During the four days of the Spring Show NYC - running from May 3 to May 6 at the Park Avenue Armory - not only will fair-goers enjoy feasting their eyes on world-class art and antiques, they'll also enjoy the chance to get even more up-close-and-intime with those subjects through their lectures. Presented by leading experts in their fields, the diverse topics cover the gamut of fine and decorative arts including Hollywood movie-set design, lady power-decorators Dorothy Draper and Elsie De Wolfe, Chinese art and Empress Eugenie's outré Oriental Chamber at Chateau Fontainebleau. The lectures, held in the historic Tiffany room, are complimentary with admission to the fair. Here's the schedule:

Friday, May 4th 
3 - 4 p.m. 
Designs On Film: A Century Of Hollywood Art Direction

Cathy Whitlock's lecture covers a century of cinematic set decoration, featuring highlights from every decade of Hollywood history. A slide presentation will show photographs, behind-the-scene images and designer sketches of sets from Top Hat, The Fountainhead, Gone With the Wind, The Age of Innocence, Something's Gotta Give-and many more!

Cathy Whitlock's book Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction (Harper Collins, November, 2010) represents the marriage of her two passions-design and cinema. She is also a contributing writer for Traditional Home magazine and The Huffington Post, and features editor for Array Magazine. Cathy writes the blog Cinema Style, which chronicles trends and inspirations in film, reaches 70 countries, was named one of the Top Ten Best Design Blogs of 2010 by Fox News. A graduate of Parsons School of Design and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, Cathy has more than 24 years of experience in the interior design industry and has had practices in New York, Chicago, Memphis and Nashville.

4:30 - 5:30 p.m. 
Adoption, Absorption, Assimilation: Foreign Influences In Early Chinese Art

Dr. Robert D. Mowry's slide lecture examines China's native artistic traditions as they developed during the Great Bronze Age (1600 B.C.- A.D. 220). Attendees will learn about the wealth of materials introduced from foreign lands via the Silk Route trade during the Han through the Tang dynasties and see how Chinese artists absorbed and assimilated these new influences.

Dr. Robert D. Mowry is Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art and Head of the Department of Asian Art at the Harvard Art Museum. He is also Senior Lecturer on Chinese and Korean Art in Harvard's Department of the History of Art and Architecture.

 Saturday, May 5th 

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 
Legendary Designing Women: Inventing A Profession

Emily Eerdmans discusses the history of interior decorating and how it evolved into a billion-dollar profession thanks to the seminal efforts of astute women like Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper and Madeleine Castaing.

Emily Evans Eerdmans is a noted design historian and expert with Corfield Morris, a private art advisory. She is the author of several books, including The World of Madeleine Castaing and the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Wendell Castle. She received her master's degree in fine and decorative arts from Sotheby's Institute of Art in London and is an instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

Château De Fontainebleau: 500 Years Of Royal Taste In Architecture And Design

No French palace holds the living presence-the sweep of 500 years of French royal history-the way that Fontainebleau does. David Garrard Lowe traces its centuries-in-the-making transformation from a forested hunting ground for French kings into a magnificent royal palace in the 16th century. Tour Fontainebleau's interiors, including Empress Eugenie's astonishing Oriental Chamber with its rare Chinese porcelain, fine lacquer and jeweled Buddhas. Presented by French Heritage Society.

David Garrard Lowe is a well-known cultural historian whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and American Heritage. He is Chairman of Cultural Programs, New York Chapter of French Heritage Society and President of the Beaux Arts Alliance; and has lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Smithsonian Institution, among others.

***

ABOUT THE SPRING SHOW NYC 
The Spring Show NYC will open on May 3 and run through May 6 at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at East 67th Street.

Opening Night VIP Preview: Wednesday, May 2, 5-7 pm Public Preview: 7-9 pm. Tickets and more information available at www.springshownyc.com
General Admission: Thursday, May 3: 11 am-7:30 pm. Friday, May 4*: 11 am-9 pm, Saturday, May 5: 11 am-7:30 pm, Sunday, May 6: 11 am-6 pm. Tickets are $20 for a single day of general admission and $40 for a four-day pass.
*Arts Night Out Friday, 6-9 pm. Bringing together New York's young arts patrons for cocktails and conversation. $30 tickets available at the door.

The Spring Show NYC spotlights the very best in English, Continental and American furniture, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, glass and decorative arts; Asian works of art; folk art; 20th-century decorative arts; aesthetic movement and Arts & Crafts furniture; prints, photographs, maps, posters and wallpaper; antiquities and ancient objects; silver and metalwork; nautical art and objects; jewelry; garden ornaments; books, manuscripts and autographs; Chinese export porcelain and decorative arts; Native American and tribal art; carpets and rugs; tapestries; textiles and needlework; and clocks. 

The Spring Show NYC is a vetted show-every item in every booth is examined by panels of experts for authenticity. The panels also ensure that comprehensive, accurate labeling is attached to every piece. Vetted shows are the standard for all quality art and antiques fairs. 

The AADLA Spring Show NYC Opening Night, by-invitation-only Preview Party will be on Wednesday, May 2. Sponsored by 1stdibs.com, the premier online marketplace for purveyors for luxury goods, the Preview will benefit the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Traditional Home Magazine is the official media partner. Honorary Co-Chairs include Amy Fine Collins, Somers and Jonathan Farkas, Hilary Geary Ross and Wilbur Ross, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Co-Chairs are Michael Bruno, Mario Buatta, David Patrick Columbia, Robert Couturier, Celerie Kemble, Edward Lobrano, Brian McCarthy, Miles Redd, Ellen and Chuck Scarborough, Michael Smith, Bunny Williams, and Vicente Wolf. All gallery participants of the Spring Show NYC will donate a portion of their proceeds from the sale of animal-themed works of art to the ASPCA®. 

ABOUT AADLA 
The Art and Antique Dealers League of America, Inc., is the oldest and principal antiques and fine arts organization in America. The purpose for organizing the league was to bring the various members of the art and antiques trade closer together to promote a greater understanding among themselves and with the public, and generally to devote itself to the best interest of dealers and collectors of antiques and works of art. 

ABOUT 1STDIBS.COM
Founded in 2001 by Michael Bruno, 1stdibs is the world's premier online marketplace presenting a curated selection of coveted items from 1,200 of the most prestigious dealers across the globe. Visitors to the site enjoy instant access to items immediately available for purchase including high-end antiques, 20th and 21st century design, fine art, estate jewelry, vintage couture and fine homes, with the emphasis always on quality. Nearly $500 million in sales were reported by 1stdibs dealers in 2011 with over 7,000 items reported sold by the site's dealers each month. 1stdibs attracts more than two million visits a month and over the past 11 years has become the ultimate destination for collectors and affluent consumers to purchase one-of-a-kind items through a virtual experience that encourages exploration and research as buyers immerse themselves in a world of beauty.

ABOUT ASPCA®
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is the first humane organization established in the Americas and serves as the nation's leading voice for animal welfare. One million supporters strong, the ASPCA's® mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA® is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. The ASPCA®, which is headquartered in New York City, offers a wide range of programs, including a mobile clinic outreach initiative, its own humane law enforcement team, and a groundbreaking veterinary forensics team and mobile animal CSI unit. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org. To become a fan of the ASPCA® on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/aspca. To follow the ASPCA® on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/aspca.

ABOUT TRADITIONAL HOME MAGAZINE: 
As the largest upscale shelter magazine in America, Traditional Home celebrates the union of timeless design with modern living inspiring 5 million design lovers to reinterpret classic elegance in a thoroughly personal way. From home, garden and green living to beauty, entertaining and travel, the magazine is a tribute to quality, craftsmanship, authenticity and family -- a trusted resource that respects the past, lives in the present and embraces products designed for the future. For more information, please visit www.traditionalhome.com. For more information regarding the magazine's new online companion, TRADhome, please visit www.tradhomemag.com.