Newport Mansions

Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Ave., Newport, RI
(401) 847-1000
Newportmansions.org
Daily 10–3

Through January 12, 2025: Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age (1865–1914), Americans’ relationship with animals transformed in lasting ways. Wild Imagination explores how this exciting, tumultuous era shaped our modern attitudes towards animals, from pampered pups to wondrous sea creatures. A broad range of artworks, photographs, scientific specimens, and other objects reflect vital period developments including the dawn of the animal rights movement, the surge in pet keeping, the popularization of natural history pursuits like birdwatching, and the golden era of zoos and circuses. They also reveal the stories and experiences of individual creatures who continue to capture our imagination.

Mariette Leslie Cotton, Portrait of Hippodale at Six Years Old, c. 1910. The Preservation Society of Newport County. Gift of Ms. Christina C. Anderson. At Newport Mansions.