At the beginning of the 19th century, the Camondo family founded a bank that became one of the most important banks of the Ottoman Empire. Arriving in Paris at the end of the Second Empire, brothers Abraham-Behor and Nissim settled on the rue de Monceau.

A generation later, two cousins Isaac and Moïse became art collectors and known figures in the art world.

Moïse had a singular passion for 18th century France. To present his exceptional collections (furniture, artworks, rugs, tapestries, porcelain, jewellery), he had a residence constructed in 1911 by René Sergent that was inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

Designed to accommodate his collections, the hôtel was also home to his two children Nissim and Béatrice, both of whom lived with Moïse after the departure of his wife Irène and their divorce in 1902.

The First World War broke out. Nissim became a pilot and died for France during an air battle in 1917. This loss gave Moïse a determination to bequeath this unique collection to the French State in memory of Nissim. Until his death in 1935, the collector’s mission was to complete his life’s work of the “reconstruction of an 18th century artistic residence”.

Go to the site of Arts décoratifs