The Collaborative International Dictionary
Salon \Sa`lon"\, n. [F. See Saloon.]
An apartment for the reception of company; hence, in the plural, fashionable parties; circles of fashionable society.
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An apartment for the reception and exhibition of works of art; hence, an annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures, etc., held in Paris by the Society of French Artists; -- sometimes called the Old Salon.
New Salon is a popular name for an annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures, etc., held in Paris at the Champs de Mars, by the Soci['e]t['e] Nationale des Beaux-Arts (National Society of Fine Arts), a body of artists who, in 1890, seceded from the Soci['e]t['e] des Artistes Fran[,c]ais (Society of French Artists).