The Small Hare and His Famous Destiny BY IDA SALAMON n the current exhibition, “THE EPHRUSSIS. TRAVEL IN TIME,” Ithe Jewish Museum Vienna relays the saga of the Family Ephrussi based on the bestseller, “The Hare with Amber Eyes,” authored by Edmund de Waal, a descendent. Exhibition View at the Jewish Museum Vienna "THE EPHRUSSIS. TRAVEL IN TIME" © JMW/wulz.cc 12 ART MARKET MAGAZINE 13 The Small Hare and His Famous Destiny BY IDA SALAMON Recumbent hare with raised forepaw, signed Masatoshi / ivory, eyes inlaid in amber coloured buffalo horn / Osaka, Japan, ca. 1880, de Waal family © JMW/wulz.cc collection At the opening of the exhibition: Doris Schmidauer, Wife of the President Edmund de Wall, Artist and Author, Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria © JMW/wulz.cc The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010) is a family The eponymous little hare has Stretching Eji, memoir by British ceramicist Edmund de unsigned / ivory already become familiar to Waal. De Waal tells the story of his family, / Japan, 1800, over 1.5 million readers. Now the Ephrussi, once a very wealthy European de Waal family through mid-April, visitors to collection Jewish banking dynasty, centered in Odessa, the Jewish Museum Vienna Vienna and Paris, and peers of the Rothschild can personally admire the family. delicate, ivory rabbit featured in a showcase at the core of The Ephrussis lost almost everything in 1938 the display. The exhibit traces when the Nazis Aryanized their property. the rise of one of the most Even after the war, the family failed to recover important European Jewish most of its extensive property, including families, from their origin priceless artwork. as grain traders and then However, an easily hidden collection of 264 bankers seated in the southern Japanese netsuke miniature sculptures part of the Russian Empire, was saved, tucked away inside a mattress in Odessa, as it relocates to by Anna, a loyal maid at Palais Ephrussi in Vienna and becomes rooted Vienna during the war years. in its bourgeois society. The The collection has been passed down book vividly depicts the social through five generations of the Ephrussi and economic challenges family, providing a common thread for the and accomplishments of the story of its fortunes from 1871 to 2009. family and their life in the magnificent Palais Ephrussi until 1938. 14 ART MARKET MAGAZINE 15 © JMW/wulz.cc Exhibition View at the Jewish Museum Vienna "THE EPHRUSSIS. NETSUKES AS LEITMOTIF TRAVEL IN TIME" © JMW/wulz.cc The centerpiece of this exhibit is the family archive of the Ephrussis, on loan to the Jewish Museum by With the opening of this important the De Waal family, along with 157 chestnut, elm, exhibition, the little hare along with and ivory netsukes (pronounced net-ske). 156 other Japanese miniature carvings De Waal, a British artist, and best-selling author, as return to Vienna. The remaining netsuke well as heir to the figurines, tells movingly how he, (the original collection totaled 264) were 40 years ago, in jeans and long hair, entered the auctioned off with the proceeds going apartment of his great uncle Ignaz Ephrussi in Tokyo: to a refugee relief organization. This was “I met this elegant Austrian Hungarian baron in a also the first time since World War II that beautiful suit and a bow tie. He gave me a kiss on one members of the Ephrussi/De Waal family cheek and then another and my first whiskey sour at returned to Vienna for the opening of the age of 17”. the exhibition. “At least 41 members In the library, Edmund first saw the little Japanese of my dear family came from all over the world to tell that we still belong in figurines and learned from his uncle the fascinating Vienna”, remarked Edmund de Waal in story behind them. Throughout his book, the his opening speech. figures serve as a leitmotif, which we see displayed in the museum in this “beautiful and extraordinary Chinese savants, Edmund and Victor de Waal exhibition,” as per the author born in Nottingham in signed Masahiro Alexander Van der Bellen, 1964. / ivory / Japan, President of Austria ca. 1880, de Waal Danielle Spera, Director of the Jewish family collection Museum Vienna © JMW/wulz.cc 16 ART MARKET MAGAZINE 17 © JMW/wulz.cc Top Right: Male tiger looking over its shoulder, signed Toyokazu / inlaid buffalo horn eyes with bored pupils / Upon entering the exhibit, in the first gallery, one is Tamba, Japan, ca. 1820, de Waal family introduced to Edmund de Waal’s “Vigil,” an artwork collection. © JMW/wulz.cc consisting of 18 porcelain vessels. This is where you embark on your journey in Time, from its very All images courtesy of the Jewish Museum Vienna © JMW/wulz.cc beginning on a wide boulevard in Odessa. “Stories have weight and shape,” says Edmund de Waal, “they have agency in the world. What you do with the story, how you hold it, how you handle it, how seriously you take it, and how you - in the end - pass it on, it is a huge responsibility”. This story took him and his brother Thomas to Odessa, to Paris, to Vienna and back to Tokyo in an effort to trace family letters, photographs, and places. De Waal tells this incredible story in his book while the Jewish Museum exhibit illustrates this moving tale. “The Ephrussis. Travel in Time”, curated by Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz and Tom Juncker, can be seen through April 13, 2020, at the Jewish Museum Vienna. Artisan splitting a gourd, signed Shugetsu / wood, with inlaid ivory wedge and himotoshi rings / Tokyo, Japan, ca. 1880, de Waal family collection. © JMW/wulz.cc 18 ART MARKET MAGAZINE 19 "THE EPHRUSSIS. TRAVEL IN TIME" "THE EPHRUSSIS. TRAVEL IN TIME" THE STORY OF A FAMILY THE STORY OF A FAMILY In 1869, Ignaz Ephrussi commissioned Theophil Hansen, The exhibition retraces the standing, the Ephrussis were the favorite architect of the path of the Ephrussi family not immune to rising anti- Viennese bourgeoisie, to erect a and their voluntary and Semitism and the ills of two mansion at Franzensring 24, today involuntary travels between world wars. Universitätsring 14. The architect Russia, Austria, France, Great The story after 1938 paid special attention to the design Britain, Spain, the USA, ultimately tells of the robbery of the Belle Étage with a separate Mexico, Japan, and other of the Ephrussi assets by the stairwell for the house owner and his countries. On the basis of National Socialist regime, family. selected objects, documents, of the family’s expulsion The representation rooms were and pictures, the economic from Vienna, of life in exile, designed as a complete work of art and social development of and of the family’s efforts and planned down to the smallest a European-Jewish family, to bring about restitution, detail. The paintings in the ballroom whose descendants now live the proceedings of which are dedicated to the biblical story of scattered throughout the continue to this day. Esther, perhaps as Ignaz Ephrussi’s world as a result of flight and acknowledgment of his Jewish family expulsion, is depicted. A VIENNESE FAMILY history. Portrait of Therese Ephrussi, At the heart of the exhibition Pierre-Auguste Renoir is the Ephrussi Family Chaim Joachim Ephrussi and © Private property A FAMILY IN EXILE Archives, donated to the his sons, Ignaz and Leon, Jewish Museum Vienna by were excellent networkers In March 1939, Viktor Ephrussi the De Waal family, as well as who soon extended their succeeded in fleeing to his daughter, 157 netsukes provided by the business empire beyond the Elisabeth de Waal, who lived in family as a long-term loan to borders of Russia. In 1857, Great Britain. The family settled the museum. Joachim Ephrussi founded a in Tunbridge Wells, where Viktor trading house in Vienna with Ephrussi died on March 12, 1945. In A EUROPEAN FAMILY the permission of the Russian his will he revoked the renunciation authorities. His younger of his possessions in Vienna, which The Ephrussis left their son, Ignaz, moved his main he had been coerced to sign by the mark all over Europe and residence to the capital of Gestapo. Following the death of her later around the world: In the Habsburg Empire, while father, Elisabeth de Waal established Odessa, from where the the elder son, Leon, ran the a new life with her family in the U.K. family’s economic and social company in Odessa. Through They converted to the Church of advancement began. In Ignaz Ephrussi’s marriage to England, and their eldest son, Victor Vienna, where the family Emilia Porges, the Ephrussis de Waal, later embarked on a career further expanded their social sealed their affiliation with as an Anglican priest. He was Dean of Both brothers joined the U.S. Army Emmy Ephrussi © The Jewish Museum Vienna position and their network, the old-established Jewish Canterbury from 1976 to 1986 and is following the country’s entry into married into Viennese society, families of Vienna. In 1871, active in refugee aid today. World War II, and returned to Europe and inscribed themselves Emperor Franz Joseph Ignaz “Iggie” Ephrussi left his as soldiers. Rudolph Ephrussi in the city’s history with the granted the Russian citizen hometown of Vienna before the received the Bronze Star Medal for building of Palais Ephrussi. Ignaz Ephrussi a hereditary “Anschluss” in 1938. After spending outstanding achievement in combat; In Paris, where Charles title of nobility for his time in Paris and Frankfurt, he went his brother Iggie took part in the Ephrussi, art patron and art services to the city of Vienna. to the United States in 1934, where he landing of the Allies in Normandy in collector, inspired Marcel However, Ignaz’s son, Viktor worked as a fashion designer.