Laure Hayman, circa 1880–85. Author: MADRAZO Y GARRETA, Raimundo (Rome, 1841–Versailles, 1920). Owner: Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Collection. © of the photographic reproduction: Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson, 2021. Author of the photograph: Marcos Morilla
Organised by: Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza
Curator: D. Fernando Checa
Works from the FMCMP Collection loaned for the exhibition: Laure Hayman, circa 1880–85. Author: MADRAZO Y GARRETA, Raimundo (Rome, 1841–Versailles, 1920). Owner: FMCMP Collection.
The focus of this exhibition is the importance of art in the work of one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, Marcel Proust (Auteuil, 1871–París, 1922), an acclaimed figure not only in literature but also in philosophy and art theory.
In his work, Proust developed a series of aesthetic ideas as well as artistic, monumental and landscape settings inspired by the ones around him. He was also stimulated by artists from the past. The aim of the exhibition is to highlight these connections and the interrelation between art and the writer’s life and work. The show features works from numerous museums and collections, most notably museums and institutions located in Paris (Orsay, Louvre, Carnavalet, Gustave Moreau, Palais Galliera and Bibliothèque nationale de France) but also museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Another theme of the show is Proust’s connection with Spain through figures like Mariano Fortuny and Raimundo de Madrazo and his wife María Hahn.
A member of a renowned family of artists, Raimundo de Madrazo trained with his father Federico and his grandfather José. In 1862 he moved to Paris, where he would live most of his life and become one of the leading painters of the Parisian “grand monde”, earning great acclaim for his portraits. The work on loan is a portrait of the demi-mondaine Laure Hayman (1851–1932), painted circa 1880–85. Made at the height of Madrazo’s success as a portrait artist in Paris, this is one of the artist’s most evocative works. It also happens to represent a woman in Marcel Proust’s circle. In fact, Laure Hayman was one of the models for Odette de Crécy in his In Search of Lost Time.