Things and the stories that tell about the people who once collected them, held them in their hands, passed them on and found them again are the focus of the exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna. It examines the fate of the Ephrussi family, who originated from Russia, and their voluntary and involuntary travels between Russia, Austria, France, Great Britain, Spain, the USA, Mexico, Japan and other countries. On the basis of selected objects, documents and pictures, the economic and social development of a European-Jewish family, whose descendants now live scattered throughout the world as a result of flight and expulsion during the Nazi era, is traced. Works once belonging to the family can be found today in international museums and art collections. These recall the former owners and their relationships with the artistic and intellectual circles of that time in Odessa, St. Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London, Madrid and other places.

At the heart of the exhibition is the Ephrussi Family Archives, donated to the Jewish Museum by the De Waal family, as well as 157 netsukes the family will loan to the museum.

Curators: Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz, Tom Juncker
Exhibition design: Schuberth und Schuberth

#Ephrussi