Seascape by Thomas Alexander Harrison — August 2021

The Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray acquired, with the support of the Fonds du patrimoine and a wide circle of patrons, a painting by Thomas Alexander Harrison entitled Beach Tides, a seascape painted in 1895 on the shores of Beg-Meil in Cornouaille. This acquisition carries particular significance in literary history: Harrison is indeed one of the principal sources of inspiration for the painter Elstir in À la recherche du temps perdu, and it was precisely during a long stay in Beg-Meil that Marcel Proust came to know him.

This brochure retraces that formative encounter in the summer of 1895 and explores the lasting influence the American painter’s tonalist aesthetic exerted on Proust’s prose and literary vision — an influence that, decades later, would still nourish some of the most celebrated pages of the great novel devoted to Elstir’s seascapes.

Overview

Beach Tides is a seascape by Thomas Alexander Harrison depicting the coastline of Beg-Meil, in Cornouaille, as it appeared in 1895. The work captures a stretch of coast since profoundly transformed by the dyke-building works of the early twentieth century: the sandbank, the tidal channel and the buildings at the semaphore point can still be identified in the light of old topographical documents.

An American tonalist painter settled in Paris since 1879, Harrison had made Beg-Meil the centre of gravity of his work. Fascinated by the shifting hues of sunsets over the bay, he walked the moor and the dunes daily to capture their effects of light. His art is marked by the blurring of the boundary between sky and sea, by a pursuit of tonal unity, and by his ability to transform the seascape into a pictorial metaphor of powerful ambiguity.

It was at the Hôtel Fermon in Beg-Meil, in September 1895, that Marcel Proust and Reynaldo Hahn came to know Harrison. The encounter with this celebrated artist, who shared their dining room, proved decisive for the young writer. Harrison is one of the essential sources for the character of Elstir in À la recherche du temps perdu: his visceral love of seascapes, his secluded studio, his resolute withdrawal from social life — so many traits found again in the figure of Elstir. The acquisition was made possible thanks to the support of the Fonds du patrimoine, the Conseil départemental d’Eure-et-Loir, the Ministère de la Culture, and numerous patrons.

Authors and Contributors

Philippe Dupont-Mouchet, a specialist on Proust’s stay in Cornouaille and author of Marcel Proust à Beg-Meil (Éditions PDM, 2018), writes the essay “Thomas Alexander Harrison and Marcel Proust: The Encounter at Beg-Meil.”

David A. Cleveland, American art historian and novelist, author of A History of American Tonalism (1880–1920) (New York, Winsted Press, 2010), writes the study “Marcel Proust and the Role of Thomas Alexander Harrison.”

Élyane Dezon-Jones, member of the Société’s board of directors, provided the French translation of David A. Cleveland’s text.

Contents

• Thomas Alexander Harrison and Marcel Proust: The Encounter at Beg-Meil, by Philippe Dupont-Mouchet
• And Here Are the Keys to Beach Tides
• Marcel Proust and the Role of Thomas Alexander Harrison, by David A. Cleveland (translated by Élyane Dezon-Jones)
• Acknowledgements

Bibliographic Information

• Format: paperback
• ISBN: 978-2-492318-11-5
• Price: 4 €
• Publisher: Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray
• Legal deposit: August 2021