Diplomacy and Design in D.C.

EVENTS > SPECIAL PROGRAMS

With the revamped Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the United States Department of State as our centerpiece, this program ushers members behind the scenes of must-see and under-the-radar museums and collections in the nation’s capital.

This program is full. Please email thetrust@decorativeartstrust.org to join the waitlist. 

Thursday, December 5

Gathering at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center, we depart for a day of tours around the National Mall.

Located in the U.S. Department of State’s Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C., the Diplomatic Reception Rooms (DRR) are one of America’s most astonishing yet little-known treasures. Since their inception in 1961, the DRR have served as the setting for many accomplishments of American diplomacy that have guided the course of world history. The DRR are home to an unparalleled collection of more than 5,000 fine and decorative art objects from our nation’s founding era and formative decades.

The Metropolitan Club serves as our elegant lunch venue. Founded in 1863 by six U.S. Treasury Department officials eager to create a social and literary club; the club’s current home replaced an earlier structure destroyed by fire. Designed by the architectural firm of Heins & LaFarge of New York City, the brick and limestone Renaissance Revival clubhouse was built from 1904 to 1908 and sits two blocks from the White House.

We head to architect John Russell Pope’s West Building at the National Gallery of Art to explore the heralded Kaufman Collection of American decorative arts, a promised gift from Linda Kaufman and her late husband George. The gift includes superlative examples of 18th- and early-19th-century furniture, ceramics, and glass. Our tour will be led by Wendy Cooper, Curator Emerita of Furniture, Winterthur Museum.

The Folger Shakespeare Library reopened this summer after a multi-year renovation. We delve into the incredible books, manuscripts, art, and objects that make up the world’s largest Shakespeare collection. Henry Clay Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger, established the Folger Shakespeare Library as a gift to the American people, after decades of assembling the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare materials. Henry Folger was inspired by a speech of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s while a student at Amherst College and made it his life’s mission to collect Shakespeare’s plays and poems and related works.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (also known as the Freer-Sackler Gallery) houses exceptional collections, with more than 46,000 objects dating from the Neolithic period to today, including renowned holdings from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the ancient Near East, and the Islamic world. The Freer Gallery of Art also presents a significant group of American works of art largely dating to the late 19th century and boasts the world’s largest collection of works by James McNeill Whistler, including the famed Peacock Room.

In the evening, we have the pleasure and privilege of visiting an exceptional private collection of Chinese export porcelain focused on armorial services commissioned by British patrons.

Friday, December 6

Departing from the Westin Washington D.C. City Center, we head out for a day of tours in Georgetown and environs.

The Gilded Age Anderson House, now home to the Society of Cincinnati, was designed by the Boston firm of Little and Browne as the winter home of Larz Anderson, an American diplomat, and his wife, Isabel, primarily for entertaining. The house is furnished with art and artifacts gathered by the Andersons during numerous trips around the world, including noteworthy European and Asian decorative arts. Larz was a devoted member of the Society, and Isabel gave the house to the organization following his death in 1937. The Society’s notable collection includes materials related to the Revolutionary War and its distinguished membership.

We enjoy lunch at the Cosmos Club, which was created in 1878 under the efforts of John Wesley Powell, distinguished geologist and explorer, who wished to create a Washington social club modeled after New York City’s Century Association. In 1950, the Cosmos Club purchased an elegant mansion that was originally constructed in 1873 and then overhauled in 1899–1900 with the addition of two wings in a Beaux Arts style by the renowned architects Carrère and Hastings.

Marjorie Merriweather Post bought Hillwood in 1955 and soon decided her home would be a museum that would inspire and educate the public. Her estate in northwest Washington, D.C., endowed the country with the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, a distinguished 18th-century French decorative art collection, and 25 acres of gardens and woodlands. Post’s collecting tastes were heavily influenced by Joseph Duveen, a prominent British art dealer who introduced Post to the material culture of 18th-century France, through which she carved a niche among the most discerning collectors of European works of art, furniture, and tapestries.

At the end of the day, we have the special opportunity to visit a private collection of American art.

Registration Fee: $825

Included in Trip Cost: Meals and receptions as indicated in the itinerary. Roundtrip transportation will be provided on December 5–6 from the Westin Washington D.C. City Center. Parking is available for in-town participants. Guides and admissions as indicated in the itinerary.

Membership: You must be a Decorative Arts Trust member to register for this program. Members at the Dual level and above may register both household members. Members at the Benefactor level and above may register a nonmember guest.

Itinerary: The schedule outlined in this itinerary is contracted at this time but subject to change as necessary.

Participation: The trip is limited to a maximum of 25 members and requires a minimum of 15. The trip will be canceled if undersubscribed, and payments will be refunded.

Cancellations and Refunds: All cancellations received through Thursday, November 21, 2024, are subject to a full refund less a $50 administrative fee per person. Refunds will not be remitted for participants canceling after November 21, 2024.

Accommodations: Guests should indicate during registration if they would like the Decorative Arts Trust to secure accommodations on their behalf at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center (1400 M Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20005) at a rate of $229 per night plus taxes and fees. Out-of-town participants should plan to arrive in Washington on Wednesday, December 4, in order to be prepared to start the tour the following day at 9:00 am.