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Exposition St-Germain-des-Prés |
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From darkness to light…
Golden age of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the years 1945-1952 saw the emergence of most of the talents and ideas which were to prevail in the upcoming thirty years.
Just like Montmartre and Montparnasse earlier, areas of Paris which had their glory days in the French culture, Saint-Germain-des-Prés was set on fire by the rythm of jazz bands, swing and songs with texts in the euphoria of the Allied Liberation. After years living in privation, young people found again and re-invented a taste for amusement in the cellar clubs of Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Le Tabou, La Rose Rouge, Le Club Saint-Germain, La Huchette… So many clubs, according to Sartre himself, which stood for “an extraordinary adventure”, quite unique in the French cultural life.
Immersing myself into my parents’ teenage souvenirs (well…yes, I’m 41 and I have mostly known the disco years!), living again a page of history, vibrating when listening to Sidney Bechet and Claude Luther, stopping time during an exquisite moment… These were my impressions when walking through the exhibition Saint-Germain-des Prés, L’écume des années Vian at the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits… |
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Right from the start of the exhibition, I dipped myself into the general mood of this period. At the end of WWII, the situation in France was disastrous, with rationing tickets and an internal political situation as unstable as confused.
Right afterthe 1945 general elections and the creation of a constituent assembly, General de Gaulle had to improvise and make up a heterogeneous government. Divergent opinions between communists, socialists, MRP (i.e. Christian democrats) representatives on the one hand and General de Gaulle on the other hand, led to his resignation in January 1946. 1947 officially sets the beginning of the French Fourth Republic. Communists were excluded from the government with the beginning of the Cold War. From 1947 to 1958, strikes were as numerous as… changes of government: 18 altogether!
After being rightly welcomed as genuine heroes, American forces settled in the Paris area. From this American melting pot, the French would draw the notes of a music which was until then tied up: JAZZ.
As for me, as I did not live at that time, I found it hard to truly apprehend what it was like to madly crave for dancing at the nicest tunes of this music after many dark years, but I can easily understand this furious desire to forget and make up for lost time.
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| Boris Vian au Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits |
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Thanks to music instruments, posters (…) the exhibition re-creates here and there the mythic places which were cellars such as Le Tabou or even Le Club Saint-Germain. Link between music and writing, Boris Vian received many “ living gods” of Jazz : Armstrong, Davis, Bechet, Parker… without forgetting French Jazz with Hugues Panassié, Charles Delaunay, leaders of The Hot Club de France, Django Rheinardt’s gipsy guitar, Grapelli’s and Luther’s chords. It is also in Saint-Germain that young unknown people started: Salvador, Distel, Bolling… This part of the exhibition entails a rich collection of scores, photographs and handwritten notes, all displayed with a musical background of the time.
Beyond music, new names appeared and became indispensable in the French cultural arena: Sartre, Beauvoir, Prévert, Queneau, Beckett, Audiberti, Isou, Pomerand, Hugnet, Gréco… the Café de Flore, the Café des Deux Magots and the Brasserie Lipp became their headquarters. Many autograph manuscripts from Vian, Queneau support this part of the exhibition without forgetting the unique document Sartre etle groupe existentialiste, 1950, made of typed pages on stamped paper with stamped registration. This 1950 document represents the birth of Existentialism as it sets the statutes of the Existentialist group. This text was read and approved by Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Bost, Cau and Merleau-Ponty.
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Sidney BECHET . Programme détaillé des réjouissances que Sidney Bechet et Claude Luter promettent à tous ceux qui viendront les écouter au Club du Vieux-Colombier.
Coll. Privée |
Affiches pour « Sacrilèges », coll. Simone Chobillon |
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Jean-Paul SARTRE Sartre et le groupe existentialiste, 1950, Ce document de 1950 constitue les fonds baptismaux de l’existentialisme puisqu’il s’agit des statuts du groupe existentialiste. Coll. privée |
Queneau, Raymond.Manuscrit autographe signé, intitulé « C’est bien connu »
Ce poème plus connu sous le titre « Si tu t’imagines », est extrait du recueil poétique L’instant fatal publié en 1946. Ce poème a été mis en musique dès 1947 par Joseph Kosma à l’initiative de Jean-Paul Sartre. Originellement, cette chanson est interprétée par Juliette Gréco. Elle fut également chantée par Mouloudji, Cora Vaucaire…
Coll. privée |
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Jacques PREVERT. Poème autographe signé, non daté
Poème extrait de Fatras (Pléïade, tome II, p 13) et parodiant Victor Hugo La légende des siècles (L’œil était dans la tombe et regardait Caïn) :
L’œil était dans la bombe et regardait tout le monde »
Coll. privée |
Boris Vian. Manuscrit autographe. Chroniques de Jazz pour les émissions W.N.E.W.
Textes manuscrits et dactylographiés des enchaînements d’une quarantaine d’émissions enregistrées par Boris Vian en 1948 et 1949 pour la radio New-Yorkaise W.N.E.W. laquelle souhaitait initier ses auditeurs au jazz tel qu’on le pratiquait en France.
Coll. privée |
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And what about Art in all this ?
This exhibition reaches this unavoidable part of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés phenomenon by showing to their advantages Gabriel Pomerand’s documents and many other artists’ but also… restaurant tablecloths! In a small café nicknamed Le Catalan on Rue des Grands-Augustins, Cocteau and Eluard used to draw and write poetry on these during meals and meetings.
It is of course impossible to summarise the exhaustive dimension of this exhibition which relates to many aspects of this period in history and if you do not know yet the magnificent place of the Musée des Lettres et des Manuscrits, I strongly encourage you to visit it. Established in a historical mansion of the beginning of the XVIIIth century, the Museum benefits from beautiful and cool premises…Which, at this time of the year makes the visit even more enjoyable.
NB: I would like to dedicate this article to my parents, Albert and Odette, for who light has always come out from darkness.
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Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits
du 29 mai au 28 octobre 2009
8 rue de Nesle
75006 Paris
Open : Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 : 00 – 18 : 00
Tél. : +33 1 40 51 02 25 |
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