René Wiener: Lorraine, Jewish and modern

Second part of the Postcolonial Narratives series.

This special exhibition looks back at a major figure in Nancy at the turn of the 20th century, a collector and artist, a modern Jewish intellectual from Lorraine.
A complex character with a formidable appetite for knowledge and a keen desire to understand the world, a keen mind quick to capture everything he observed, René Wiener fought many battles. He experimented with new artistic forms as part of what was to become the École de Nancy, was a traveler and collector interested in contemporary art, and continued the scholarly work of his father Lucien (1828-1909), while at the same time championing Jewish art and culture. His Lorraine Jewishness is reflected in his erudite and committed actions: building up the Musée lorrain's exceptional Judaïca collection, documenting the history of Jewish communities, stubbornly objective recording of the rise of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews. Through this man, a fragment of the history of Nancy and Lorraine shines through.