously were simply the property of their fathers and later husbands.  These women gained a voice within the salons held in their homes; a radical idea at the time.  

A Reading in the Salon of Mme Geoffrin

By the time of Napoleon in the 19th century, however, such was the fear over the spread of ideological ideas within these salons that he banished attendees who he saw as undermining his authority.  This eventually led to a relegation of women back into their domestic duties, and salons fell out of popularity in France during his rule.

Although the salons were essentially entertaining spaces, they nonetheless contained an aura of seriousness.  As the popularity of the salons grew, more men became interested, and they became an arena in which both genders could openly discuss the arts together.

All this philosophical and artistic debate eventually led to what was later known as the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement in which ideas around religion, nature and humanity affected new developments in art, philosophy, and politics.  The Enlightenment period during the 17th and 18th centuries celebrated the idea of reason; the power humans held to understand the universe and to improve their own condition.  The lofty goals of this rational humanity being knowledge, freedom, and happiness. 

As the salon’s participants were treated as equals within its environs and the conversation developed into more political debate, it attracted disenfranchised nobility members of society.  Political disagreements were dealt with in a civil manner, with members always wishing to remain refined and graceful, allowing for open but non-confrontational debate.  

Interestingly, the term ‘je ne sais quoi’ became widely used within the salons, where the members would often find themselves agreeing on issues following lively exchanges with other members.  

The enlightenment continued with less nobility and more educated members taking over.  Science and philosophy as well as critical thinking and modern ideas were shared, firmly positioning the salon as a central focal point for society, and a move away from the monarchy.  Shared ideas became more radical, and as more men realised the potential for political debate within them, within the later 18th century, more political careers were forged by the salon.

The art salon that we most often think of was established around 1667, when the Art Academy of Paris began hosting an art event and taking the term ‘Salon’.  

Louis XIV sponsored an art exhibit in the Salon d’Apollon of the Louvre Palace, which became an annual or biennial event and represented the success of French artists.  Later, in 1748, this became juried, putting pressure on artists to show their success and abilities within the art field by winning the approval of the monarchy.  This continued following the French Revolution, allowing for new artistic styles to develop around Europe, although many in the art world disapproved of the newly developing Impressionist movement.  

French Salon, Louis VI Period, c. 1780

In the mid-1900’s, many such artists and their supporters broke away from the traditionalists, and went on to establish their own shows, allowing for the continuation of the Impressionist movement and leading to the Avant Garde.

The more modern idea of an art or literary salon tends towards the gathering of artists and intellectuals in order to discuss art, science, and philosophy.  They have remained a backdrop to allow conversation and ideology to develop and be explored in a non-judgemental forum.  

Interestingly, the salon made a comeback in Paris in the early 20th century, when a couple of Jewish American women became influential in the modern art and literature movement.  Gertrude Stein and Natalie Clifford Barney began hosting weekly salons, only stopping when they were interrupted by WWII.  

In fact, Jewish women had a history of involvement within the literary salons, beginning in Berlin in the 1780s, right through to 1930’s California, where they welcomed all interested members to openly discuss and debate art, music, literature, and politics.  Even more remarkable at the time was that these intellectual women resolved that gender or religion should not impede their ability to effect social change.

These salons spread throughout various cities in Europe, allowing for each woman - as in the early days of the salon tradition - to use her own interests in the arts to set the agency for the salon’s key characteristics of informality and guest lists.

Apart from the fact that salons have long provided a safe space in which women could develop their own interests and become involved in healthy debate and enlightening conversation, what I also love about the idea of the initial literary salons is that they are a testament to the ways in which humans have always had an inherent desire to share ideas and philosophies around the arts.  

In a way, this reminded me of this platform and its endeavours to allow for free discourse on these and other themes related to the arts.  A place to share ideas - regardless of gender, class, race, or religion.  An open forum for the sharing of ideas and for artistic impressions to flourish.

Despite whatever else may have been going on in the lives or the society of the many women and men who attended the early salons - wars, political and civil unrest, or even personal traumas - then and now humans have continually striven as a society to embrace discussion and to garner opinion on the arts.  

In a world in turmoil, I find this strangely comforting.

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