French Ornament in the Nineteenth Century: Nature, Life, and Form
A lecture duet by Ralph Ghoche (Barnard College) and Estelle Thibault (École nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Belleville), moderated by Martin Bressani (McGill University)

Inspired by thirteenth-century gothic architecture, Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc understood ornament as the medium through which the vital energies of the living world became visible. Ornament distilled the anatomical logic of the plants or animals it imitated, reaching back to primordial, pagan cults of nature and acquiring a regenerative power for the modern age. In this lecture duet—hosted and moderated by Viollet-le-Duc: Drawing Worlds co-curator Martin Bressani—Ralph Ghoche and Estelle Thibault explore, respectively, the contrasting ornamental philosophies of the Romantic/Eclectic and the Neo-Gothic movements, and the “natural laws” that guided nineteenth century ornamentation design in industrial arts education.

A Lee B. Anderson Memorial Lecture Duet

April 29, 2026 at 6pm
38 West 86th Street, BGC Lecture Hall