2009 FORUM HIGHLIGHTS
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum invites you to join us during Charleston’s celebrated “Antiques Week” in March 2009.
Town and Country: Life in Early America
March 18 – 22, 2009
Charleston, South Carolina
Explore urban and rural life in America before 1860. Living in town was characterized by bustling commerce and wide-ranging contacts, while country life was self-sufficient and relatively isolated for all but the largest landowners. The newest trends in Great Britain and the Continent were quickly emulated in the young American cities and, in turn, copied in the country as they were gradually absorbed into vernacular forms.
Take advantage of the opportunity to hear lectures by prominent experts from major museums, historic properties and private collections. View extraordinary paintings, furniture, silver, porcelains, and landmark properties in both town and country. Meet connoisseurs, scholars, and friends from across the United States.
Connie Baldwin, Tom Savage, Beth Savage and Kinga Bender
at the 2008 Keynote Reception
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum
opens Antiques Week in Charleston with our Keynote Address by James Hervey-Bathurst on March 18, 2009. We are delighted to be partnering with The Royal Oak Foundation in bringing Mr. Hervey-Bathurst, President of Britain’s Historic Houses Association, to Charleston. The Forum offers a full program of fascinating lectures, interesting tours and beautiful receptions, including:
Keynote Address and Reception with Mr. James Hervey-Bathurst
Mr. Hervey-Bathurst speaks of his ancestral home in a lecture entitled The Restoration and Redecoration of Eastnor Castle, a Regency Mansion in the Welsh Borders. He has overseen an extensive refurbishment of the country home and has served as President of Britain’s Historic Houses Association since 2003.
Meet Mr. Hervey-Bathurst at the Opening Night Reception following his address.- “Opening Day” Tours
Each tour will be small to enhance the experience. Choose one of three fascinating topics to learn more about Charleston’s special treasures:
- Storeroom Secrets: Behind the Scenes at the Gibbes with Angela D. Mack, Executive Director, and the Gibbes Museum Curatorial Staff
- Rebuilt in Splendid Greek Revival Style: An Architectural Visit to K. K. Beth Elohim’s 1840 Synagogue with Daniel K. Ackermann, Associate Curator at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem
- A Visit to Private Houses of Charleston’s First Period of Eminence with Ralph Harvard III, Antiquarian and Designer, Ralph Harvard, Inc., New York.
- William Seabrook Plantation Tour and Lunch with J. Thomas Savage
Mr. Savage, Director of Museum Affairs at Winterthur, conducts this bus tour to the William Seabrook Plantation on Edisto Island which is south of Charleston. This National Historic Landmark house (c. 1810) was where General Lafayette stayed during his 1825 visit to South Carolina. The lovely gardens were designed by the current owner, a noted landscape architect. This is the first time he and his wife have opened the house and grounds.
Purchase our “Connoisseur Package” to take advantage of all Forum lectures including an afternoon at Drayton Hall with Plantation Picnic, the 2009 Keynote Address and Reception, plus an exclusive evening reception in one of Charleston’s private homes. As a package holder, you will realize considerable savings and have the opportunity to purchase this year’s outstanding optional tours on a first-come, first serve basis.
Single tickets, if available, will go on sale February 1, 2009. Please note the capacity at all Forum events is extremely limited.
Proceeds of the Forum
benefit the Gibbes Museum of Art. The museum is housed in the city’s premier Beaux Arts building in downtown Charleston. Forum lectures are presented in the Rotunda at the Gibbes, under the famed stained glass dome. The Charleston Story, a rotating exhibition of paintings, sculpture and miniature portraits from the museum’s permanent collection, will also highlight superb examples of Charleston furniture from the Rivers Collection on view during Antiques Week.
With visitors from across the country joining local residents at The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum, the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina is certainly “the place to be” each March in the world of fine and decorative arts.
Courtenay Daniels and Michel Tremblay at the 2008 Keynote Reception
The following links provide additional information on our 2009 speakers’ institutions and Charleston, SC:
Bayou Bend Collections and Garden, Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Callaway and Associates, Inc.
Charleston Visitors Bureau, SC
Chipstone Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Drayton Hall
Eastnor Castle
Gibbes Museum of Art
Historic Charleston Foundation
Museum of Early Decorative Arts at Old Salem
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Ralph Harvard, Inc.
The Royal Oak Foundation
Winterthur Museum and Country Estate
Links to The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum’s sponsoring organizations;
Charlton Hall Galleries, Inc.
Phipps Dickson Integria Group Inc.
The following organizations have supported The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum program book:
Colonial Williamsburg
John Dunnan Gallery
Ralph Harvard
Fuschia Tea Emporium
Golden & Associates Antiques
Letts Atelier, Ltd.
Preservation Society of Charleston
The Charleston Renaissance Gallery
Carriage Properties
Drayton Hall
Dulles Designs LLC
The RSVP Shoppe