The Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) was an art exhibition in Paris.

The first Salon des Refusés in 1863 invited art-works that were rejected by the Académie des beaux-arts for display at the Salon de Paris (the official exhibition of the Académie).

In 1863 the nascent realist and impressionist movements submitted works to the Académie des beaux-arts selection committee only to be rejected. The resultant complaints of bias led French emperor Napoleon III to allow the rejected works to be displayed in a separate exhibition.

Most were poor quality, leading to ridicule in the press. However, the exhibition contained several important paintings including Édouard Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) and James McNeill Whistler's The White Girl. Other artists who showed at the Salon des Refusés include Henri Fantin-Latour, Paul Cézanne, Armand Guillaumin, Johan Jongkind, and Camille Pissarro

Salon des Refusés was held in 1874, 1875 and 1886. In 1881 the government withdrew official sponsorship, and a group of artists organised the Société des artistes français to take responsibility for the show.

See also

• Avant-garde
• Salon (gathering)