Duke House: A Case Study in Architecture, Decoration, and Art History

Watch the Duke House symposium online

February 1-2, 2013

2012 marks the hundredth year since the completion of the Duke House – originally designed for tobacco magnate, James B. Duke by the Philadelphia architect, Horace Trumbauer. In 1958, Mrs. James B. Duke and her daughter Miss Doris Duke donated the structure to New York University to house the Institute of Fine Arts. Architect Robert Venturi was charged with adapting the house for the Institute’s use, which he did without altering its original architecture (for more information click here).

The Institute has observed this anniversary with programs that explored the Duke House in the context of architecture, urbanism and the social history of New York.  On February 1-2, 2013 we will mark the close of the centennial celebrations with the conference Duke House: A Case Study in Architecture, Decoration, and Art History. The conference will consider the IFA’s presence at the Duke House by looking at the building – from its commissioning by the Dukes to its eventual transformation into an educational and research facility (Friday, February 1), as well as the work and influence of some of the professors who have been its inhabitants (Saturday, February 2) – Donald Hansen, Richard Krautheimer, Erwin Panofsky, and Kirk Varnedoe.

SPEAKERS

Zainab Bahrani, Edith Porada Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology, Columbia University
Francesco Benelli, Associate Professor, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
Daniella Berman, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Elizabeth Buhe, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Alisa Chiles, M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Grace Chuang, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Leah Dickerman, Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Jennifer Gimblett, M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Isabelle Gournay, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland, College Park
Jonathan Hay, Deputy Director; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Christopher Heuer, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University
Lauren Johnson, M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Pepe Karmel, Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Art History, New York University
Dale Kinney, Professor of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College
Christie Mitchell, M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Alexander Nagel, Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Shannon Ness, M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
David O’Connor, Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art; Co-Director, Yale University-University of Pennsylvania-Institute of Fine Arts, NYU Excavations at Abydos
Theodore Prudon, Architect, Associate Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University
Elizabeth Sears, George H. Forsyth Junior Collegiate Professor of History of Art, University of Michigan
Robert Slifkin, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Marvin Trachtenberg, Edith Kitzmiller Professor of the History of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Charlotte Vignon, Curator of Decorative Arts, The Frick Collection
Irene Winter, William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts, Emerita, Harvard University
Christopher Wood, Professor, History of Art, Yale University
Matthew Worsnick, PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Organized by Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Patricia Rubin, Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

AGENDA

February 1, 2013
Moderator: Jean-Louis Cohen (Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)

9:00
Session I: Building Duke House

Welcome and Introduction
Alisa Chiles (M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Duke House and Manhattan’s Urban Grid

Matthew Worsnick (PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Horace Trumbauer: Architectural Discourse Around 1900

Daniella Berman (PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
A Matter of “good taste”: Emulation in Gilded Age Architecture

10:30-11:00
Break

11:00
Session II: Decorating and Furnishing Duke House

Shannon Ness (M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Interpreting the Decoration of Duke House

Grace Chuang (PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Commissioning Interiors: Carlhian and the Duveens at Duke House

Lauren Johnson (M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Walls in translation: Imported European Rooms and Boiseries in New York

Jennifer Gimblett (M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
The Dukes’ Collection, or the Creation of a Gilded Age Identity

1:00
Break

2:30
Session III: Accommodating the Institute of Fine Arts

Elizabeth Buhe  (PhD candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
‘Many Eyes Were On the Architects:’ Robert Venturi steps in

Christie Mitchell (M.A. candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Robert Venturi’s Furniture and Richard Kelly’s Lighting at Duke House

4:00
Session IV: Understanding Duke House: The Extended Context – Urban to Domestic

Isabelle Gournay (Associate Professor, School of Architecture, University of Maryland)
The Beaux-Arts Derived Mansions in Washington, D.C., and New York

Charlotte Vignon (Curator of Decorative Arts, The Frick Collection)
The Duveens and New York’s Gilded Age Interiors

Theodore Prudon (Architect, Associate Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University)
A Mans(ion) History: 4 East 79th Street.

6:30
Reception

February 2, 2013:

Rooms with views: Duke House and art and archaeology’s histories

9:30
Welcome, Patricia Rubin (Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)

9:40
Session I: Erwin Panofsky
CHAIR: Alexander Nagel (Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)

9:40
Christopher Heuer (Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University)
10:05
Christopher Wood (Professor, History of Art, Yale University)

10:30 - 10:50
Discussion

10:50
Break

11:20
Session II: Richard Krautheimer
CHAIR: Marvin Trachtenberg (Edith Kitzmiller Professor of the History of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)

11:20
Elizabeth Sears (George H. Forsyth Junior Collegiate Professor of History of Art, University of Michigan): Humanistic Endeavor in the Diaspora: Krautheimer’s Breakthrough, 1942
11:45
Francesco Benelli (Associate Professor, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University): Richard Krautheimer, the Tree and the Forest
12:10
Dale Kinney(Professor of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College): After the Institute: Richard Krautheimer at the Bibliotheca Hertziana

12:35 - 1:00
Discussion

1:00 - 2:00
Lunch Break

2:00
Session III: Donald Hansen: Leaving No Stone Unturned
CHAIR: David O’Connor (Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art; Co-Director, Yale University-University of Pennsylvania-Institute of Fine Arts, NYU Excavations at Abydos)

2:00
Irene Winter (William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts, Emerita, Harvard University) and Zainab Bahrani (Edith Porada Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology, Columbia University)

3:00 - 3:15
Discussion
3:15
Break

3:45
Session IV: Kirk Varnedoe: Teaching, curating, and talking about Modern Art
CHAIR: Jean-Louis Cohen (Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)

3:45
Jonathan Hay (Deputy Director; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University): The Primitivism Debate Revisited
4:10
Robert Slifkin (Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University): Quicksilver and Lead
4:35
Leah Dickerman (Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York): The Scholarly Curator
4:55
Pepe Karmel (Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Art History, New York University): Rethinking Modernism: Kirk Varnedoe and his Students

5:00 - 5:20
Discussion

The centennial programming is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.