It is thanks to the Carouge painter Émile Chambon (1905-1993) that the Museum of Carouge came into being in 1984, on the occasion of a sizeable donation of his paintings. The reopening of this institution is an appropriate time to pay tribute to this leading artistic figure from Geneva, who was celebrated by his contemporaries and whose works continue to be acquired by the collectors today.

The French writer Louise de Vilmorin (1902-1969) is known for her poems and novels such as Madame de, Julietta and L’Heure maliciôse, but also for her relationships, friendly or romantic, with certain intellectual and worldly figures of the day. She came to Geneva regularly to join her friends. In 1961, when visiting Émile Chambon’ studio, the writer felt an instant artistic attraction to the painter. The meeting – which was supposed to last only a few minutes – went on and on, and a true friendship, nourished by admiration and respect, was born from this encounter. Louise de Vilmorin bought works from the artist and wrote a complimentary preface for the painter’s catalogue of his exhibition at the Galerie Motte in Paris, presented at her instigation and crowned with success. Over the years, and until the death of the ‘Dame de Verrières’ in 1969, these two intellectual figures, lovers of culture, sensibility and elegance, of mythology, stories and mystery, exchanged letters, works and thoughts. The exhibition celebrates the fruitful friendship between these two beings, their artistic tastes and common references. It displays Chambon’s paintings in relation with the writer’s texts, and highlights their shared interest in certain themes: painting and words complement each other in perfect harmony.

It is in the heart of a Museum of Carouge embellished by its recent renovation that we invite you to (re)discover the talents of Louise de Vilmorin and Émile Chambon, two artists united by the constant need to create and to nourish their spirit with encounters and beauty.