The story begins when Bordas asked Olivier Bernex to buy back unsold copies of the critical edition of Rousseau's text compiled by his father, Raymond Bernex. This filial devotion turns into an artistic and intellectual epic. The words and ideas of the philosopher touched and inspired the painter. The story of the ten walks in Rêveries gave rise to a first series of ten large-format paintings. Other walks, other pictorial and intellectual approaches. The exhibition is organized into four sections: the first, “Promenades”, traces the biography of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Olivier Bernex. It looks at the publishing history of the “Reveries of the Solitary Walker”, written between 1773 and 1775 but not published posthumously until 1782. Alongside the philosopher's manuscripts, we find Olivier Bernex's ten two-by-two-meter canvases illustrating each of the ten walks. The second section, “On foot”, evokes both the pleasure and the necessity of walking. Jean-Jacques Rousseau walked a great deal in his life, covering more than 20,000 kilometers. Firstly, out of financial necessity, since travelling on foot cost nothing and gave him time to reflect. Secondly, for pleasure and the pleasure of thinking. Olivier Bernex also takes daily walks in the mountainous hills of Marseille's hinterland, where he has lived since 1976. This daily walk is an opportunity to sketch on the spot and take notes on his reflections. The third section, “En soi” (“In oneself”), shows a form of introspection prompted by walking. The ten walks in Rousseau's musings are an opportunity for the philosopher, in the twilight of his life, to reminisce about his own life. Freed from the burden of self-justification that contaminated the writing of the Confessions, he now writes solely for the pleasure of recollection and the sense of existence that has always guided him. Olivier Bernex also shows himself unvarnished in his paintings, in his studio cluttered with empty pots. The fourth section, La dixième promenade des Rêveries, speaks of their idyll, the short happiness of his life at Les Charmettes, and the gratitude he feels for the woman who welcomed and trained him in his youth. In his works, Olivier Bernex associates the poppy with amorous passion and eroticism.
Ouverture
From 01/06 to 21/09/2025, daily between 10 am and 5 pm.
Tarifs
Full price: from 9 €.
Free for under-25s and EU citizens.
Contact et accès
Allée du Château
01210 Ferney-Voltaire
Ain (1)
