Art, Aristocrats and Architecture: An Evening with Curt DiCamillo
When:
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2015 7:00p -
9:00p
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2015 7:00p -
9:00p
Where:
Loring-Greenough House
12 South St
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Admission:
$25
Categories:
Art, Lectures & Conferences
Event website:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-aristocrats-and-architecture-an-evening-with-curt-dicamillo-tickets-15250038275
Join us for our popular yearly talk with renowned American architectural historian Curt DiCamillo!
"Castle Howard, Chatsworth & Brideshead: The Story of Two of England's Finest Houses"
Learn about two fabulous British country houses - Castle Howard and Chatsworth - and the dazzling tales of their art, gardens and architecture and the aristocrats that called these places home. Then, enjoy a wine tasting from Blanchards with delightful sweet pairings.
Tickets are $25 and all proceeds go to the preservation of our JP gem, the Loring-Greenough House.
This talk is the first in a series of 1920s-themed programs with the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club.
About this talk:
"Castle Howard, Chatsworth & Brideshead: The Story of Two of England’s Finest Houses"
Considered the first great British house of the 18th century and the finest private house in Yorkshire, Castle Howard is an astonishing amalgam of ancient Rome, the British Grand Tour, a cathedral, and a miniature city on a hill. From its Chapel, with a ceiling modeled on the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace and stained glass windows by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, to its sublime dome, the first on a private residence in Britain, to its stunning art collection (some of which is today in the collection of the British Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), to its astonishing gardens, Castle Howard is a dazzling star in the firmament of the great houses of the world.
The first Baroque palace built for a commoner, Chatsworth is set in an enormous park backed by wooded, rocky hills rising to heather moorland from which falls a magical cascade of water. Called “the Palace of the Peak,” the house is bursting with art, the highlight of which is the collection of Old Master drawings, one of the most important in the world. But there’s so much more – painted ceilings by Antonio Verrio and Louis Laguerre that take your breath away, carvings by Grinling Gibbons, sublime furniture and decorative arts, the greatest country house library in Britain, and paintings by Rembrandt, Hals, Van Dyck, Tintoretto, and Veronese. Nothing can quite compare to this Derbyshire palace that has repeatedly been voted the public’s favorite historic house.
Architectural historian Clive Aslet summed it up perfectly when he said that Chatsworth “occupies its position as the country house that all other country houses aspire to be like…” These two great houses are linked by more than sublime architecture, fantastic art collections, and beautiful grounds – the families intermarried in the early 19th century and in the early 21st century they became related through Brideshead Revisited."
About our guest speaker:
Mr. DiCamillo is an American architectural historian and a recognized authority on the British country house. He has written and lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad on the subject and has taught classes on British culture and art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Curt regularly leads scholarly tours that focus on the architectural and artistic heritage of Britain and its influence around the world. Since 1999 he has maintained an award-winning database on the web, The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses (DiCamilloCompanion.com). The database seeks to document every English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish country house ever built, standing or demolished, together with a history of the families who lived in the houses, the architects who designed them, and the history of the houses’ collections and gardens.
In recognition of his work, Curt has been presented to the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and The Prince of Wales. He is a member of The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and is an alumnus of both the Royal Collection Studies program and The Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a member of the Collections Committee for the Great House at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich, and a member of the Advisory Board of Samuel T. Freeman & Co. of Philadelphia.
Before going into private practice, Curt served for eight years (2004-12) as Executive Director of The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA, based in Boston, where he was responsible for raising over $6 million for the Trust (he currently holds the position of Executive Director Emeritus). Previously he worked for 13 years for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A native of the Philadelphia area, Curt grew up in Central Florida with his sister, the award-winning children’s book author Kate DiCamillo.
