The art world was in transition in the early 1890s, with the death of Van Gogh in 1890 and of Seurat in 1891, and the first departure of Gauguin to Tahiti. The French State was gradually giving up its dominance of art through the annual salons it organized. An independent Salon had been formed in 1884 and in 1890 the official Salon broke into two parts, with the formation of the "Société national des Beaux-Arts", with its own annual show. Denis showed his works in both salons, as well as the "La Libre Esthétique" salon in Brussels, a leading European showcase for avan-garde art. The literary movement called symbolism was launched by Jean Moréas in an article in "Le Figaro" in 1891. In March 1891 the critic George-Albert Dourer wrote an article for the Mercure-de-France calling Denis the leading example of "symbolism in painting". The work of Denis attracted the attention of critics and of important patrons, most notably Arthur Huc, the owner of the prominent newspaper "La Dépêche de Toulouse" who organized his own art salons and purchased a number of works by Denis.