Les Contes de Camondo

In the mid-nineteenth century the Turkish-Jewish family of bankers de Camondo moved from Istanbul to Paris, where they became avid art collectors (today, the Musée d’Orsay houses many of their paintings).

Moïse, the son, married and had two children, but it was not long before his wife left him. He raised the little ones on his own, in the stunningly beautiful house by the Parc Monceau that he had built around his ever-expanding collection.

He adored his son Nissim, and when the young man joined the air force during WWI, he feared for the worst. On September 5th 1017, his nightmare became reality. Moïse was inconsolable. He died of grief in 1935, leaving his entire collection plus his house to the French State, on condition that the house would become a museum in memory of his son.

His daughter, her husband and their two children were murdered in Auschwitz.

Rudolf Lucieer is Moïse de Camondo, David Lucieer is Nissim.

63 Rue Monceau. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
Le Bassin Bleu. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
L’Escalier. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
Le discours. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
Le Corridor. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
La Décision. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
L’Adieu. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
La Salle de Bain de Nissim. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
Les Têtes. from the series Les Contes de Camondo
Seule au Salon. from the series Les Contes de Camondo

Paris – Amsterdam, 2012 © photography Bettiena Drukker.