Belle Époque Exhibition

The Villa du Temps retrouvé offers an immersive experience thanks to a 4D scenography featuring sights, sounds, smells, and interactive objects.

This project was made possible by showcasing more than 350 works and objects of all kinds: Paintings, drawings, furniture, photographs, sculptures, books, authentic clothing, and other various objects from the period borrowed from illustrious cultural institutions- notably La Réunion des Musées Métropolitains de Rouen, La Bibliothèque nationale de France and Le musée d’Orsay.

The greatest names of this golden age – particularly Jacques-Émile Blanche, Paul-César Helleu, Claude Debussy, Auguste Rodin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet – accompany the public in this enchanting and intimate place.

The selection of artwork and books will make you feel both the origins of the Proustian imagination as well as the culture of the Normandy coast during the Belle Époque: portraits alluding to important social figures in Marcel Proust’s social who stayed in the region. Scenes of beaches, fields, and cities show the social diversity and strong contrasts between the high society and the working-class population.