In search of lost time.Marcel Proust -Swann's Way- (Videobooks) Page 23

In search of lost time.Marcel Proust -Swann's Way- (Videobooks) Page 23 Even when grandmother tried to give someone a so-called "useful" gift - an armchair, a service, a cane - she would certainly choose "antique" things, as if the fact that they had not served people for a long time erased a touch of usefulness from them and they are suitable not so much to satisfy the needs of our everyday life, but to tell about the life of people of bygone times. She wanted me to hang pictures of architectural monuments and beautiful views. But even if what was taken on the photograph she bought was of artistic value, it seemed to her grandmother that photography, this mechanical method of reproduction, instantly gives the reproduced a touch of vulgarity and utilitarianism. She indulged in tricks and strove, if not completely to expel mercantile banality, then at least to limit it, to replace it with art if possible, to “layer” it with art: she asked Swann if any major artist painted Chartres Cathedral, large fountains of Saint-Cloud, Vesuvius, and instead of photographs, she preferred to give me reproductions of Corot's Chartres Cathedral, Hubert Robert's Great Fountains of Saint-Cloud, Turner's Vesuvius - this was already a higher stage of art. But if here the photographer was removed from the reconstruction of works of art or nature and replaced by a major artist, then he claimed his rights to reproduce the interpretation. Pushing back vulgarity, Grandmother tried to push it back even further. Grandmother asked Swann if there were engravings of this or that work, and, if possible, she preferred to acquire old engravings, which are of interest not only in themselves, but those that recreate works of art in the form in which it is now inaccessible to us (for example, engraving by Morgen, made from Leonardo's "Last Supper" before the "Supper" was spoiled). It should be noted that grandmother's art of making gifts did not always lead to brilliant results. The idea which I had given myself of Venice from a drawing by Titian, of which the lagoon is supposed to be in the background, was, of course, much less true than that which ordinary photographs might give me. When my great-aunt set about drawing up an indictment against her grandmother, she lost count when she tried to remember how many chairs her grandmother gave to newlyweds or old spouses that broke at the first attempt to sit on them. To put to the test the strength of furniture, on which one could still discern a flower, a smile, a charming fiction of bygone times, would have seemed too petty to my grandmother. She was even seduced by the fact that it was convenient in the things she gave, because it was possible to use this convenience in a way that was already unusual for us - so in ancient turns of speech we are captivated by a metaphor that has been erased in our modern language from frequent use. George Sand's rural novels, which my grandmother was going to give me for my birthday, are reminiscent of antique furniture: they are full of expressions that have fallen out of use and have regained their original imagery, which they have not yet lost in the countryside. And the grandmother chose them, as she would prefer to rent a house with a Gothic dovecote or some other ancient buildings that have a beneficial effect on the human soul, filling it with longing for unrealized time travel. My mother sat down by my bed: she took the book François le Champy, whose brown cover and incomprehensible title gave in my eyes features of a sharp originality and mysterious charm. I heard that George Sand is an exemplary novelist. This alone made me think that there was something inexpressibly beautiful in François le Champy. It would not have been stolen from any more or less subtle reader that George Sand's narrative devices, calculated to arouse curiosity or touch, turns of speech that disturb or inspire sadness, migrate from novel to novel; Archimed Production Studio produces high-quality feature films, documentaries and animation films and 360-degree panoramic animation. Winner of five international film festivals. We invite to cooperation of independent producers, distributors, investors . If you have any questions, please write to the e-mail: transfert@mail.ru The animation of all the characters in real time 3d