NEWPORT, RI.- During the Gilded Age, America’s wealthy elite looked to the past even as they embraced the future. The same people who engineered a modern nation, with its fast transportation and mass manufacturing, also emulated the aristocracy of a bygone era, especially of France. Their newly built mansions, financed with industrial fortunes and equipped with the latest technology like electricity and telephones, were modeled after centuries-old French palaces and decorated with furnishings, artworks and designs lifted from 17th- and 18th-century Versailles.

Nowhere can this be better seen than in Newport. The Gilded Age’s most fashionable summer resort still boasts many of the finest houses from that era, preserved by private owners as well as nonprofit organizations such as The Preservation Society of Newport County.

On November 6 and 7, the Preservation Society will examine this cultural legacy with “The Newport Symposium: The French Influence in Newport.” Featuring an exceptional lineup of experts, the Symposium will take place at Rosecliff and Marble House.

“There are so many examples of French influence in the Newport Mansions,” said Trudy Coxe, CEO and Executive Director of the Preservation Society. “Marble House and Rosecliff were both inspired by palaces at Versailles. The Elms was modeled after the 18th-century Château d’Asnières outside Paris. These three houses and The Breakers all have collections of furniture and décor by Jules Allard, often in the styles of Louis XIV and Louis XV. The people who lived in these houses spoke French, read French, wore French fashions and dined on French cuisine prepared by French chefs.”



The Symposium will offer a two-day immersion into the topic with lectures and tours, led by the following speakers:

• Keynote speaker Dr. Mathieu Deldicque, Chief Curator and Museum Director of Château de Chantilly in France and a member of the Preservation Society’s International Council

• Dr. Justine De Young, Associate Professor and Chair of the History of Art Department, Fashion Institute of Technology

• Bob Shaw, Production Designer, HBO’s “The Gilded Age”

• Natalie Larson, Interior Textile Historian, Historic Textile Reproductions LLC

• Becky Libourel Diamond, Food Culture Historian

• Margot Bernstein, Ph.D., Curator of Private Collection

• Nadia Albertini, French Heritage Society Scholar, Franco-Mexican Embroidery and Textile Designer

• Leslie Jones, Director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator, The Preservation Society of Newport County

• Laura Bergemann, former Preservation Society Conservation Research Fellow and doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University

• Théo Lourenço, Preservation Society Curatorial Research Fellow.

Speakers will lead tours across the Preservation Society’s Newport Mansions properties and others that relate to their talks. Symposium registration will also include special access to the “Richard Morris Hunt: In a New Light” exhibition at Rosecliff.

Tickets are available at www.newportmansions.org/events/the-newport-symposium-the-french-influence-in-newport.



Founded in 1993 by The Preservation Society of Newport County, the Newport Symposium is an annual convening of fine and decorative arts experts and enthusiasts from across the country and the world. Attendees listen to stimulating lectures, experience behind-the-scenes study opportunities and gather to network and discuss the future of our history. The Newport Symposium is made possible by the generous support of Russell Morin Catering & Events, Kirby Perkins Construction, Newport Design Week and the Newport Symposium Committee.