For the first time since 1927, Alva Vanderbilt’s extravagant collection of more than 300 Medieval and Renaissance art objects has been reassembled for display at Marble House, in the Gothic Room that was designed for them in 1892. Beginning May 8, visitors to Marble House, a National Historic Landmark maintained by The Preservation Society of Newport County, will see the Gothic Room and the art collection just as Alva and her guests did a century ago.
“The return, substantially intact, of such an extraordinary historic collection to the setting that was designed to display it is exceedingly rare,” said Trudy Coxe, Preservation Society chief executive officer and executive director. “Giving our visitors the opportunity to see this collection in its historic setting just as Alva Vanderbilt intended it to be seen raises the significance of this exhibition to another level, even beyond the value of the objects themselves.”
“Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling collection” comprises more than 300 paintings, sculptures and works of decorative art, including metalwork, furniture and ceramics created across Europe chiefly between 1100 and 1550. This group of objects belonged to three successive owners: Paris collector and dealer Emile Gavet, Newport society hostess Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and circus impresario John Ringling.
Vanderbilt bought the collection from Emile Gavet in Paris in 1890, and had it shipped to Newport for display in the summer “cottage” that Richard Morris Hunt was building for her.
“Hunt redesigned the ground floor sitting room of Marble House into a Medieval setting specifically to accommodate the collection,” said Paul Miller, Preservation Society curator. “Sculpture was hung on the lowest tier, just above the wainscoting, followed by small paintings, over which were positioned larger panel paintings interspersed with ceramics perched on wall brackets. Smaller objects were scattered about the room in display cases.”
On public display at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota until April, the collection will then return to its first American home in Newport, at Marble House, where each object will be reinstalled in its original location, known through vintage photographs. A hardcover, 211-page catalog will accompany the exhibition.
“This is the largest exhibition of its type ever undertaken by the Preservation Society,” added Miller. “This collection will be returning to its custom-built environment in the Gothic Room, where each object will resume its intended 1892 placement. As a result, visitors will have the rare opportunity to see a virtually intact and once-celebrated Gilded Age collection set again within the architectural framework conceived for its display.”
Marble House was the summer home of Mr and Mrs William K. Vanderbilt. Built and furnished at a reported cost of $11 million, with 500,000 cubic feet of marble, it was the most lavish house in America when it opened in 1892. It became a grand stage for Alva Vanderbilt’s climb to social and political power, first as a leading society hostess and later as a leader of the “Votes for Women” campaign.
The Preservation Society of Newport County is at 424 Bellevue Avenue. Call 401-847-1000 ext 131 or visit www.NewportMansions.org for information.
