This is the fourth program in the Fragile Beauty: Art of the Ocean exhibition lecture series. 

Hillwood’s founder, Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887–1973), lived near water in many of her homes, loved sailing aboard her yacht, and collected beautiful works of art made of precious materials found in the ocean or inspired by the beauty and mystery of the sea.

This lecture will explore the stories behind magnificent pieces from Hillwood’s collection from a monumental painting after Hans Makart to a series of seascapes by Ivan Aivazovsky, and other treasures. 

There will be time for a Q&A session at the end of the lecture.

Images are courtesy of Hillwood.

HYBRID PROGRAM 

This lecture will be presented in the theater in the Ellen MacNeille Charles Visitor Center and will be livestreamed via Zoom. Visitors can submit questions for the speaker from any location. 

IN-PERSON TIMELINE

5:30–6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood 

• Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens, and greenhouse, and exhibition, Fragile Beauty: Art of the Ocean, on view in the Adirondack building
• Find the perfect memento from your visit at the museum shop 

6:00–6:30 p.m. | Members-only wine and cheese reception. Join today!

6:30–7:30 p.m. | Lecture in Ellen MacNeille Charles Visitor Center Theater.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Wilfried Zeisler is Hillwood’s deputy director and chief curator. He is a graduate of Sorbonne University and the Ecole du Louvre, Paris. Wilfried has written extensively on French and Russian decorative arts, including several articles and contributions to books. Wilfried’s dissertation, L’Objet d’art et de luxe français en Russie (1881-1917)  [French Objets d’art and Luxury Goods in Russia], was published in Paris in 2014. Since 2009, he has participated in and curated exhibitions in Paris, Monaco, and Washington DC. At Hillwood, his most recent exhibitions were Fabergé Rediscovered (2018), Bouke de Vries: War and Pieces (2019), Natural Beauties: Exquisite Works of Minerals and Gems (2020), The Porcelain Flowers of Vladimir Kanevsky (2021), Determined Women: Collectors, Artists, and Designers at Hillwood (2023), Glass: Art. Beauty. Design. (2023), and Fragile Beauty: Art of the Ocean (2024). Wilfried co-authored Konstantin Makovsky: The Tsar's Painter in America and Paris  (2015) and The Houses and Collections of Marjorie Merriweather Post – The Joy of It (2022). He is the author of Fabergé Rediscovered  and Vivre la Belle Epoque à Paris -- Paul de Russie et Olga Paley, both published in 2018 and Les Youssoupoff – Un siècle de collections françaises published in 2023. Wilfried is currently working on the translation of his 2018 book The Belle Epoque in Paris – Olga Paley and Paul of Russia which will be released in 2025 in conjunction with Hillwood’s exhibition From Exile to Avant-garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley.