Is it possible to express sound in sculpture? On the occasion of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, we would like to invite you to take a look, using the example of the monument presenting Chopin in Park Monceau in Paris, at how in the fin de siècle epoch attempts were made to capture in plastic art the sound of music, the inspiration and emotions accompanying composition and piano playing. We take the opportunity to listen to the story behind the creation of this image of the Polish-French composer - a work whose realisation was accompanied by much controversy.

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Type of polonics: monument

Author: Jacques Froment-Meurice

Name: Monument to Frederic Chopin

Year of construction: 1906 (date of inauguration)

Location: Park Monceau (Paris)

Inscriptions: / CHOPIN 1810-1849 //.

(Soundless) iconography

In the monument to Frédéric Chopin located in Paris's Park Monceau, situated in the heart of Paris's 8th arrondissement, known for its Champs-Élysées, among other things, Jacques Froment-Meurice suggested the sound and emotion of playing and listening with several treatments. One of these was to show the Polish-French composer in concentration sitting at the piano keyboard. Another was the positioning of the winged Muse, giving the composer inspiration by scattering flowers (which are metaphors for sound) over his silhouette. Another is the introduction into the composition of a female figure - an allegory of Hearing - resting at the feet of the virtuoso, with her eyes covered by her hand as a sign of concentration on inner experience.

Mood (German: Stimmung)

The entire composition was kept in a melancholic tone, which corresponded to the vision of the monument's author, Froment-Meurice. Indeed, as the sculptor explained in a conversation with Henri de Wendel, published in the magazine 'Paris' on 19 December 1895, the image of Chopin - inspired by a photograph of the composer taken on the day of his death and by numerous sketches by Félix-Joseph Barrias and Eugène Delacroix - was intended to convey not so much a physical likeness as an aura accompanying the portrayed:

"I don't know if Chopin is fully similar, in every detail, and I don't want to know. What I am trying to convey is not the faithful reproduction of facial features, but the general expression, such as one sees above all through the imagination. I have not, of course, neglected documentation or life, but above all I have tried to show Chopin as he is seen by those who look at him through the prism of his work. For us, Chopin is the author of the 'Nocturnes' and the 'Funeral March'; he is a misty and melancholic writer, melancholic even in his waltzes. This is the kind of Chopin I have tried to portray'.

Background to the creation - an interest in the question of the affinity of the arts

Although Froment-Meurice's composition occupies a prestigious location in the landscape of the 8th arrondissement of Paris, probably no one has yet attempted to describe it from the perspective of the procedures employed by the artist to capture the 'impossible' of - sound extraction and listening. Nor has the realisation so far been analysed in the context of the problem of the affinity of the arts (Fr. correspondance), understood - according to Andrzej Pieńkos's definition - as 'attempts to make the structure of the arts similar, to take over the means of expression from one another, to build analogous modes of perception', which has been present in artistic practice for centuries. Meanwhile, it was during the period of the monument's creation - the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. - the period of the monument's creation - the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - marked the apogee of interest in this issue among artists, which found resonance in, among other things, the popularity of images of Chopin, already at that time counted among the most important Romantic composers.

History of the creation of the monument

The first public collection

In October 1894, the French pianist and composer F.-Henry Péru, a supposed pupil of Chopin's, announced in the pages of 'Le Petit Parisien' a public collection for the construction of a monument to Chopin. Soon, as a result of his actions, a committee was set up to build the monument, consisting of: Massenet, Armand Silvestre, Alfred Guilmant (organist), Georges Mathias (pianist), Philippe Maquet (music publisher), Aderer ('Temps'), Charles Darcours ('Figaro'), Juliens ('Débats'), with Grand as treasurer and the aforementioned Péru as delegated secretary.

In February 1895, the committee rejected a proposal for a sculpture by Cyprian Godebski and a bas-relief by Georges Dubois. The latter on the grounds that the formal conditions were not met - for it had been decided that the monument was to be a full-plastic composition. Damé and Jacques Froment-Meurice joined the competition. The works were deposited in the fine arts section of the town hall at the disposal of a committee made up of politicians and town councillors.

After deliberations, a resolution of 12 July 1895 designated the Park Monceau as the location of the Chopin monument, and entrusted its execution to Jacques Froment-Meurice. The decision was announced in the press. Soon Dubois, in the pages of the Revue rouge, questioned the choice, demanding that another (his own) design be realised.

The dispute over the form and author of the monument heated up among committee members, politicians, intellectuals and representatives of the artistic community prompted Péru to publish a statement in the January 1896 issue of the 'Petit Parisien' declaring that the competition had not been decided and that the collection had not been finalised.

In July 1897, the committee announced the name of the new contractor for the monument in the press. In response, Froment-Meurice took legal action in August of the same year, demanding recognition of his rights to the funds raised for the monument. The outcome of the proceedings at the time remains unknown.

Second public collection

In 1899, a second public collection was announced for the realisation of the Chopin monument, this time naming the author of the design, Georges Dubois. The funds raised during this subscription ultimately enabled the realisation of two sculptures - a bust of Chopin by Dubois in Luxembourg Park and a full-face sculpture by Froment-Meurice in Monceau Park. The latter monument was inaugurated on 19 July 1906. In the pages of Le Patriotisme of 22 July 1906, it commented:

"It seems to have become fashionable to make up for lost time by erecting two monuments instead of one to figures who have waited longer than was reasonable for this kind of tribute".