The exhibition intends to evoke the major relationships knit by the musician with artists and poets of his time, in particular through the collections of three families with which he was closely acquainted and who supported him during the difficult years that preceded the first performance of Pelleas and Melisande : that of the painter Henry Lerolle (1848-1929), of the composer Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) and of Arthur Fontaine (1860-1931), Councillor of state.
In these surroundings, in which refinement, taste and simplicity excluded all society life, the musician could admire works by Degas, Renoir, Vuillard, Gauguin, Camille Claudel, Maurice Denis, Redon, Bonnard, Carrière and Puvis de Chavannes. Paintings, drawings and pastels will be shown alongside letters and photographs by these artists and original editions by Gide, Louÿs and Valéry, as well as manuscripts by Chausson and Debussy.
Curators
Guy Cogeval, President of the Public Establishment of the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'OrangerieJean-Michel Nectoux, musicologist at the CNRS
Xavier Rey, curator at the Musée d'Orsay
Exhibition also presented in:
Tokyo, Bridgestone Museum, from 13 July to 14 October 2012
Tokyo, Bridgestone Museum, from 13 July to 14 October 2012
Exhibition organised by the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie, in collaboration with the Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, Tokyo and Nikkei

