London Salon
The Allied Artists' Association was formed in 1908 by art critic Frank Rutter (1876–1937) with the support of Walter Sickert, Spencer Gore, Lucien Pissarro, Walter Bayes and Wilson Steer. It was set up on a cooperative basis and modelled on the Parisian Salon des Indépendants. Its registered offices were at 67-69 Chancery Lane, London. The aim was to provide an independent venue where the progressives largely from Sickert's studio could show their work. Submission of work was jury-free in the style of the French Salon des Indépendants. Until 1916, the annual exhibitions were held at the Albert Hall, London after which they moved to the Grafton Galleries in Chelsea and finally in 1920 to the Mansard Gallery until it ceased to exist.
Initially, the rules of the London Salon as it was colloquially known, allowed for fee-paying members to exhibit up to five works each. But, as the opening exhibition attracted over three thousand entries, this number was reduced to a maximum of three. The Association provided a forum for the development of new ideas at a time when the Modernist movement was emerging, and it became an important showcase for both British and foreign artists, introducing the viewing public to a wide range of styles, from that of the progressives such as Kandinsky, Zadkine, Brancusi and Epstein, to the ethnic art of India and Russia. The Camden Town Group, founded in 1911, was made up largely of members of the AAA.
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Number of Artists referenced:
714