2023-09-14 06:10:20
Left intact since the death of Serge Gainsbourg in 1991, his legendary residence located at 5 bis rue de Verneuil in Paris will welcome the public within its walls for the first time from September 20.
More than 30 years after the death of Serge Gainsbourg, his house, located at 5 bis rue Verneuil in Paris, seems to have remained intact: dried fruits and cakes still sit under a bell jar in the kitchen, unfiltered gypsies are crushed in the living room ashtray and opened chocolate bars are always kept in the fridge.
Closed and protected following the death of Gainsbourg in 1991, this residence in which the artist, his various companions and his children lived for 22 years is preparing, from September 20, to welcome the public for the first time in its walls.
In planning for around thirty years, this immersive tour imagined by Charlotte Gainsbourg plunges the viewer into the heart of this legendary house, guided by the voice of the artist’s daughter who recalls her childhood memories. A stroll “both modest and exhibitionist in the image of Gainsbourg”, assures BFMTV Sébastien Merlet, curator of the exhibition and author of the book Le Gainsbook.
Through Charlotte Gainsbourg’s anecdotes, visitors are invited to stroll through the 130 square meters of the property to discover its different rooms, from the living room to the office, including the bathroom, the dressing room and the bedroom, in which the The artist was found dead lying on his bed at the age of 62.
Maison Gainsbourg in Paris – Alexis Raimbault
Several pieces of furniture and objects by Serge Gainsbourg are also accessible to the public, such as his famous Steinway on which Charlotte learned the piano, his transparent fridge in the kitchen – a unique piece made to measure for the artist – or the sofa in the living room where we can still see the silhouette of Gainsbourg.
“We listed and took photos of each object and press archive, scores, manuscripts… that were in the house, and made explanatory sheets to say where we had found it. In total, we made nearly 24,000 scans”, specifies Sébastien Merlet, who arrived on the project in 2020.
Serge Gainsbourg’s office in his house in Paris – Pierre Terrasson
“It was all a huge puzzle to put together to put the house back together as it was […] because Gainsbourg was very obsessive about order. A visitor could move an ashtray 10cm, he would go back behind it to put it back in its place in a very particular orientation with aesthetic codes of which only he had the secret. This house was a museum even before it was opened as such,” assures the commissioner.
And to add: “This house is not just a setting, nor just a place of life or a place of work, it is really a component in its own right of his work and something that he leaves us like his songs, his films or his book…”
In addition to Serge Gainsbourg’s house, the public will be able to complete their journey by visiting a museum dedicated to the artist located at 14 rue de Verneuil. As indicated Charlotte Gainsbourg on BFMTV in April, this place “will trace the life of my father through his works and his collection of emblematic pieces” and will offer “a bookstore-boutique and the Gainsbarre, a café and piano bar”.
The Gainsbourg Museum in Paris – Alexis Raimbault
Many objects, manuscripts, magazines and scores by Serge Gainsbourg were transferred from his home to the windows of this museum “so that people can see them up close”, explains Sébastien Merlet.
“Against the received idea that Gainsbourg was someone who was very unmaterialistic, we realized that he kept almost all the press concerning him since the 1980s, manuscripts, scores […] We have enough to make 15 museums like this,” jokes the commissioner.
If the visits to 5 bis rue Verneuil are all full until the end of December, several slots for the museum still remain available on the Gainsbourg house website, explains Sébastien Merlet. The curator also advises fans to stay tuned for new availability from January and specifies that certain parts of the exhibition are likely to evolve over the months.
The entrance to Serge Gainsbourg’s house. -Alexis Bourély
“The exposure to light of certain objects means that we have to set up a rotation, concludes Sébastien Merlet. We would also like to record journeys with other people, notably Bambou. I also wanted Jane Birkin to give us make the visit but that is an eternal regret.”
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