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The Jacalyn and William P. Egan Lecture

With Théo Lourenço, Allison Donoghue & Isabella Hogan

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Rosecliff 548 Bellevue Ave
Newport, RI 02840
July 28, 2026 6:00pm – 7:30pm
This event is free. Advanced registration is required.

New Treasures for America: European Decorative Arts in the Gilded Age  

Curatorial Research Fellow Théo Lourenço

As the Preservation Society prepares to publish its first collection catalogue, European Decorative Arts Research Fellow Théo Lourenço will present a selection of “hidden gems” from the Old World acquired by Gilded Age collectors. In this talk, Lourenço will illuminate the diverse collecting practices of American patrons by examining works by celebrated European designers alongside modern copies and historically referential interpretations. Through these objects, he will explore how America’s newly wealthy society envisioned and constructed its relationship to European cultural models.


A Feminine Touch: American Decorative Arts in Newport

Curatorial Research Fellow Allison Donoghue

Allison Donoghue will share insights into her work researching treasures from the robust collection of fine and decorative arts at the Preservation Society of Newport County. Her work, in support of the forthcoming collections catalog, highlights three decades of Newport history through paintings, sculpture, textiles, silver, ceramics, and more. From a “Votes for Women” tea service commissioned by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont to a book cover expertly designed by Margaret Armstrong, Donoghue’s research focuses in particular on objects that exemplify the many important contributions women have made to Newport’s long history.


Conserving The Breakers: The Work of Ogden Codman Jr. and A. H. Davenport & Co.

Conservation Research Fellow, Isabella Hogan

Between 1893 and 1895, Alice and Cornelius Vanderbilt II hired an ambitious young architect, Ogden Codman Jr. (1863-1951), to design the family and guest rooms of The Breakers (1895). To furnish these spaces, Codman worked with the high-end Boston furniture manufacturer, A. H. Davenport & Company (1880-1914), to provide over 150 pieces of furniture. In this talk, our Conservation Research Fellow, Isabella Hogan, will explore the correspondence, decision-making, and design process behind the Vanderbilts’ private quarters, showcasing her archival and scientific research, as well as the conservation treatments that are currently underway to stabilize this furniture collection.

Curatorial Research Fellow

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Théo Lourenço

Théo Lourenço attended École du Louvre, Paris, where he earned a Diploma of the First Cycle, magna cum laude; a Diploma of Museum Studies, summa cum laude; and a Master’s degree in Museum Studies. His qualifying dissertations were The Louvre: an Encyclopedic Museum? Study of the Pavillon des Sessions, and A Museum in Debate: Study of the Reception of the Decorative Arts Exhibitions at the Louvre (1852-1914). Lourenço’s work with the Preservation Society has significantly increased our institutional knowledge regarding interior decorator Jules Allard and his business practices. He was lead curatorial fellow for the Preservation Society’s exhibition “Richard Morris Hunt: In a New Light.” He also has experience as the Assistant Curator for the exhibition “Exiles. Artist perspectives” at the Louvre-Lens, and as a Project Coordinator for an event honoring the work of French historian Pierre Singaravélou.

Curatorial Research Fellow

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Allison Donoghue

Allison Donoghue approaches material culture and decorative arts through an interdisciplinary lens incorporating art historical, archaeological, and anthropological theory into her work. Prior to coming to the Preservation Society of Newport County, she earned her master’s degree in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture Studies from the Bard Graduate Center and spent a year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Curatorial Intern in American Decorative Arts. During the summer of 2025, she participated in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Summer Institute and in the Spring of 2026 received William L. Thompson Collections Fellowship for Emerging Museum Professionals from the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation. She is excited to contribute object-centered research to the upcoming collections catalogue.

Conservation Research Fellow

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Isabella Hogan

Isabella Hogan, Preservation Society Conservation Research Fellow, earned a BA in Archaeology: First Class from the University of Cambridge, King’s College, England, and was awarded the Glyn Daniel Prize and Scholar of the College status due to distinguished academic performance. She further excelled at the University of Durham, where she earned an MA in Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects: Distinction. Isabella has worked as a Conservator and a Conservation Intern in England, Denmark, and Greece; she has assisted with the preventive conservation of the Tudor warship of King Henry VIII (the Mary Rose)and the stabilization of artifacts from the Ancient Agora of Athens with the American School of Classical Studies. After her fellowship with the Preservation Society, Isabella will be moving to Greece, to work as an archaeological conservation intern at the Bronze Age site of the Palace of Nestor.

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