Debussy, Music and the Arts

Musee National de l'Orangerie, Paris

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: Henry Lerolle, Ernest Chausson and Arthur Fontaine.

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Curators
Guy Cogeval, President of the Public Establishment of the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie
Jean-Michel Nectoux, musicologist at the CNRS
Xavier Rey, curator at the Musée d'Orsay

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.

Exhibition also presented in:
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

Image: AnonymousClaude Debussy at his work table (detail)Circa 1906© Centre de documentation Claude Debussy

Communications Dept.: Amélie Hardivillier: +33 (0)1 40494856
amelie.hardivillier@musee-orsay.fr
Press contact: Marie Dussaussoy: +33 (0)1 40494920 presse@musee-orsay.fr

Musee de l'Orangerie
Jardin des Tuileries Paris
Opening times
Open everyday, except on Tuesdays, May 1st and December 25th
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (premises start to be vacated at 5.45 pm)
Entry fee
Full rate: € 7.50
Reduced rate: € 5
Free entry on the first Sunday of each month

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