Meta-Impressionism

Most awarded paintings

Medaille d’Honneur + Grand Prix

The ultimate standard of art

1855 – 1900

Introduction:
The presentation of awards was an important componant of the Salon, it’s successor the Salon de la Sociéte des Artistes Français and at the Expositions Universelles. You can see them as the standard of art. The most high award was the (Grande) Medaille d’honneur and the Grand Prix. You can see them as the ultimate standard of art in those days.
At the Salon these (Grande) Médailles d’honneur were awarded to one painter for one or two paintings. When possibly, you will find them all on this page.
At the Expositions Universelles these (Grande) Médailles d’honneur and Grand Prix were often rendered to several French and foreign painters and often a large amount of paintings were shown of which several were shown before at the Salon. So, it was more an award for an important part of the oeuvre of a painter, than just a single painting. On this page you will only find several examples of this exhibited oeuvre.

See seperate page on the highly awarded pictures, that received a 1st class or golden medal. Another way of awarding an artist, was when the state purchased an art-work of an artist or rendered an assignment. A prestigious award for an artist was to be appointed in the Légion d’Honneur. See the links if you want more general info on these awards, an overview of most awarded artists and highly awarded artists and a chronological overview.

Note: If you double click on the first (of a cluster of) pictures and then click on full screen, you can create a slideshow. On a smartphone or laptop you can also zoom in. Enjoy!

 

The Exposition Universelle of 1855:
At the Exposition Universelle of 1855 10 Grandes Médailles d’Honneurs were distributed, including for the following 6 French painters:
Decamps showed 45+6=51 art-works (no.2855-2899 +5054-5059); 5 were shown before at the Salon: 11 works with animals, 11 genre paintings (including farms), 8 oriental scenes, 8 figure paintings, 7 religious scenes, 6 landscapes (including hunting scenes), 3 other themes. 8 numbers rendered drawings of which no.2894 contained 9 drawings.
Delacroix showed 35 paintings (no.2908-2942); 30 were shown before at the Salon: this included 12 historical paintings; 5 oriental scenes; 5 themes from literature; 2 religious and 2 mythological paintings; 4 figure paintings; 5 other or undefined works; 1 number (2941) included several paintings.
Heim showed 8 art-works (no.3284-3291); 5 were shown before at the Salon; it included 5 religious and 2 historical themes; number 3291 contained  16 portrait drawings.
Ingres showed 40+1=41 art-works (no.3336-3375 +5048); 8 were shown before at the Salon; it included 13 portraits; 9 historical, 6 religious and 7 mythological scenes; 4 nudes; no.3340 consisted of 25 Cartons de vitraux; no.3375 contained 4 heads of the evangelists.
Meissonier showed 4+5=9 paintings (no.3660-3663 +5057-5061); 4 were shown before at the Salon; it included 1 portrait and probably 8 genre paintings.
Vernet showed 22 paintings (no.4144-4165); 8 were shown before at the Salon; it included 12 historical paintings; 2 religious and 2 mythological themes; 3 oriental scenes and 3 other works.
Here below you will find some of these works, rendered alphabetically and then in order of the catalogue numbers.

 

The Salons of 1857 – 1867:
At the Salon of 1857 Adolphe Yvon received a Médaille d’Honneur.
In 1861 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to Pils.
In 1865 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to Cabanel↑ and to Paul Dubois (statuaire).
There was no Médaille d’Honneur distributed at the Salon of 1859 and 1866.
In some years the Médaille d’Honneur was distributed, but not to a painter, like in 1863, 1864 and 1867.

 

The Exposition Universelle of 1867:
At the Exposition Universelle of 1867 8 artists received a Grand Prix (for painting and drawing) including the following 4 French artists: (R337/1868)
Cabanel showed 6 paintings, including 3 portraits, 2 mythological scenes and 1 biblical scene; 2 works were loans of the emperor Napoleon III, who was also rendered in one of the portraits.
Gérôme showed 13 paintings; 11 he had shown before at the Salon; 6 were oriental scenes; 5 historical paintings, 1 mythological paintings and 1 a sort of genre painting.
Meissonier showed 14 paintings; 5 he had shown before at the Salon; 4 were history paintings, 2 portraits, 5 or maybe 8 can be best defined as genre paintings.
Rousseau showed 8 landscapes; all titles depicted a location and 4 also atmospherical influences; 2 were shown before at the Salon.
Here below you will find some of these works, rendered alphabetically and then in order of the catalogue numbers. 

 

The Salons of 1868 – 1878:
At the Salon of 1868 one of the Médailles d’Honneur was awarded to the painter Gustave Brion (1824-77).
In 1869 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to Léon Bonnat.
In 1870 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to Tony Robert-Fleury.
In 1872 the Grande Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to Jules Breton.
In 1874 Gérôme was awarded with a Medaille d’Honneur (for painting) for his work ‘The gray Cardinal’, a history painting.
There was no Médaille d’Honneur distributed at the Salon of 1873.
In some years the Médaille d’Honneur was distributed, but not to a painter, like in …
Note: More info and pictures will follow.

 

The Exposition Universelle of 1878:
At the Exposition Universelle of 1878 the following French artists received a grande médaille d’honeur: Cabanel, Gérôme.
Note: More info and pictures will follow.

 

The Salons of 1879 – 1889:
At the Salon (de la Société des Artistes Français) of
In 18 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to
There was no Médaille d’Honneur distributed at the Salon of
In some years the Médaille d’Honneur was distributed, but not to a painter, like in
Note: More info and pictures will follow.

 

The Exposition Universelle of 1889:
At the Exposition Universelle of 1889 31 artists received a Grand Prix for classe 1 (Peintures à l’huile). The 13 French artists were: Bernier*; Collin (Rahpaël); Cormon*; Dagnan-Bouveret* (1852-1929); Delaunay (Élie)?*; Detaille*; Dupré (Jules); Flameng (F.); Gigoux (J.); Hébert (E.)*; Lefebvre (Jules)*; Lhermitte; Morot (Aimé). (R231-12,p2+3)
Note*: these most awarded artists were also member of the jury.
Note: More info and pictures will follow.

 

The Salons of 1889 – 1900:
At the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français of
In 18 the Médaille d’Honneur was awarded to
There was no Médaille d’Honneur distributed at the Salon of
In some years the Médaille d’Honneur was distributed, but not to a painter, like in
Note: More info and pictures will follow.

 

The Exposition Universelle of 1900:
At the Exposition Universelle of 1900, at the Exposition Decennale, 27 artists received a Grand Prix for painting. Among them were the following 10 French artists: Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant; Jean-Charles Cazin; Dagnan-Bouveret; Henri Harpignies; Antoine-Auguste-Ernest Hébert; Jean-Jacques Henner; Henri-Jean-Guillaume Martin; Aimé Morot; Alfred-Philippe Roll; Antoine Vollon. Here below you will find some pictures they showed, that can be seen as the French standard of fine art in 1900.

 

 

Sources:
My main sources are the catalogues of the Expositions Universelle (iR19 + iR40) and of the Salon (iR1; R337).
Additional sources are Monneret (1978-81=R88II), .
For other used sources see the page with information on the awards.
See the link for other general References (=Rx) and to the internet references (=iRx).
See links for practical hints and abbreviations and for the subscription of the paintings.

 

Recommanded citation: “Meta-Impressionism: Most awarded paintings; the ultimate standard of art. Last modified 2025/12/10. https://www.impressionism.nl/most-awarded-paintings/”

Note: additional info and pictures will follow.