The Sassoons
The Sassoons
The Sassoons reveals the fascinating story of a remarkable Jewish family, following four generations from Iraq to India, China, and England through a rich selection of works collected by family members over time.
FREE
The Jewish Museum
March 03, 2023 to August 13, 2023
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Exhibition Details

The exhibition highlights the Sassoon family’s pioneering role in trade, art collecting, architectural patronage, and civic engagement from the early 19th century through World War II through over 120 works—paintings, decorative arts, illuminated manuscripts, and Judaica—amassed by family members and borrowed from numerous private and public collections.

Additional Details

Highlights include lavishly decorated Hebrew manuscripts from as early as the 12th century; Chinese art and ivory carvings; rare Jewish ceremonial art; Western masterpieces including paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and magnificent portraits by John Singer Sargent of various Sassoon family members. The Sassoons explores themes such as discrimination, diaspora, colonialism, global trade, and war that not only shaped the history of the family but continue to define our world today.

Location

The Jewish Museum
1109 5th Avenue (at 92nd Street)
New York, NY 10128

Image: Attributed to William Melville, portrait of David Sassoon / courtesy of The Jewish Museum