„Salon“ as it is known today in all of its variety, goes back to seventeenth century France, where the term originally refered to a luxuriously decorated guest room typical for the flats of aristocracy. Over time, its function in terms of private residence had been lost and the term signified get-togethers of eminent intellectuals organised especially by female members of the ruling elite. Increase in number and activity of salon gatherings resulted in the occurence of the Art Salon, which was founded in 1667, Royal Palace, within the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture). During the next two centuries, format of the salon exhibition had constanly been evolving, which led to its expansion to other countries, including Croatia, where in 1898 Croatian Salon was established, notable for the ideological conflict between Vlaho Bukovac and Iso Kršnjavi. Next great exhibition on Croatian soil was Proljetni (Spring) Salon, which was marked by the activity of homogenic groups of artists, such as Artistic society Medulić. Rijeka Salon was founded in 1954 and it set a new standard in the organisation of contemporary art exhibitions. Following this example, local versions of salons were also established in other Croatian cities, including Split in 1969. Split Salon started off as a juried annual exhibition of recent artistic production. As opposed to art guild exhibitions such as Prvomajska, it was a place where artists' works were evaluated and selected based on quality and not on membership in artistic association. The goal was to gather and promote members of the local artistic scene, which in time could be identified as national. Several generations of artists, curators and exhibition concepts have modeled the exhibition over time. As a result of that, we can say today that Split Salon does not merely represent a single exhibition where recent (and not necessarily quality) artistic production is evaluated and displayed, but has grown to become a manifestation of wider cultural and social influence.