A Talent

From Melchior, Cardinal de Polignac and brilliant collector in the 17th century to Constance, Princess de Polignac, singing and music passionate, revolver shooting champion, lover of parachute jumping and today president of the Polignac Foundations, the Polignac didn’t only content themselves with contributing to France’s history.

Along the centuries, they have been particularly opened to general and human interest. Thus, they have demonstrated a talent in developing a spirit of encounters and exchange,
in financially supporting the arts, music and all types of self-accomplishments. In the past, it was through their Salons. Today, it is through their Foundations.

The art patronage, particularly turned towards music, has always occupied a recurring place in this great family’s history, and has played a determinant role during the XIXth and XXth century. The Princesses Edmond and Jean de Polignac perfectly illustrate this fact. Each of them, in their salon and in their own manner, managed to detect talents
and geniuses and to encourage, through commissions and tributes, the creation of outstanding works.

Indeed, Winnaretta, Princess Edmond de Polignac, being herself a musician, painter and writer, commissioned Ravel, who was unknown and 21 years old at the time, to compose a piece. His “Pavane for a Dead Princess” ended up touring the world.

Concerning Marie-Blanche, Countess Jean de Polignac, pianist and singer, Jean Cocteau declared that she had for the work of others, an ideal attentiveness and a creative interest that made her salon the place “giving birth to various pieces of music”. This praise illustrates a fundamental aspect of the Polignac family’s patronage. They are for promoting talents and encouraging the creation of works as well as being artists themselves.