The Renoir Girls

In the decades before the First World War, a network of wealthy Jewish families stood at the centre of Europe’s cultural life, patronising the arts and moving effortlessly between Paris, Vienna, Berlin and London.

In 1881, Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted two sisters from the Cahen d'Anvers family, his portrait capturing the elegance and optimism of Belle Époque Paris.

But beneath the glamour of sunlit châteaux, grand salons and flourishing artistic life lay a rising current of resentment.

Families such as the Cahen d’Anvers would come to embody both the brilliance and fragility of the age.

In conversation with The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein, historian Catherine Ostler traces their remarkable story, revealing how a world of privilege and cosmopolitan culture was ultimately shattered by rising antisemitism, war and exile.

There will be a book signing after this event.