Eustis Estate to welcome Ashley Householder to give presentation on Oscar Wilde

Date and location:

Wednesday, April 11th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
Eustis Estate, 1424 Canton Avenue, Milton

Historic New England welcomes Ashley Householder, curator of exhibitions for the Preservation Society of Newport County, to the Eustis Estate for a special talk on Irish writer Oscar Wilde.

During Britain’s Aesthetic Movement (1870-1890), Wilde was among the group of painters, artists, poets, and thinkers who aspired to live artistically. They believed that art should not have a moral or social purpose. In 1882 Wilde embarked on a grand North American lecture tour to bring this message to a new audience. His tour increased interest in interior decoration: furniture, ceramics, wallpaper, glass, silver, carpet, and paintings.

This talk explores the message of aestheticism that Wilde brought to Newport, Rhode Island, and considers it against the backdrop of three of the Preservation Society of Newport County’s most important Aesthetic interiors: Chateau-sur-Mer (1870s renovation), Kingscote (1881 renovation), and Isaac Bell House (1883).

Presented in connection with the exhibition Bohemian Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement and Oscar Wilde’s Newport, on view at Rosecliff from March 24 to November 4, 2018.

The cost is $15 for Historic New England members and $25 for nonmembers.

For more information:

The house will open at 6:00 p.m. so attendees can visit the house and enjoy a reception. Advance tickets required. Please call 617-994-6600 for more information or buy online by going here: http://shop.historicnewengland.org/EUS-LECTURE-1-10526/