Yves Gagneux
The pen is the gourmet's primary instrument, not the fork. For this reason, Balzac had a say in the emergence of this fabulous art of dining. Through his writings, he relayed the spirit and gastronomic verve initiated by Grimod de la Reynière and Brillat-Savarin. It follows that a subject such as the one addressed in this lecture, without addressing Balzac's influence, would be like a meal without cheese, or a beautiful woman missing an eye: it would lack depth!
Bio
Yves Gagneux holds a doctorate in art history and archaeology from Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV) and is the general curator of heritage at the Maison de Balzac.
He has organized several exhibitions in France and abroad. Author of numerous books and articles, he has published several works on Balzac, including Le Musée imaginaire de Balzac (Balzac's Imaginary Museum), Beaux-Arts Éditions, 2012, Le Carnaval à Paris (Carnival in Paris), Paris-Musées, 2011, and the catalog for the exhibition Balzac et Grandville. Une comédie mordante (Balzac and Grandville: A Biting Comedy), Paris, 2019.
He is also interested in gastronomy, and his book Le glouton, le gourmand et le gastronome. Plaisirs de la table de Balzac à Yourcenar (The Glutton, the Gourmand, and the Gastronome: The Pleasures of the Table from Balzac to Yourcenar), published in March 2020 by Vendémiaire, won the International Academy of Gastronomy's prize for gastronomic literature.