Hare with Amber Eyes, The ~ Edmund de Waal ~ February Book Club Online

[JoanP]

 The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

the HARE with AMBER EYES
A FAMILY'S CENTURY OF ART AND LOSS
by EDMUND de WAAL

"In The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of a remarkable family and a tumultuous century. Sweeping yet intimate, it is a highly original meditation on art, history, and family, as elegant and precise as the netsuke themselves.When the Nazis took over Vienna, the family's loyal maid Anna simply hid these miniature works of art in her mattress, some 264 pieces depicting turtles and tigers and rats, a boy with a helmet and samurai sword, a naked woman and an octopus, a hare with amber eyes. Edmund de Waal eventually inherited the collection, and it serves to link the various parts of his story as he traces how the netsuke pass from one family member to the next."  Edmund de Waal click to enlarge

                                                                                                                       

Discussion Schedule: Feb. 1-3       Prologue Feb. 4-8       Part One ~ Paris ~ 1871-1899 Feb. 9-13 Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938 Feb. 14-18    Part Three ~ Vienna ~ 1938-1947 Feb. 19-23    Part Four ~ Tokyo ~ 1947-2001 Feb. 24-28    Coda ~ Tokyo, Odessa, London ~ 2009

For Your Consideration
February 9-13
Part Two ~ Vienna ~ 1899-1938

12. Die potemkinsche Stadt
How does de Waal react to Vienna? What did the architect Adolf Loos mean when he said that the Ringstrasse was nothing but a hugh pretense? How does de Waal compare the netsuke with Vienna?

13.Zionstrasse
Why is Ringstrasse referred to as Zionstrasse? What is the "little bit of Zion" on Zionstrasse? What is your impression of Ignace?

14. History as it happens
What was Victor's upbringing and education? How was his brother and sister raised? How was the anti-Semitism in Vienna different from that in Paris?

15. "A large square box such as children draw"
How does the life Emmy and her family had in Kovecses (in the house that was "a large square box such as children draw") differ from de Waal's view of "Vienna as a crucible of the twentieth century" motif? What do you think of the small white suede book of pen-and-ink drawings of Emmy's family members?

16. Liberty Hall
How does de Waal describe the pattern of Emmy and Victor's lives? What is the life of Kovecses, in "Liberty Hall?" How are Charles and Ignace remembered in their obituaries?

17. History as it happens
What do we learn about Emmy and about Victor and their floor of the mansion? How do they compare with Charles? Where are the netsuke kept?

18. The sweet young thing
How is life for the children described? When do they see their mother? What details struck you? When do they play with the netsuke?

19. Once upon a time
How do the children play with the netsuke? What is the role of storytelling in their lives with their mother?

20. Heil Wein! Heil Berlin!
How does de Waal contrast the lives of Victor's family against the events surrounding the War? What are Elizabeth's aspirations?

21. Literally zero
What are some of the losses experienced by Viktor and his family after the war?

22. You must change your life
How did Elizabeth change her life? What do we learn of her love of poetry, "the world of things hard and defined and alive, made lyrical"?

23. Eldorado 5-0050
We catch up with the lives of Viktor, Emmy and their children. Do any of the details surprise you?

Related Links:
link to Ephrussi family tree
Ephrussi family photos

DIscussion Leaders: JoanP & Marcie

[JoanP]

"The family name is considered to be a variation of "Ephrati", a Jewish family name attested in various countries since the 14th Century and still current in present-day Israel, in this case transformed through the Ashkenazi pronunciation (Ephrati-Ephrassi-Ephrussi)."

Fry, that answers my question about the Ephrussi family name.  Here's quite an interesting article on the Jewish settlement in Odessa

"The gravitation to Odessa of a considerable number of educated Jews is largely ascribed to the fact that the higher local authorities have been favorably disposed toward the Jewish population."

"The economic importance of the Jews for Odessa and for the whole territory of New Russia has long been acknowledged. Even the anti-Semites themselves have admitted the beneficial influence of the Jews upon the commerce and industry of that territory."

"The export of grain, which recently became the staple trade of Odessa, contributes very largely to the employment of Jewish capital and labor."  That is probably our Ephrussi family, no?

I'm wondering what the existing attitudes towards the newly arrived Jews in Paris was when the Ephrussis arrived.  There was plenty of cleared land on which to build, the Ephrussi had the money to build and after all, this was La Belle Epoque.  Charles and his family fit right into the Parisian society...

[JoanP]

Olle, let's make a deal - you take your time savoring the earlier chapters at your own pace - but promise to bring up the nuggets on La Belle Epoque that we may have overlooked.  I'm not sure where you are seeing the hare with auburn eyes, though.  The context?  I see this little white ivory hare, (or is he cream colored?), with little pieces of amber for his eyes.   I'm with you, Marcie, I'm in love with that little netsuke...

Does anyone remember the year the Ephrussi family moved to Paris?

[marcie]

Olle, I'm glad you are joining us. I too hope you will share your insights into what we are hearing and seeing through the artist Edmund de Waal.

Joan, it was in 1871 that Charles Ephrussi moved to the newly built Hôtel Ephrussi, 81 rue de Monceau, in Paris, with his parents and brothers.

[waafer]

JOANP
Was able to print the Family Tree and now it is so easy to trace the path of the netsuke collection .  Some wonderful websites on here and enjoyed them all.  Waafer

[Babi]

  I've had fun looking for the various artworks, too, FRYBABE. I do know that the tall man
in the background at the boating party, with the black suit and top hat, is Charles
Ephrussi.
  Raphael 'cartoons' are apparently patterns for tapestries.  On this site you can see four
of his cartoons, with a photo of the tapestry made from the fourth one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:V%26A_-_Raphael,_The_Death_of_Ananias_(1515).jpg

 Charles does seem at first just to be the typical rich young man burning to spend his
money and have a great time.  Finding an outlet in becoming an art writer seems to have
steadied and matured him a bit.

"The gravitation to Odessa of a considerable number of educated Jews is largely ascribed
to the fact that the higher local authorities have been favorably disposed toward the
Jewish population."

JOANP
   I think that is the key component of any area where the Jews chose to settle. The
authorities found it most convenient to have them. The Jewish skills in banking, business,
and scholarship were all valuable and those in power protected them.

 

[JoanP]

Good morning, Babi  I'm enjoying too looking at the artwork Charles is collecting.  Thanks for the links, Fry.  Trying to decide which to include in the heading...there is SO MUCH STUFF crammed into Charles' rooms.  I can't help but wonder what his brothers' rooms were like.  Was Ignace such a rabid collector too?  
De Waal notes his early dislike for Charles...too much money for his own good.  He seems to have endless funds.  Is he expected to do anything at all to earn money?  Is he on an allowance from his father?  De Waal implies that Charles is behaving like a typical third child...no expectations, no one focussed on his behavior.  Do you agree with his assessment?  

Like de Waal, I found Charles' spending quite ridiculous, thought him too frivolous to have an interest in the rather simple netsuke collection in his possession - they were really quite simple, not flashy at first glance, were they?  Nothing like that Renaissance bed.  Do you suppose he actually sleeps in it?  

Babi thinks that his writing brought about maturity and influenced his taste in art.  Do you agree?

ps  Waafer, I'm glad to hear you were able to see the scanned family tree.  I've just added it to the end of the heading for easy reference.

[Frybabe]

JoanP, I think Charles was showing his inexperience in his early collecting - buying into a current fad, perhaps buying quantity over quality at first, buying bits and pieces of different eras, styles, etc. (Relatively speaking, of course, his quantity would still have been at a higher quality than I could ever afford.) Most collectors, amateur or otherwise, eventually settle on one or two types of items to collect and concentrate on them( mine are tins and minerals/gem, both as small small, natural samples, and small carved figures from rock/gem stones). His writing and studying would have given him the knowledge and with experience he would have been able buy the best of the best.

However, somewhere in these chapters De Waal did say that Charles wasn't so much interested in art as investment; he bought things because he LIKED them. Did Charles buy the netsuke because he liked them or because he bought into the Japanese craze and wanted something to display like at the then fashionable salons. Speaking of salons, I think they were an interesting phenomena in themselves. They seem kind of snobbish to me, but they did serve a purpose.

[BarbStAubrey]

After we read the Good Novel I continued to read more about Salons and they were very valuable - it was where the seeds of the Fr. Revolution and the idea of Democracy was born and discussed - Franklin and Jefferson both visited the Salons and it is where their concepts for Democracy were honed.

Also this was the last time and place that women had an equal voice and were using their wealth and beauty to create the Salons where they had a strong voice in choosing topics of conversation as well as they entered the conversations with equal fervor to the men. Most of the Salons were interested mainly in one overarching topic - like some where researching and discussing science another the arts and another politics and still another government and the history of government.

I did not know about the Pale separating parts of Russia, Poland and Prussia - it seems this was not a choice anymore than it was in Ireland. I became curious how the Jews got into Russia in the first place - this is not like a religion where a people are converted. To have a Jewish community there must be some who were members of one of the 12 tribes emigrate to an area. I have read now that the largest percentage of Jews in the World do live in Russia. I cannot find why or how but it appears the first Jews were in Russia in around the 7th or 8th century. Many for the next few centuries fled to Russia because of purges in other European nations.

This I thought was an interesting bit to share - yes, it is on the surface about the Jewish migration to America starting in 1880 - However starting on page 4 there is a history calendar with a run down of the events in Russia from 1800 that prompted Jews to leave Russia which would include the experiences of the family before moving to Vienna and Paris and may help explain why they were in Odessa.

http://www.fitchburgstate.edu/uploads/files/TeachingAmericanHistory/RussianJews.pdf

[JoanK]

I assume Charles is the one with his back to us, not the similiar one facing sideways? I've always liked that painting (it's in the Phillips, so I've actually seen it. And I have a jidsaw puzzle of it. Doing a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to focus on all the small details of a painting).

[BarbStAubrey]

Nice map of the Pale of Settlements

http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsi/pale.htm

[JoanP]

Fascinating information, Barb, especially when you consider how easily the Ephrussi family can move around the world.  It 's their wealth, isn't it? Money talks.  Charles' father, Leon, was able to settle into Le West End of Paris...the wealthy Jews bought up primo real estate there, just as his brother, Ignase was able to do in Vienna...he built an even more imposing home there just as the Ringstrasse was being developed where medieval streets had stood.  Sound familiar?  Money was needed for the development and the Jewish financiers had the money.

Are you noticing the many times de Waal uses the word "gold" and the color yellow in these pages?  Sometimes I think he could be a bit more subtle as he connects the gold in the carpet & gilded picture frames to "golden" Louise and finally to Jewish gold.  

Did you get the impression that de Waal was referring to all rich people - or specificly to the nouveau riche Jews who have recently entered Parisian society? Do you see any indication that Charles' Jewishness is an issue among his associates?  Maybe de Waal is suggesting that it will become an issue with all this mention of gold and gilt?

What did you think Charles' relationship with golden Louise Cahen?  Implications are that she was his soul mate - the love of his life.  Did you notice on the family tree that he never married?

[Babi]

Oh, good, JOANP. You found an example of one of those overly elaborate beds. It doesn't
look very restful, does it?  I tried looking up 'lit de parade', and found the general
meaning was one of those altar like biers where important persons lie in state while the
masses of mourners pass by. I can imagine the deceased royalty of the Renaissance lying
in such a funeral bed.
  We know Charles was a target for the vituperation of some of the anti-Semites of the day.
De Waal quotes some of the diarists and journalists who were obviously miffed at Charles
free entree into the fashionable world.  It mattered not in the least that he was charming,
wealthy, knowledgeable in art and fashion. That just added fuel to the fire of resentment.

  Reading the second and third chapters, I feel I have been invited to step into a world and time that is colorful, exciting,  and filled with beautiful, exotic things.  I am very glad to have such an able escort,  however, when we venture into the fashionable salons of the day, which are described as "a minefield of fiercely contested geographies of political, artistic, religious and aristocratic taste."  I don't doubt that his being a contributing writer to the most fashionable art magazine of the day contributes to my escort's warm welcome there.
 Like today, such magazines cover all the social events,  including the list of who was there and what they were wearing.  And of course, for those 'in the know',  the list was a "calibration of snubs and fine judgments."  The key, I presume, being who wasn't on the list.

I did find the portrait of Charles' mistress.  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonnat15.jpg Bonnet did the one of Charles Ephrussi also.  I suppose the traditional course among wealthy families of marrying for dynastic purposes had much to do with the polite acceptance of love affairs among them.

[Frybabe]

Interesting artwork. I think she looks a little too bright white. It reminds me of a color blasted picture where the sun is way to bright for the film. Perhaps the artist was going for a porcelain figurine. With that tiny waist, she was probably wearing one of those waist constricting corsets that were so popular back then. Beautiful gown and wrap. I think the wrap really sets it off with the gold lining.

[marcie]

Oh, yes. What a tiny waist. Frybabe, I wonder if the original painting is so bright or if it's just the photo on that web site.

Babi, It looks like Charles is attracting some jealousy for his easy movements into many salons.

I think that Charles is growing on de Waal, although he still seems a bit wary of him, likely based on de Waal's first impressions of a youth trying to make a statement without much subtlety. We see Charles growing in patience as he tries to capture in his writings an original, in depth view of the art he sees. It seems to me that de Waal is identifying with Charles and testing Charles against his own relationship to art.

[JoanP]

Yes, that tiny waist, Fry! Do you really think she's wearing something to pull it all in - or did she instruct the artist to make it appear so tiny?  The woman has just had her 5th child...(and named him Charles!)  You have to wonder what her husband thought of her "affair" - even appearing in public with Charles.  I'm thinking that her husband was having an affair of his own -OR he regarded Charles as a "mahout" guiding his wife through the art world, as she spent his money furnishing their home...

 Our author seems to believe Charles was really in love with her.  I'm wondering on what he based his conclusion?  Charles also spent a lot of time with Napoleon's niece, the Princesse Mathilde.  Did anyone suspect a romance with her?  Marcie, Goncourt was quite jealous of the attention and high regard she held  Charles.  He seems to be having such a good time, he doesn't seem to notice.  At least that's how it appears to me...

Babi...I scanned another painting of Louise...one de Waal included in the Illustrated edition of the book.  Louise had the painting commissioned by the artist, Carolus-Duran.(?) It must be important - it hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris today.

Louise Cahen d'Anvers by Carolus-Duran 1870s
Musee d'Orsay, Paris

[JoanK]

Maybe the tiny waist is why she looks so cold in the first picture. In the second, she looks more removed from her surroundings. Hard, somehow, to imagine her in a mad, passionate love affair. But that may not be what Charles wanted. Especially if he was gay, as hinted.

We see at the end of the section, the price Charles pays for being Jewish. But he will abandon the netsuke just as his "friends" are abanoning him. So, we will abandon him too, and not find out how he lived out the last decade of his life?

It's sobering to seee some of the worst side of artists one admires.

[Frybabe]

She appears, in both pictures, to my mind a self possessed individual who is  very much in command of her surroundings. The second painting is more relaxed and slightly sensual.

I've finished this section. It is beginning to get a little disturbing. The Dreyfus Affair is in the news and stirs up anti-semitic sentiments. BTW, I have a book on this event which is still in my TBR like so many others.

I am thrilled about reading that Charles was able to rub elbows with so many famous artists and authors. How many of them were actually famous at the time? Because impressionism was a new style of art at the time it was pretty controversial and "modern". Charles seems to have liked the avant-gard paintings and painters of his era (Durer being an exception). I haven't seen much if anything written about wether he collected any paintings of the older traditional artists.

[Babi]

 That is a very good thought, MARCIE. I can see how Edmund might be measuring Charles
against his own deep devotion to his beloved pottery. He would have little sympathy with a
dilettante. I find Charles a more 'diverse' character, however, and I hope Edmund comes to
appreciate him.

 The Princess Mathilde was quite elderly, I believe, JOANP, but very much of the social
elite. I don't think his attentions to her were romantic. But he was a perfect young escort
for the lady to various salons she might wish to attend. And she would surely have had
entree anywhere. No wonder Goncourt was jealous.

  One thing about specializing in the newest trends in art....there are no pre-set standards. You
don't have generations of critiques and discussion on traditionally 'great' sculpture or painting and
what is not.  You see something new, and must rely on your own responses to it.

[JoanP]

Good morning, BaBI...
Yes, I went back and reread some of those pages - mainly those that spoke of Charles' relationship with Louise.  I wondered where Edmund got his rather intimate information about their sexual affair.  I guess I still wonder - he doesn't come right out and say...

 As I reread, I saw this decription of Princesse Mathilde -

"the aged Princess in her black, an elephantine presence, rather like Queen Victoria."

Maybe it was because the Princess was not young and beautiful like Louise...that people didn't talk when they spent time together?

"... Charles was able to rub elbows with so many famous artists and authors. How many of them were actually famous at the time?"

Fry, your question caught me by surprise...I was so taken with reading of Charles' relationships with these famous artists, that I didn't question that they weren't famous yet.  Do you have favorite Impressionists?  I've always liked Pissarro - and happy to see that Charles did too.   These artists were mostly older than Charles, but as you say, they were avant garde - Charles responded to their style and collected them - even commissioned them to paint for him.  Renoir, wasn't it?  This caused quite a stir among the other artists.  

I'm still trying to figure out how Charles' Jewishness became an issue.  I really hadn't noted anti-semitism in Paris until the Dreyfus Affair. Certainly it did not seem to affect Charles.  I do remember when Charles began to buy other paintings - Moreau's in particular, that Renoir was furious that Charles had bought "Jew art."  Did Charles lose interest in the Impressionists in favor of Moreau's symbolism? Edmund writes that Charles' Jewishness now made him "suspect."  

Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter. His main focus was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures.  Was Moreau Jewish, or was it the biblical subjects of his paintings?  Charles purchased his   Jason
 and his Galatea - both handing in the Musee D'Orsay today.

Galatea

[BarbStAubrey]

I too am having difficulty coming to conclusions about Charles that would agree with Edmund - I see it is a small way that when folks all of a sudden realize they have more money then they thought it puts them in a new frame of mind with new dreams about accumulating on a level that opens their eyes to even  more possibilities -

Example - I am working with a young couple now who are selling a house that is all of 1201 square feet and because of location is priced in the high 80  thousand range - they were shocked to learn they can purchase a house up to 200 thousand - they see pool table in a game room and leather furniture in the den and and and - all dreams taken from ads and magazines that they never realized could be their life style - now they are having to learn what pool table manufacturer will be best and what hot tub and how to care for both including the care required of the other bits which they will fill their house - and how to make friends with folks among this new economic community where folks are living wider lives - not necessarily fuller but that they will learn.

And so I can see that growing up with wealth you take it for granted and have no concept what it means to be wealthy - then as a young man iswhen you realize - at least Charles did not willy nilly simply fill his house with the advise of older family members - he educated himself and realized he wanted the best that would represent his families status and his awareness of his wealth - he started to make friends and I bet in this new section of town being Jewish there was not in common the background and schooling of the old Parisian families so the new avant garde would be a perfect meeting ground where his love of art allowed him to pepper his money into the artistic community and make friends having something in common to talk about.  

I think the anti semitic view of him would be among the noble Parisian families but simply not mentioned in polite society and could explain his choice of mistress which would be a coup. According to the list of Jewish Nobles there is this about her husband's family - "Cahen d’Anvers, Count (Papal title 1867), of the line of Aaron, for the Antwerp banker Joseph Mayer Cahen, father of Raphael, 2nd Count, father of (1) Irene, m. Baron Etienne Gourgaud de Taillis, (2) Raphaele (1874-1899) m. 1891 Prince Ferdinand de Faucigny-Lucinge; (3) a daughter married Count MoiseNissim de Camondo."

From reading about Salons in several books they were very Democratic with all levels of society present since the focus seemed to be about inquiry while enjoying the surroundings, food and wines but also, the delicacies of a fetching daughter whose beauty was a calling card and kept the Salon from becoming course especially during arguments stemming from different points of view. I can easily see how Charles would find a place for himself and start making inroads to Paris society by frequenting the Salons.

In the beginning of this book Edmund says he does not want to write "some elegiac Mitteleuropa" nor does he want to write another Utz by Bruce Chatwin. Reducing his book to those issues would bring in the over-riding sense of anti - semitic hostilities including more about Odessa being in the Settlement Pale.


 

[BarbStAubrey]

Interesting there is no mention so far of Julian Goncourt - looking up more info on Edmond you learn they were inseparable and wrote all their books and articles together.

From what I read the Dreyfus case split apart families and generations of connections in business as well as among the artists. It seems none of the establishment wanted to say they were wrong and so Dreyfus remained a prisoner for 5 years till Zola had his letter printed in the newspapers. The antisemitism that ran rampant did not pop up out of no where and books have been written how it was the seeds for the Holocaust.

Back to Charles - like any family new to an area with money in order to associate with folks on your economic level you buy in - you donate to the 'right' fund drives and join where you can the 'right' cultural activities till folks will know you and invite you to join the inner circle. Someone with wealth does not want to be lonely and so they must play the game because they do not fit well with folks who have not had the exposure to money and what it can buy - not just things but education and opportunity and taking in what ever strikes your fancy - when others who cannot match you are trying to be a friend they soon feel second place not being able to match the life style of the wealthy friend and either bitterness or distance is the outcome.

As to Edmond de Goncourt - he and his brother wrote as much about the middle class and also their first books and plays were unsuccessful - they came from new money and having a link to Napoleon at this time was mixed - Their father ennobled the family by fighting with 'distinction' under Napoleon, leaving the brothers a comfortable private income. Neither married and the doted on each other - no word what that was all about but they were certainly not as comfortable in their skin as Charles appears to be and probably where comfortable, their wealth was no match for the wealth of the Ephrussi family.

As to the bed - we still see similar beds when magazines have a photo tour of some of the Venetian homes showing the owners still sleeping in these ornate beds dressed in rich fabric with gold threads woven into the cloth.

We learned early that Charles was not ready made to run the family business and during this time in history what does a wealthy man do - I am remembering a movie 'Gigi' showing wealthy men who simply follow the seasons seeing and being seen every night at the 'in' club, dance hall, restaurant etc. - Charles could easily be a Gaston Lachaille played by Louis Jourdan.

[JoanP]

Barbara - an interesting point about the Goncourt Brothers...Where is Jules while his brother is writing his anti-semitic articles? Does Jules feel the same way?  I found this about the brothers:

"Not only did they write all their books together, they did not spend more than a day apart in their adult lives, until they were finally parted by Jules's death in 1870."

Had Jules passed away at the time Edmond de Goncourt wrote:

'the salons have become infested with Jews and Jewesses'

.  De Waal wrote - "Goncourt is jealous of this charming boy."  

Do you think de Goncourt was jealous of the Ephrussi wealth that enabled Charles to move freely in the salons - or was it the fact that he was Jewish?  Or both? Was it De Goncourt who finally influenced the Impressionist painters to turn against Charles when Charles showed interested in Jewish painters, like Moreau?
Whatever it was, Charles was ostracized in the end... his interest in the Impressionists and Japanese art is over - for good reason, I think. What did he do with  all that art? Storage?  Many of these paintings are in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris today.  I wonder when they were moved there.  

Do you think he thought twice before he packed up the netsuke and the black-lacquered vitrine and sent them to Vienna to cousin Viktor as a wedding present?  I thought he had been quite attached to them.

When de Waal won the scholarship and visited his cousin Iggy in Japan, the netsuke  collection was there...Did you see the  photograph of  Iggy in front of  a glass-doored vitrine that holds the netsuke -

"...he'd open the sliding doors of the long vitrine that took up most of one wall of the sitting room..."

It is not the black lacquered one  with mirrored back and green velvet - the one Charles had sent to  Iggy's father.  

The story of the missing vitrine will be told - perhaps when we move on to Vienna tomorrow.  Are there other things you've observed in Part One that you would like to share with us?

[Frybabe]

I actually hate leaving Charles. I want to know more about him. He only lived six more years after he sent the netsuke to Vienna.

[Frybabe]

Tomorrow, when we start the Vienna "interlude", don't forget to revisit the gallery of family photos. A number of them are from this period. http://www.edmunddewaal.com/writing/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/gallery-3/family-archive/

[kidsal]

Ah Louis Jordan!!!  I always cry when he runs up the steps and asks Gigi for her hand in marriage.

However Charles wasn't a complete wastrel -- he did write about art and subsidized and promoted many young artists.

[JoanP]

No, I don't think Charles was a wastrel either, Kidsal - and he really seemed to love his life and the art he collected.  Edmond de Waal unearthed a lot about this relative... more than we know about our great, great, great, gerat uncles, I'll bet.  But he didn't know everything.

 What he knew he found in Charles' writing, and in news accounts of his art collections and position in society.  There's really a lot missing - if only he had  written his memoirs, or kept a diary...Was he hurt when he was ostracized by those he thought were his friends.  He must have  been, don't you think?  Or when Louise turned her attention to the handsome young count.  There's a lot about Charles that we will never know about.  Was he sad to let the netsuke go to Vienna?
I'm looking forward to the Vienna cousin's reaction to this unusual wedding gift.

Fry, that's Uncle Ignace, Uncle Iggy with the huge vitrine with the sliding glass doors...it certainly isn't the black lacquered one.  I think we need to keep the link to those pictures in the heading for easy reference.  Thanks! We'll meet them in Vienna in Part II.

[marcie]

We're now following the netsuke to Vienna.

I'm sad to leave Charles with his passion for art and the deliberate, slow, measured way he looked at the art around him and made a place for it in his life. It seems a big contrast to jump to Ringstrasse in Vienna.  What do you think of de Waal's reaction to this new environment?

[Frybabe]

Yes, I know, JoanP. I was talking about the other photos, below. Some of them I am now finding as I read are in the book.

As I read into the Vienna section, I found that Emmy considered Gustav Mahler "a racket". I am not a Mahler fan either. Emmy would have seen Mahler conducting the Vienna Court Opera, a position Mahler secured partly by converting from Judaism to Catholicism in the growing anti-semitic atmosphere. There is no indication so far that the Ephrussis knew Mahler personally.

Emmy's family, the Sheys, had a family estate in what is now Slovakia.  I tried to find where exactly the estate was, but no luck so far. The postcard shown in the above link shows an address, but I can't really link it with anything yet. Niytra County (megye) doesn't seem to border the Vah as far as I can tell, and there does not appear to be a Kovecses in that area. The Vah is a main tributary into the Danube. Nitra is not only a county name, but another tributary as well as a town. BTW, a puszta is a treeless plain or farmland. Kovecses may have been the name of the farm estate rather that a place name.

[Babi]

 The competition among artists dependent upon patrons must be fierce. De Goncourt could very
well have seized upon Moreau's being a Jew as an acceptable reason to use against his entry
into the ring of competition. I would not have thought the man was influential enough to turn
people against Charles, tho'. It may have been the bad timing...ie., the Zola affair raising
people's emotions during the same period.

 One note before leaving Paris. The reference to the 'Russian trappings' on Charles horse
caught my attention. I went hunting (of course). The closest thing I could find was this.
  Here is a set of 'Hunnish' horse trappings, but the origin is given as southeast Russia.
http://art.thewalters.org/detail/77447/set-of-horse-trappings/

 On to Vienna!   I knew the Hapsburg Empire was large, but I had no idea how really huge and diverse it was. "Magyars, Croats, Poles, Czechs, Jews from Galicia and Trieste, all the twelve nationalities, the six official languages, the five religions.'    There were bound to be conflicts among such a mixed assortment of peoples. 

[Frybabe]

Babi, I was under the impression that they used a two horse carriage, rather than three, but the harnessing may have been similar to the traditional Russian troika.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troika_%28driving%29

[JoanP]

I keep staring at the "trappings" picture in the link...may have to take a quick trip to the Walter's Museum in Baltimore to get a closer link.  To me, it looks as if the thing is studded with amber.  I love amber.  Since the Hare of the title has little amber eyes, I think it would be worth finding out a bit more about it.

Fry, were you able to learn if Kovecses was the name of a place in Vienna or the name of the Emmy's famly's country estate?  It sure was a convenient refuge for the family when needed.

Babi...the Emperor was a wise man...as long as he was in power, he was lenient to all of the nationalities and religions within the Empire and this seemed to keep the peace.  They all seemed to blend into one another..."There were rumors   that the Jews had tricked the Gentile neighbors and disappeared into the fabric of the Ringstrasse."  Did you notice that the Ephrussi Palais in Vienna was not gold - but pink?

Reading the descriptions of  Viktor and Emmy's wedding gifts, I was really anxious to learn how Charles' gift was received...expecially by the young 18 year old bride....  I was  even more surprised to learn where she decided to keep it.  Had de Waal's grandmother, Elizabeth, not kept her 12 pages of memoirs, he'd never have learned about that.  Unless of course young Iggy remembered and passed the information down to Charles...

[Frybabe]

Not completely JoanP. Kovecses is a family name and there is a town by that name but out way out of the designated area. The estate/farm bordered on the Vah River. They would have used the bridge at Bratislava to cross the Danube. The current (which may not be the same as then) Nitra County (region crosses over the dam. The estate could be on either side, but at or below the dam. I wish he had included some local town/village names. Maybe he will later, but so far that is as close as I can get.
Agriculture is still a very big part of the area.

[JoanK]

I love hearing that the children played with the netsuke. I can imagine all sorts of games. They liked the pile of wood, too.

[marcie]

JoanP, I love amber too. I wasn't sure if it qualified as a "gemstone" but I looked it up and, apparently, it is a gemstone.

Your quote "There were rumors that the Jews had tricked the Gentile neighbors and disappeared into the fabric of the Ringstrasse."  That is what was held against them. If they had worn their ethnic costumes and acted more "Jewish" would they really have been accepted more?

It's interesting that the Japanese, in the previous section of the book, tried to blend in too. They were given away by their "too tailored" European clothing.

JoanK, I wish that I could play with a netsuke too. There are some available on ebay at http://www.ebay.com/sch/Netsuke-/37938/i.html. I wonder what makes something a netsuke rather than a small Japanese figurine?

[marcie]

Emmy is an interesting person. She is "animated" and draws people into her. She seems so different from Charles and Victor. How does the life Emmy and her family had in Kovecses (in the house that was "a large square box such as children draw") differ from de Waal's view of "Vienna as a crucible of the twentieth century" motif?

[Babi]

 It seems several of us love amber. I have always preferred the colorful gem stones to the
diamonds, but I assume I am in the minority on that. Diamonds seem to be a passion everywhere.
 
Just guessing, MARCIE, but I would suppose that the tiny holes to permit fastening to a belt
would make a figurine and netsuke.
 I sometimes think de Waal is giving us a great deal of information that is not really relevant
to the tracking of the netsuke.  Do we really need to know who the major architect of the new Vienna
was, and all that he built?

 What did you think of the description of Emilie?  Not only is she 'pretty judgmental', she was Sounds intimidating, doesn't it?"known in the family as 'the crocodile', with a most engaging smile--whenever she smiled."

 Vienna, though beautiful, as was Paris, does seem to have a different atmosphere.  I noticed
that de Waal speaks of the "scandal sheets that proliferated in Vienna",  and thought what a
contrast that was to the arts and fashion 'Gazette' so popular in Paris. (Though I don't doubt
Paris society had their sources for scandal, as well.)

 

[JoanP]

Some interesting stuff about Amber:

Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times
The presence of insects in amber was noticed by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, and led him to theorize correctly that, at some point, amber had to be in a liquid state to cover the bodies of insects



Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects
 In ancient times, well-established trade routes for amber originated from the Baltic countries (where amber was plentiful along the coast) that went to virtually every corner of Europe. Early in the nineteenth century, the first reports of amber from North America came from discoveries in New Jersey along Crosswicks Creek near Trenton, at Camden, and near Woodbury.

Japanese Amber

[JoanP]

I agree, Emmy, de Waal's great grandmother steps into every one of these Vienna chapters, from the time of her wedding to 1938, he seems to focus our attention on her.  She even becomes the keeper of the netsuke collection.  It seems that Viktor has forgotten all about his cousin's wedding gift.  Out of sight...  Maybe we'll hear more about it in Part III, but it right now, his interest is elsewhere.

"I sometimes think de Waal is giving us a great deal of information that is not really relevant  to the tracking of the netsuke."
Babi...I'll agree, but I also think he is implying much without coming out and saying things.  About Emmy for example.  It's difficult for me to say this - because this is NOT fiction we are reading, and this is the author, who's great grandmother we are reading about.  But I had these thoughts - twice - about Viktor and his two sons.  Emmy has a number of lovers, de Waal tells us this.  Each time the lovers are described, and then Iggy is born...and later Rudolf.  Is de Waal questionning the paternity of these boys?  I do remember a comment about Iggy's Ephrussi nose...but handsome blond blue-eyed Rudolf?

[Olle]

It is actually just as interesting to read all your comments, as to read the book itself. You are like professional genealogists. Is it the female touch? I was a bit surprised of the comment about the beautiful miss d'Anvers. I see a goodlooking woman and you see something else. Talk about that men are easily confused by female beauty than woman, with their sharper eyes.

I was captured of a time that changed Europe and ended so tragically.
There is an aura of refinement, an optimism of a bright new world during the years from 1870 to its break down in the muddy trenches of WW1.
Europe was flourishing; the world was a playground for the well-situated, and that gave such great results in architecture, paintings and the world was a good place to live in. It is still a period for the European art that we long for. Nostalgia, in spite of knowing that it also nourished the working classes hatred to wealthy people and the injustice they had to endure.  But to live in that period, with a bottomless goldmine, spending his idle days only to enjoy himself, buy whatever he liked, and mingle with nobility's and businessmen. Who cannot elude to envy a man, living in that time?
And yet he is taken good care of his inheritance, for the benefit of his survivors and for us in the year of 2013. He isn't a Bertie Wooster. On the contrary he is an educated and well behaved man. Worth all respect.