French art salons and academies
Okay kiddo, so a long time ago in France, there were fancy places called art salons where people would go to look at paintings and other art pieces. Sort of like a big art exhibit.
But these salons were special because only artists who were part of an academy could show their work there. An academy is a school where artists go to learn how to make art in a certain way.
So if you wanted your art to be seen by lots of people and admired, you had to be part of the academy and follow their rules about how art should look.
Sometimes, people didn't like the way the academies did things and thought they were too strict. So they started their own salons, like the Salon des Refusés, where artists who weren't part of the academy could show their work and break rules a little bit.
But even with these new salons, being part of the academy was still seen as very prestigious and important. So artists tried very hard to get accepted into them and follow their rules.
That's basically it, kiddo. Art salons and academies were important places where artists could show off their work, but only if they followed the rules set by the academy.
But these salons were special because only artists who were part of an academy could show their work there. An academy is a school where artists go to learn how to make art in a certain way.
So if you wanted your art to be seen by lots of people and admired, you had to be part of the academy and follow their rules about how art should look.
Sometimes, people didn't like the way the academies did things and thought they were too strict. So they started their own salons, like the Salon des Refusés, where artists who weren't part of the academy could show their work and break rules a little bit.
But even with these new salons, being part of the academy was still seen as very prestigious and important. So artists tried very hard to get accepted into them and follow their rules.
That's basically it, kiddo. Art salons and academies were important places where artists could show off their work, but only if they followed the rules set by the academy.