Fryderyk Chopin was among the first members of the Literary Society, the predecessor of the Historical and Literary Society, which looks after the legacy of the Polish composer deposited by his heirs at the Polish Library in Paris. One of the exhibition rooms of the institution located on the island of St Louis houses the Chopin Salon, created after 1945. Chopin Salon. The exhibition remains to this day the only permanent display dedicated to the composer in France.

History of the memorial chamber

Since its opening, the exhibition in the Chopin Salon has presented a section of the collection from the library's collection, including manuscripts, letters, musical autographs, memorabilia and works of art relating to the composer's life and achievements. Until recently, the interior of the Salon bore the marks of the 1927 reconstruction of the library, and its arrangement consisted of 'random furniture and display cases from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries' (A. Niewęgłowski). However, the room was redecorated in 2010 for the 200th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's birth, on the model of the composer's last flat on Place Vendôme. The space was recreated on the basis of a watercolour by Teofil Kwiatkowski.

New arrangement

The reconstruction, carried out by the Polish Library in Paris, included the restoration of the jacquards, the pattern of the wallpaper (as described by Fryderyk Chopin in a letter to Julian Fontana), the purchase of a fireplace made of white Carrara marble, and a Rococo clock, candlesticks and Vieux Paris vases from the 19th century. Thanks to the reconstruction of the room's original colours, as well as its arrangement with a Pleyel grand piano from 1845 and a mahogany armchair presented to the musician by Princess Czartoryska, visitors can feel the atmosphere of a belle époque salon. The memorabilia on display in the glass cases include a lock of hair, a cast of the composer's hand and his death mask made by the French sculptor August Clésinger, the author of Chopin's tombstone at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The décor is complemented by a copy of Chopin's portrait by Eugene Delacroix, watercolours by Kwiatkowski and sculptural busts depicting the composer by various artists.