Provocative, Serge GAINSBOURG answers the Proust questionnaire.
"Stupidity is the relaxation of intelligence."
35.000€
"Stupidity is the relaxation of intelligence."
35.000€
Serge Gainsbourg (1928.1991)
Handwritten notes.
Proust's aphorisms and questionnaire.
A large folio page (42 x 30 cm) partially printed.
No place or date [Paris. 1986]
"Stupidity is the relaxation of intelligence."
Gainsbourg corrects his proofs. In preparation for the book dedicated to him at Denoël, by Franck Lhomeau and Alain Coelho, the artist crosses out, annotates and corrects the set of proofs relating to his thoughts and aphorisms and then to his answers to the Proust questionnaire.
After a series of twenty thoughts such as: " I have succeeded at everything. Except my life ", " Beauty is the only revenge of women ", " My Rolls is my Steinway " or "Stupidity is the relaxation of intelligence", Gainsbourg responds with provocation and unfeigned delight, mixing humor and seriousness, to the mythical questionnaire of Marcel Proust.
The sheet is of a very spectacular format (42 x 30 cm) and the layout of the Gainsbourgian annotations makes this document a true painting.
____________________________________________________
What, for you, is the height of misery?
Lack of toilet paper.
Where would you like to live?
Outside of myself.
By that I mean out of my depth.
Your ideal of earthly happiness?
The women's restrooms at Maxim's
Which faults are you most lenient towards?
Typos… Physical contact.
Who are your favorite fictional heroes?
Emma Bovary, Dolores Hase [sic] and Marilyn Monroe.
Who is your favorite historical figure?
Savonarola because he had the same nose as me.
Mickey Maousse.
Who are your favorite real-life heroines?
Bardot, Birkin, Deneuve , Bambou.
Your heroines in fiction?
Bamboo, Deneuve , Birkin, Bardot.
Three Bs, three little critters.
Beasts with an accent. Not like idiots, but like animal beasts.
It's fiction.
No, affliction.
Who is your favorite painter?
Francis Bacon.
The one in the building, because it's hyper-realistic.
What is your favorite quality in a man?
Deceit.
A matter of tails.
____________________________________________________
Gainsbourg. Alain Coelho and Franck Lhomeau, Denoël editions. 1986.