Replay Event: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France

In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II, a number of prominent French Jews—some familiar from the works of Marcel Proust and the diaries of Jules and Edmond Goncourt—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.

On June 6, James McAuley and Edmund de Waal joined us at Albertine to discuss this powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction. The conversation was moderated by Director of the Department of Heritage and Collections at the Musée National de la Céramique de Sèvres, Charlotte Vignon.

In order to support Albertine during these challenging times, we would greatly appreciate it if you purchased a copy of McAuley’s The House of Fragile Things  or Edmund de Waal’s Letters to Camondo  with us.