A new lecture series entitled Defining French Taste: Tradition, Quality, and Innovation in the Decorative Arts, organized by renowned French interior designer and decorative arts historian Florence de Dampierre, will open at New York Universitys Maison Française (16 Washington Mews at University Place) on Tuesday, September 22, at 7:00 p.m. The series, in English, is free and open to the public. For more information, call 212.998.8750.
For the inaugural event, an illustrated discussion of The Manifestation of French Splendor and the Italian Influence, de Dampierre will be joined by Wolfram Koeppe, curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art .
Koeppe curated several recent major exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum, including Princely Splendour: The Dresden Court 1580-1620 and Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, which was designated The Exhibition of the Year 2008 by Apollo Magazine. His publications in English include the catalogue of that exhibition, of which he was editor and co-author, and (co-author) European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection (2006).
De Dampierre is the author of Chairs: A History (Abrams, 2006) and The Decorator (1989), The Best of Painted Furniture (1995), and French Chic: The Art of Decorating Houses (2008), all three published by Rizzoli.
The series continues on December 10 at 7 p.m. with a lecture entitled The Sunrise over Europe: Louis XIV.
Upcoming topics in 2010 include Daily Minutiae of Royal Life: From the Levée to Table Settings and The Greenhouse of Versailles and the Fashion for the Jardin dHiver.