12 pm - 8 pm   Symposium Registration:  The Hotel Viking

2 pm - 5 pm   Pre-Symposium Tour of Newport
View some of Newport's great rooms at The Breakers (1895) and The Elms (1901).   Fee.  Advance registration required.

5 pm - 7 pm   Opening reception at The Elms (1901).


MONDAY, APRIL 28


8 am             Symposium Registration:   Rosecliff

9:30 am       Welcome
Pierre duPont Irving, Chairman of the Board
The Preservation Society of Newport County

9:45 am - 12 pm         Lectures at Rosecliff

Great Japanese Rooms:  Public and Private Spaces in the Golden Pavilion Temple
Dr . Hans Bjarne Thomsen, Professor, Section for East Asian Art History
Art History Institute, University of Zurich

The Golden Pavilion temple in Kyoto is one of the most visited locations in Japan, and even people who have not visited the site will recognize the three-story building clad in pure gold.  The temple, which is also known as Rokuonji, was featured on the must-see list of famous sites of Kyoto for centuries, and streams of visitors were a constant fact of life for the inhabitants of the temple.  The presentation will examine the interplay of interior and exterior spaces, and the mechanisms by which the monks coped with the popularity of their "great rooms" by creating both private and public spaces within the ethereal temple complex.


Treasure Rooms for the Tsars:  Amber, Agate, and Jasper Rooms in 18th Century Russia
Emmanuel Ducamp, Art Historian
Paris

The Imperial Russian palaces have interiors of unmatched splendor.  These spaces were designed to reinforce the otherworldly majesty of the Russian Tsars.  Precious stones were used in an extravagant manner to create glittering effects.  This lecture recounts the artistic and social history of the Amber Room, which began as a diplomatic gift of amber panels from the King of Prussia to the Tsar of Russia.  The story ends with the disappearance of the room in World War II and its eventual recreation.  The lecture will also examine the agate and jasper rooms created for Catherine the Great at Tsarskoe Selo, which are unique landmarks of Russian craft and artisanship in the Neo-Classical Style.

12 pm  Lunch:    Optional.  Fee.


2 pm - 4:30 pm   Concurrent afternoon lectures and tours in Newport's historic buildings.


Marie Antoinette Slept Here:  The Origin and Mystification of the Ladies Reception Room at The Breakers
Charles J. Burns, Associate Curator
The Preservation Society of Newport County

A famous occupant, whether real or imagined, can create a powerful mystique around a room.  The decorator Jules Allard acquired 18th century paneling from the Parisian townhouse of Megret de Serilly for the Cornelius Vanderbilts.  In 1895, Allard installed the paneling in the Ladies Reception Room of The Breakers in Newport, RI.  This lecture will focus on the room's 18th century design origins, its supposed association with Marie Antoinette, and its importance as the first installation of a French period interior in an American house.


New Bottles for Old Wine:  Period Rooms for the New American Wing at the MFA
Elliott Bostwick Davis, John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

This session examines the evolution from the initial rationale for installing period rooms in American museums during the early 20^th century, to some of the current strategies that will be incorporated into the new American Wing at the MFA, which is scheduled to open in 2010.  A variety of approaches to interpreting and displaying these rooms will be discussed, as well as some of the new research conducted by curators and conservators at the Museum.

Living Large:  The Great Dining Room at Mount Vernon
Dean F. Failey, Senior Director, American Furniture and Decorative Arts
Christie's, New York

Before there was a White House, America's first president entertained, wine and dined, and impressed his many visitors in perhaps the grandest dining room in the new United States of America.  Containing many of the original furnishings and works of art as well as outstanding architectural features, this stunning room is truly a national treasure.


Tour:  Opulent Rooms:  The Dining Room and Salon of Marble House
Paul F. Miller, Curator
The Preservation Society of Newport County

During the construction of her Newport summer cottage Marble House (1892), Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt worked closely with her architect Richard Morris Hunt and her decorator Jules Allard to insure that the villa's primary reception rooms would represent what she considered the great classical rooms of France.  Drawing inspiration from the Louvre, Versailles and other historical sites, this creative team forged a design alliance that would define the Vanderbilt style.


Renaissance Revival Masterpieces:  The Frullini Library and Dining Room of Chateau-sur-Mer
Charles Jeffers Moore, Chief Conservator
The Preservation Society of Newport County

A close look at two Victorian masterpieces of woodwork by internationally-renowned Italian sculptor Luigi Frullini.  The rooms were celebrated as some of the finest in America in 1884 when published in Artistic Houses.  This session will examine the delicate Renaissance-inspired decor of both rooms, as well as their construction and ornament.

Vermeer's Interiors:  Private Moments in Quiet Spaces
Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Curator of Norther Baroque Painting
The National Gallery, Washington

Vermeer often provides the viewer with only a small segment of a room, generally no more than a back corner enlivened with light flooding a plain white-washed wall.  His interiors are, in many ways, the opposite of "grand" spaces, yet in their simplicity they are unforgettable, and made all the more so by the ways in which they enhance the quiet and reflective mood of the figures who populate them.  This talk will examine the ways in which Vermeer's rooms are integral to the remarkable sense of intimacy that he created in his paintings.


Lord Duveen and the Gilded Age Room
Charlotte Vignon, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow
The Frick Collection, New York

Miramar was the summer residence of Mrs. George D. Widener, built at Newport (1912-1914)  by the architect Horace Trumbauer.  Miramar was decorated in the French 18^th century style by the Parisian firm of Carlhian and Co. and furnished with antique works of art by one of the most famous art dealers of all time, Joseph Duveen.  This lecture will explore the collaboration of Duveen and Carlhian in creating a series of great rooms in one of America's most refined houses, and their role in advising Mrs. Widener in the purchase of 18^th century French furniture and works of art.