The Eloquence In The New Temple

Ever since the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution,the French society had experienced several political changes till the end of the 19^th century.With the development of economics,the improvement of science and technology and the accomplishment and enhancement of communications,a newly rising class of bourgeois had played a more and more prominent role in almost every aspect of French people’s daily life.Some notably great events took place in that period,such as the urban reformation of Paris,and Universal Exposition and the International Exhibition of Fine Arts.Meanwhile the inevitably change in the circle of art ought to be the alternatives of exhibitions occurred and prospered thereafter.The Official Salon was no more the sole authority of artistic standard and taste.Artists by themselves or as an association held different exhibitions and grasped every chance to display their artistic skills,talents and thoughts.Independent from both the organization and the critique from the official juries,the artists aimed to confront with their audience face to face without being intervened.This dissertation focuses on several cases of different types of exhibition in the second half of the 19^th century,including the official salon,the private and group exhibitions.Based on the related criticism,which not only showed the viewpoints of critics but also sometimes gave us detailed description of the exhibition itself,published on the local journals,this paper is intended to figure out several key issues in art during that period.How were those exhibitions organized and held?How did critics on different stances think and describe those exhibitions?What might be the topical issue of each exhibition?What did the frequently mentioned terms and terminology exactly mean by different people in the same time?It has to be made very clearly that through the literary criticism the artists,the critics and the audience were closely connected.Both the artists and the writers expressed themselves by their own means,while the audience who might be influenced and directed a lot would then try to follow the latter’s opinion and perceive the former’s works of art and then cultivate their own taste.Not only by the study of works of art,it is also through the scrutiny of the exhibition-based literary that we help complete even correct our understanding of art history.