Photograph of Reynaldo Hahn Dedicated to Proust — September 2020

The Société des Amis de Marcel Proust has enriched the collections of the Musée Marcel Proust with an acquisition made at Sotheby's with the support of the Fonds du patrimoine: a photographic portrait of Reynaldo Hahn bearing, at the foot of the print, the autograph dedication "À Marcel. / Reynaldo." A work by the Swedish-born photographer Otto Wegener, known as Otto, one of the photographers most sought after by Belle Époque Parisian high society, this photograph shows the composer at around twenty years of age, in town dress, with a youthful face. The lot also included an autograph letter by Reynaldo Hahn, probably addressed to one of his sisters — Clarita or Maria.

These two items shed light on the relationship between Reynaldo Hahn and Marcel Proust — first romantic, from their likely first meeting on 22 May 1894 at Madeleine Lemaire's until the summer of 1896, then transformed into a deep and unfailing friendship that endured across the decades, up to the writer's final years.

Overview

The photographic portrait shows Reynaldo Hahn at around twenty years of age. The dedication, inscribed at the foot of the print, is laconic and familiar: "À Marcel. / Reynaldo." It attests to the closeness between the two men and constitutes an irreplaceable document for the history of their relationship.

The autograph letter accompanying the lot, signed with the childhood nickname "Nano" that Hahn used within his intimate circle, is probably addressed to one of his sisters and likely dates from the mid-1890s. Written in a playful tone, it reflects Hahn's character during the very years the two men shared.

They most likely met for the first time on 22 May 1894 in Madeleine Lemaire's studio, at a "Tuesday" gathering devoted to Robert de Montesquiou's Chauves-Souris. Their shared stay at the Château de Réveillon beginning 20 August 1894 sealed their bond. The romantic relationship dissolved in the course of the summer of 1896, but the affection remained unfailing: Hahn became Proust's privileged friend, his favoured interlocutor on matters of taste and beauty. In January 1921, Hahn still wrote to him: "I love you with a deep and faithful tenderness."

Authors and Contributors

Philippe Blay, musicologist and chief curator at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, a specialist in Reynaldo Hahn and lyric theatre in France under the Third Republic, writes the presentation text retracing the story of the meeting, the romance, and then the friendship between Reynaldo Hahn and Marcel Proust.

Contents

• A Château in the Marne
• The "Disguised God"
• The Intimacy of Two Minds

Bibliographic Information

• Format: paperback
• ISBN: 978-2-9568373-8-1
• Price: 4 €
• Publisher: Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray
• Legal deposit: September 2020