Debussy, Music and the Arts

Claude Debussy was undoubtedly the composer of the turn of the 19th Century who mostly found his inspiration in the fields of contemporary poetry and visual arts. Very early on, he took an interest in the most innovative artists, those who were most on the fringe of the academicism of the time.

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.