The Making of the Great Museums of Paris: The Making and Remaking of the Nissim de Camondo Museum

Ariane James-Sarazin will tell the story of the banker Moïse de Camondo and the hôtel particulier he built next to the Parc Monceau between 1911 and 1914 to display his collection of French decorative art from the second half of the 18th century. Upon the death of Moïse de Camondo in 1935, both the hôtel particulier and its collections were bequeathed to the Museum of Decorative Arts in honor of his son, Nissim de Camondo, who had been killed in action during World War I. The hôtel particulier opened as a house museum in 1936.

About the Lecturer

Ariane James-Sarazin

Ariane James-Sarazin is the Chief Curator of 17th and 18th Century Decorative Arts at the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Collections of the Nissim de Camondo Museum.

About the Series Curator and Moderator

Russell Kelley

Russell Kelley was the curator and moderator of the past five winters’ Zoom lecture series on the History and Heritage of France featuring the “Grands Châteaux of the Loire and Île de France”, “The Making of the French Garden”,  “The Great Churches of Paris”, “The Making of the Great Museums of Paris – From the Revolution Until 1900”, and “World Monuments in Paris”. He is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Lyons Press, 2021) and Walking Through the Ages of Paris – Ten Historical Walking Tours Through the City of Light (Lyons Press, to be published in 2026), and has lived in Paris for more than 30 years.