An exceptional lineup of experts will guide a two-day immersion into the French art, architecture, design and cuisine that shaped the lifestyles of the Gilded Age elite as they looked to the French aristocracy for inspiration.

“The Newport Symposium: The French Influence in Newport,” November 6-7 at Rosecliff and Marble House, is produced and hosted by The Preservation Society of Newport County.

Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, modeled the architecture of Alva Vanderbilt’s Marble House after the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Horace Trumbauer’s inspiration for The Elms came from the 18th-century Château d’Asnières, while Stanford White’s design for Rosecliff incorporated elements of another Versailles palace, the Grand Trianon. Furniture maker and interior designer Jules Allard et Fils furnished Newport’s summer “cottages” with treasures inspired by and imported from France, and French chefs created magnificent culinary confections for Gilded Age society in Newport. Learn about all of this and more during the Symposium’s lectures and guided tours.

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

Speakers will include: keynote speaker 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; and 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, including Marble House, The Breakers, Chateau-sur-Mer, The Elms and Ochre Court. Symposium registration will also include special access to the “Richard Morris Hunt: In a New Light” exhibition at Rosecliff.

About The Newport Symposium

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.

The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island, is a nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area's historic architecture, landscapes, decorative arts and social history. Its 11 historic properties – seven of them National Historic Landmarks – span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.

For more information, please visit www.NewportMansions.org.