Couturier, true architecte-decorateur, has achieved a
convincing 18th century envelope for the collectors'
rare contents, having every inch of boiserie sculpted
and fabricated in France, along with the spiraling, gilded
metalwork of the stair railings. Even the wall painters
were French, imported from the old world along with
their technique. The floors are parquet, or richly inlaid
red, black and white marble.
This Brooklyn house, and
its progenitor, the Musee
Nissim
de
Camondo,
convince me that sometimes
an outsider (or perceived
outsider) may become the
greatest interpreter of an
adopted style. A tragic
history of anti-Semitism
attends
the
Camondo
legacy, for the Camondos,
a Sephardic Jewish family
who had fled Spain in
1492,
became
notable
patriots and contributors
to French culture, with the
Museum named for Moise's
only son, Nissim, killed in
an air battle during World
War I. Moise bequeathed his mansion and collection
to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, after his death
in 1935. Moise's cousin, Isaac de Camondo, left
paintings by Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Degas and
Renoir to the Louvre, which now make up an
important part of the Musee d'Orsay's collections.
HYLAND
