The Exhibition at the Café des Arts in summer 1889 was arranged by Paul Gauguin and his circle, on the walls of a café just outside the gates of the Exposition universelle, and run by a certain Monsieur Volpini. Though Gauguin and his companions had a poster and an illustrated catalogue printed, this show of Paintings by the Impressionist and Synthetist Group went almost unappreciated and finally proved to be a disaster: "Nothing sold", was the bitter summary for the participants. The official art exhibition at the Académie des Beaux-Arts accompanying the Exposition... universelle displayed works only by invited artists, and furthermore, the selection of works to be exhibited had to pass the judgement of official juries. Neither Gauguin nor his friends could hope to enter this exhibition. But by chance, Emile Schuffenecker found another way that their work could be presented to the public. Monsieur Volpini, the owner of the Grand Café des Beaux-Arts, had a problem: the mirrors he had ordered in Italy to decorate the interior of his café, would not arrive in time for the opening of the Exposition universelle.
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