The Nissim de Camondo Museum in Paris, France, is a museum dedicated to French decorative arts from the 18th century. It is named after Nissim de Camondo, a member of a prominent Sephardic Jewish family originally from Venice that became wealthy and influential during the Ottoman Empire. The Camondo family eventually relocated to France, where they continued their banking business and became significant philanthropists and art collectors.
The museum is actually housed in the Camondo family’s former residence, a grand mansion located near Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The house was built between 1911 and 1914 by Nissim’s father, Moise de Camondo, who was an avid collector of 18th-century French furniture and decorative arts. The house was designed in the style of the Petit Trianon in Versailles, and it served both as a home and a suitable setting for his art collection.
Tragedy struck the family when Nissim de Camondo, who was Moise’s only son, was killed during World War I in 1917. Following this, Moise decided to leave his house and his collection to the French state as a museum in his son’s name. After Moise’s death in 1935, the house became the Musée Nissim de Camondo, opening to the public in 1936.
Further tragedy was to come during World War II, when Moise’s daughter, Béatrice, along with her husband and their two children, were deported to Auschwitz, where they were killed. As such, Moise and Nissim were the last of the Camondo family.
Today, the museum is managed by Les Arts Décoratifs, a private organization in France dedicated to promoting the decorative arts. The collection remains largely as Moise left it, providing a fascinating insight into the tastes of a wealthy collector in the early 20th century.
The museum includes a large collection of French furniture and decorative objects from the second half of the 18th century, porcelain from Sèvres and China, gold and silver objects, and several paintings by the likes of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and Jean-Baptiste Oudry.
63 Rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris, France
