The first Colombian Artists’ Salon (1931) is commonly considered as the only antecedent to the official National Artists’ Salon founded in 1940. Nevertheless, annual national exhibitions where held between 1904 and 1931, that should be considered as forerunners. The inquiry into the general conditions that embodied those exhibits, in contrast with the institutional definition of an art salon (provided by the 18th century French Academy), allows the author to provide new antecedents for the National Salon and a better understanding of Colombian art during the first decades of the 20th century.