Product Description

A captivating, colorful examination of the ways in which Proust incorporated artists and the visual arts in his work.

À 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, notably during the narrator's visits to Venice and in his evaluations of the style of the imaginary painter Elstir, but certain characters are also evoked by comparison to particular paintings.

Bloch's appearance as a boy is likened to the portrait of Mohammed 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; 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 novel's evolving story, this book is an essential addition to the libraries of Proustians everywhere.

The book includes:
• An authoritative introduction examining the various ways in which Proust used paintings and the arts to extend his descriptive vocabulary
• A comprehensive index of artists and paintings mentioned in the novel

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10759 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

About the Author
Eric Karpeles is a painter who was educated at Haverford College, Oxford University, and The New School. He lives in California.

Customer Reviews

Essential for any Proust lover
This is an absolutely essential companion to Proust's In Search of Lost Time. The book reproduces all the paintings and drawings that Proust makes clear reference to in his novel. It also contains works that he alludes to, but doesn't name or definitely describe, which Karpeles judges may have been the source of the inspiration. Some of these works are very difficult to track down; Karpeles does a truly wonderful service to all Proustians by gathering them together in one book. There are 206 illustrations, 196 in color. The quality of reproductions is excellent, although the details of some of the larger paintings suffer from reduced size.

The book is arranged by the seven volumes of the novel. Each work of art is accompanied by a short introduction setting the context within the novel and the excerpt which references it. Karpeles also provides a helpful index which lists every reference in the novel to either the painters or paintings mentioned. The references include the page numbers from the French Tadie Pleiade Edition as well as the Moncrieff/Kilmartin and Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright translations (but not the latest Penguin translation).

The footnotes at the end of the book are a gold mine of Proustian tidbits and should not be ignored. In addition to listing where the works are displayed and dimensions, Karpeles provides much interesting information and clarifies some textual issues. For example, in discussing the painter Mihaly Munkacsy, he explains that due to "Proust's often illegible scrawl ... Munkacsy's name was never used in the earliest editions of the novel .... The intense [editorial] scrutiny of Jean Yves Tadie restored Munkacsy to his rightful place ... and his correction resulted in the change also finally being made by ... Enright in his revision of the ... translation."

There are some minor inconsistencies in the way the works are reproduced. For the most part they are shown in their entirety, but for a small few only a detail is provided as Proust refers only to that portion of the work. Generally details are reproduced in addition to the entire work. An example is the "patch of yellow" in Vermeer's View of Delft, which is highlighted (but without a caption identifying it as THE patch) with an illustration in the beginning of the Introduction. Because of the vagaries of color reproduction I've always thought the patch was difficult to pick out except when looking at the View in person. I would have liked a detail of Carpaccio's The Patriarch of Grado Exorcising a Demoniac highlighting the prototype for Albertine's Fortuny cloak that Proust describes. But these are minor quibbles to an overall excellent book.

I should add that Karpeles makes a point not to reproduce paintings that may have been the inspiration of works that Proust "made up" such as Elstir's Miss Sacripant or his Le Port Carquethuit (any number of Monet's views of Rouen, Dieppe, or Honfleur may have been the model). He also confines himself to works Proust mentions in the novel, not in his letters or shorter pieces.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The perfect companion to Proust
As a dedicated Proustian for twenty happy years, I have read his long novel several times but this new book by Eric Karpeles has taken my pleasure to a new level. Although I enjoy looking at paintings, I have a very limited knowledge of art history and, as a result many of Proust's allusions and even many descriptions were wasted on me. Vermeer's `View of Delft' is such an important part of the novel that I made a point of finding a copy of the painting - but I lacked the knowledge to track-down all the other wonderful references that Proust uses. Who was the daughter of Botticelli's Zipporah that could so win Swann's heart - even though she was not his `type'? Thanks to Karpeles, I now know what she looked like and have also become aware of all the other wonderful faces that Botticelli created.

What were the paintings of Pieter de Hooche that inspired this exquisite description of Vinteuil's sonata? "He began, as always, with the sustained tremolos of the violin part which for several bars was heard alone, filling the whole foreground; until suddenly it seemed to draw aside, and - as in those interiors by Pieter de Hooch which are deepened by the narrow frame of a half opened door, in the far distance, of a different color, velvety with the radiance of some intervening light - the little phrase appeared, dancing, pastoral, interpolated, episodic, belonging to another world." I have savored that description for many years but, being unfamiliar with the painter I could only go so far in my appreciation.

Eric Karpeles has assembled every pictorial reference that Proust made in all seven volumes of the novel. He has tracked-down the reference - however obscure or arcane - and his publisher has reproduced each one, alongside the original quotation. This is a magnificent book and I am in awe of what Karpeles (a well respected painter in his own right) has achieved. I suspect that the publisher will market this as a reference book, but it is so much more than that. I sat and read it from cover to cover as a work of art in its own right.
I am proud to put my name to this review.
Patrick Alexander Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide

Essential
What can I say? This is the book I have been waiting for and it exceeds my expectations and hopes in every way. From the balanced and useful introduction to the great research on the pictures (and it really does cover everything - I know because I have compiled my personal list and collection of images). The indices are also useful.

My only disappointment is that it does not also provide page references for the penguin edition in addition to the Scott Moncreiff etc translation. That is a tiny criticism though in the face of this immensely useful and also beautifully made book.