Southern fine and decorative arts are currently attracting significant interest. But as recently as 1951, the late Milby Burton (Director of The Charleston Museum) lamented that Americana students and collectors typically consider “… all civilization, culture and tradition ceases at Baltimore. Below this point the entire area appears to be terra incognita.”
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum invites you to explore with us this captivating, once “unknown land” through our 2008 program:
Terra Incognita:
New Discoveries and Influences on the South
March 12 – 16, 2008
Charleston, South Carolina
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 private homes. Meet connoisseurs, scholars, and friends from across the United States.
Pat Prioleau, Tom Savage, Sallie Simons, Carter Hudgins, Matt Webster
and Michael Brown at the 2007 Keynote Reception
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum
opens Antiques Week in Charleston with our Keynote Address by The Countess of Arran on March 12, 2008. We are delighted to be hosting Lady Arran on her first trip to Charleston. The Forum offers a full program of fascinating lectures, interesting tours and beautiful receptions, including:
Keynote Address and Reception with
The Countess of Arran
Lady Arran speaks of her ancestral home in a lecture entitled Castle Hill, A Palladian Jewel in an Arcadian Landscape, noting the influence of the English country home on plantations in the Early South. Since taking up residence in Castle Hill eighteen years ago, Lady Arran and her husband, the 9th Earl of Arran, have made their own mark on Castle Hill and the vast formal estate surrounding it.
Meet The Countess of Arran at the Opening Night Reception following her address.
- “Opening Day” Tours
Choose one of three fascinating topics to learn more about Charleston’s special treasures: Charleston City Hall Art Collection with Angela D. Mack, Chief Curator, Gibbes Museum of Art; An Architect’s Look at St. Michael’s Church with Louis P. Nelson, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Virginia; Gateway Walk with Karen P. Prewitt, President, The Garden Club of Charleston. Each tour will be small to enhance the experience.
- Tour of Millford Plantation and Luncheon with J. Thomas Savage
Mr. Savage, Director of Museum Affairs at Winterthur, conducts this bus tour to Millford Plantation (1839-41) which is located northwest of Charleston in “The High Hills of the Santee.” Restored and furnished to perfection by its present owner Richard Hampton Jenrette, this monumental house has been labeled the finest extant example of Greek Revival architecture in the United States.
Purchase our “Connoisseur Package” to take advantage of all Forum lectures and two evening receptions in private homes, plus the 2008 Keynote Address and Reception. 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-served basis.
Single tickets for lectures, if available with go on sale February 1, 2008. 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 premier Beaux Arts building in downtown Charleston. Forum lectures are presented in the Rotunda at the Gibbes, under the famed stained glass dome. On view is The Charleston Story, a newly-installed, ongoing exhibition of paintings sculpture and miniature portraits from the city’s founding in 1670 through the Civil War. William Christenberry: Photographs, 1961-2005 will also be on view at the museum 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.
Connie Baldwin, Jean Helms, Courtenay Daniels, Sallie Simons, Todd Smith and Angela Mack at the 2007 Keynote Reception
The following links provide additional information on our 2008 speakers’ institutions and Charleston, SC:
Castle Hill - Devon
Charleston, SC
Classical American Homes Preservation Trust / Millford Plantation
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Drayton Hall
G. P. Schafer Architect
Gibbes Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Northeast Auctions
Old Salem Museums and Gardens/MESDA
University of Virginia
Winterthur Museum and Country Estate
Links to The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum’s 2008 sponsoring organizations:
Ameriprise Financial
Charlton Hall Galleries, Inc.
Integria
Supporters of the 2008 program book include:
A Fairfax Antiques
Carolina Catering
G.P. Schafer Architects
American College of the Building Arts
Golden Associates