Exhibition “Marcel Proust, a Parisian novel” – © Pierre Antoine / Paris musées / Musée Carnavalet – History of Paris
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) never set foot in Le Marais. In the exhibition dedicated to the writer at the Carnavalet Museum to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, an important map makes it possible to materialize the presence of Marcel Proust in Paris, his networks and favorite places. This intimate geography is made up of social salons, restaurants, theaters and brothels, for straights and homosexuals (this was well before the advent of the Gay Marais).
Portrait of Marcel Proust, Otto Wegener, circa 1895
The entire Parisian life of the author of In Search of Lost Time , who was born into a wealthy and cultured family (his father was a doctor), unfolded in a few arrondissements on the Right Bank: the 8th, 9th, 16th, 17th, and also the 2nd, where brothels were numerous. In other words: Auteuil, Bois de Boulogne, Champs-Élysées, Opéra, Madeleine, Boulevard des Italiens, Gare Saint-Lazare, the Europe district, Saint-Augustin, and Plaine Monceau.
The creator of Swann in Love rarely crossed the Seine to reach the Faubourg Saint-Germain. Sometimes he ventured as far as the Porte Saint-Martin to go to the theater or have dinner. Never further east. Except for his final journey: he is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Marcel Proust's bedroom – © Pierre Antoine / Paris musées / Musée Carnavalet – History of Paris
Le Marais ? For this bourgeois who led the life of an aristocrat, it became, in his time, a “no-go zone”, a populous, unsanitary neighborhood, reserved for workers and Jewish immigrants newly arrived from central and eastern Europe.
At Carnavalet, the Marcel Proust exhibition presents 280 works (paintings, sculptures, graphic works, photographs, architectural models, accessories and clothing), manuscripts and archival documents, from public and private collections, French and foreign. There are also numerous extracts from archive films, cinematographic adaptations and sound recordings which offer visitors a sensory introduction to the novel and the Proustian world. It's great, but very busy: it's better to choose your time to avoid rush hours. Thus, less “wasted time”, as Marcel would say.
▼ Marcel Proust, a Parisian novel.
Carnavalet Museum
23, rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris
Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.
Closed on Mondays.
Tel: 01 44 59 58 58
Until April 10, 2022.
Exhibition “Marcel Proust, a Parisian novel” – © Pierre Antoine / Paris musées / Musée Carnavalet – History of Paris
Text: Axel G.
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