Dangremond Lecture in Newport celebrates Gilded Age architecture

by Matthew Longcore

This past week I had the great pleasure of attending the annual David W. Dangremond Lecture sponsored by the Preservation Society of Newport County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting historic architecture, decorative arts, landscapes, and social history in Newport, Rhode Island. The society is the steward for eleven historic properties, of which seven are National Historic Landmarks, spanning more than 250 years of American architectural and social history.

This was my second year attending the lecture as a guest of my friend, David Dangremond. Last year’s lecture at Marble House was delivered by Michael C. Kathrens, author of Newport Cottages 1835-1890: The Summer Villas Before the Vanderbilt Era. This year’s lecture at Rosecliff was delivered by Ian Wardropper, director of The Frick Collection in New York City.

Ivy Style readers may be familiar with the name Dangremond. Sam Dangremond, David’s son, is a trusts and estates lawyer in New York, and also a contributing digital editor at Town & Country where he covers men’s style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene. Sam has written about Brooks Brothers, Sperry Top-Siders, penny loafers, WASPs, and Newport, among other topics.

David Dangremond is the epitome of the Ivy gentleman. Elegant and eloquent, David is an art history educator and philanthropist with impeccable manners and taste. A graduate of Amherst College, David received graduate degrees from the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware and from Yale University.

The co-founder and Chair Emeritus of the internationally acclaimed Newport Symposium, he has served as President of both The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and The Florence Griswold Museum. He is also Vice-President of the Friends of American Arts at Yale and his board memberships include the Winterthur Museum, Hill-Stead Museum, Mount Vernon, Connecticut Humanities Council, and New England Museum Association. A Life Member of the Society of Architectural Historians, David’s other affiliations include the American Antiquarian Society, Knickerbocker Club, Century Association, Yale Club New York City, Dauntless Club, Newport Reading Room, and Society of the Cincinnati.

My connection to David comes from our mutual affiliations with Trinity College and Yale University, as well as our shared interest in architectural history. David taught at Trinity College, my undergraduate alma mater, as the St. Anthony Hall Visiting Professor of Fine Arts. David and I both hold master’s degrees from Yale University, and we each have a deep interest in the architectural legacy of Newport, Rhode Island. I am a Ph.D. candidate at Salve Regina University, which has a campus of Gilded Age mansions including Ochre Court and McAuley Hall. David is an active supporter of the Preservation Society of Newport County, which is the steward of Salve’s neighboring properties including The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House, and Rosecliff.

This year’s Dangremond Lecture titled “The Frick Renewed” was focused on The Frick Collection in New York City, a renowned museum undergoing its first major renewal in 90 years. Ian Wardropper, one of the pre-eminent museum directors in the United States, graduated from Brown University and received a Ph.D. in art history from New York University. Wardropper spent twenty years at the Art Institute of Chicago and another ten at the Metropolitan Museum of Art prior to his appointment to the Frick in 2011. Wardropper’s lecture described how improved infrastructure along with new spaces for exhibitions, education, and conservation will enable The Frick to better serve patrons in the 21st century.

The highlight of the lecture was a slideshow featuring the history of the Neoclassical mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan owned by industrialist Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), who bequeathed his home and his extensive collection of old master paintings, fine furniture, sculptures, and decorative arts to the public for their enjoyment. Frick was part of the influential circle of Gilded Age industrialists which included Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Huttleston Rogers, Henry Phipps, and Charles Schwab.

The original Frick house was designed by architects Carrère and Hastings and constructed between 1912 and 1914. Carrère and Hastings, the New York City based architectural firm of John Merven Carrère (1858–1911) and Thomas Hastings (1860–1929), specialized in Beaux-Arts architecture. Among their other numerous projects were the Ponce de León Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida designed for Standard Oil partner Henry Flagler (1885–1887), the New York Public Library (1897–1911), Vernon Hall in Newport, Rhode Island (1898), and the Bicentennial Buildings at Yale University (1901–1902). Architect John Russell Pope designed an addition, the entrance on 70th Street and the Frick Art Reference Library, completed when the house opened as a museum in 1935. Pope famously developed a master plan for Yale University in 1919.

The annual David W. Dangremond Lecture in Newport, Rhode Island is a highlight for those who appreciate the history of art and architecture. The built environment matters greatly and being well-dressed is always enhanced by an inspiring setting. Ivy Style will continue to feature architecture as an important aspect of a stylish way of life.