David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

stretching up to the ceiling. Only
paintings that met with the unanimous
approval of the jury were hung “on the
line,” at eye level. If you were
“skyed”—that is, hung closest to the
ceiling—it was all but impossible for
your painting to be seen. (One of
Renoir’s paintings was once skyed in the
dépotoir.) No painter could submit more
than three works. The crowds were often
overwhelming. The Salon was the Big
Pond. But it was very hard to be
anything at the Salon but a Little Fish.
Pissarro and Monet disagreed with
Manet. They thought it made more sense
to be a Big Fish in a Little Pond. If they
were off by themselves and held their