The Hare with Amber Eyes

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The Hare with Amber Eyes
The Hare with Amber Eyes (Edmund de Waal novel) cover art.jpg
Author Edmund de Waal
Subject Ephrussi family
Genre Biography
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date
2010
Pages353
ISBN 978-0-374-10597-6
OCLC 694399313
The Hare with Amber Eyes netsuke, at an exhibition in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, November 2016 Ivory netsuke of the Hare with Amber Eyes 2.JPG
The Hare with Amber Eyes netsuke , at an exhibition in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, November 2016

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance (2010) is a family memoir by British ceramicist Edmund de Waal. [1] De Waal tells the story of his family, the Ephrussi, once a very wealthy European Jewish banking dynasty, centred in Odessa, Vienna and Paris, and peers of the Rothschild family. [1] The Ephrussis lost almost everything in 1938 when the Nazis confiscated their property, [1] and were unable to recover most of their property after the war, including priceless artwork; an easily hidden collection of 264 Japanese netsuke miniature sculptures was saved, tucked away inside a mattress by Anna, a loyal maid at Palais Ephrussi in Vienna during the war years. The collection has been passed down through five generations of the Ephrussi family, providing a common thread for the story of its fortunes from 1871 to 2009.

Contents

Reception

In Bookmarks Nov/Dec 2010 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the summary stated, "A duel, and a duet, of elegy and irony" (Boston Globe), de Waal's extraordinary family memoir brings his forebears vibrantly to life". [2] The book was described by German literary scholar Oliver vom Hove as an “unprecedentedly precise memory book”. [3] It was reviewed in The Washington Post by Michael Dirda, [4] The Guardian by Rachel Cooke, [5] The Economist , [6] The Telegraph, [7] and The International Netsuke Society Journal [8]

In 2021, The Hare with Amber Eyes was distributed in Vienna as a free book, with a print run of 100,000 copies.[ citation needed ]

Awards and honours

Editions

Related Research Articles

<i>Netsuke</i> Type of bead used to secure an inro in ones belt

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Bernard Howell Leach was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".

<i>Palais Ephrussi</i>

Palais Ephrussi is a former Ringstraßenpalais in Vienna. It was built for the Ephrussi family of financiers by Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, the architect of the Austrian Parliament Building. It is on the Ringstrasse, specifically the Universitätsring, opposite the Votivkirche.

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Charles Ephrussi was a French art critic, art historian, and art collector. He also was a part-owner and then editor as well as a contributor to the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, the most important art historical periodical in France.

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Ian Thomson is an English author, best known for his biography Primo Levi (2002), and reportage, The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica (2009)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignace von Ephrussi</span>

Baron Ignace von Ephrussi (1829–1899) was a Russian-born Austrian banker and diplomat. He was the head of Ephrussi & Co. in Vienna, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth de Waal</span> Austrian writer

Elisabeth de Waal (1899–1991), née von Ephrussi, was an Austrian writer born in Vienna. de Waal's works include The Exiles Return.

<i>A Sprig of Asparagus</i> 1880 painting by Édouard Manet

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<i>Portrait of Irène Cahen dAnvers</i> Painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktor von Ephrussi</span> Austrian private banker

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References

  1. 1 2 3 'Hare' chronicles unheard of Jewish family, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle (6 September 2011)
  2. ↑ "The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss By Edmund de Waal". Bookmarks Magazine . Archived from the original on 5 Sep 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  3. ↑ Hofe, Oliver vom (October 2021). "Vor zehn Jahren erschienen – und bald als Gratisbuch in Wien verteilt". Wiener Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  4. ↑ Review by Michael Dirda in The Washington Post , September 2, 2010
  5. ↑ Review by Rachel Cooke in The Observer , 5 June 2010
  6. ↑ Review in The Economist , May 20, 2010
  7. ↑ "Edmund de Waal on Proust: The writer behind the hare", The Telegraph, April 1, 2011
  8. ↑ Review by David Raitt in The International Netsuke Society Journal Vol 30, n3, Fall 2010, pp44–46
  9. ↑ Flood, Allison (24 May 2011). "Ondaatje prize goes to Edmund de Waal". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  10. ↑ Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2011 Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Galaxy National Book Awards, Northumberland County Council
  12. ↑ Books of the Year, 2010, The Economist

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