The art of being a Rothschild

ProGolovne continues the heading “History of big capital” in which we talk about the world’s largest states and their history. In the first part, we had been talking about the history of the Rothschild family. In the second part of our story we woll tell how the Rothschild family is connected with the world’s art and how it has affected it.

Once the great German poet Heinrich Heine, said: “Money – is the God of our time, and Rothschild – his prophet.” In his times in Europe of XIX century the saying “rich as Croesus”  had been transformed into “rich as Rothschild.” And it’s true, the wealth of the Lydian king Croesus cannot be compared with the funds that the richest family of the Old World has owned. At the same time, Croesus had been simply saving his wealth, and the Rothschilds have multiplied it daily. Over time, their name has became a household word.

The great French novelist Marie-Henri Beyle, is also well-known as Stendhal, had been writing about Rotschilds. In his most important novel, “Red and Black”, he ironically describes Comte de Thaler. But according to the description, as the author describes it as “the only son of the famous Jew, famous for its boundless wealth which he amassed by lending money to kings to war against the people”, there is no doubt that we are talking about James Rothschild.

James Rothschild also appears in the novel of  Alexander Herzen “My Past and Thoughts”. This famous Russian writer didn’t use any  pseudonyms and had simply  titled on of the chapters of his book as “The Emperor James Rothschild and banker Nicholas Romanov.” In it he described how a representative of the banking house forced Russian autocrat Nicholas I and his government to pay a large sum of money. Very existing  story.

With the advent of cinema Rothschilds “moved” to the screen. In 1934, the story of Mayer Amschel Rothschild was inspired  Hollywood producers to create a film, “House of Rothschilds”. Later in the forties excerpts from the film used Goebbels propaganda  in the film “The Eternal Jew”. After the war, the musical was released in the late sixties, which was titled as “Rothschild”, which tells about the history of the family since  1818. It received several awards.

Family also inspired famous artist-jeweler Carl Faberge in 1902, his company produced an Easter Rotschild egg . For a long time, this masterpiece of the jeweler’s art had been kept in the family, was not displayed and wasn’t  resold. And only in 2017 it was sold at Christie’s  auction for eighteen and a half million dollars. Now the “Egg-clock Rothschild” is located in Hermitage.

Another hobby of Rothschild’s family is winemaking. They own vineyards in France, which produce “Chateau Mouton Rothschild” – one of the best wines in the world. Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso have drown the labels for this wine. And in 1962 on the estate of the Rothschilds “Chateau Mouton”, which had given the name for the wine,  was opened the Museum of wine in art, which contains valuable exhibits from all over the world, telling about the history of wine and winemaking.

In addition, the Rothschilds have always been patrons of art. Baroness Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild had been collecting art, which decorated her numerous estates since 1883. In her collection were things that belonged to Louis XV, the Marquise de Pompadour and Marie Antoinette. Watercolor Jean-Honore Fragonard’s paintings and Carpaccio. She bequeathed all her collection to the French Academy of Fine Arts.

The representative of the German branch of the family Mayer Carl von Rothschild had also been keen on collecting, he assembled a huge library, which he presented to Frankfurt city library Fund after the death.

However, the representatives of the Rothschild family themselves made a contribution to world’s science, the arts and even sports. Edouard Alphonse James de Rothschild was not only well-known financier, but also an Olympic polo medalist in 1900. Jacqueline Rothschild became US champion several times in tennis and won the bronze medal at the First Women’s Chess Olympiad. David de Rothschild, Lionel had released the book «The Rothschild Gardens» book which became a bestseller. Rothschilds do not forget  the story of their family, there is even a research institution, “Rothschild Archive”, which is headed by Baroness Emma Rothschild.

ProGolovne continues to tell its readers about the history of big businesses and their owners – people who largely determine the future of mankind. In the next article we will talk about what is the empire of the Rothschild today.