|
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear members,
The collections of the Maison de Tante Léonie were enriched today with the purchase at public auction, at Drouot, of a drypoint by Paul César Helleu. The sale catalogue did not specify who the lady depicted in this drawing was, but Jean-Yves Tadié identified her as Mme Helleu, the painter's wife, who, like her husband, was a friend of Proust's. This drypoint thus illustrates the artist's fashionable society style, while also offering the portrait of a lady whom Proust knew well. Until now, we held only one other drypoint by Helleu, of a quite different kind: the portrait of Proust on his deathbed, which can currently be seen at the Galerie Gallimard in Paris, as part of the exhibition « Marcel Proust, prix Goncourt 1919 ». It is thanks in particular to your subscriptions that these acquisitions are made possible; please accept, once again, our warmest thanks.
Registration for the autumn day at Illiers-Combray, on Saturday 30 November, is now open on our website. On the programme: a presentation of the forthcoming works, by Elodie Massouline (Conseil départemental d’Eure-et-Loir) and Loïc Richalet (architect), lunch at the restaurant de la Madeleine d’Illiers (opposite the church), a lecture by Jean-Yves Tadié on his forthcoming book Marcel Proust, croquis d’une épopée, and refreshments. I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you again on this occasion.
Among the lectures that had not been mentioned in previous newsletters, let us note the ITEM-CNRS genetic editing seminar, which will this year be devoted to Cahier 2 (one Wednesday a month, starting 16 October, at the École Normale Supérieure), as well as a lecture entitled "Proust du côté du Léman", to be given on Sunday 6 October at the château de Coudrée (Haute-Savoie) by Michel Damblant, author of a recent Voyage botanique et sentimental du côté de chez Proust.
|
