News Release
Office of News and Information Johns Hopkins University 901 South Bond Street, Suite 540 Baltimore, Maryland 21231 Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920 |
February 26, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Heather Egan Stalfort (410) 516-0341 ext. 17 hestalfort@jhu.edu |
Lecture Series
The second annual "The House Beautiful" lecture series at The Johns Hopkins University's Evergreen Museum & Library explores ways in which Evergreen has both inspired — and been inspired by — trends in artful design.
The series presents notable experts and authors in the field of artistic design and decorative arts. A lightly catered reception follows each lecture.
The lectures will be held in the Bakst Theatre at Evergreen Museum & Library, 4545 N. Charles Street, Baltimore. Tickets are $20 each lecture; $15 for Evergreen members and students with valid ID. Series tickets are available for $48; $33 for Evergreen members and students with valid ID.
Advance pre-paid reservations are recommended as seating is limited. Tickets are available online through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com, by phone at 410-516-0341, or in person at the museum (handling charges apply for phone and online orders).
"Billy Baldwin: Baltimore's Brilliant Boy," by James
Abbott
Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"The gates of Evergreen had opened up a whole new world to
me. There I was surrounded by the best art and music... I
knew I could never return to the life I had led before." So
wrote Baltimore-born Billy Baldwin (1903 1983) — "dean
of decorators" of the post-war era — after one of his
many visits to the Garrett home. Evergreen Museum & Library
director-curator James Abbott will explore the wisdom,
versatility, and occasional wickedness of the Monument
City's most recognized interior decorator, and examine the
unique relationship between Baldwin's home town and his
still-influential design vocabulary, which melded common
sense practicality with the fastidious precision of a
gentleman's tailor. Abbott has previously held the position
of curator at the National Trust for Historic Preservation,
The Baltimore Museum of Art, Boscobel Restoration, Inc., and
Historic Hudson Valley. His publications include: Jansen
Furniture (2007) and Jansen (2006), both
published by Acanthus Press.
"Lockwood de Forest and the East Indian Craft Revival,"
by Roberta A. Mayer
Wednesday, April 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Lockwood de Forest (1850 1932) is best known as an artistic
decorator with a flair for designs based on the arts and
crafts of the Middle East and India. He drew attention to
the work of the mistri of Ahmedabad, India — a
sub-caste of highly skilled wood carvers — and House
Beautiful described his New York City home as "the most
Indian house in America." De Forest, who began his
professional career in partnership with Louis Comfort
Tiffany, created Anglo-Indian interior designs that were in
demand by some of the most visible figures of the Gilded
Age, including Mary Elizabeth Garrett. Roberta A. Mayer, de
Forest expert and author of the new release, Lockwood de
Forest: Furnishing the Gilded Age with a Passion for
India (University of Delaware Press, 2009), will explore the
designer's career within the context of the
late-19th-century East Indian Craft Revival. Mayer is
Associate Professor of Art History at Bucks County Community
College in Pennsylvania.
"Antebellum Opulence: Portland, Maine's Victoria
Mansion," by Arlene Palmer Schwind
Wednesday, May 27, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Victoria Mansion appears today much as it did in 1860 when
it was decorated and furnished by Gustave Herter as a summer
home for a New Orleans hotelier. The house is the earliest
known Herter commission, and the only one that is still
intact. Remarkably, more than 90 percent of the original
contents survive, including important furniture from the
Herter workshops, elaborate wall paintings, artworks,
carpets, gas lighting fixtures, stained glass, porcelain,
silver, and glassware. Curator Arlene Palmer Schwind will
discuss the history, architecture, furnishings, and
restoration challenges of this unique historic house museum,
whose opulent interiors suggest how the original 1857
Evergreen House may have been decorated. A Baltimore native
and graduate of Goucher College, Schwind received an M.A. in
the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware and
worked as a curator at the Winterthur Museum before moving
to Maine in 1980.
About Evergreen Museum & Library
Housed in a former Gilded Age mansion surrounded by Italian-style gardens, Evergreen Museum & Library is at once an intimate collection of international fine and decorative arts, rare books and manuscripts assembled by two generations of Baltimore's B&O Garrett family and a vibrant, inspirational venue for contemporary artists. The museum contains more than 50,000 of the Garretts' belongings — including post-Impressionist paintings and drawings, Asian decorative arts, and the John Work Garrett Library — and one of the largest private collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany glass. For information, visit www.museums.jhu.edu.