For Immediate Release

Contact: David Mayhew for Cohn Dutcher Associates

203.453.4275 david@davidmayhew.net

CARAMOOR'S HOUSE MUSEUM ANNOUNCES
2006 SPECIAL EXHIBITION OPENING MAY 21:
CALDWELL & COMPANY:  MASTERS OF METAL AND LIGHT

Exhibition celebrates creators of stunning top-of-the-line chandeliers,
sconces and enameled metalwork of the early 20th century

Dana Reeve to be honorary chair of May 20 preview benefit: Casino Royale

Katonah, NY - Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts has announced that its magnificent House Museum, the Mediterranean-style mansion on Caramoor's estate, will offer its 2006 special exhibition beginning Sunday, May 21.  Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light, celebrates the work of one of the most important designers and manufacturers of early 20th century American decorative arts.

We are so fortunate to have at the House Museum a wealth of beautiful objects Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor's founders, acquired through the years, said Merceds Santos-Miller, Manager of the House Museum.  Special exhibitions such as this showcase a particular aspect of the collection and bring to view wonderful objects that have been in storage or have been in rooms that aren't open to the public.  Our Caldwell collection includes well over 100 objects, pieces that were commissioned either for Caramoor or the Rosens' New York City residence.

Many of the stunning Caldwell and Company pieces on display in the exhibition are on public view for the first time, continued Ms. Santos-Miller.  Among the many piece on view will be a magnificent stained glass door, a whimsical lighting fixture in the shape of a Zodiac globe, a very fanciful bird cage, exquisite desk accessories done in Champlevé enamel and, of course, wonderful chandeliers throughout the Museum.  In addition, the correspondence between Mr. Rosen and the Caldwell firm, as well as original drawings of commissioned works further enhances this outstanding exhibition.

Edward F. Caldwell and Company of New York was one of the finest manufacturers and designers of lighting fixtures, decorative objects and metalwork from 1896 to its closure after World War II.  It was founded by two friends, Edward F. Caldwell (1851-1914) and Victor F. von Lossberg (1863-1942), designer and artist respectively.  Together they combined their talents and opened their first studio in the vicinity of Union Square in Manhattan.  Through their extensive traveling, studying abroad, and the  
recruitment of exceptional artisans, Edward Caldwell & Company quickly become known and sought after for their use of the infant technology of electric light, with historical and artistic lighting forms. With Edward Caldwell's untimely death in 1914, his partner, the renowned enamellist Victor von Lossberg became president of the company and Caldwell's son Edward (1885-1937) became treasurer, thus retaining a very elite clientele.  They broadened their vast offering of services to include extremely skillful manufacture and mastery of a 12th century French technique known as Champlevé enamel. Among their clients was Frederick W. Vanderbilt, Henry Morrison Flagler, the White House during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, Radio City Music Hall and many others.

Caramoor's founders, Walter and Lucie Rosen, commissioned many pieces from Caldwell.  Shortly after their marriage in 1914, they purchased a townhouse on West 54th Street in an area known as the art gallery of New York's streets.  The architects for this stretch of beautiful homes had commissioned all of the electric lighting fixtures from the Caldwell Company.  It was at this point that the Rosens began their affiliation with Caldwell and became avid collectors.  For Caramoor, Mr. Rosen commissioned the firm to design and produce a large array of chandeliers, lighting fixtures and accessories to further enhance their glorious home, now the House Museum.

Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light is curated by Christopher Mills and Jeffrey S. Figly.
 
Christopher Mills is a freelance conservator for historic interiors and consultant on period lighting fixtures to landmarks, foundations, and auction houses.  For the past three years, he has been researching late 19th and early 20th century light fixtures manufactured in bronze foundries in the northeast United States.  During the last five years, he has been assisting the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library with cataloguing and conserving the Edward F. Caldwell Archive.

Jeffrey S. Figley is an art historian to galleries and the fine art community.  He has devoted much time in the last five years to cataloguing and preserving the Edward F. Caldwell Archive in the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and promoting its significant architectural history role to the museum library's research community.

The exhibition Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light will be on view during the House Museum's regular hours, during which docent-led tours are available.  House tours are scheduled Wednesday through Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, with the last tour at 3:00 pm.  On summer Saturdays from June 24 through August 12, during the Caramoor International Music Festival, the House Museum will be open from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm with the last tour at 4:00 pm.

Admission to the House Museum, which includes the exhibition Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light, is $9, children 16 and under are admitted for free.

Casino Royale - Benefit and Exhibition Preview

Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light can be previewed the evening before its official opening at the Caramoor House Museum's spring benefit - Casino Royale - on Saturday, May 20, from 7:00 to 11:00 pm.
 
Actress-singer Dana Reeve is Honorary Chair of the Casino Royale benefit, which features games of chance such as Black Jack, Roulette, Texas Hold'em Poker and others, played for prizes.  Hors d'oeuvres, a delicious dinner, delectable Viennese table, open bar, and even a fortune teller and silent auction are included in the evening.  Appropriate attire for Casino Royale is described as casino chic.

Casino Royale benefit tickets, which raise funds for the exhibition Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light, are $500 and $250 for sponsorship tickets and $150 for individual tickets.  All ticket categories include $25 in chips (chips cannot be exchanged for cash).

For tickets to Casino Royale call Gale or Gina at (914) 232-5035 ext. 221. 

Exhibition Lecture

On Tuesday, June 6 at 11:00 am Caramoor will offer a lecture related to the 2006 special exhibition Caldwell & Company - Masters of Metal and Light.  The speaker is still to be announced.

An informal luncheon will be served in the House Museum's Summer Dining Room following the lecture.

Tickets to the lecture are $17, luncheon costs an additional $16.  Reservations are required by calling the House Museum office at (914) 232-5035.

Caramoor's House Museum

The House Museum, the former home of Caramoor's founders, Lucie and Walter Rosen, opens for the season on Saturday, May 6 and remains open through Sunday, October 22.  This astonishing Mediterranean-style villa is filled with the Rosens' vast collection of European and Asian art and artifacts that span the centuries, including paintings, sculpture, furniture, textiles, stained glass, tapestries and a major jade collection.  This remarkable museum is one of only five famous mansions in the United States that incorporates entire rooms from European villas and palaces.

Twenty rooms of the mansion are open to the public.  Docents offer guided tours through these stunning rooms describing the background of the treasures they contain and the unique history of the Rosen family. 

Caramoor's Founders - Walter and Lucie Rosen

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who established the estate and built a great house as its centerpiece, filling it with treasures collected on their travels. Walter Rosen was the master planner, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world. Their legendary musical evenings were the seeds of today's International Music Festival that is held annually on the estate.
 
Walter Tower Rosen was born in Berlin and moved to New York with his family when he was ten years old. For much of his childhood he was tutored at home. He was a serious pianist and practiced every morning for most of his life. He even considered a concert career at one time. Walter Rosen was admitted to Harvard in 1891 at age 16. He was the youngest in his class and graduated in just three years. In 1897, he formed his own law firm. One early case particularly fascinated him. It involved the authenticity of a piece of artwork and helped to whet his appetite for collecting. Rosen's contacts and interests were widespread. He made frequent trips abroad and was well known in artistic and financial circles in the major capitals of Europe.

Lucie Bigelow Dodge was an independent-minded, spirited, and highly intelligent member of a very prominent New York family. Her grandfather, John Bigelow, was minister to France under Abraham Lincoln and a founder of the New York Public Library. Lucie Dodge longed to do something beyond the perpetual rounds of social engagements and at the age of 22 she ran away from her London home where she lived with her mother and step-father. Once in New York she lived with her aunt and within a year she became engaged to Walter Rosen. They married in 1914. Lucie Rosen also played the theremin, an electronic musical instrument named after its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin. She was very forward looking and thought that this new music had a promising future. She performed widely throughout the United States and abroad from 1935 to 1953, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

The Rosens, an extraordinary couple, created Caramoor in the years between 1929 and 1939. The house is Walter Rosen's testimony to his great love for beautifully made things. He understood and valued craftsmanship. Caramoor is filled with fine examples of the things he collected and loved, from all over the world and spanning the centuries.

The Rosens furnished their mansion with treasures from Europe and the Far East.  Noteworthy are the 16th-century Spanish Alcove in the Music Room with a beautiful ceiling imported from Toledo; an eight-fold screen with forty panels of 18th century carved green jade from China - one of only two in the world; a relief from the workshop of Donatello; tapestry from 14th century Florence; a terra cotta relief from the workshop of Andrea della Robbia, Ming vases and a bed once owned by Pope Urban VIII. The Rosens entertained celebrities, musicians and international luminaries at Caramoor and their New York City residence including Arthur Rubinstein, the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, Tallulah Bankhead, the sculptress Malvina Hoffman, director Max Reinhardt, monologist Ruth Draper and her nephew, dancer Paul Draper.

The House Museum at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.