The Jewish Museum in New York is currently showcasing the story of the Sassoon family, whose history has extended across nations and centuries.
The new exhibition follows four generations, from Iraq to India, China and England, showing their role in trade, art collecting, architectural patronage and civic engagement through over 120 objects and works of art.
The paintings on show include works by John Singer Sargent or Thomas Gainsborough, with further highlights including rare manuscripts, ceremonial ceramics and personal items.
The Sassoons, a wealthy Jewish family, was expelled from Baghdad because of the increasing persecution of the city’s Jewish population in the 19th century. They wound up in Britain after spending time in Mumbai, or Bombay, as it was at the time, and China.
The family’s most famous members include David (1792-1864) who is seen as the patriarch, and several of his descendants, many of whom were ardent collectors.
They include David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942), one of the most famous collectors of religious writings. Auctioneer Sotheby’s recently announced an over 1,000-year-old collection of sacred writings of Judaism that once belonged to him could fetch up to $50 million when it goes under the hammer in May.
Rachel Sassoon Beer became the first woman in Britain to edit two newspapers, The Sunday Times and The Observer played a key role in reporting on the Dreyfus affair, a miscarriage of justice and political scandal in France rooted in anti-Semitism.
Her painting collection, sold in 1927, includes works by John Constable and Peter Paul Rubens.
Hairdresser and entrepreneur Vidal Sassoon (1928-2012) was also a family relative, though a distant one.
Better known to some is Siegfried Sassoon whose poetry of World War I brought home the truth of life in the trenches to many. Some of his journals and statements opposing the war will be on display.
The exhibition also features a marriage contract from Baghdad from 1764 on German floral paper and a guest book entry with small self-portrait sketches of Charlie Chaplin, who attended some of the family’s parties in the early 20th century.
“The Sassoons” at the museum by Manhattan’s Central Park will run until Aug. 13.
Many of the works on show are loans, including from Britain’s King Charles III, the British Museum, the National Gallery of London, the National Trust of Britain, the Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Library, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Israel Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, among others, the Jewish Museum notes.
