After a five-year hiatus, the Newport Symposium, a longstanding scholarly tradition for the Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC) since 1993, returned to the community this past spring with a one-day session focusing on the Italian influence on the mansions of Newport. The Newport Symposium was brought back to life by the Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC) following its absence from the annual event calendar during the COVID years and the period of readjustment afterward. This past week, in a bonus two-day session, the PSNC hosted a second Newport Symposium for 2025 focusing on the French influence upon Newport’s Gilded Age life from November 6-7.
Newport Symposia (2025)
This second event, titled “The French Influence in Newport,” examined how French art, architecture, and design influenced and permeated Newport’s Gilded Age buildings and culture, from building facades to interior furnishings, and from fabrics to the menus at their parties. Experts discussed a wide variety of aspects of the French influences, including the art collecting habits of the Newport elite, particularly the French imported furniture and woodwork (particularly by Allard et Fils), upon construction in Newport in the Gilded Age (period between 1865 and 1915).
As with past Newport Symposia, the Preservation Society gathered a collection of distinguished experts to share their insights, including art historians, curators, and design specialists. This year, rather than the Symposium being limited simply to scholarly lectures in a hotel ballroom as was typical in the past, the organizers cleverly opened the various properties so that attendees could experience the subject of the various academic presentations first hand and in real life. Mansions and grand Gilded Age buildings and gardens were all made available to symposium attendees with the benefit of tours by the learned lecturers to point out specific details that were pertinent to the broader discussion on the Symposium’s theme of the French influences upon the art, furniture, landscapes, and architecture of the various grand properties.
Marble House Ballroom & Rose Cliff Interior (Newport, RI)
Speakers included both visiting scholars as well as past and current Preservation Society fellows to share their knowledge and discoveries in a series of slide lectures. The lectures took place both at Rosecliff and Marble House, two of the Preservation Society’s most elegant, French-inspired mansions. In the afternoons, tours widened to include other properties like the Ochre Court and Elms, which also exhibit a very strong French influence.
Ochre Court & Elms Mansion (Newport, RI)
The double return of the Newport Symposium this year has provided a unique opportunity for visiting scholars to discuss important subjects with one another. It also allowed local residents and supporters of the Preservation Society to delve deeper into interesting topics and gain a greater appreciation of the art and architecture they are helping preserve through their donations. Newport’s collection of Gilded Age art and architecture is unmatched anywhere in the country and it is wonderful that those resources are again being celebrated and shared academically.
Newport Symposium Event (2025)
The revival of the Newport Symposium also helped re-establish that the mansions are not just attractions to visitors or an engine for the local economy (both of which are true) but also invaluable and unique cultural resources that are being held in perpetuity for the benefit of both the country and the world. They help tell the story of the Gilded Age more forcefully and authentically than would otherwise be possible. For all those who attended the fall Newport Symposium, its return to the PSNC’s annual calendar was an extremely welcome occurrence.
Marble House (Newport, RI)
With the return of the Newport Symposium, it is evident that The Preservation Society of Newport County’s commitment to preserving and presenting these historic treasures of the Gilded Age, will continue to captivate and educate future generations. If you are interested in creating your own architectural treasure in New England, A4 Architecture is among the best alternatives to help you achieve your goal, and we look forward to being in communication with you soon.
Ross Sinclair Cann, AIA, LEED AP, is an author, historian, educator, and a practicing architect at A4 Architecture who lives and works in Newport, Rhode Island. He teaches architectural history in the Circle of Scholars program at Salve Regina University and writes on the subject of design, planning and architectural history for a variety of publications.