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The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France

The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-05-09 18:31:08
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：James McAuley
  • ISBN：B08Z3254LP
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Summary

In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II， a number of prominent French Jews—pillars of an embattled community—invested their fortunes in France’s cultural artifacts， sacrificed their sons to the country’s army， and were ultimately rewarded by seeing their collections plundered and their families deported to Nazi concentration camps。

In this rich， evocative account， James McAuley explores the central role that art and material culture played in the assimilation and identity of French Jews in the fin-de-siècle。 Weaving together narratives of various figures， some familiar from the works of Marcel Proust and the diaries of Jules and Edmond Goncourt—the Camondos， the Rothschilds， the Ephrussis， the Cahens d'Anvers—McAuley shows how Jewish art collectors contended with a powerful strain of anti-Semitism: they were often accused of “invading” France’s cultural patrimony。 The collections these families left behind—many ultimately donated to the French state—were their response， tragic attempts to celebrate a nation that later betrayed them。

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Reviews

Mandy ，

This is a truly fascinating and meticulously researched account of the great Jewish families of France between about 1870 until the end of WWII and their art collecting。 The Camondos， the Rothschilds， the Ephrussi and others were all enormously wealthy and dedicated to collecting priceless treasures from France’s past to not only decorate and furnish their homes but to bequeath them to the nation after their deaths。 They all felt themselves to be assimilated into French society but the truth was This is a truly fascinating and meticulously researched account of the great Jewish families of France between about 1870 until the end of WWII and their art collecting。 The Camondos， the Rothschilds， the Ephrussi and others were all enormously wealthy and dedicated to collecting priceless treasures from France’s past to not only decorate and furnish their homes but to bequeath them to the nation after their deaths。 They all felt themselves to be assimilated into French society but the truth was very different。 A deep vein of anti-Semitism pervaded French society and this meant they were never truly accepted as equals。 They wanted to contribute to France’s cultural patrimony but as I read on through this book I began to realise just why this was never going to be possible。 And this was the aspect of the story that horrified and shocked me the most。 I hadn’t realised just how virulent anti-Semitism was in France and just how vile cultural critic Edouard Drumont’s views were， even though we know how complicit many French were in the Holocaust。 Before Hitler， Drumont was the most virulent anti-Semite in Europe and his views were tragically very influential。 I hadn’t heard the term “aesthetic anti-Semitism” before but he attacked all the families portrayed in this book， by name， and was the most vocal proponent of the idea that Jews could never have an appreciation of art and that therefore their valuable collections were somehow bogus。 The book is multi-layered， exploring not only the families’ lives and destinies， but also exploring the very concept of collecting， the psychology of it and what it meant in particular to this group of people。 We as readers know how it is all going to end but they didn’t， and as such the poignancy of their lives affected me deeply。 The collections they made seemed to them to be contributing to French culture but the country they cared about betrayed them。 Many excellent images are included to enhance the text and I only wish there had been more of them。 All in all， a powerful and important work of scholarship and cultural history。 。。。more

Laura Lee ，

3。5*'In the end， this was a rarefied elite that collected beautiful things while the world collapsed around them。''it turned out that he was nostalgic only for the eighteenth century， a world he had never seen。 The world he had seen， the storied past of the Camondo， he could do without。'In #TheHouseofFragileThings McAuley discusses the life and collections of a number of the wealthy and prominent Jewish families living in France in the late 19th Century up until the Second World War， drawing on 3。5*'In the end， this was a rarefied elite that collected beautiful things while the world collapsed around them。''it turned out that he was nostalgic only for the eighteenth century， a world he had never seen。 The world he had seen， the storied past of the Camondo， he could do without。'In #TheHouseofFragileThings McAuley discusses the life and collections of a number of the wealthy and prominent Jewish families living in France in the late 19th Century up until the Second World War， drawing on the psychology of collecting within the context of this uncertain period and their Jewishness。 I love the history of consumer culture and was pleased to find that McAuley is not limiting in his analyses of these collectors and their differing psychologies of collecting， instead being a great proponent of the idea that these individuals were not homogenous。 He examines collecting as identity construction; performance of gender identity/roles; as demonstration of the compatibility of Jewishness and Frenchness; as a means to retain a sense of control; and as emotional comfort or personal salvation。 His argument around the distinct nature of a French 'material antisemitism' was also particularly interesting。 The passion McAuley has dedicated to his research and ambition of writing a social history of the people rather than an account of just their objects and death is evident in the prominence he gives to their correspondence and personal but very unifying agonies。 Obviously， set against the backdrop of two world wars and the Holocaust， this is a very painful but impassioned read at times， with a Father's endeavour to attain his son's remains， or Beatrice Camondo's near vanishing from the history of her own collection。 As with a lot of non-fiction I found that certain chapters / subject matter appealed to me more than others and it did take me a little while to sink into the structure where we jump backwards and forwards in time quite a bit as we look at each family case study。 Certain sections did feel a little overlong and repetitive but McAuley makes up for this with the truly gut-punching or beautiful moments。 I had expected a bit more detail on the specific items within the collections （and would have enjoyed more images）， but as mentioned earlier I do appreciate the ambition to prioritise the people over the objects。 It is perhaps a good idea to keep this in mind before picking this up - this is not a story about Nazis stealing art and persecuting these Jewish families， but more a story of the personal courage and meaning held in their collections。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0