Lachaise Poetry Reading

Hear of “grasses murmuring, a moon “toothless, old and grey” an “empty room that no longer sobs,” and “lovers walking in a garden” at a poetry reading in Kykuit’s scenic sculpture gardens.

A prolific poet, Isabel Dutaud Nagle (1872-1957) wed young and found herself in a loveless marriage. She met the sculptor Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935) in Paris and resolved to spend the rest of her life with him. He followed her back to America, where together they celebrated art, literature, and poetry. They shared their lives with artistic figures of the 1920s New York art world with the support of patrons such as Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and her son Nelson Rockefeller.

A selection of Lachaise’s letters and Nagle’s poems will be read alongside sculptures by Lachaise that punctuate the old-world landscaping of Kykuit and convey despair, delight, and the power of art and poetry to strengthen the soul. A reception will follow.

The rain date for this event is Thursday, May 11.