Jean Strouse and Suzanne Zack
Jewish Book Week: John Singer Sargent & the Wertheimers
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Summary
Please note this lecture will only be available to watch live.
Bancroft Prize winner Jean Strouse joins us to discuss the mysteries and tragedies surrounding 12 portraits of an Edwardian family by an American artist at the height of his powers. By commissioning John Singer Sargent, London art dealer Asher Wertheimer became his greatest private patron. When he left most of the series to London’s National Gallery, the Wertheimers were the first Jews to appear alongside the Anglo-Saxon dignitaries painted by earlier masters. Family Romance travels from the Habsburg court to fascist Italy, charting the decline of the British aristocracy and the rise of new wealth on both sides of the Atlantic. Learn More
In partnership with the Jewish Literary Foundation.
Jean Strouse
Jean Strouse is the author of Morgan: American Financier and Alice James: A Biography, which won the Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy. Her essays and reviews have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, Architectural Digest and Newsweek. Strouse has been a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation and served as the Sue Ann and John Weinberg Director of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library from 2003 to 2017. She lives in New York City.
Suzanne Zack
Fine art consultant Suzanne Zack has over 30 years’ experience in the international fine art market. Formerly Head of British and European Watercolours at Phillips, she has uncovered and sold remarkable works, including unpublished John Constable sketches. She has brought prestigious collections to auction, such as those of dealer Cyril Fry. A regular expert on BBC Antiques Roadshow, she has also lectured for The Walpole Society, The Watercolour World, and the Royal Academy. Currently consulting for Olympia Auctions, Suzanne is known for her deep expertise in historic fine art works and the stories behind them.