A statistical analysis of the catalogues and criticism of the 19th-century Paris Fine Art Salon: The emergence of titling in the French art world

Abstract

Abstract The dominant institution in the French art world for the display of new art for most of the 19th century was the Paris Salon. Artistic reputations depended upon showing works at the Salon, and critics made their names through writing about the event. In this article, statistical analysis of the contents and structure of the catalogues of the Salon and of Salon criticism is utilized to understand how the practice of titling new paintings emerged and was adopted in the 19th-century French art world. My work shows how statistical methods can be used to investigate practical and conceptual change, and problematizes accounts of the emergence of titling given by earlier authors. There are also methodological lessons for those working in the digital humanities from the approach adopted in this article.