Les histoires de Biscaye
Spring Hill Bourbon Whiskey. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Despite having its most active years during the age of Prohibition, Vizcaya was anything but a dry estate. Archival purchase records and letters tell us that James Deering bought thousands of dollars’ worth of alcohol for Vizcaya and many original bottles remain in the collection today. Despite...
Tracing Women in 19th and 20th Century Archival Collections Are you curious about the staff who worked behind the scenes maintaining Vizcaya for James Deering? So are we! Our archives hold thousands of letters, blueprints, financial records and photographs documenting the construction of Vizcaya. While these records hold valuable information on other aspects of Vizcaya,...
Designing Vizcaya The design and construction of Vizcaya was a unique challenge. Instead of designing the house and then finding objects to complement it, as was usually done, Vizcaya was designed around objects selected by James Deering and his artistic director Paul Chalfin. The pair made several trips abroad to purchase objects before the house...
By Elena Davila, Archives Digitization Intern If you have toured Vizcaya on a late afternoon, you may have been pleasantly surprised by the sound of music filling the home. The instrument responsible is the impressive pipe organ, located in the Living Room on the Northeast corner of the home, with its pipes housed directly behind...
Through the artistic vision of Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Artistic Director, these dragons were converted into electric lights, effectively merging aesthetics with utility. The dragons’ open mouths were outfitted with three lightbulbs and installed on the north and south sides of the second-floor galleries of the Main House. Conservation Treatment These fantastical light fixtures were recently...
HOW IT WORKS This online course is delivered through a series of pre-recorded videos that you’ll find on this page and on Vizcaya’s YouTube channel. Each of the four videos will focus on a specific type of orchid and how to best care for that specific variety. Among these instructions, you will also find demonstrations...
Summer art-making programs have been a long-standing tradition at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, dating back to the 2016 launch of the museum’s Participatory Public Art (PPA) program. This series was designed to unite the community through artist-led experiences – all for FREE. In the summer of 2023, a new PPA project came to life through...
Just like Charles Deering, his daughters followed in his footsteps when it came to art collecting. Both James and Charles had very distinct tastes in art and antiques, and by extension, Marion and Barbara also shared some of those tastes. Since James Deering was never married and had no children, when he passed away in...
A Glimpse into the Cleaning Process Every year, the dedicated team at Vizcaya undertakes the colossal task of deep cleaning a specific room within the historic Main House. This process involves a comprehensive top-to-bottom cleaning, using a slow and meticulous process as well as conservation-grade solutions. Although time-consuming and resource-intensive, this is an important step...
