In the third chapter, “Anecdotal History of Cubism,” Salmon continued to link the Fauves to Cubism by insisting that the Fauves followed Picasso, albeit under another name: “Would Cubism be then only a sub-school, a province of the Fauve realm, a realm formed by the people stirred up by opposing needs and refusing to recognize the authority of the foreign prince whom fate has imposed upon them?”[1]This attempt to put Cubism’s meteoric rise into perspective appears at the end of Salmon’s narrative, and plainly articulates Salmon’s first impressions of the Cubist phenomenon: he was not impressed. Here is a synopsis of Salmon’s perception of Cubism: 1. Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon and his interest in African-Oceanic art constitute the first step toward Cubism. 2. Salmon separated Picasso out of the “Cubist” movement, as one who invented the artistic direction but did not belong to it, much like Édouard Manet in relation to the Impressionists.(Picasso always remained aloof from the Salon Cubists, as in his refusal to participate in their public exhibitions.) 3. Salmon placed Braque in a position that connects the Fauves to Picasso, as the public face of leadership while Picasso worked and exhibited privately: “Whereas Jean Metzinger and Robert Delaunay were somewhat linked for a while, and Georges Braque, on the other hand, was isolated, [these painters] provided art criticism with works that were considered realizations [of Cubism], while Picasso and André Derain (who were not exhibiting) worked independently: one directly pursuing his studies, the other distancing himself more and more from the dogma.”[2] 4. Salmon believed that the core Cubists were former Fauves influenced byPicasso but unable to fully grasp his concepts :“Jean Metzinger and Robert Delaunay painted landscapes planted with little houses reduced to the severe appearance of parellepipeds.Living a less inward life than Picasso, remaining painters more on the surface than their predecessor, these young artists were in much more of a hurry to realize their ideas, albeit in a less complete fashion.”[3] 5. Salmon portrayed the Cubists as competitive with Picasso and among themselves as they “were beginning to look at each other `from all sides at once,’ and learned thus to scorn each other.”[4] 6.Salmon saw the core Cubists (Gleizes, Metzinger, Le Fauconnier, Delaunay, Léger, Herbin, de la Fresnaye, Lhote, etc.) lose sight of Picasso and Braque’s intentions and become repetitious: “They thought they were in the Academy [but] they were exiting from the Gymnasium.”[5]It was the crystallation of Cubist methodology--a kind of avant-garde academicism-- that provoked Salmon’s reproach. Apparently, by the spring of 1912, Salmon considered Salon Cubism merely a flash-in-the pan, capable of further transformations or complete extinction: `Cubism is a means, not an end’.[6]But what did Salmon seek?Salvation. “Is not the salvation of the soul on earth found in a completely new art?”[7]Unfortunately for Cubism, Salmon looked elsewhere in 1912. In the fifth chapter, “A Rebirth of French Landscape Painting,” Salmon wrote: “[The Cubists] are by no means revolutionaries, but revisers of pictorial values, and [through them] we will have a triumphant French school.”[8]But, “the salvation of France and Art (which we must applaud) . . [is] promised to us through the reopening of the provincial studios, [which have been] closed for a long time.”[9]Therefore, toward the end of La jeune peinture française, Salmon revealed his disappointment in Cubism thus far and predicted that the next great trend would develop through a return to landscape (perhaps, à la Poussin).Little did he know then that he would discover an even more exciting new trend about six months later, once again in Picasso’s studio.
[1]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française, 15.
[2]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française, 11.
[3]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française, 9.
[4]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française, 8.
[5]"Anecdotal History of Cubism," La jeune peinture française,11. [6]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française, 10. [7]”Anecdotal History of Cubism,” La jeune peinture française,7. [8]”A Rebirth of French Landscape Painting,” La jeune sculpture française, 4. [9]”A Rebirth of French Landscape Painting,” La jeune peinture française, 2
An excerpt from Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, "Introduction," André Salmon on French Modern Art, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 19-20.