- [Narrator] There is a collection of original American illustrations here representing more than 100 artists.

We will learn why Vernon Court became the home to this museum and take a look behind the scenes to see what it takes to preserve a Gilded-Aged house like this.

And later, we'll go inside the Lippitt House Museum for a private tour of this Victorian-era historic landmark.

This is "Treasures Inside the Museum."

(gentle bright music) (gentle bright music continues) (airy music) Vernon Court, on Newport's Historic Bellevue Avenue, is home to the National Museum of American Illustration.

The museum was founded in 1998 by Laurence Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler.

- I started out as just a school teacher.

I graduated, I got interested in college, in art history and American Studies and I had the most fabulous teacher, Anthony Garvin.

And he inspired me to look for these things 'cause I had no idea they even existed.

I was drawn to the stories.

I loved a good story, I loved a good picture.

I loved the excitement of learning.

- [Narrator] The collections focus on original artworks created for use in books, periodicals, advertising, and other print media.

Featured artists include Norman Rockwell, Jessie Wilcox Smith, J.C. Leyendecker, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, and Maxfield Parrish.

It was a series of Florentine panels painted by Parrish that led to Cutler deciding that this would be the perfect place for a museum.

- And this was the room that, when I walked into it, I said, "Oh my goodness."

The "Florentine Fete" will fit here because each one of these panels is 10 and a half feet high, and the largest one is 15 feet wide.

(reverent music) The panels are telling the story of a Florentine fete.

and that is its romance, its youths, they're in a garden, they're set in Florence.

You see the rolling hills, you see the balustrades, and during medieval times, so you see the maeve, you see the different costumes.

Sue Lewin was Maxfield Parrish's favorite model and she will be seen in over 150 of these women she modeled for them.

(reverent music continues) - [Narrator] This collection was originally commissioned for a dining room at a Philadelphia publishing company.

But when the building was sold, the paintings were rolled up and sat in storage.

Today, Maxfield Parrish's greatest work seems perfectly at home on the walls of Vernon Court.

The museum is made up of a number of galleries.

Each one filled with paintings that were created as illustrations.

- The illustrations were published in magazines, books, calendars, advertisements, banners, inside stores, anywhere that there was a printed image at the time that they started as original artworks in these illustrators created.

Today, how you see photographs on the covers of magazines at the newsstand in the grocery store, even on product labels or you see a sign at the store advertising the newest jeans or jackets.

- Everybody knows the name Norman Rockwell, but not as many know J.C. Leyendecker and a lot of J.C. Leyendecker's paintings are mistaken to be Norman Rockwell, when, actually, J.C. Leyendecker came onto the scene first and he was Norman Rockwell's mentor and idol.

This is a 1937 "Saturday Evening Post" cover for the 4th of July issue painted by J.C. Leyendecker.

And he got the inspiration the year before when he went to his local parade and he saw two boys trying to get a better view at the parade.

They couldn't really see what was going on and they climbed up the lamppost and that was what inspired him to paint this painting.

The son of Howard Davenport, who modeled for the blonde boy in this painting, called us the other day and gave us a little background how his father became to be the model for this painting.

He was J.C. Leyendecker's magazine delivery boy.

Back then, they had a paper route and they had a magazine route and so he was the magazine delivery boy.

So he could have been dropping off the next issue of "The Saturday Evening Post" when he saw Leyendecker and Leyendecker could have then asked him if he would be a model for one of the upcoming images for another cover of "The Saturday Evening Post."

(subdued music) - [Narrator] Leyendecker's illustrations were a favorite of readers for years.

He painted a number of holiday magazine covers and whenever his images appeared, the issue would sell sell out.

- In a lot of ways, he could be credited with the early success of "The Saturday Evening Post" because the magazines were sold on newsstands and the covers were what sold the magazines.

Probably one of Leyendecker's biggest contributions during his career was his development of the New Year's baby that appeared on "The Saturday Evening Post."

His first baby was from the December, 1906 issue for 1907, ringing in the year 1907, and then every year for 36 years straight, his baby would appear on the cover until 1943 was his last New Year's baby.

And the babies would have whatever was happening during the time or a current event or would reflect the sign of the times.

So the 1912 baby "Votes for Women" shows the baby fighting for women's rights.

The 1914 baby was celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal and the baby's on a boat waving a flag.

Maybe he's on one of the first boats that crossed over from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

Then there's, the 1917 baby, which was during World War I, it was before America became involved and they were still taking a neutral stance.

But there's a baby standing on the globe looking over at Europe and seeing the explosions happening there during the war.

If you look at "The Post" and you line them up, you can actually see the visual record of history with a lot of the babies.

- [Narrator] Another exhibit in the Marble Hall Gallery, is dedicated to three women who were pioneers in the field of illustration.

- These three female illustrators were all students of Howard Pyle at his first school of illustration in Philadelphia.

These women were Jessie Wilcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley.

And they all lived together at the Red Rose Inn nearby and Howard Pyle gave them the name of the Red Rose girls.

These illustrators prioritized their art and their career over the traditional life of women at the time, which was to be married and have children.

We have a wonderful illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith of a mother kissing her baby, kind of holding her up, showing the baby off to maybe the others in the room, but really enjoying a tender moment of kissing your child on the cheek.

(tender music) "Little Miss Muffet" was painted by Jessie Wilcox Smith for one of her collections of Mother Goose's nursery rhymes.

This proved to be one of her most successful books of children's illustrations and was reprinted many times and is even still in print today.

We have a great example by Elizabeth Shippen Green of a mother reading "The Five Little Pigs" to her child.

It's a very tender moment of holding your child on your lap, cuddling up for maybe a bedtime story, reading nursery rhymes.

Again, something that you would see in today's nurseries before bedtime.

The clothing may be of the Gilded Age, but the emotions are timeless and you can see in today's world.

Another Elizabeth Shippen Green artwork is of a young girl putting together her paper dolls.

Something that children, I believe, still do today and still enjoy.

The little girl kind of bites her fingernail and kind of pensively deciding what outfit to put on her doll, taking it very seriously as many children do with their toys.

Violet Oakley was also a very prominent female illustrator.

She actually was the first female to receive a mural commission for the State Capitol building in Pennsylvania and also excelled in stained glass work.

At the National Museum of American Illustration, we really tried to show that these illustrators were not only creating images of the country, but also creating their own careers and lifestyles.

- [Narrator] Any collection of American illustration would not be complete without the works of Norman Rockwell.

- Norman Rockwell is a rockstar of the illustration art world because he could just tell a story that everyone could relate to.

- [Narrator] Rockwell was a prolific artist whose style was influenced by the most notable illustrators of the time.

His works include more than 300 covers for "The Saturday Evening Post" and some of the most iconic images of the day.

- Norman Rockwell created this icon American woman during World War II.

It was a "Post" cover for Labor Day, 1943, and it has, the woman is a stars-and-stripes outfit.

She has 31 different symbols for jobs for women that entered the workplace during World War II while the men were overseas.

It was an iconic symbol of the American woman.

- [Narrator] This April Fools Rockwell is also part of the collection here.

It offers a bit of insight into the famous illustrator's personality.

- This painting by Norman Rockwell, the girl and the shopkeeper, the April Fools cover, is my favorite painting of all time.

(gentle music) Not only is Norman Rockwell a great storyteller, he's also a comedian and you can see it here in this painting.

There are almost 60 mistakes in this painting and some of them are really easy to tell.

His signature is backwards and he spells his name wrong.

And it also has the "Mona Lisa" in it.

The "Mona Lisa" has a halo over her head, which is another, considered a mistake, and she's facing the wrong direction.

The dog head on the cat body and the raccoon tail.

But there's some really subtle, like if you look closely outside the windows, on one side there's the winter season, the other side is the summer season.

There were only three April fool's paintings done by Norman Rockwell and the first one was done in 1943, the second one was in 1945, and this one here in 1948 has the most mistakes.

And the other two either got destroyed in his studio fire or are missing and no one has ever seen the original paintings again except this one.

This is the only one.

It's priceless and the only place you can see it now is here at the National Museum of American Illustration.

- [Narrator] Thanks to these illustrators, we now know more about the people of this period of American history, how they dressed and what was important to them.

And thanks to the National Museum of American Illustration, now we can see the original paintings and artwork.

With so much of the collection in place, a lot of the more recent focus has been on preserving Vernon Court itself.

- The biggest concerns for houses like this, any Gilded Age house, even any house in general, is water.

You know, you gotta keep the water out.

You know, if you can keep the water out, then half your problems go away.

- [Narrator] Piece by piece, this architectural gem has been repaired and restored and the team of dedicated craftspeople doing the work are just as passionate as the artists whose works fill the gallery walls here.

- Making our ornaments with the correct materials is very important here at Vernon Court.

We try to bring everything back to the exact way that it was casted or made in the past.

You know, how Judy feels about her art, you know, the construction end, that's how I feel.

This building's art.

- [Narrator] For Judy Goffman Cutler, being able to share all of this with the public is a vision realized.

(bright upbeat music) (gentle music) (wind rustling softly) This grand home on the east side of Providence is considered to be one of the best-preserved Victorian-era houses in the United States.

The home was built in 1865 for Henry Lippitt.

The Lippitt family had achieved great success in business and, in turn, led to several generations serving in political office.

The house was so outstanding that it was included on a survey of historic American buildings.

- This house is a reflection of his status and his power and his wealth.

At the time, in letters, the house is called "The most stately home in Providence."

- Lippitt House is a great example of preservation.

A lot of the work that we do today is to keep the house as it was when the Lippitt family lived here.

Because it went straight from a private home to a museum, we haven't had to restore or make it look like it did when the family lived here.

It was never anything in between.

And so a lot of that is a legacy that is really a great testament to the stewardship of the Lippitt family.

We also have a wonderful collection of photographs that were taken after Henry Lippitt's death in 1891.

So it's really a great historical record that allows us to kind of share Lippitt house with visitors today just the way that the family knew it originally.

- When it became a museum, we've got this really stunning little sort of portal for time travel where you can walk through and really see and imagine December, 1865.

Because they, the family themselves, I think were always feeling that it was important to keep sort of enshrined in some way.

- [Narrator] Guests visiting this grand home would enter through the front hall.

Today, the space looks much the same as it would have more than 100 years ago, complete with a portrait of the one-term governor.

- This is the portrait of Governor Henry Lippitt.

It's painted in 1887, so 10 years after he served as governor for two years.

It's painted by Charles Stetson of Boston.

It's important to note in portraits how the figure is turned and sort of adjusted.

And clearly, he's turned towards you as you walk into the room.

But he's an imposing figure.

He's also right over this seat that has the gothic sort of L carved into it as so many pieces of his furniture have.

And then when you're seated in this space, you're looking into a mirror so he's over your shoulder again.

The paper in his hand, a lot of guests first imagine that it might be the plans for this house, clearly a house he takes a great deal of pride in.

However, it is actually the plans for a building that was called the Rhode Island Building.

It's part of the Philadelphia Exposition, a centennial celebration.

This occurred while he's governor and he's called upon as the governor of Rhode Island to attend the Centennial Exposition to represent the state and the Rhode Island Building really serves the purpose of just that.

It just demonstrates Rhode Island's ingenuity, invention, industry.

So it's a point of great pride and that's why it's included in his gubernatorial portrait.

- [Narrator] Lippitt also took great pride in the building of this home.

That included bringing new advancements into every corner of the house.

- So the room we're in now is the reception room.

And this is a formal space that Mary Ann Lippitt would use for entertaining her peers.

And so this is a space that was designed to impress.

And so you can see lots of fancy decorations and probably the most prominent one that you can see in the center of the room is this gasolier.

So it's called a gasolier because it's a chandelier that is powered by gas, not by oil, not by candles, but by gas.

And so this is a very kind of new technology that's available during the Victorian era and it's really prized for its efficiency.

One gas jet here would be the equivalent of, today, of like one 25-watt light bulb so it's gonna be a lot brighter than an oil lamp that would be about three times dimmer than one gas jet here.

It's gonna be a lot cleaner and it's gonna take a lot less work.

So Henry and Mary Ann had seven servants in 1875 and their whole job is to take care of this house and the family.

So even though it takes a lot of work, you are gonna try to get a lot of efficiency.

And one way to do that is by integrating better technology in your home, just like we do today.

(gentle bright music) - [Narrator] This lighting would've enabled visitors to better appreciate one of the unique features here.

Throughout the home, the walls and ceilings have been meticulously painted, oftentimes, to look like intricate inlaid wood.

It's a feature that has withstood the test of time.

- We're especially proud of these painted walls and ceilings because what we're looking at are the brush strokes from December of 1865.

They have not been repainted.

They've had to be cleaned, years of cigar smoke and coal heat.

But what we're looking at is this original beautifully-rendered walls and ceilings by Cattanach and Cliff.

So it's a firm of two men, and Englishmen and a Scot, that did all of this plaster work.

And the different styles, they have wood grain, they have almost a leather effect, a stone.

They do incredible stone work.

And as we walk through the house just to think about the amount of time and effort and also a little bit of a daring kind of cutting-edge quality too.

They incorporate designs that are almost reminiscent of the Alhambra of the East.

This is really new, cutting edge.

Not a lot of Rhode Islanders are seeing these kinds of, moresque is what they were called, these moresque patterns.

But it's definitely this idea of incorporating style and influence from all over the world.

To have this much that's preserved, and so well, we just consider ourselves really lucky.

- [Narrator] Past the portrait at the end of the front hall is a stairway that leads to the second floor of the museum home.

Here, tucked away in a corner, is a piece that young visitors always seem to find, a sort of house within a house.

- This is the dollhouse here at Lippitt House Museum and it's really one of the objects that really kind of captivates the imagination for many visitors here to Lippitt House.

It's maybe one of the older objects in the museum 'cause we believe it actually predates the building of Lippitt House in 1865.

We actually think it was in the house that Henry and Mary Ann lived in before they built this house across the street.

So we actually believe that the dollhouse here is actually older than a lot of the furnishings inside.

(delicate music) What you see here is really a mix of objects.

You see some objects and different types of furnishings that were bought by different children or their parents over the years.

Some of them were mass produced.

There's a whole generation, a whole category of objects that were made just for doll houses.

And you can also see other items here that were actually made by the children who played with this house.

So you can see some objects like this little white bed that were made by children and other objects like these curtains that were just tacked up with thumbtacks.

And so it's really a juxtaposition that you can see the creativity expressed by some of the children as well as the mass-produced consumer goods that were available for leisure activities like playing with dollhouses.

The Lippitt family was an upper-class family, and so the Lippitt children really grew up in privilege.

And so that is something that you would expect to see in there.