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A representation from the 1874 Salon donated to Orsay
9/4/24 - Acquisition - Paris, Musée d’Orsay - Seven artists collaborated on this painting of elegant visitors to the 1874 Salon. The author of the composition, Camille Cabaillot-Lassalle, asked several painters to reproduce on his canvas the works they were about to exhibit at the Salon, which explains the different backgrounds. As Anne Robbins, curator at the Musée d’Orsay, points out, Cabaillot-Lassalle even waited until the Salon had opened and the catalogue had been published before inscribing the exhibition number on the frame of each of the works represented. Although he wanted to be as close to reality as possible, he nevertheless placed paintings that were scattered across several rooms side by side. In the top left-hand corner, the still life of chrysanthemums and peaches is…