Maison Gainsbourg

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Maison Gainsbourg
La maison de Serge Gainsbourg (auteur-compositeur-interprete et cineaste francais mondialment connu).JPG
The exterior of Maison Gainsbourg on rue de Verneuil
Paris department location map 2.svg
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Location within Paris
EstablishedSeptember 2023
Location5 bis (residence),
14 bis (museum and bar),
rue de Verneuil
7th arrondissement, Paris, France
Coordinates 48°51′26″N2°19′54″E / 48.85712°N 2.331608°E / 48.85712; 2.331608
TypeHistoric house museum
DirectorAnatole Maggiar [1]
CuratorSébastien Merlet [2]
Website maisongainsbourg.fr

Maison Gainsbourg is a house museum in Paris dedicated to French musician Serge Gainsbourg. It comprises Gainsbourg's residence at 5 bis rue de Verneuil, preserved as it appeared on 2 March 1991, the day Gainsbourg died there; [3] and a museum, library, bookstore, and piano bar called the Gainsbarre at 14 bis rue de Verneuil. [1] It opened in September 2023. [1]

Contents

History

Gainsbourg bought the house at 5 bis in 1969, the year he and Jane Birkin recorded "Je t'aime... moi non plus." [1] [4] Gainsbourg and Birkin lived there until separating in 1980. [3] [4] Gainsbourg had called the residence his "maison-musée" ("house-museum"). [2]

After Gainsbourg died in 1991, the home stayed closed for over 30 years. [4] Its exterior became covered with graffiti. [3] Gainsbourg's daughter Charlotte owns and preserved the residence. [3] [4]

The house

The house at 5 bis appears as it did on 2 March 1991, the day Gainsbourg died. [2] [3] The 130-square-metre (1,400 sq ft) [1] house is dark, with black felt covering the walls. [2] [3]

The house holds roughly 25,000 items, [4] including antique furniture, gold records, cigarette packs, framed spiders, surgical tools, police badges, and the Steinway piano where Gainsbourg composed. [1] [3] [4] Artwork depicts his muses, including Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Gréco, Françoise Hardy, Vanessa Paradis, and Birkin. [4]

Visitors enter in pairs at timed intervals. [1] They wear headphones playing an audio guide narrated by Charlotte Gainsbourg in French and English, backed by archival sounds. [1]

Museum and bar

The building at 14 bis rue de Verneuil houses a museum and piano bar, the Gainsbarre, which presents a visual timeline of Gainsbourg's life and career. [2] The collection includes letters, photographs, lyrics written by Gainsbourg, an original "La Marseillaise" draft by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, and the sculpture L'Homme à tête de chou by Claude Lalanne. [1] [3] A basement space hosts temporary exhibitions. [1] Jacques Garcia designed the museum and bar in the house's aesthetic. [1] [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Serafin, Amy (20 September 2023). "Maison Gainsbourg Opens in Paris, Filled with Serge Gainsbourg's Stories". Wallpaper. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bennett, Catherine (25 September 2023). "Serge Gainsbourg's Haunted House Embalms His Mystique". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cohen, Roger (25 September 2023). "Time Stands Still in Serge Gainsbourg's Paris Lair". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Burshtein, Karen (4 October 2023). "Serge Gainsbourg's Legendary House Has Reopened as a Time Capsule Frozen in Time". Elle Decor. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
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