Foreign artists versus French critics Exhibition strategies and critical reception at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris (1884-1914)

This dissertation explores how foreign artists constructed their careers at the Salon des Indépendants during the Parisian Belle Époque. The focus is on the Salon des Indépendants, as this Salon (founded in 1884) was the most open exhibition in Paris due to the fact that it was unjuried. The French careers of three foreign artists – Darío de Regoyos, Edvard Munch and Vincent van Gogh – are explored, analyzing their strategies and artistic identities. The results of my research refute the common opinion that foreign artists had limited chances of success in Paris, and instead argue that is was matter of understanding the mechanisms that were at play and how to negotiate these. The book is a contribution to the expanding area of research of transnational exchanges in art history and the ways and means in which these were affected by agents and actors from other socio-cultural and political fields, offering new perspectives on artistic strategies and identities, value systems and critical reception.