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Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to 'In Search of Lost Time'
A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust is one of the most profoundly visual works in Western literature. Not only are there frequent references to specific works of art, but certain characters are also evoked by comparison to particular paintings. Bloch’s appearance as a boy is likened to the portrait of Mehmet II by Gentile Bellini; Odette de Crécy strikes Swann by her resemblance to a figure in a Botticelli fresco. Even the lesser figure of a certain Mme. Blattin becomes the subject of Proustian mischief by being described as “exactly the portrait of Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo.” Eric Karpeles has identified and located the many paintings to which Proust makes reference and sets them alongside the relevant text from the novel; in other cases, where only a painter’s name is mentioned to indicate a certain style or appearance, Karpeles has chosen a representative work to illustrate the impression that Proust sought to evoke.
With some 200 paintings beautifully reproduced in full color and texts drawn from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright translation, as well as concise commentaries on the evolving narrative, this book is an essential addition to the libraries of Proustians everywhere. The book also includes an authoritative introduction and a comprehensive index of artists and paintings mentioned in the novel.
With some 200 paintings beautifully reproduced in full color and texts drawn from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright translation, as well as concise commentaries on the evolving narrative, this book is an essential addition to the libraries of Proustians everywhere. The book also includes an authoritative introduction and a comprehensive index of artists and paintings mentioned in the novel.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2008
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3909 people want to read
About the author
Eric Karpeles
8 books20 followersEric Karpeles is a painter who grew up in New York and was educated there in its cultural institutions. A graduate of Haverford College, Oxford University and The New School, he lived in France in the 1970s, holding fellowships both at la Cité des Arts in Paris, and the Camargo Foundation in Cassis. Karpeles writes about painting and the intersection of literature and visual aesthetics. He lives in northern California.
Images of his paintings can be seen online at erickarpeles.com.
Images of his paintings can be seen online at erickarpeles.com.
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September 29, 2024
Through art alone are we able to emerge from ourselves, to know what another person sees of a universe which is not the same as our own and of which, without art, the landscapes would remain as unknown to us as those that may exist on the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists, worlds more different one from the other than those which revolve in infinitive space, worlds which, centuries after the extinction of the fire from which their light first emanated, whether it is called Rembrandt or Vermeer, send us still each one its special radiance.
(Johannes Vermeer, Woman holding a balance, 1664)
It were Fionnuala’s photographs of and reflections on her voyage to Venice (in her review of Jan Morris’ Venice) that made me finally crack this gorgeous art book that had been waiting for the ideal moment to be read, after years of collecting dust somewhere on a book shelf. I can only echo the numerous enthusiast reviews on the masterful ‘musée imaginaire’ that Karpeles distilled out of his meticulous screening and multiple readings of In Search of Lost Time. My book is a painting, Proust wrote (or said?) to Jean Cocteau and this lavishly illustrated book is an illuminating guide, helping the reader of the Recherche in several respects along the journey through Proust’s cycle, showing how to look at that painterly book and broadening the reader’s understanding about what the painting is telling. In Proust paintings function as descriptive analogies, as metaphors and symbols, often adding layers to the narrative, because the ability to perceive analogies is crucial in the composition of the Recherche.
To invert Ruskin’s comment about the Venetians, for whom ‘painting is the way they write’, writing was the way Proust painted.
Karpeles makes clear that young Proust wasn’t merely a socialite and party animal. He also faithfully frequented the Louvre’s collections, returning there again and again. While still a student at the lycée, he wrote poems about Van Dyck and Watteau, attempting, like Baudelaire, to transpose the experience of pictures into words (an aspiration which seems to continue to be relevant in 21th century literature too, thinking of the protagonist of Indelicacy, a short novel by Amina Cain and some of the short stories in C.D. Rose's Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea ). Later he amply travelled abroad, making complicated and often difficult journeys to see pictures he had previously known only by reputation. Paintings he couldn’t see first-hand came to him in the form of reproductions, through books, art critics he knew, reading reviews, having access to the extensive library of the art magazine Gazette des beaux-arts and auction catalogues.
Karpeles’ introductory essay, explaining the development of Proust’s aesthetic views and his double use of the rhetoric of ekphrasis (the use of language to describe a work of art, whether real (actual ekphrasis) or imagined (notional ekphrasis)), Proust’s intermingling of imaginary and actual paintings, and which artists were of influence on Proust’s views is to the point and enlightening. Apparently overly taken by the mental image of Marcel Proust writing at night in his bed in his cork-lined cocoon, I wasn’t aware (or have forgotten about) of Proust’s relentless travelling (to Italy, the Netherlands) and ignorant of his roaming of the Louvre (despite having read two biographies and a couple of other books about him). To be pointed to his favourite painters – Vermeer, Watteau, Rembrandt, Mantegna, Titian, Chardin – or artists that influenced his work greatly – like the teacher of Matisse, the symbolist painter Gustave Moreau – together with the excerpts and commentary brightly revived the cycle in my memory. Having recently revisited Monet’s Water Lilies paintings in the Orangerie and the musée Marmottan-Monet, I was struck by the parallels Karpeles draws between Proust and Monet as artists, denoting the primacy of scale in their work.
Proust admired Whistler for his ‘unerring taste’ but he revered Chardin for his integrity’. When asked in 1920 by the art critic Vaudoyer to list his favourite French paintings in the Louvre, Proust included three works by Chardin among the eight pictures he selected. Proust seemed always to to trust the solidity, the reality of Chardin’s pictures. ‘The artist through his unique vision can transform concrete objects from daily life into symbolic images of great power’ This possibility for transformation, this mysterious alchemy, kept Proust in its clutches as the long years of writing and dictating wore on. From beginning to end, Chardin was a fellow traveller, a mentor with whom Proust never severed ties
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Still Life with Jar of Olives, 1760.
Lots of fascinating additional facts and observations related to Proust’s views on art and on the artworks in this collection can be found in the endnotes at the back of the book. Because these notes are well-worth reading, it is slightly inconvenient that they are not immediately readable as footnotes on the pages containing the quotes and the paintings, but why would criticize or deplore an editor’s choice that is clearly the most aesthetic solution for a book celebrating the work of the ultimate aesthete – whose artistic credo was life is nothing, art is all?
Having read the Recherche roughly twenty years ago, on maternity leave (yes, children do eat your life, but there are some perks to motherhood too, it’s not all gloom and doom), Karpeles’ x not only rekindled fond memories of reading Proust, but also made me aware that travelling and life made me more sensitive to visual art over the years. While the quotes Karpeles connected to the selected paintings brought the joy of a renewed immersion in Proust’s words, I also realised that reading the cycle at this moment would likely be quite a different experience. The internet changed my reading habits considerably (at the time of reading the Recherche, it was not yet possible to find a painting on the internet with a just a few clicks). Proust, as well as naming more than hundred artists, alludes on many more by fleeting pictorial references and associations, on which Karpeles did the sleuth work to identify them.
Because Karpeles’ essay, the selected quotes and the contextual commentaries are excavated from the depths of the cycle and touch into detail on some of its important characters – like the painter Elstir the writer Bergotte, the composer Vinteuil, Saint-Loup or Albertine– I wouldn’t recommend reading this book before reading the recherche yet, but because Karpeles follows the order of the subsequent volumes of the cycle, it can be savoured in chunks upon finishing a volume and so likely enhance the reading experience afterwards with that volume still fresh in mind. For the countless readers who have joined the ranks of the Proustians, this stunningly beauteous labour of love is a sheer delight, a treasure trove to cherish.
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait at the age of sixty-three, 1669.
For if unhappiness develops the forces of the mind, happiness alone is salutary to the body. But unhappiness, even if it did not on every occasion reveal to us some new law, would nevertheless be indispensable, since through it means alone we are brought back time after time to a perception of the truth and forced to take things seriously, tearing up each new crop of weeds of habit and scepticism and levity and indifference. Yet it is true that truth, which is not compatible with happiness or with physical health, is not always compatible even with life. Unhappiness ends by killing. At every new torment which is too hard to bear we feel yet another vein protrude, to unroll its sinuous and deadly length along our temples or beneath our eyes. And thus gradually are formed those terrible ravaged faces, of the old Rembrandt, the old Beethoven, at whom the whole world mocked. And the pockets under the eyes and the wrinkled forehead would not matter much were there not also the suffering of the heart.
(Johannes Vermeer, Woman holding a balance, 1664)
It were Fionnuala’s photographs of and reflections on her voyage to Venice (in her review of Jan Morris’ Venice) that made me finally crack this gorgeous art book that had been waiting for the ideal moment to be read, after years of collecting dust somewhere on a book shelf. I can only echo the numerous enthusiast reviews on the masterful ‘musée imaginaire’ that Karpeles distilled out of his meticulous screening and multiple readings of In Search of Lost Time. My book is a painting, Proust wrote (or said?) to Jean Cocteau and this lavishly illustrated book is an illuminating guide, helping the reader of the Recherche in several respects along the journey through Proust’s cycle, showing how to look at that painterly book and broadening the reader’s understanding about what the painting is telling. In Proust paintings function as descriptive analogies, as metaphors and symbols, often adding layers to the narrative, because the ability to perceive analogies is crucial in the composition of the Recherche.
To invert Ruskin’s comment about the Venetians, for whom ‘painting is the way they write’, writing was the way Proust painted.
Karpeles makes clear that young Proust wasn’t merely a socialite and party animal. He also faithfully frequented the Louvre’s collections, returning there again and again. While still a student at the lycée, he wrote poems about Van Dyck and Watteau, attempting, like Baudelaire, to transpose the experience of pictures into words (an aspiration which seems to continue to be relevant in 21th century literature too, thinking of the protagonist of Indelicacy, a short novel by Amina Cain and some of the short stories in C.D. Rose's Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea ). Later he amply travelled abroad, making complicated and often difficult journeys to see pictures he had previously known only by reputation. Paintings he couldn’t see first-hand came to him in the form of reproductions, through books, art critics he knew, reading reviews, having access to the extensive library of the art magazine Gazette des beaux-arts and auction catalogues.
Karpeles’ introductory essay, explaining the development of Proust’s aesthetic views and his double use of the rhetoric of ekphrasis (the use of language to describe a work of art, whether real (actual ekphrasis) or imagined (notional ekphrasis)), Proust’s intermingling of imaginary and actual paintings, and which artists were of influence on Proust’s views is to the point and enlightening. Apparently overly taken by the mental image of Marcel Proust writing at night in his bed in his cork-lined cocoon, I wasn’t aware (or have forgotten about) of Proust’s relentless travelling (to Italy, the Netherlands) and ignorant of his roaming of the Louvre (despite having read two biographies and a couple of other books about him). To be pointed to his favourite painters – Vermeer, Watteau, Rembrandt, Mantegna, Titian, Chardin – or artists that influenced his work greatly – like the teacher of Matisse, the symbolist painter Gustave Moreau – together with the excerpts and commentary brightly revived the cycle in my memory. Having recently revisited Monet’s Water Lilies paintings in the Orangerie and the musée Marmottan-Monet, I was struck by the parallels Karpeles draws between Proust and Monet as artists, denoting the primacy of scale in their work.
Proust admired Whistler for his ‘unerring taste’ but he revered Chardin for his integrity’. When asked in 1920 by the art critic Vaudoyer to list his favourite French paintings in the Louvre, Proust included three works by Chardin among the eight pictures he selected. Proust seemed always to to trust the solidity, the reality of Chardin’s pictures. ‘The artist through his unique vision can transform concrete objects from daily life into symbolic images of great power’ This possibility for transformation, this mysterious alchemy, kept Proust in its clutches as the long years of writing and dictating wore on. From beginning to end, Chardin was a fellow traveller, a mentor with whom Proust never severed ties
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Still Life with Jar of Olives, 1760.
Lots of fascinating additional facts and observations related to Proust’s views on art and on the artworks in this collection can be found in the endnotes at the back of the book. Because these notes are well-worth reading, it is slightly inconvenient that they are not immediately readable as footnotes on the pages containing the quotes and the paintings, but why would criticize or deplore an editor’s choice that is clearly the most aesthetic solution for a book celebrating the work of the ultimate aesthete – whose artistic credo was life is nothing, art is all?
Having read the Recherche roughly twenty years ago, on maternity leave (yes, children do eat your life, but there are some perks to motherhood too, it’s not all gloom and doom), Karpeles’ x not only rekindled fond memories of reading Proust, but also made me aware that travelling and life made me more sensitive to visual art over the years. While the quotes Karpeles connected to the selected paintings brought the joy of a renewed immersion in Proust’s words, I also realised that reading the cycle at this moment would likely be quite a different experience. The internet changed my reading habits considerably (at the time of reading the Recherche, it was not yet possible to find a painting on the internet with a just a few clicks). Proust, as well as naming more than hundred artists, alludes on many more by fleeting pictorial references and associations, on which Karpeles did the sleuth work to identify them.
Because Karpeles’ essay, the selected quotes and the contextual commentaries are excavated from the depths of the cycle and touch into detail on some of its important characters – like the painter Elstir the writer Bergotte, the composer Vinteuil, Saint-Loup or Albertine– I wouldn’t recommend reading this book before reading the recherche yet, but because Karpeles follows the order of the subsequent volumes of the cycle, it can be savoured in chunks upon finishing a volume and so likely enhance the reading experience afterwards with that volume still fresh in mind. For the countless readers who have joined the ranks of the Proustians, this stunningly beauteous labour of love is a sheer delight, a treasure trove to cherish.
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait at the age of sixty-three, 1669.
For if unhappiness develops the forces of the mind, happiness alone is salutary to the body. But unhappiness, even if it did not on every occasion reveal to us some new law, would nevertheless be indispensable, since through it means alone we are brought back time after time to a perception of the truth and forced to take things seriously, tearing up each new crop of weeds of habit and scepticism and levity and indifference. Yet it is true that truth, which is not compatible with happiness or with physical health, is not always compatible even with life. Unhappiness ends by killing. At every new torment which is too hard to bear we feel yet another vein protrude, to unroll its sinuous and deadly length along our temples or beneath our eyes. And thus gradually are formed those terrible ravaged faces, of the old Rembrandt, the old Beethoven, at whom the whole world mocked. And the pockets under the eyes and the wrinkled forehead would not matter much were there not also the suffering of the heart.
June 14, 2021
More than anything, Paintings in Proust is a lovely coffee table book with an assortment of European paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. But, of course, the guiding principle of Eric Karpeles’s book is that these works of art are all referenced or, at least, alluded to by Marcel Proust in his masterwork, In Search of Lost Time. As a result, the structure is quite simple: since Proust’s novel consists of seven volumes, Paintings in Proust has seven chapters. Within each chapter, there is a number of paintings, drawings, engravings. For each reproduction, Karpeles provides, on the opposite page, a quick summary of the context and the corresponding excerpt from Proust’s novel.
Gathering all these works of art in one place has a few benefits. First, the reader becomes aware (if necessary) of Marcel Proust’s tremendous artistic culture — owing to his familiarity with John Ruskin — and of his constant use of pictorial similes and metaphors in his writing. Second, said reader could (if needed) quickly find out what Proust is talking about when he is making all his painterly mentions. Finally, regardless of Proust, most of these paintings are wonderful in and of themselves. Also, this edition is elegantly bound and printed on glazed paper, which makes it overall pleasing to leaf through while sipping a cup of herbal tea and nibbling a little madeleine Bonne Maman.
Now, Karpeles’s book also has some glaring limitations. First, the quotations from the novel come from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin translation (at least in the original English edition) but lack any form of reference; so if you were looking for the exact passage in the novel, good luck to you, dear reader! Second, apart from a few opening remarks and a pile of unreadable endnotes, Karpeles doesn’t provide any comment, explanation, or interpretation; so if you were expecting some insights about Proust, or even about Giotto, Mantegna, Botticelli, Carpaccio, Vermeer, Piranesi, Manet, Whistler or Monet, tough luck, faithful reader! What you see is what you get.
Gathering all these works of art in one place has a few benefits. First, the reader becomes aware (if necessary) of Marcel Proust’s tremendous artistic culture — owing to his familiarity with John Ruskin — and of his constant use of pictorial similes and metaphors in his writing. Second, said reader could (if needed) quickly find out what Proust is talking about when he is making all his painterly mentions. Finally, regardless of Proust, most of these paintings are wonderful in and of themselves. Also, this edition is elegantly bound and printed on glazed paper, which makes it overall pleasing to leaf through while sipping a cup of herbal tea and nibbling a little madeleine Bonne Maman.
Now, Karpeles’s book also has some glaring limitations. First, the quotations from the novel come from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin translation (at least in the original English edition) but lack any form of reference; so if you were looking for the exact passage in the novel, good luck to you, dear reader! Second, apart from a few opening remarks and a pile of unreadable endnotes, Karpeles doesn’t provide any comment, explanation, or interpretation; so if you were expecting some insights about Proust, or even about Giotto, Mantegna, Botticelli, Carpaccio, Vermeer, Piranesi, Manet, Whistler or Monet, tough luck, faithful reader! What you see is what you get.
July 17, 2022
This is a perfect companion to Reading Proust’s entire work of La recherche du temps perdu, and we should consider ourselves lucky that Erik Karpeles undertook to prepare such a book. Even in times of Google and Google Art.
Karpeles has compiled the specific references to paintings and painters in La recherche and accompanied them with their corresponding reproductions. These are numerous, around 150. For if Marcel Proust had sponged in a portentous amount of French literature as well as a significant selection of international authors, in particular the Russian and English, it was however the visual arts that gave him the inspiration and many of the answers to his aesthetic concerns.
Karpeles has arranged his volume according to Proust’s volumes, so that we have seven chapters in which the richest pictorially are the first three.
Karpeles has also written a marvelous introduction. He is a painter himself, and his comments show his acute visual insight. He reminds us of how Proust was a museum-goer, and borrowed frequently illustrated books from his collector friends. He has also identified the painters who seem to have been the most attractive to Proust’s eye. These would be Vermeer, Watteau, Chardin, and the Impressionists, but also the Venetians, with Carpaccio and Titian at the forefront. Less explicit but also discernible in Proust’s way of portraying his characters is Whistler. Karpeles has also addressed the concept of Ekphrasis, or the relation between poetry and painting, as we can encounter it in Proust. This has been one of my main interests in La recherche.
I have a couple of comments about the layout of the English edition, however. The design of the pages is elegantly spacious. On one page we have Karpeles short note placing Proust’s quote in its context together with the translated quote itself. And on its facing page there is a high quality reproduction of the corresponding illustration. Further information on the painting, including its location, is to be found in the notes in the back of the book. I would have sacrificed the spaciousness for having the information on the painting next to the reproduction. Expanding on the selected works would actually make the book even more desirable than a sea of google images.
I also felt frustrated with the choice of languages. Karpeles introduction is originally in English but the quotes from Proust are from the translation by Moncrieff. Having read the novel in French, I cannot empathize with the quotes; they do not ring the same. I think there was also room to include a bilingual version with Proust original writing. There is a French edition which must restore the original texts but then Karpeles excellent text would be translated.
I have read, or rather looked at this book, along Proust’s novel, checking and marveling at the paintings as they were mentioned. But now I would like to just read this book by itself. The succession of paintings has its own story to tell. It is composed by jewel vignettes. The superb quotes and precious illustrations are indeed perfect gems. And so, I have just ordered the French edition, and will give the English one away.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent companion to Proust. And for those who have or will his works in translation, this is a strong recommendation.
More information in:
www.paintingsinproust.com
http://vimeo.com/15163812
September 10, 2022
Eric Karpeles’s lavishly illustrated and comprehensive guide offers a feast for the eyes as it celebrates the close relationship between the visual and literary arts in Proust’s masterpiece. Karpeles has identified and located all of the paintings to which Proust makes exact reference. Where only a painter’s name is mentioned to indicate a certain mood or appearance, he has chosen a representative work to illustrate the impression that Proust sought to evoke……..Extensive notes and a comprehensive index of all painters and paintings mentioned in the novel provide an invaluable resource for the reader navigating “In Search of Lost Time” for the first time or the fifth.
This is a visual companion to “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust. I always thought that the translation was “Remembrance of Things Past”?
This work is absolutely exquisite. I cannot believe that I allowed it to languish on my bookshelves for eighteen months!
How can one even attempt to comment on how skillfully Karpeles achieved matching the paintings referred to in Proust’s work. I particularly liked the précis at the top of each page of the extracts from Proust’s seven volumes.
I still haven’t read “In Search of Lost Time” in its entirety – I think the length is actually the stumbling block but this book has helped to a certain extent. I had not realized beforehand that Proust's text would be quite as inspiring as it proved to be. Dare I say it? Yes. Sublime is indeed the word.
Out of all the places visited, the trip made by the narrator and his mother to the Arena Chapel in Padua is memorable. The painting and the text match beautifully.
Some of the paintings that remain entrenched in my mind, and I marked the pages with a post-it in case I forgot, are:
The Birth of Venus – Sandro Botticelli, 1482-86
Spring, or the Earthly Paradise, Nicolas Poussin, 1660 (You can actually see “some apparition of the life of the gods” in the clouds on the top right-hand side of the painting).
The Creation of the Planets (detail of Sistine Chapel ceiling), Michelangelo, 1511 (Rather saucy but invigorating to behold).
A ‘Star of Bethlehem’ and Other Plants, Leonardo da Vinci, 1505
Philosopher in Meditation, Rembrandt (Harmensz.) van Rijn, 1632 (I would love to own that).
Portrait of a Young Man, Il Bronzino, 1530s
St Sebastian, Il Sodoma, 1525
Interior of the Arena Chapel (Padua) facing the Last Judgment, west, Giotto, 1304-6 (Remarkable).
Portrait of a Lady, Pierre-Auguste Cot, 1879 (I would love to look like the woman here).
Woman Holding a Balance, Jan Vermeer, 1662-63 (Exquisite!)
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It excites all the senses in a magnificent way. I will certainly revisit this book and many times in all likelihood.
This is a visual companion to “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust. I always thought that the translation was “Remembrance of Things Past”?
This work is absolutely exquisite. I cannot believe that I allowed it to languish on my bookshelves for eighteen months!
How can one even attempt to comment on how skillfully Karpeles achieved matching the paintings referred to in Proust’s work. I particularly liked the précis at the top of each page of the extracts from Proust’s seven volumes.
I still haven’t read “In Search of Lost Time” in its entirety – I think the length is actually the stumbling block but this book has helped to a certain extent. I had not realized beforehand that Proust's text would be quite as inspiring as it proved to be. Dare I say it? Yes. Sublime is indeed the word.
Out of all the places visited, the trip made by the narrator and his mother to the Arena Chapel in Padua is memorable. The painting and the text match beautifully.
Some of the paintings that remain entrenched in my mind, and I marked the pages with a post-it in case I forgot, are:
The Birth of Venus – Sandro Botticelli, 1482-86
Spring, or the Earthly Paradise, Nicolas Poussin, 1660 (You can actually see “some apparition of the life of the gods” in the clouds on the top right-hand side of the painting).
The Creation of the Planets (detail of Sistine Chapel ceiling), Michelangelo, 1511 (Rather saucy but invigorating to behold).
A ‘Star of Bethlehem’ and Other Plants, Leonardo da Vinci, 1505
Philosopher in Meditation, Rembrandt (Harmensz.) van Rijn, 1632 (I would love to own that).
Portrait of a Young Man, Il Bronzino, 1530s
St Sebastian, Il Sodoma, 1525
Interior of the Arena Chapel (Padua) facing the Last Judgment, west, Giotto, 1304-6 (Remarkable).
Portrait of a Lady, Pierre-Auguste Cot, 1879 (I would love to look like the woman here).
Woman Holding a Balance, Jan Vermeer, 1662-63 (Exquisite!)
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It excites all the senses in a magnificent way. I will certainly revisit this book and many times in all likelihood.
September 22, 2009
I wish all books were made like this one, physically-speaking. It's 350-odd pages, but it weighs about 12 pounds because of the luscious high-quality paper and binding. It's a pleasure just to hold the thing. The reproductions of the paintings are gorgeous high-quality glossiness, and Karpeles sets the stage for each art scene admirably. My process was this: I'd read a volume of Proust and then re-experience that part of the story immediately via the paintings in this book.
Let me back up for a second. Proust works dozens of paintings and over 100 artists into the framework of his novel, In Search of Lost Time. Karpeles went through and found all of these scenes, and set the relevant quotation next to a reproduction of the mentioned painting. Occasionally, Proust simply writes of the tendency of a certain artist or makes an unclear allusion to one of their works, and in these cases Karpeles found a representative painting to display. Before each quotation, he adds some background information so that long-time-ago readers (and even nonreaders) won't be completely lost as to context. And that's pretty much it--throw in an excellent introductory essay on the importance of art to Proust and his work, as well as an extensive glossary that lists the locations and specifications of each work and any relevant background on why Proust included them, and you have a flawless companion to In Search of Lost Time. As Karpeles says in the introduction: Without the ability to conjure up these references - so revealing, so compounded - their intended impact is considerably diminished. Given Proust's skill as a writer, I think this is a bit overstated, but he does have a point. Considering that I was familiar with less than 2% of the works mentioned, this book allowed me to explore some of Proust's elaborate metaphors in a more comprehensive and satisfying way.
So why four stars? While the execution of the concept is fantastic, the idea for the book is still somewhat simple and obvious. While reading Swann's Way, I was convinced that such a book must exist even before searching it out. Unfortunately, in January 2009, a used copy of this book cost about $300. A few weeks later, however, a second printing came through and saved me from any heinous acts of consumer idiocy. Obvious or no, I'm glad to have this beautiful book to revisit on occasion, while I continue to Search for Time as Well-Spent as Reading Proust.
Let me back up for a second. Proust works dozens of paintings and over 100 artists into the framework of his novel, In Search of Lost Time. Karpeles went through and found all of these scenes, and set the relevant quotation next to a reproduction of the mentioned painting. Occasionally, Proust simply writes of the tendency of a certain artist or makes an unclear allusion to one of their works, and in these cases Karpeles found a representative painting to display. Before each quotation, he adds some background information so that long-time-ago readers (and even nonreaders) won't be completely lost as to context. And that's pretty much it--throw in an excellent introductory essay on the importance of art to Proust and his work, as well as an extensive glossary that lists the locations and specifications of each work and any relevant background on why Proust included them, and you have a flawless companion to In Search of Lost Time. As Karpeles says in the introduction: Without the ability to conjure up these references - so revealing, so compounded - their intended impact is considerably diminished. Given Proust's skill as a writer, I think this is a bit overstated, but he does have a point. Considering that I was familiar with less than 2% of the works mentioned, this book allowed me to explore some of Proust's elaborate metaphors in a more comprehensive and satisfying way.
So why four stars? While the execution of the concept is fantastic, the idea for the book is still somewhat simple and obvious. While reading Swann's Way, I was convinced that such a book must exist even before searching it out. Unfortunately, in January 2009, a used copy of this book cost about $300. A few weeks later, however, a second printing came through and saved me from any heinous acts of consumer idiocy. Obvious or no, I'm glad to have this beautiful book to revisit on occasion, while I continue to Search for Time as Well-Spent as Reading Proust.
May 19, 2018
"Paintings in Proust" é, como diz o subtítulo, um "acompanhante visual de Em Busca do Tempo Perdido". Como tal, e depois de uma breve introdução à relação de Proust com a arte, apresenta-nos, capítulo a capítulo, as obras de arte visual citadas ou mencionadas, explícita ou implicitamente, na grande obra que é a "Em Busca do Tempo Perdido". A viagem deve claramente ser feita depois da leitura, não conseguindo, nem tendo essa intenção, criar o impacto da leitura, traz-nos no entanto as memórias da experiência que foi ler o Romance, e por isso acaba por nos tocar, não raras vezes.
Impressionado fiquei por não me ter dado conta aquando da leitura da quantidade de obras citadas. Impressiona porque dá conta de uma faceta, provavelmente necessária em Proust, o seu profundo gosto pela arte fundamental à sua particular sensibilidade para com o detalhe de que se constitui o real visual circundante, e que Proust tanto se esforça por nos fazer ver por meio das suas palavras. Temos desde de esboços e ilustrações a paisagens, cenas e retratos, Proust recorre a todo um imaginário visual fixado, estaticizado, como que para conseguir extrair melhor o sentimento da realidade, que pela sua natureza está em constante mutação.
[imagem]
"A Vista de Delft" (1658) de Vermeer
O livro é dos anos 1920 por isso não surpreende que surja muito impressionismo do fim do século XIX, com Monet e Renoir, suportada por muita renascença com Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, ou El Greco, tudo muito marcado por uma enorme recorrência aos pintores holandeses, Vermeer e Rembrandt. Sente-se o efeito da viagem que Proust fez a Veneza, a absorção da beleza italiana, mas sente-se também muito do mundo visual que Proust terá visitado muitas vezes no Louvre. O que mais me surpreendeu foi o recurso a alguns realistas russos que claramente terão surgido a partir do seu enorme interesse em Dostoiévski e Tolstói.
[imagem]
"Filósofo em Meditação" (1632) de Rembrandt
Conto voltar a este livro aquando da minha segunda leitura de "Em Busca do Tempo Perdido".
Publicado em: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...
Impressionado fiquei por não me ter dado conta aquando da leitura da quantidade de obras citadas. Impressiona porque dá conta de uma faceta, provavelmente necessária em Proust, o seu profundo gosto pela arte fundamental à sua particular sensibilidade para com o detalhe de que se constitui o real visual circundante, e que Proust tanto se esforça por nos fazer ver por meio das suas palavras. Temos desde de esboços e ilustrações a paisagens, cenas e retratos, Proust recorre a todo um imaginário visual fixado, estaticizado, como que para conseguir extrair melhor o sentimento da realidade, que pela sua natureza está em constante mutação.
[imagem]
"A Vista de Delft" (1658) de Vermeer
O livro é dos anos 1920 por isso não surpreende que surja muito impressionismo do fim do século XIX, com Monet e Renoir, suportada por muita renascença com Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, ou El Greco, tudo muito marcado por uma enorme recorrência aos pintores holandeses, Vermeer e Rembrandt. Sente-se o efeito da viagem que Proust fez a Veneza, a absorção da beleza italiana, mas sente-se também muito do mundo visual que Proust terá visitado muitas vezes no Louvre. O que mais me surpreendeu foi o recurso a alguns realistas russos que claramente terão surgido a partir do seu enorme interesse em Dostoiévski e Tolstói.
[imagem]
"Filósofo em Meditação" (1632) de Rembrandt
Conto voltar a este livro aquando da minha segunda leitura de "Em Busca do Tempo Perdido".
Publicado em: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...
September 19, 2015
Introduction
--Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to In Search of Lost Time
Notes
Index of Painters and Paintings
Acknowledgments and Picture Credits
--Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to In Search of Lost Time
Notes
Index of Painters and Paintings
Acknowledgments and Picture Credits
August 6, 2021
"Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists...", says Marcel, the narrator, close to the ending of his masterpiece. Art is at the center of In Search of Lost Time: Proust's novel is full of references to paintings, painters and their art.
PAINTINGS IN PROUST (2008) is a companion guide to the paintings mentioned in In Search of Lost Time. Eric Karpeles identified the works of art mentioned in the novel and included them in this gorgeous volume. The introductory essay, written by Karpeles, is insightful, useful and clear. Each reproduction (there are more than two hundred...) is accompanied by a quote from the Moncrieff-Kilmartin-Enright translation and there is also a brief note which provides some context. Don't expect any analysis beyond the Introduction.
In my opinion, readers of Proust really do need to see the works of art mentioned in the novel because they illuminate the text in a very powerful way. In Search of Lost Time is an extremely visual novel; Proust painstakingly describes not only art, but people, their behavior, their appearance. Works of art are used again and again to shed some light on what he observes. So a lot of googling would be helpful, or this excellent book.
PAINTINGS IN PROUST (2008) is a companion guide to the paintings mentioned in In Search of Lost Time. Eric Karpeles identified the works of art mentioned in the novel and included them in this gorgeous volume. The introductory essay, written by Karpeles, is insightful, useful and clear. Each reproduction (there are more than two hundred...) is accompanied by a quote from the Moncrieff-Kilmartin-Enright translation and there is also a brief note which provides some context. Don't expect any analysis beyond the Introduction.
In my opinion, readers of Proust really do need to see the works of art mentioned in the novel because they illuminate the text in a very powerful way. In Search of Lost Time is an extremely visual novel; Proust painstakingly describes not only art, but people, their behavior, their appearance. Works of art are used again and again to shed some light on what he observes. So a lot of googling would be helpful, or this excellent book.
January 28, 2010
Sometimes a book appears like a gift. I came across this one recently on Amazon, as one of those "people who buy A also buy B" recommendations. I'm happy I succumbed.
The idea here is so simple, it's surprising no one's done it before: track down and publish all the paintings Proust refers to over the course of his long elliptical recherche. Luckily, Eric Karples is the perfect man for the job – his introduction is as elegant as one of Proust's flowers, and the following sections (each dedicated to a volume in the novel) sets a handsome snippet of text next to the illustrations it conjures. The result feels luxurious.
If you've read Proust, turning the pages in this book is like reviewing a photo album of forgotten beauties; and if you're reading the novel now, it's just pure pleasure.
The idea here is so simple, it's surprising no one's done it before: track down and publish all the paintings Proust refers to over the course of his long elliptical recherche. Luckily, Eric Karples is the perfect man for the job – his introduction is as elegant as one of Proust's flowers, and the following sections (each dedicated to a volume in the novel) sets a handsome snippet of text next to the illustrations it conjures. The result feels luxurious.
If you've read Proust, turning the pages in this book is like reviewing a photo album of forgotten beauties; and if you're reading the novel now, it's just pure pleasure.
January 24, 2015
This is a gorgeous book featuring paintings Proust mentions or representative paintings from painters he mentions in In Search of Lost Time, and it seems to me pretty indispensable for a few reasons as a companion book as one reads Proust. I've now looked at all the paintings that are so beautifully reproduced and carefully referenced in Swann's Way, and will also use it as I proceed through the work. Why indispensable? Why not just read the book, isn't it enough work already!? Well, sure, you can do that and it is great in itself, but with this book you can see a few things which deepen your appreciation of the prose: 1) "Thanks to art, instead of one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are artists…" (Proust, the epigraph that opens the book); 2) "My book is a painting," Proust to Jean Cocteau; 3) Karpeles is an artist, so we see the prose through this one, of several, lens, and his essay is gracefully and insightfully written; 4) Proust is in love with both classical and modern art, with Hogarth and Whistler, Rubens and Rembrandt, but as much with Cubism as Impressionism. You get a visit to the Louvre in more than one way through his work, but here you literally get to see the paintings he loves and see why he is so rapturous about them.
In general, reading Karpeles helps you see the painterly nature of Proust's prose. In its emotional character, we see the impressionists, and I am inclined because I know the impressionist better than the classical painters I think of Proust as impressionist… but just when you are seeing Monet everywhere, he is shifting to Corot because that is more relevant to that particular passage. . . maybe because Proust has been again and again to the Louvre and a particular engagement with a painting shifts his gaze, his coloring. Paintings are referenced throughout in Proust and they don't just hang on the wall, they figure in to the plot, they help us see scenes Proust describes; he sees a woman next to Jesus in a Giotto painting and compares her to a woman he knows… The very prose itself is transformed into an analogue for painting…. If you don't like painting or art you just may not like Proust, because it is everywhere. But you can also gain an appreciation for art through it!
In addition to painters and painting, writers Proust was reading, he makes clear, also immediately affect his field of vision, the way he sees his world, the way he depicts it in language. For instance, Ruskin was important to him so if you know Ruskin you can see Proust writing Ruskin as he reads him. There are books mentioned throughout In Search of Lost Time just as there are paintings, so works of literature are just as fundamental to his writing and his world, his ways of seeing, his perception, as painting, but thanks to this fine book you can see Proust's painterly styles and influences.
Reading this book you can appreciate through someone else that experience you have when you go to an art museum and you come out seeing the world as art, and your perception, your very vision, have changed. Glad I just renewed my membership at the amazing Art Institute in Chicago!
In general, reading Karpeles helps you see the painterly nature of Proust's prose. In its emotional character, we see the impressionists, and I am inclined because I know the impressionist better than the classical painters I think of Proust as impressionist… but just when you are seeing Monet everywhere, he is shifting to Corot because that is more relevant to that particular passage. . . maybe because Proust has been again and again to the Louvre and a particular engagement with a painting shifts his gaze, his coloring. Paintings are referenced throughout in Proust and they don't just hang on the wall, they figure in to the plot, they help us see scenes Proust describes; he sees a woman next to Jesus in a Giotto painting and compares her to a woman he knows… The very prose itself is transformed into an analogue for painting…. If you don't like painting or art you just may not like Proust, because it is everywhere. But you can also gain an appreciation for art through it!
In addition to painters and painting, writers Proust was reading, he makes clear, also immediately affect his field of vision, the way he sees his world, the way he depicts it in language. For instance, Ruskin was important to him so if you know Ruskin you can see Proust writing Ruskin as he reads him. There are books mentioned throughout In Search of Lost Time just as there are paintings, so works of literature are just as fundamental to his writing and his world, his ways of seeing, his perception, as painting, but thanks to this fine book you can see Proust's painterly styles and influences.
Reading this book you can appreciate through someone else that experience you have when you go to an art museum and you come out seeing the world as art, and your perception, your very vision, have changed. Glad I just renewed my membership at the amazing Art Institute in Chicago!
April 28, 2024
«Η ζωγραφική στο έργο του Προυστ» είναι ένα απολαυστικό συνοδευτικό βιβλίο για όσους διαβάζουν το «Αναζητώντας τον Χαμένο χρόνο» Ο συγγραφέας έχει συγκεντρώσει όλους τους πίνακες που αναφέρονται στο έργο του Προυστ με σημειώσεις αλλά και με τα αντίστοιχα αποσπάσματα από τους εφτά τόμους.
Πρόκειται για μια εξαιρετική έκδοση, τέρψη για τα μάτια του αναγνώστη, που ακόμη κι αν δεν συνοδεύει το έργο του Προυστ μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί σαν ένα πολύ ωραίο coffee table book.
ΥΓ Μοναδική μου ένσταση η γραμματοσειρά με τα υπερβολικά μικρά γράμματα
Πρόκειται για μια εξαιρετική έκδοση, τέρψη για τα μάτια του αναγνώστη, που ακόμη κι αν δεν συνοδεύει το έργο του Προυστ μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί σαν ένα πολύ ωραίο coffee table book.
ΥΓ Μοναδική μου ένσταση η γραμματοσειρά με τα υπερβολικά μικρά γράμματα
February 15, 2024
This is one for the converted, but I liked it a lot.
To have all the paintings, drawings etc. which are referred to in La Recherche compiled in a single book in their order of appearance definitely adds to the reading pleasure.
One should compile a music playlist based on the same principle. 😀
To have all the paintings, drawings etc. which are referred to in La Recherche compiled in a single book in their order of appearance definitely adds to the reading pleasure.
One should compile a music playlist based on the same principle. 😀
Want to read
August 7, 2019I'll be going back and forth between this and Proust as I read Remembrance of Things Past - already so far this evening I've referred to this book a handful of times which has enhanced my reading of Swann's Way quite a bit.
/nerd
Aug 7, 2019
Since I just hit the Pause Button on Proust, it's only fair to do the same on this companion as well. Don't worry, I have a whole section of my bookshelf dedicated to Proust, so they'll all be ready for me when I have time for them again.
/nerd
Aug 7, 2019
Since I just hit the Pause Button on Proust, it's only fair to do the same on this companion as well. Don't worry, I have a whole section of my bookshelf dedicated to Proust, so they'll all be ready for me when I have time for them again.
Read
January 27, 2015I'm marking this as read although I only looked at the pictures.
April 17, 2018
When reading In Search of Lost Time/Remembrance of Things Past from my home in Baltimore Maryland, I spend a fair amount of time searching the internet or looking things up, not least of these is the frequent mention of art, music, etc. This beautiful book is the perfect companion to the many artworks referenced in Proust's text. It's not huge, it's mostly easy to navigate, and it's an interesting and different companion to Proust's masterwork.
I started in one edition of the Proust and read the second volume in two different editions before giving up on "new" and going back to trusted. Doesn't matter - the art/the story stays the same. (Mostly - depending on the horror of the translation, but that's another review.) Even if the quotes don't match exactly word for word, this book "works" no matter which edition you're reading. (Though it is based on the most widely read English translation, the Moncrieff.)
I make this point because I saw a few reviews saying it only "works" with the edition it borrowed quotes from. That's just not correct. The text is there to help readers be assured they're looking at the piece discussed in the Proust. There's no real discussion - just a paragraph or few lines of text with an explainer to find the place it belongs on a page opposite a full-color picture of the art.
Page numbers would have been impossible. So it really works best to read the Proust and look over to this volume when something pops up. Trying to go the opposite direction could be frustrating, and it wouldn't do more than expose you to beautiful art - which is lovely all by itself. The pictures are carefully rendered, the printing well done, the stock incredibly heavy (especially for a paperback,) and this is an incredibly fine volume to peruse for the pictures. Nonetheless it is most certainly a companion to Proust's text.
YMMV depending on how close to museums, how familiar with the art, how willing you are to move from your reading spot to the computer (or pull up the browser on your e-reader), etc. I like having someone else do the scut work so while reading I have the information at my fingertips set up in the order that it appears in the text. It's worth the cost of this one book for all it manages to add to the reading of the volumes of In Search of Lost Time. I can imagine myself in my 90s with a magnifying glass using this book to read the next "new" translation (then running back to the Moncrieff.)
I started in one edition of the Proust and read the second volume in two different editions before giving up on "new" and going back to trusted. Doesn't matter - the art/the story stays the same. (Mostly - depending on the horror of the translation, but that's another review.) Even if the quotes don't match exactly word for word, this book "works" no matter which edition you're reading. (Though it is based on the most widely read English translation, the Moncrieff.)
I make this point because I saw a few reviews saying it only "works" with the edition it borrowed quotes from. That's just not correct. The text is there to help readers be assured they're looking at the piece discussed in the Proust. There's no real discussion - just a paragraph or few lines of text with an explainer to find the place it belongs on a page opposite a full-color picture of the art.
Page numbers would have been impossible. So it really works best to read the Proust and look over to this volume when something pops up. Trying to go the opposite direction could be frustrating, and it wouldn't do more than expose you to beautiful art - which is lovely all by itself. The pictures are carefully rendered, the printing well done, the stock incredibly heavy (especially for a paperback,) and this is an incredibly fine volume to peruse for the pictures. Nonetheless it is most certainly a companion to Proust's text.
YMMV depending on how close to museums, how familiar with the art, how willing you are to move from your reading spot to the computer (or pull up the browser on your e-reader), etc. I like having someone else do the scut work so while reading I have the information at my fingertips set up in the order that it appears in the text. It's worth the cost of this one book for all it manages to add to the reading of the volumes of In Search of Lost Time. I can imagine myself in my 90s with a magnifying glass using this book to read the next "new" translation (then running back to the Moncrieff.)
December 20, 2012
POST-Reading:
Do we have the same faith in Art and Artists as Proust and Virginia Woolf, where Art is seen as having almost the same redemptive qualities as religion?? Schopenhauer declared the Artist to be the New Saviour, Guru or whatever and ever since we have had artistic ego-maniacs like Wagner and ...Barry Kosky.Some are Great as far as art goes.Others are frauds, false messiahs.(Put your hand up, Barry).If you are a stranger to Barry which you probably fortunately are, you can read my review of On Ecstasy by Barry Kosky and get my drift.It's on my "Books-I've-thrown-across-the-room" shelf.
This book was an indulgence.
A lovely way to revisit Proust.
And paintings of every variety.
A beautiful blend of two arts.
But Art on a pedestal?
It is only a reflection of Life.
Real clouds will ALWAYS win out over their reproductions.
PRE-reading:
CAN'T WAIT A MINUTE LONGER!!!!!!
Have had this on my shelf since mid-last year,2009.
So many books are waiting.
But not this one, no longer!!!!!
Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" is the only book I have ever deliberately stopped reading because I couldn't bear to have finished it.
Consulting my BOOKS READ LIST this week I found I had read Volume I of "La Prisonniere" in April 1986 when I stopped, which meant I have only three volumes to go.
Accompanied by these illustrations.
But firstly I am reading Karpeles beautiful art book without the accompaniment of the volumes I have already read.
In this fashion:
I read the text which firstly gives a summary re what part of the story is being told.This is followed by the actual text, which of course refers in some way to the painting/s on show.
However, I keep the painting/s covered so that I can first imagine it/them or feel their quality. Sometimes I am disappointed when I see what I have uncovered and so chew it over, other times I am pleasantly surprised,or mildly disconcerted,or more than thrilled.
I try to read/look every day, even if its just one text/painting.
Have always had Proust on the boil.
If I wasn't reading BY Proust, I was reading ABOUT Proust.
Have read as much about as by.
And the period.
Do we have the same faith in Art and Artists as Proust and Virginia Woolf, where Art is seen as having almost the same redemptive qualities as religion?? Schopenhauer declared the Artist to be the New Saviour, Guru or whatever and ever since we have had artistic ego-maniacs like Wagner and ...Barry Kosky.Some are Great as far as art goes.Others are frauds, false messiahs.(Put your hand up, Barry).If you are a stranger to Barry which you probably fortunately are, you can read my review of On Ecstasy by Barry Kosky and get my drift.It's on my "Books-I've-thrown-across-the-room" shelf.
This book was an indulgence.
A lovely way to revisit Proust.
And paintings of every variety.
A beautiful blend of two arts.
But Art on a pedestal?
It is only a reflection of Life.
Real clouds will ALWAYS win out over their reproductions.
PRE-reading:
CAN'T WAIT A MINUTE LONGER!!!!!!
Have had this on my shelf since mid-last year,2009.
So many books are waiting.
But not this one, no longer!!!!!
Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" is the only book I have ever deliberately stopped reading because I couldn't bear to have finished it.
Consulting my BOOKS READ LIST this week I found I had read Volume I of "La Prisonniere" in April 1986 when I stopped, which meant I have only three volumes to go.
Accompanied by these illustrations.
But firstly I am reading Karpeles beautiful art book without the accompaniment of the volumes I have already read.
In this fashion:
I read the text which firstly gives a summary re what part of the story is being told.This is followed by the actual text, which of course refers in some way to the painting/s on show.
However, I keep the painting/s covered so that I can first imagine it/them or feel their quality. Sometimes I am disappointed when I see what I have uncovered and so chew it over, other times I am pleasantly surprised,or mildly disconcerted,or more than thrilled.
I try to read/look every day, even if its just one text/painting.
Have always had Proust on the boil.
If I wasn't reading BY Proust, I was reading ABOUT Proust.
Have read as much about as by.
And the period.
January 20, 2013
This luminous book elaborates on the subtle analogies throughout En Recherche du temps perdu to paintings and their artists. All of Proust's allusions cement the relationship between literary and the visual arts. The lucid commentary by Karpeles that ties the extracts to their respective pieces of art, insightfully illustrates their significance. As someone who read the works of Proust without an in-depth familiarity with all the works referenced, this book is useful and pleasing for its straightforward navigability and sleek, rich design. This book is a delight both for the mind and the eyes.
December 13, 2012
Let's give it up for Goodreads Recommendations! I was recommended this because I added Proust's In Search of Lost Time, which I am currently reading. The author frequently compares people, objects, landscapes, even feelings and impressions, to works of art. It would be very helpful to have this reference book at my fingertips.
September 3, 2017
Als Begleitbuch zu Marcel Prousts "Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit" für mich unverzichtbar. Die entsprechenden Passagen im Text erhalten eine besondere Tiefe, wenn man gleichzeitig die Bildreferenz vor Augen hat. Aber auch um ab und zu darin herumzublättern, einfach wunderschön.
June 22, 2015
A beautiful and useful guide!
August 10, 2025
Paintings in Proust: A Visual companion to "In search of lost time"
Eric Karpeles
"For Proust, art and life were inextricably interwoven and it was not always obvious which imitated the other."
"The library which I should thus assemble would contain volumes of an even greater value; for the books which I read in the past at Combray or in Venice, enriched now by my memory with vast illuminations representing the church of Saint-Hilaire or the gondola moored at the foot of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Grand Canal incrusted with sparkling sapphires, would have become the equals of those ancient 'picture books' illustrated bibles or books of hours which the collector nowadays opens not to read their text but to savour once more the enchantment of the colours which some rival of Foucquet has added to it and which make these volumes the treasures that they are."
209 ілюстрацій зібрав мистецтвознавець і дослідник Пруста Ерік Карпелес для своєї
"teeming library of visual images" Марселя Пруста.
Серед улюблених митців Марселя можна назвати: Вістлера, Вермера, Боттічеллі, Рембрандта, Джотто, Коро, Моро, Карпаччо, Ґірландайо, Тіціана, Вато.
Пів року ця дорогоцінна книжка була моїм Верґілієм в галереях Пруста. Я знову й знову повертається до улюблених полотен і цитат: ось Сванн впізнає в Одетті Сепфору, ось Берґот помирає перед краєвидом Делфта, ось Марсель на власні очі бачить у Венеції фрекси Джотто, ось де Шарлюс постає з "Симфонії в Чорному та Білому" Вістлера...
А тепер, зробіть невеличку паузу і зізнайтеся собі скільки художників ви знаєте. Скільки полотен можете поигадати до дрібниць, які шедеври сколихнули вашу душу? Так отож бо... Сучасна людина в порівнянні з колом Пруста виглядатиме збіднілим самоокраденим телепнем.
Так, тік ток та інстаґрам перегодовують нас тисячами відео, але в них немає навіть мільйонної часточки краси від "кавалка жовтої стіни" "Краєвиду Делфта" Вермера.
В той час, як сучасна людина годує себе покидьками, очі великих людей минулого милувалися шедеврами. Заради цієї краси їздили в далекі мандри, а зараз музеї теж перетворилися на збіговисько невігласів, які годують фотографіями власні смартфони, але не душі...
Щоб прийти до роботи Карпелеса треба бути багаторічно самовихованим, увібрати сотні книг, побачити тисячі картин і читати, читати і ще раз читати том за томом Magnum Opus. Пруст володів цілою галереєю, яку увіковічнив у власному мозку, а потім в семикнижжі.
Сваннівська здібність знаходити риси давно минулих портретів у сучасниках, це те, чому вчить Карпелес.
Це вічне повернення мистецтва у життя і життя в мистецтво.
На обкладинці першого видання красувалася панночка Леона Бакста, яка була безпосереднім натяком на таємничий портрет молодої Одетти де Кресі, виконаний раннім Ельстіром, або ж на покровительку тодішнього балету.
На обкладинці другого, того, що я тримаю в руках - "Одаліска" Енґра, яку в романі Пруст порівнює з "Олімпією" Мане.
Класика і сучасність, між якими кілька років, проте розрив в очах тодішніх критиків був розміром в Маріанську западину.
Але чи дійсно так відрізняється ці два полотна-двійнята?
Пруст дає відповідь:
"But we never learn, because we lack the wisdom to work backwards from the particular to the general, and imagine ourselves always to be faced with an experience which has no precedents in the past."
Насолода від цієї книги Велика, Складна, без перебільшення, Елітарна. Доступна тільки одиницям. Це Насолода, яка вимагає повернення і я певен, що рано чи пізно воно обов'язково настане знову.
Eric Karpeles
"For Proust, art and life were inextricably interwoven and it was not always obvious which imitated the other."
"The library which I should thus assemble would contain volumes of an even greater value; for the books which I read in the past at Combray or in Venice, enriched now by my memory with vast illuminations representing the church of Saint-Hilaire or the gondola moored at the foot of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Grand Canal incrusted with sparkling sapphires, would have become the equals of those ancient 'picture books' illustrated bibles or books of hours which the collector nowadays opens not to read their text but to savour once more the enchantment of the colours which some rival of Foucquet has added to it and which make these volumes the treasures that they are."
209 ілюстрацій зібрав мистецтвознавець і дослідник Пруста Ерік Карпелес для своєї
"teeming library of visual images" Марселя Пруста.
Серед улюблених митців Марселя можна назвати: Вістлера, Вермера, Боттічеллі, Рембрандта, Джотто, Коро, Моро, Карпаччо, Ґірландайо, Тіціана, Вато.
Пів року ця дорогоцінна книжка була моїм Верґілієм в галереях Пруста. Я знову й знову повертається до улюблених полотен і цитат: ось Сванн впізнає в Одетті Сепфору, ось Берґот помирає перед краєвидом Делфта, ось Марсель на власні очі бачить у Венеції фрекси Джотто, ось де Шарлюс постає з "Симфонії в Чорному та Білому" Вістлера...
А тепер, зробіть невеличку паузу і зізнайтеся собі скільки художників ви знаєте. Скільки полотен можете поигадати до дрібниць, які шедеври сколихнули вашу душу? Так отож бо... Сучасна людина в порівнянні з колом Пруста виглядатиме збіднілим самоокраденим телепнем.
Так, тік ток та інстаґрам перегодовують нас тисячами відео, але в них немає навіть мільйонної часточки краси від "кавалка жовтої стіни" "Краєвиду Делфта" Вермера.
В той час, як сучасна людина годує себе покидьками, очі великих людей минулого милувалися шедеврами. Заради цієї краси їздили в далекі мандри, а зараз музеї теж перетворилися на збіговисько невігласів, які годують фотографіями власні смартфони, але не душі...
Щоб прийти до роботи Карпелеса треба бути багаторічно самовихованим, увібрати сотні книг, побачити тисячі картин і читати, читати і ще раз читати том за томом Magnum Opus. Пруст володів цілою галереєю, яку увіковічнив у власному мозку, а потім в семикнижжі.
Сваннівська здібність знаходити риси давно минулих портретів у сучасниках, це те, чому вчить Карпелес.
Це вічне повернення мистецтва у життя і життя в мистецтво.
На обкладинці першого видання красувалася панночка Леона Бакста, яка була безпосереднім натяком на таємничий портрет молодої Одетти де Кресі, виконаний раннім Ельстіром, або ж на покровительку тодішнього балету.
На обкладинці другого, того, що я тримаю в руках - "Одаліска" Енґра, яку в романі Пруст порівнює з "Олімпією" Мане.
Класика і сучасність, між якими кілька років, проте розрив в очах тодішніх критиків був розміром в Маріанську западину.
Але чи дійсно так відрізняється ці два полотна-двійнята?
Пруст дає відповідь:
"But we never learn, because we lack the wisdom to work backwards from the particular to the general, and imagine ourselves always to be faced with an experience which has no precedents in the past."
Насолода від цієї книги Велика, Складна, без перебільшення, Елітарна. Доступна тільки одиницям. Це Насолода, яка вимагає повернення і я певен, що рано чи пізно воно обов'язково настане знову.
May 24, 2023
essential for undertaking in search of lost time, i only wish future editions would do simultaneous page numbers for the penguin and current Moncreiff translations. i know why there arent, theres so many editions, but i dont feel it would detract.
June 22, 2021
This is one of the best companion books to read and keep by your side as you journey through Proust's magnificent In Search of Lost Time. The author opens with an introductory essay that explains how he has "attempted to reassemble in a single volume the fleeting paintings weaving in and out of a moving narrative, to offer for the first time to the reader of In Search of Lost Time 'a comprehensive and continuous picture'."
To this end he combines color plates for all of the art referenced in the novel along with lucid contextual commentary and relevant quotations from the novel. When a specific work of art is not mentioned he has chosen a representative piece to complement the passage from the novel. The presentation of art works from artists as disparate as Manet and Michelangelo, Delacroix and Degas, and many others is a feast for the reader's eyes.
The result of his comprehensive work is a successful melding of art with literature that will please both those who are encountering Proust for the first time and those who know and love his literary masterpiece.
To this end he combines color plates for all of the art referenced in the novel along with lucid contextual commentary and relevant quotations from the novel. When a specific work of art is not mentioned he has chosen a representative piece to complement the passage from the novel. The presentation of art works from artists as disparate as Manet and Michelangelo, Delacroix and Degas, and many others is a feast for the reader's eyes.
The result of his comprehensive work is a successful melding of art with literature that will please both those who are encountering Proust for the first time and those who know and love his literary masterpiece.
May 29, 2013
Very clever idea. Indispensable, now, really. If Proust said someone resembled the third guy to Jesus' left in a work by Giotto, I just nodded and moved on, now, here he is. Beautifully printed. ...also acts as an interesting summary of the work, since an introductory sentence and the relevant quote are included, - [you almost never see the rare comma dash] from the graphic arts point of view.
December 30, 2018
Indispensable. Proust mentions paintings a lot -- his main descriptive touchstone, it seems. This book is an outstanding companion. Each two pages features a color print of a painting mentioned, plus a brief context note, plus the passage from Proust where the work is mentioned.
My only gripe is a small one: I wish the contextual notes were actually more substantive, especially containing more information about a work's formal significance, as well as a bit more about the historical context embedding it.
My only gripe is a small one: I wish the contextual notes were actually more substantive, especially containing more information about a work's formal significance, as well as a bit more about the historical context embedding it.
September 23, 2023
VERY helpful, highly recommended to read alongside Proust.
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September 3, 2025very nice to have alongside ISOLT. pretty pictures ^_^ there's so much that you don't get if you don't get to see the pictures that marcel references
June 18, 2021
A must for the lovers of the novel-epic of Proust.
March 14, 2018
This is 350 pages of Proust writing, "[This person I'm supposed to be describing] was like [this other person in a painting by someone else]," with a reproduction of said painting on the facing page. Proust's descriptions are often blatantly wrong or disappointly literal.
Regarding what's inaccurate: he mixes up Isaac and Sarah (!) in the first example in the book. A few pages later he describes a woman in a Giotto fresco as looking like a child blowing up a balloon (but her mouth is wide-open, not pursed). A few more pages later, he describes Bellini's Sultan Mehmet II as having arched brows and high cheekbones: the painting has neither. That's only page forty, and it goes on with the same flagrant inattention.
The above-mentioned "X was like Y" formula is sloppy and pretentious when it's only done in passing, as it usually is, and there's only but so much you can excuse with, "It's not Proust! It's the narrator! It's Swann!" The most irritating is when he claims to single out a very specific color in one part of a painting but isn't precise enough about what part of the painting he's talking about. (Not the famous "little patch of yellow" in a Vermeer, which is obvious, but usually some part of a Whistler seascape.)
This book sounds like a good idea but Proust hardly ever benefits (or holds up) in excerpts. You need the whole page (or more often, more) of his writing to build up to his conclusions. The quotes here are generally banal though the pictures give a good idea of what he had in his mind or reproduced on his walls. It's a portrait in the spirit of Manet's Zola in the Musée d'Orsay, with its picture postcards of Japanese prints, Velasquez engravings and the Olympia behind him.
Regarding what's inaccurate: he mixes up Isaac and Sarah (!) in the first example in the book. A few pages later he describes a woman in a Giotto fresco as looking like a child blowing up a balloon (but her mouth is wide-open, not pursed). A few more pages later, he describes Bellini's Sultan Mehmet II as having arched brows and high cheekbones: the painting has neither. That's only page forty, and it goes on with the same flagrant inattention.
The above-mentioned "X was like Y" formula is sloppy and pretentious when it's only done in passing, as it usually is, and there's only but so much you can excuse with, "It's not Proust! It's the narrator! It's Swann!" The most irritating is when he claims to single out a very specific color in one part of a painting but isn't precise enough about what part of the painting he's talking about. (Not the famous "little patch of yellow" in a Vermeer, which is obvious, but usually some part of a Whistler seascape.)
This book sounds like a good idea but Proust hardly ever benefits (or holds up) in excerpts. You need the whole page (or more often, more) of his writing to build up to his conclusions. The quotes here are generally banal though the pictures give a good idea of what he had in his mind or reproduced on his walls. It's a portrait in the spirit of Manet's Zola in the Musée d'Orsay, with its picture postcards of Japanese prints, Velasquez engravings and the Olympia behind him.
October 23, 2017
I suspect this isn't 100% complete, and at times I wished for a similar guide to the architecture mentioned throughout the text, none-the-less, this book deeply enriched my comprehension and enjoyment of Proust's work - an invaluable work.
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