The Salon
Salons were an important place for the exchange of ideas with the salon itself an Italian invention of the 16th century (flourishing in France during the 17th and 18th centuries), and which continued to flourish throughout the 19th century in Italy.
In 1920's Paris, American ex-pats Gertrude Stein, and her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, hosted a regular Paris salon, at 27 rue de Fleurus, where the leading figures of modernism in art and literature would gather to meet and exchange ideas, opinions, and critiques. Attendees to these salons included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Paul Bowles, Thornton Wilder, and Georges Braque. In this spirit, and given the highly polarized, and narrow range of thinking afforded to us in our present society we are reviving the regular Salon both virtual (aka Zoom Salons), and in person.
Our vision includes the establishment of several such physical Salons for the free and meaningful exchange of wide ranging, fanciful, and potential "dangerous" ideas over coffee or tea without fear of retribution or recrimination. These include very high-end, exclusive cafes with library and studies as well as several retreats. |