Exhibition "Marcel Proust, prix Goncourt 1919" at the Maison de Tante Léonie

On the occasion of the centenary of the prix Goncourt awarded to Proust, éditions Gallimard, the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust and the Conseil départemental d’Eure-et-Loir present an exceptional exhibition bringing together original manuscripts, the correspondence between Proust and Gallimard, and the celebrated portrait of the writer by Jacques-Émile Blanche, lent by the Musée d’Orsay.

On 10 December 1919 at Drouant, the prix Goncourt was awarded to Marcel Proust for À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, the second volume of À la recherche du temps perdu. The writer thus became the 17th laureate of this already celebrated literary prize, founded in 1903 under the terms of Edmond de Goncourt's will. The exhibition at the Maison de la tante Léonie in Illiers-Combray pays tribute to this great date in French literary history, presenting for the first time exceptional documents: the publishing contract for the Recherche signed by Marcel Proust and Gaston Gallimard, together with the letters exchanged between the publisher and the writer, the famous printer's proofs corrected and expanded by Marcel Proust, one of the extremely rare deluxe copies of his novel, the letter from the Goncourt jury announcing the happy news to the laureate and, as a major piece, the celebrated portrait of the writer by Jacques-Émile Blanche, exceptionally lent by the Musée d’Orsay until 10 June.

This exhibition offers the opportunity to present to the public, for the first time, the manuscript placard of À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, acquired in 2018 thanks to the support of the State, the Département and the Région. The centenary of this event, a glorious one both for the author and for the prize itself, thus invites us to revisit the conditions in which this immense masterpiece was created and published, and the transformations of literary life in the immediate post-war period.

This exhibition benefits from the support of the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de la Région Centre-Val de Loire (as part of the "Culture près de chez vous" scheme), the Mairie d’Illiers-Combray, the Crédit Agricole du Centre-Val de Loire (as well as its Illiers-Combray branch), the Société des Hôtels Littéraires, the Association du Printemps proustien, the Intermarché in Illiers-Combray, and M. François de Ricqlès.