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.

This article examines the emergence and adoption of titling practices for paintings in the 19th-century French art world, focusing on the Paris Salon as the dominant exhibition institution. Using statistical analysis of digitized Salon catalogues and contemporary Salon criticism, it traces how artists' catalogue entries evolved from descriptive or classificatory phrases to individualized titles, a shift that became established by the 1870s. The study confirms and extends Ruth Yeazell's observation that the modern notion of painting titles gained traction in the 1790s, showing that this linguistic and conceptual change was integral to the commercialization and commodification of art during this period. Methodologically, the article highlights the value of combining multiple textual sources and sampling strategies in digital humanities research to reveal long-term cultural transformations.