Some people have such an impact on our general heritage that they go into the history books as being true legends. Because of the language issue, many internationally-renowned names come from the United States or the United Kingdom – English being one of the most widespread languages, making English-speaking artists and other celebrities more prone to stardom. But every now and then, someone else reaches celebrity status. Actor, singer, director and much more Serge Gainsbourg is without a doubt one of them and soon, fans will be able to visit his Paris home.
Over thirty years have gone by since Gainsbourg passed away in 1991. Ever since then, his daughter and actress Charlotte Gainsbourg kept his Paris home as it was. That house became some kind of shrine to fans over the years, even though the public was never allowed to go inside. But as of September 2023, things are about to change.
“It’s his mansion, we’re not going to discover things about his work but the framework of his work. It’s him, his personality, it’s quite surprising. We have the image of artists who are in immense, luxurious spaces, but here it is relatively modest. At the beginning, it was the family house, with my mother, my sister, him and me. In my mother’s (Jane Birkin’s) time, there was very little, and then there was more and more of a very arranged mess. He turned it into a museum full of objects while he was alive, and it was hard to walk around without being afraid of breaking something”, Charlotte Gainsbourg told AFP in 2021.
Maison Gainsbourg
During the pandemic, she decided it was finally time to open the house to the public and so, things were put in motion. The house, called Maison Gainsbourg, will carry no less than 25.000 objects, from letters to his beloved piano behind which he composed many of his songs. Across the street, a museum, a book shop and a piano-café, Le Gainsbarre, will come to complete the museum’s set-up. Tickets for September until December 2023 are already on sale for those who want to be sure to grab a spot this year.
You can’t wait that long? You already want to be immerged in Gainsbourg’s universe as we speak? You can already grab a preview of some of the museum’s archives and pictures at the Bibliothèque publique d’information at the Centre Pompidou, also in Paris of course.
