ABSTRACT
Parallel to the traditionalist Academies, steps toward modernism and abstract sculpture by Belgian sculptors, such as Georges Van Tongerloo, by the late 1910s seem to have been outside the dominant nineteenth-century exhibition system. However, the fact that the triennial salons were no longer the sole option available to artists did not mean that the number of sculptors attending them waned. Despite the decrease in foreign sculptors, art critics reviewing the salons were apparently blind to this 'nationalization' of the traditional salons, and continuously stressed different characteristics of each triennial, even though this did not compute with the actual numbers. The diversification of exhibition possibilities during the late nineteenth century was by no means exclusive for Belgium. The deconstruction of unified Paris exhibition system into two separate groups only meant an increase in exhibition possibilities in the French capital. In addition to the annual Paris salons, the fine arts departments of the international exhibitions were the most prominent stages to exhibit.
