The Gilded Age, also referred to as the American Renaissance, is an era associated with unparalleled growth, technological advancement, prosperity, and cultural change. Spanning from the 1880s to the 1930s it marks the first time that the titans of American finance and industry had more wealth than their European counterparts. As the center of this dynamic economy, New York City attracted immigrant workers and millionaires alike. It was not enough for the self-appointed elite to just build their own grand chateaux and palazzos along Fifth Avenue, as they collectively dreamed of creating a new metropolis to rival the great cultural capitals of London, Paris, and Rome. To flaunt their newly acquired wealth, they needed an architecture dripping in embellishment and historical reference. Enter the Beaux-Arts.

Set amid the magnificent achievements of an American Renaissance, this course takes a close look at some of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City. While showing public exteriors, its main focus is on the lavish interiors that are associated with the opulence of the Gilded Age — often providing a glimpse inside buildings not otherwise viewable to the public. While some of the buildings and monuments that are featured are world renowned landmarks recognizable and accessible to all, others are obscure buildings that history has forgotten.

Architect Phillip James Dodd will recount not only the fascinating stories of some of New York’s most famous and significant Beaux-Arts landmarks, he will also highlight the lives of those that commissioned, designed, and built them. These are some of the most acclaimed architects, artists and artisans of the day — Daniel Chester French, Cass Gilbert, Charles McKim, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Stanford White — and some of the most prominent millionaires in American history — Carnegie, Frick, Gould, Kahn, Morgan, and the ubiquitous Astor and Vanderbilt families — names that, as Julian Fellowes (the acclaimed creator of Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age) writes, “still reek of money.”

Image credit: Jonathan Wallen, from An American Renaissance: Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York City.

This is a live, virtual course hosted by Roundtable, which includes interactive opportunities and post-course recordings available for all course participants.

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