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

Lee Anderson, who worked for a time as an arts education teacher, has been referred to as the godfather of the Gothic revival in America. It is largely because of his impressive personal collection that the style has been rekindled among designers and other tastemakers. Lee passed away in 2010, but he left a legacy of philanthropic support through the Lee B. Anderson Memorial Foundation, whose mission is to support programs and organizations that advance an appreciation for the decorative arts.

*This event is presented in conjunction with Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds, on view at the BGC Gallery through May 24.

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Ralph Ghoche is an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at Barnard College. He is the author of Ornament and Symbol in French Romantic Architecture: Simon-Claude Constant-Dufeux, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2025. His current research is centered on French colonial architecture in Algeria during the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on the architectural, urban and territorial interventions of the Catholic Church in Algiers. Estelle Thibault is a professor of architectural history and theory at École nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Belleville. Her research focuses on the history of architectural theories and ornament in late nineteeth-century France, as well as the history of architectural education. She is currently working on the reception of Gottfried Semper in the French-speaking cultural context. Martin Bressani is the William C. Macdonald Emeritus Professor at McGill University’s Peter G-H Fu School of Architecture in Montréal. He is the author of Architecture and the Historical Imagination: Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 1814-1879 (Ashgate, 2014) and coeditor of Gothic Revival Worldwide. A.W.N. Pugin’s Global Influence (Leuven University Press, 2017); The Companions to the History of Architecture—Nineteenth-Century Architecture (Wiley Blackwell, 2017); and Narrating the Globe: The Emergence of World Histories of Architecture (MIT Press, 2024).