Renoir, Aristocracy & War
Show notes
Three beautiful sisters, a fortune in the bank, a famous French painter, and a family saga that takes us from the glittering salons of Paris to the horrors of Auschwitz.
In the 1880s, the daughters of a fabulously wealthy Jewish banking family were immortalised by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Their portraits captured all the elegance and extravagance of the Belle Époque, when Parisian high society was awash with money, mistresses, aristocrats and royalty.
But what became of the girls in those famous paintings?
Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams are joined by bestselling author Catherine Ostler, whose new book The Renoir Girls uncovers an extraordinary story of love, scandal, ambition and survival.
There's a mother who runs off with her daughter's future husband, an heiress who elopes with her horse trainer, a young Prince Philip playing football on the lawn of a French château, and enough aristocratic intrigue to fill several novels.
Yet behind the glamour lies a much darker story. As two world wars tear Europe apart, the sisters' fortunes take dramatically different turns: one survives through connections with Nazi collaborators, another risks everything to rescue her grandchildren, while the third falls victim to the Holocaust.
Hosts: Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams
Series Producer: Ben Devlin
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Content Editor: Joseph Palmer
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
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