The exhibition 'Romantic Life. Chopin, Scheffer, Delacroix, Sand' is a story about art and music, friendship, emotion and memory.

Its protagonists are artists who lived close to each other for several years in the Parisian district of New Athens (Nouvelle Athènes), befriending and inspiring each other. The heart of this community was the Paris atelier of the famous Romantic painter Ary Scheffer - today the home of the Museum of Romantic Life. The atelier on Chaptal Street was where all the main protagonists of the exhibition met: Frédéric Chopin, George Sand, Pauline Viardot and Eugène Delacroix, as well as many Poles living in Paris at the time, including the poet Zygmunt Krasiński and his wife Elisabeth.

The first part of the exhibition Ary Scheffer's Studio in Paris introduces the atmosphere of this extraordinary place. The second is devoted to Romantic themes found in art throughout Europe. The ballad genre, found in painting, literature and music alike, has a special place here. At the heart of this space is the unique manuscript of Fryderyk Chopin's Ballade in F minor, Op. 52.

The Romantic Circle, meanwhile, tells the story of the closest friends of the famous artistic couple, George Sand and Frédéric Chopin. Their life together took place in Paris, but also at Nohant, the writer's family estate. Their stays at the country house were a time of relaxation among nature and domestic animals, lively discussions about art and music, but also intensive creative work.

Friendship and the cultivation of interpersonal bonds are important markers of the eponymous 'romantic life'. In the section entitled Souvenirs, the exhibition shows the ways in which the memory of loved ones or famous people of the time was kept alive, reflected in hand and foot casts, friendship albums and jewellery made from hair.

We invite you to immerse yourself in the mysterious world of Romanticism, to marvel at the beauty of art and music, and to reflect on friendship and memory, which bind people together with unbreakable bonds, regardless of the passing of time.

We would like to thank the management of the Paris Musées for the opportunity to present selected objects from the collection of the Museum of Romantic Life to visitors to the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw.
[Seweryn Kuter and Urszula Król - authors of the exhibition].