Stéphane Lojkine's 'L'oeil Révolté' Examines Diderot's Salons

A new study by Stéphane Lojkine, published by Éditions Jacqueline Chambon, argues that Diderot's Salons pioneered a modern journalistic model by blending market analysis, social commentary, and public impressions alongside art criticism. Lojkine contends that Diderot's descriptions, far from merely illustrating artworks, created an irreducible gap between image and text, challenging the dominant ut pictura poesis theory. By incorporating personal sentiments, Diderot invited readers to engage dialogically with artworks, stimulating their imagination. Lojkine identifies a "ré-volte" (revolt) in Diderot's gaze—a conflict between cultural expectations and the artwork's reality that also generates renewal through a back-and-forth between viewer and piece. The book positions the Salons as foundational for both art history and literature.