Portrait of Adrien Proust by Lecomte du Nouÿ — November 2023

Entered into the collections of the Musée Marcel Proust – Maison de Tante Léonie in 1971 as a gift from Suzy Mante-Proust, the portrait of Adrien Proust by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ surely ranks among the museum’s masterpieces. A masterpiece first for its pictorial quality — the artist, a pupil of Gérôme among others, was a celebrated portraitist — and a masterpiece, too, for its originality: the painting could pass for a respectful homage to certain sixteenth-century masters, and Doctor Proust is depicted in a style that differs quite noticeably from the other known portraits of him.

As the 120th anniversary of Adrien Proust’s death, which occurred on 26 November 1903, approached, the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray devoted this brochure to him, continuing the series of publications launched in 2018 to shed light on the works in its collection. The texts gathered here offer a closer look at both the portrait and its sitter: a child of Eure-et-Loir who became a visionary hygienist and a notable figure of the Third Republic, whose influence on his son Marcel was certain, and perhaps reciprocal.

Overview

The portrait of Adrien Proust by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ, dedicated to its sitter and dated 1885, is a perfect example of the grand academic painting of the second half of the nineteenth century. Lecomte du Nouÿ (1842–1923), a pupil of Signol, Gleyre and Gérôme and winner of the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1865, pursued a career spanning portraits, scenes from antiquity and mementos of his travels in the Orient. His first wife, Valentine Peigné-Crémieux, was a first cousin of Jeanne Weil — who would go on to marry Adrien Proust — and the painter maintained lasting ties with the Crémieux and Weil families.

In the painting, Professor Proust, wearing his academic robes as a member of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris — a black and crimson-purple gown, a gold tassel, a touch of ermine — is shown half-length, seated, quill pen in hand, ready to sign official documents. An hourglass runs out at his right. The archaising features of this smoothly executed portrait — quill pen, laid paper, enigmatic hourglass, all highly meaningful accessories — evoke the Renaissance portraits of the mid-sixteenth century.

The work was admired by Marcel Proust, who described it in his correspondence as “so fine a portrait of Papa by Lecomte du Nouÿ, which was the admiration of Jacques Blanche.” After Robert Proust’s death in 1935, the painting was entrusted by his widow Marthe to the Académie de Médecine, before being given to the Société by Suzy Mante-Proust in 1971.

Authors and Contributors

Anne Imbert, secretary general of the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray and art historian, describes the Lecomte du Nouÿ portrait, unfolding its symbolism and historical depth, then surveys the other known portraits of Marcel Proust’s father.

Jean-Marc Quaranta, of the University of Aix-Marseille, offers a biography of Adrien Proust, tracing the path of a child from Eure-et-Loir who became a renowned hygienist and a forerunner of international public health. He also presents two speeches delivered by Adrien Proust in 1903, in which the father’s words repeatedly intersect with the concerns of his son and the themes of the novel to come.

Jérôme Bastianelli, president of the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray, writes the introduction.

Pyra Wise compiled the exhaustive list of portraits and photographs of Adrien Proust included in the appendix.

Contents

• Introduction
• Portrait of Adrien Proust by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ
• Adrien Proust, the Forgotten Father
• Two Speeches by Adrien Proust (1903)
• Other Portraits of Adrien Proust
• Bibliography
• Appendix: List of Portraits and Photographs of Adrien Proust

Bibliographic Information

• Format: paperback, 52 pages
• ISBN: 978-2-492318-23-8
• Price: 9,50 €
• Publisher: Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray
• Legal deposit: November 2023