France's century-old "Salon des artistes independants" currently ranks first, not only in France, but also in the world as the top art contest. Established in 1884, France's "Salon des artistes independents" was initiated by the neo impressionist master Seurat. Together with Cezanne, Gauguin, Pizarro, Signac and other like-minded artists, Seurat set up an independent salon to contend with the more conservative salons proclaiming "Freedom, independent of the official jury" as the Salon's spirit. The first salon in 1884 exhibited the works of Seurat, Signac, and other emerging artists that were rejected by the official salon. Since 1920, France's "Salon des artistes independant" moved its exhibition site to the "Grand Palais” known as “Art Gallery of Paris.” This salon's artist exhibitors, such as: Monet, Manet, Cezanne and others, have later all become important masters in art history.
Professor Lee Sun Don's selected works are from his "Image‧Master" series. This series was created to commemorate Professor Lee's Master Yuan-Dao Bodhisattva. The artist froze memories, moved in to a close-up point of view to show more detail, and depicted a specific scene in his Master's daily life showing body posture in order to express his feelings and thoughts toward his Master.In conclusion, France's "Salon des artistes independents" has the guideline that each artist enter only up to three works, and Professor Lee's works were all selected.