How can you best understand one of the most prolific, complex and influential painters of the 20th century? By taking just ten of Picasso’s paintings this lecture will examine his life and attempt to explain the evolution of his painting styles through a career that spanned more than seventy years. Looking at the genesis of each work, examining its biographical meaning, its moment in history and its significance in the canon of modern art this will reveal the truth behind this most enigmatic and powerful artist.   Included in the ten will be ‘The Three Dancers’ (1925), the subject of a major exhibition at Tate Modern from September 2025 to Spring 2026.

In this lecture Bertie recounts the extraordinary tale of how a small bronze statue, which had sat in his Grandfather’s garden for 40 years, was discovered as a master piece and ended up in the Getty Museum, California. Adriaen De Vries (c.1556-1626) was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands. A technical virtuoso, he created spectacular bronzes for the most discerning patrons of his time, including the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II of Prague.He excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and in the manipulation of patina and became the most famous European sculptor of his generation.

For more details Click here

Bertie has a BA (Hons) in Drama from Manchester University, and a Diploma Internationale from the École Internationale du Théatre, Jacques Lecoq. A member of the Inner Magic Circle, with Gold Star. Past experience includes lecturing and performing on cruise ships, and to U3A, historical societies, festivals, schools and colleges. In addition, has toured the world with a magic cabaret show and a one man show entitled All Aboard. Has written articles for newspapers and magazines on entertainment and theatre.

Every year, thousands of people visit sites associated with their favourite writers: graves, birthplaces, writers’ house museums - even fictional settings.   But what is it that makes us so interested in seeing where great literature began?  Does seeing a grave or a birthplace, or even a lock of hair, bring us closer to the writer or the work?   This fascinating lecture takes us on a journey through the history of literary tourism in the UK. Beginning in Stratford in the 18th century with the cult of Shakespeare, we move north to Scotland and then end with the founding of museums dedicated to Wordsworth, the Brontes and Jane Austen. Along the way, we learn about the people who’ve played their part in this history; including enthusiast collectors, custodians, literary pilgrims – even forgers!

For more details Click here

This really is a fascinating insight into the history of one of our greatest ever institutions – our Great British Public Park.  We have all enjoyed them at some time in our lives but what do we really know about them?  What are their origins?  This talk illustrates their origins from the great Royal Parks to the Pleasure Gardens of the eighteenth century, to their Victorian heyday.  It discusses what makes a great park, it’s ‘parkitecture’ with examples of lodges, lakes, bandstands, fountains, lidos, palm houses and to their wonderful floral displays, to their great decline in the sixties, seventies and eighties.

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Few artists are as rooted in a place as Stanley Spencer and his beloved home village of Cookham. This Thames-side village was not only his birthplace, his home for most of his life, and even his nickname, but it dominated his imagination and was the inspiration and location for many of his greatest paintings. This lecture will look at Cookham’s place in Spencer’s art, and how it was central to his unique vision of English domestic and spiritual life.

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William Morris considered a beautiful home to be “the most important production of Art” and much of his working life was devoted to the production of household goods that were intended to bring art and beauty into a wide range of homes.  He also expended enormous time and energy on beautifying his own homes, creating first at Red House in Bexleyhealth, and then at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith, and finally at his country home, Kelmscott Manor, a series of interiors that exemplified his ideas and art and design.  This lecture explores not only the decoration, but also the relationships and lifestyles associated with each of these very different homes.

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Captain Cook’s fame largely rests on the three expeditions to the Pacific that he led in the 1760s and 1770s. In addition to their important role in the history of European exploration, they are notable for being the first such voyages to include professional artists among the crew. These artists played a critical role in recording the places visited and the people and flora and fauna encountered on the voyages. But how did they deal with the novel surroundings they encountered? And how did their work go on to shape European understanding of those settings?

For a printable version of this document click here

2025 LECTURE PROGRAMME

28 January 2025 – Harry Venning

The Art of the Cartoonist

Harry Venning has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times) as well as for countless more obscure titles (British Journal of Wound Care). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist of the Year for his Guardian strip Clare in the Community, which he adapted into a Radio 4 sitcom. In ‘The Art of the Cartoonist’ Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Yes, Harry will be drawing live. Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the eskimo brothers said in The Funniest Joke Ever (possibly).

25 February 2025 – Pepe Martinez

Banksy – Fraud or Genius

The lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980’s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world. We will examine the reasons behind his incredible rise, looking at some of his famous stunts and discuss what his influence has been on the art market today and look at what his legacy, if any, might be.

25 March 2025 – Jane Angelini

The World of Ottoman Art

Entering the World of Ottoman Art is somewhat like entering a rich furnishing store and leafing through pattern books full of intricate design, carpets, silks, embroideries and ceramics. It is a very pleasurable world and a very accessible one. The colours, designs and textures are designed to please the senses, floral and vegetal design is ubiquitous and symbols and historical references are almost absent. We look at glazed Iznik ceramics, Turkish carpets, sumptuous silks, turbans and kaftans, all embellished with luscious floral and vegetal patterns. And we look at the art of the court miniaturists, who created delightful miniature paintings full of frankness, vitality and vigour.

22 April 2025 – Simon Whitehouse

Wilde about Oscar – Famous for being Famous and (Infamous)

This lecture examines the extraordinary life and dramatic times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his days as a student at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity. We travel with him to the United States and examine his starring role within the artistic & theatrical worlds of late 19th century London. We visit his home in bohemian Chelsea and some of his favourite West End haunts. Finally, we learn how ‘tired of being in the heights, he plunged into the depths’ and became famous for being Infamous.

27 May 2025 – Hilary Williams

The Frick Collection, New York – A Feast for the Eyes

The Frick Collection, New York, is one of the finest-quality museums in the world. It belongs largely to the Gilded Age of American connoisseurship of the early years of the 20th century and is a testament to the taste of its founder, steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick. He died on the eve of WWI after being able to collect some of the best pieces available in Europe and America. His agents were really effective and the result is a first rate collection of fine French furniture, enamels, porcelain, paintings by Bellini, Van Eyck, Holbein, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rubens, El Greco, Velázquez, Fragonard, Ingres, Renoir, JMW Turner, Constable, Whistler and many others. These are all set within an outstanding mansion in Manhattan.

24 June 2025 – Dr John Stevens

Images of the British Empire

At the turn of the twentieth century, the British Empire held sway over approximately one quarter of the total population of the world. British imperial power was projected through a variety of artistic mediums, from fine portraiture and grand imperial buildings to more popular forms of imagery. British artists also produced countless images of people from all over the globe who had become subjects of British rule. Through considering a variety of paintings, buildings and objects from across the Empire, this lecture provides a fascinating insight into the ways in which the British viewed themselves and their subjects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Summer Break

23 September 2025 – Brian Stater

The Stirling Prize

The Stirling Prize has celebrated the very best contemporary buildings since 1996. Some winners, such as Norman Foster’s Gherkin, of 2004, have become enormously successful and appreciated by the wider public. Others have proved harder to love. This entertaining lecture looks at some of the hits, some of the misses, and several buildings that arguably should have won, but didn’t.

28 October 2025 – Ashley Gray

Textile Revolution – Post War Female Designers

The history of Britain is intricately woven with the history of textiles. Following World War II there was a desire for change, colour, and inspiration in the home. This energy and innovation was led by female textile designers destined to revolutionise design internationally from the 1950s to the 1970s. This lecture celebrates their vision, their influences and their determination that successfully brought modern and contemporary art into the home through their designs and thereby democratising modern art for the first time by making it literally a part of the furniture.

25 November 2025 – Stuart Harvey

Treasures of the Borghese Gallery

The Borghese Gallery houses what is arguably one of the greatest collections of art in the world. In the early 1600s Cardinal Scipio Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, amassed an incredible collection of ancient sculptures and renaissance art, including works by Titian, Botticelli and Raphael. Scipio added to this by commissioning statues from Bernini and buying up works by Caravaggio, Domenichino and other contemporary artists of the day. The collection also houses later artworks acquired over the centuries by the Borghese family, all in a magnificent building designed for Cardinal Scipio especially to house his collection. The Borghese Gallery is set in the Villa Borghese gardens, until a century ago the private gardens of the Borghese family, and today one of the most beautiful public parks in Rome.

9 December 2025 – Tasha Marks

Food & Art through the Ages – From Renaissance Sugar Sculpture to 3D Printing

Food and Art Through the Ages is a whistle-stop tour of the history of food as artistic medium; starting with 16th century sugar sculpture and venturing all the way up to 3D dessert printing and beyond. Hosted by Food Historian Tasha Marks, this lecture is a treat for those with a sweet tooth, as Marks feels the subject of food and art through the ages is most exciting in the realms of the dessert. Topics covered include; the origins of dessert, the crossover between sugar and art, architecture and dessert (including Renaissance banqueting houses), sugar and spectacle, food as artistic medium, and the future of food. This exploration into the realms of dessert as spectacle includes an accompanying display to illustrate and enhance the historic subject.

Food and Art Through the Ages is a whistle-stop tour of the history of food as artistic medium; starting with 16th century sugar sculpture and venturing all the way up to 3D dessert printing and beyond. Hosted by Food Historian Tasha Marks, this lecture is a treat for those with a sweet tooth, as Marks feels the subject of food and art through the ages is most exciting in the realms of the dessert. Topics covered include; the origins of dessert, the crossover between sugar and art, architecture and dessert (including Renaissance banqueting houses), sugar and spectacle, food as artistic medium, and the future of food. This exploration into the realms of dessert as spectacle includes an accompanying display to illustrate and enhance the historic subject.

For more details Click here 

The Borghese Gallery houses what is arguably one of the greatest collections of art in the world. In the early 1600s Cardinal Scipio Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, amassed an incredible collection of ancient sculptures and renaissance art, including works by Titian, Botticelli and Raphael. Scipio added to this by commissioning statues from Bernini and buying up works by Caravaggio, Domenichino and other contemporary artists of the day. The collection also houses later artworks acquired over the centuries by the Borghese family, all in a magnificent building designed for Cardinal Scipio especially to house his collection. The Borghese Gallery is set in the Villa Borghese gardens, until a century ago the private gardens of the Borghese family, and today one of the most beautiful public parks in Rome.

The history of Britain is intricately woven with the history of textiles. Following World War II there was a desire for change, colour, and inspiration in the home. This energy and innovation was led by female textile designers destined to revolutionise design internationally from the 1950s to the 1970s. This lecture celebrates their vision, their influences and their determination that successfully brought modern and contemporary art into the home through their designs and thereby democratising modern art for the first time by making it literally a part of the furniture.

To view the 'Recommendation list' Ashley sent us after the talk Click here

The Stirling Prize has celebrated the very best contemporary buildings since 1996. Some winners, such as Norman Foster’s Gherkin, of 2004, have become enormously successful and appreciated by the wider public. Others have proved harder to love. This entertaining lecture looks at some of the hits, some of the misses, and several buildings that arguably should have won, but didn’t.

For more details Click Here

At the turn of the twentieth century, the British Empire held sway over approximately one quarter of the total population of the world. British imperial power was projected through a variety of artistic mediums, from fine portraiture and grand imperial buildings to more popular forms of imagery. British artists also produced countless images of people from all over the globe who had become subjects of British rule. Through considering a variety of paintings, buildings and objects from across the Empire, this lecture provides a fascinating insight into the ways in which the British viewed themselves and their subjects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

For more details Click here

Biography

Dr John Stevens gained his PhD in History from UCL, before going on to teach British Imperial History, Indian History and Bengali Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). His biography of the Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen – Keshab: Bengal’s Forgotten Prophet - was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2018. He is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh and has lectured at numerous Indian universities. He also works as a consultant on Indian affairs and teaches the Bengali language to private students. He has appeared many times in the Indian media, and was a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore. 

The Frick Collection, New York, is one of the finest-quality museums in the world. It belongs largely to the Gilded Age of American connoisseurship of the early years of the 20th century and is a testament to the taste of its founder, steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick. He died on the eve of WWI after being able to collect some of the best pieces available in Europe and America. His agents were really effective and the result is a first rate collection of fine French furniture, enamels, porcelain, paintings by Bellini, Van Eyck, Holbein, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rubens, El Greco, Velázquez, Fragonard, Ingres, Renoir, JMW Turner, Constable, Whistler and many others. These are all set within an outstanding mansion in Manhattan.

For more details Click here

Biography of Hilary Williams

Formerly a curator and Print Room Superintendent at the British Museum, now Art History Education Officer in the Department of Learning & National Partnerships at the Museum. Lectures for BM and Wallace Collection. Founding Artistic Director of The Arts Society of North Kent Evening. Specialist in 17th century art and has published on Rembrandt. Hilary has vast experience of giving gallery talks, of lecturing and of leading art history tours in UK, Europe, New York and Boston. For the Royal Collection Trust, she has guided Special Interest Private Tours of the State Apartments at Buckingham Palace.

This lecture examines the extraordinary life and dramatic times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his days as a student at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity. We travel with him to the United States and examine his starring role within the artistic & theatrical worlds of late 19th century London. We visit his home in bohemian Chelsea and some of his favourite West End haunts. Finally, we learn how ‘tired of being in the heights, he plunged into the depths’ and became famous for being Infamous.

For more details Click here

Entering the World of Ottoman Art is somewhat like entering a rich furnishing store and leafing through pattern books full of intricate design, carpets, silks, embroideries and ceramics. It is a very pleasurable world and a very accessible one. The colours, designs and textures are designed to please the senses, floral and vegetal design is ubiquitous and symbols and historical references are almost absent. We look at glazed Iznik ceramics, Turkish carpets, sumptuous silks, turbans and kaftans, all embellished with luscious floral and vegetal patterns. 

For more details Click here

The lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980’s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world. We will examine the reasons behind his incredible rise, looking at some of his famous stunts and discuss what his influence has been on the art market today and look at what his legacy, if any, might be.

For More Information Click here

Harry Venning has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times) as well as for countless more obscure titles (British Journal of Wound Care). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist of the Year for his Guardian strip Clare in the Community, which he adapted into a Radio 4 sitcom. In ‘The Art of the Cartoonist’ Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Yes, Harry will be drawing live.

Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the eskimo brothers said in The Funniest Joke Ever (possibly).

For Details CLICK HERE

The remarkable untold story of Carry On actor Peter Butterworth, and his wife, Britain’s first female tv impressionist Janet Brown, best known for her impression of Mrs Thatcher. 

Using classic film and tv clips, personal mementos, and rare photographs and letters from his family’s unseen collection, Tyler reveals the private story behind his parents’ public lives.

It’s a journey that takes in MI9, the building of a theatre in the notorious WW2 Prisoner of War camp Stalag Luft III, nights at Chequers with a Prime Minister, This Is Your Life, and many more moments in their long, shared life in the theatre. 

For More details Click here

Like its name, the Roaring Twenties was a loud and boisterous decade, marked by novelty, modernity and huge social, technological, and economic change. Following the dark days of the Great War, it spawned a generation of wealthy and privileged Bright Young Things who were determined to shock and who broke with the conventions of the past to pursue a life of hedonism and promiscuity, fuelled by an endless round of champagne, cocaine, parties and jazz.

Women wore fur coats and cloche hats, donned new boyish fashions and had short, cropped hair. Men drove fast cars, mixed cocktails and smoked American cigarettes. Society ate in new restaurants like The Trocadero, danced the Charleston in ballrooms like the Savoy, and drank in clubs like the Embassy and the Café de Paris. Valentino, Tallulah Bankhead, and Noel Coward emerged as major celebrities through the growing popularity of cinema and the stage.

The Roaring Twenties was also a period of enormous vitality in art and design. Fashionable society was immortalised by portraitists like John Lavery and Cecil Beaton who brilliantly captured the glamour of the age. Leisure, pleasure and the excitement of jazz were portrayed in paintings by Burra and Roberts, while the speed of the city and travel were explored in work by McKnight Kauffer and Nevinson.  Furniture and decoration showed the influence of Cubism, Vorticism and other styles associated with the avant-garde, while events like the discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb ushered in an obsession with all things Egyptian and Oriental. This lecture aims to conjure up the energy and originality of the decade and to explore the lives of its leading figures and examples of its most innovative art and design.

For More Details CLICK HERE

This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'.

Roger Butler is a landscape architect and an experienced writer, photographer and lecturer. He has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of our canal network and worked on some of the UK’s major canal restoration projects. He has also acted as a consultant to bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

For more details Click here

Throughout history, travelling and journeys have been used as a way to display wealth, power and status, along with being a useful tool to control over mighty subjects. Today, we take a journey as a matter of course, not thinking really much of a distance of a hundred miles or more. In the past however, things were very different. On a journey, an aristocrat had to take not only clothes, but food, furniture, cooking facilities, tents horses and the like, not just for himself and family but for his travelling household as well. In this talk, Andrew shows the many lavish and opulent modes of transport used by monarchs, aristocrats and plutocrats that eased travel while on their seasonal “progress” to and from each others estates. He also illustrates how diplomatic meetings between rival Kings were turned into a contest, to see who could out shine each other in displays of the finest silver, jewels, silks, accommodation, and court retinue.

For more details CLICK HERE

At the turn of the last century, Vienna was the capital of a vast empire and one of the most exciting artistic laboratories in the world. It produced painters such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, architects like Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Looking at these and others figures in the context of the society in which they worked, this talk asks how and why the City of Dreams became a cultural hotbed around 1900. 

For more details Click here

For details of names of people mentioned by Gavin in his talk Click here

Gavin Plumley Biography:

A writer and broadcaster. Appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is out now.

The Australian indigenous people possess probably the oldest continuous culture on our planet. From the extraordinary early rock and cave art to the modern oil painting, these artists are great storytellers, passing their mystic culture and sense of the sacred nature of the landscape down the generations. This talk investigates the early beginnings of this fascinating art and traces its development to the modern day where it is exhibited in international galleries and sells for high prices on the world art market.

For more details CLICK HERE

Georgina is an art historian specialising in South Asian (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh) and Australian art, who has lived and worked in Europe, USA and Singapore

Her practice includes lecturing, writing, consulting and collecting and she has developed a network of gallery and artist connections in Europe, the USA and India, which she visits regularly.

Consultant Art Historian at the Oriental Club in London and an official tour guide at Tate Modern, Georgina is also a guest speaker on luxury cruise ships for whom she has developed a series of art talks relating to Asian and Pacific destinations. She has been a visiting lecturer at UK universities, presents talks at leading art institutions including Christie’s Education New York and the Museum of Modern Art, Moscow and speaks at international art conferences, most recently in New York, Paris and Lisbon.

 Georgina holds a BA in Art History from Southampton University, an MA in Arts Management and Policy from City, University of London and an MA in Art History from SOAS, University of London. Georgina is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Asiatic Society.

The Art of the Automobile The earliest cars were purely functional and lacked even the most basic of passenger comforts, such as doors or even windscreens to protect passengers from the elements. However, progress was rapid and by the mid 1920s we entered a golden age of automobile. The Art Deco movement influenced designs and the ‘Great Gatsby era’ included some of the most famous and fabulous cars ever built. This period was followed by the Streamline Moderne influenced cars of the 1930s and 40s. This talk covers some of the most beautiful cars ever built, from the earliest ‘horseless carriages’ to the supercars of the 21st century.

For more details CLICK HERE

This lecture will focus on Victorian encounters with India and will begin by focusing on the Indian portraits decorating the corridors of Queen Victoria’s favourite palace, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Austrian artist Rudolf Swoboda was commissioned by Queen Victoria to paint authentic portraits of her Indian subjects to represent ‘various types of the different nationalities’ of India. Swoboda produced some extraordinary paintings during his two visits to India and the Queen was thrilled, calling them her ‘Beautiful Things!’ If Queen Victoria couldn’t travel to India – India had to come to her!

Swoboda’s royal commission was inspired by the success of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 when Swoboda had painted the portraits of some of the Indian artisans who had been brought to London from India to be ‘live exhibits’ in the show. The final part of this lecture will look at an exquisitely carved Durbar Hall, created and shipped over from India to serve as a backdrop for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. It is now the centre piece of Hastings Museum and Art Gallery having been gifted to the town by the Brassey family. 

For more details CLICK HERE 

With its mosaic of cultures, Mexico has long been a magnet for British travellers. In the nineteenth century, the 'lost' rainforest cities of the Maya were revealed by artist Frederick Catherwood and archaeologist Alfred Percival Maudslay. Eminent twentieth-century literary visitors included D. H. Lawrence and Graham Greene. Mexico holds an especial fascination for Surrealists. Edward James created a vast sculpture garden, with towering concrete forms, in subtropical rainforest. After a spell in an asylum, painter Leonora Carrington found the freedom she needed in Mexico. In our own century, the photographs of Martin Parr focus on street culture, while the fashion designs of Zandra Rhodes echo the vibrant colours and patterns of modern Mexico.

For more details CLICK HERE

For Post Lecture Notes and Reading from Chloe please look under Documents in Our Society on this website

The Camden Town Group was an innovative circle of painters united by the desire to paint works of a modern character. They combined the techniques and visions of European Post-Impressionism with the changing modernity of Edwardian London. This lecture introduces the core members of the group, led by Walter Richard Sickert, and tells the story of their brief but significant association. We will examine the key themes addressed within their work: urban life, popular entertainment and the lower social classes, as well as Sickert’s infamous series of paintings inspired by the notorious Camden Town murder. 

For more details CLICK HERE

2023 LECTURE PROGRAMME

24 January 2023 – Ian Gledhill

The Story of the Crystal Palace

Originally designed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, then transported to Sydenham and rebuilt and enlarged, the Crystal Palace was Joseph Paxton’s masterpiece, and was the largest iron and glass building ever constructed.  It dominated the south London skyline for over 80 years until its tragic destruction by fire in 1936.  This is the history both of the Great Exhibition and the building that housed it, and the on-going artistic legacy of both.

 28 February 2023 – Dr Tom Flynn

Art Crime in the Cinema

Whenever a major museum is robbed of its treasures, the BBC website reports the event under the heading ‘Entertainment’. The implications of this are more interesting than they at first seem. Art thefts have been a constant presence in the news media since the early decades of the twentieth century and Hollywood and international cinema were not slow to catch on to the general public's fascination with these dark developments. This talk seeks to draw connections between three strands — the rise of the international art market from 1900, the theft of major works of art from museums and private houses in the twentieth century, and the emergence of cinema as an art form in the early twentieth century. All three can be seen to feed off one another. Criminals noticed the extraordinary prices being paid for masterpieces and responded accordingly, while cinema latched on to these real-life thriller crime narratives, turning art thieves into glamorous anti-heroes such as Thomas Crown. More recently, art collectors have sought ever more secure locations in which to store their art, with freeport warehouses now holding billions of dollars of the world’s masterpieces. This talk traces the connections between some of the most popular art heist movies and the reality of the art market and reveals one or two little-known examples of early ‘art crime cinema.’

28 March 2023 – Mary Alexander

Shoes in Art or Shoes as Art

‘My shoes are not fashion. They are gestures: objects that happen to be fashion’. Manolo Blahnik ‘A shoe without sex appeal is as barren as a tree without leaves’. Rita de Acosta Lydig, patron of Yantorny.   A seemingly frivolous subject, but one which is layered in symbolism, fantasy, desire and status. We will look at representations of the historic shoe in art of various periods, and also the late nineteenth/twentieth century developments which led towards the shoe as an art form and the enhanced status of the designer working for an international celebrity clientele. Whether it be the extreme elongated points of medieval poulaines, denoting an impracticality which was of no concern to its wealthy male wearers (in fact setting them apart from the mundane worker), or the towering chopines seen in Carpaccio’s courtesans, or red heels as symbol of aristocratic status, or Sex in the City character, Carrie Bradshaw, whose pair of Manolos become a mugger’s object of desire - we will explore the powerful symbolism of footwear, and enjoy the sheer beauty of these creations as seen through paintings, portraiture, film and fine examples of footwear in worldwide historic collections. The changing styles, shapes, and materials of male and female shoes and footwear will be examined in their social, cultural and sartorial context.

 25 April 2023 – Imogen Corrigan

The Green Man in English Churches

More correctly called ‘foliate heads’, there was a proliferation of Green Man images around the year 1400. The lecture discusses how the image may have evolved from pagan and Classical times and what its purpose may have been. Although they may originally have been connected to ancient fertility rites, the majority show either distorted or very mature faces which seems to contradict the notion that they were associated with May Day frolickings. It may be that we can learn more about its meaning if we take into account the historical events of the time and their effect on the nation’s imagination.

 23 May 2023 – Mark Cottle

A Magical Mystery Tour: The English Miniature from Tudors to the Victorians

From Holbein to the arrival of photography, the English have always kept a special place in their affections for the miniature.  No other country has supported such an unbroken succession of miniatures and flourishing development for so long. More closely bound up with people’s lives than any other art form, these portraits provide, in Sir Roy Strong’s happy image, a ‘keyhole’ into the lives of Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians and Victorians.  The aim of this lecture is to provide a tour through three centuries of wonderful portraiture and the changing ages they represent: a tapestry of English history seen through the eyes of its miniaturists.

27 June 2023 – Chris Aslan Alexander

How to get down from a Yak – Adventures in Asian Nomadic Textiles

Houses made from wool that warm in the depths of winter, carpets that tell stories, woven bands that appease ancestors, embroideries that ward off evil, and kilims that store kitchenware, with everything ready to be packed and carried on yak, or camel at a moment’s notice; the little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak are explored in this lecture, along with the rise and fall of nomadism and where nomadism fits within the modern world. Chris also shares from his own experience of working with nomadic yak herders in the High Pamirs for three years.

Summer Break

 26 September 2023 – Nigel Bates

Sadler’s Wells – The Theatrical Mothership

For more than three centuries Sadler's Wells has been a place of entertainment and a part of London's theatrical history with a reputation known across the world. Surviving many highs, lows and re-buildings, the theatre has hosted and nurtured an impressive array of performing companies over the years. We follow the unique story of The Wells which includes pony racing, naval warfare, Shakespeare with Sir John Gielgud as well as the strongest connections with the worlds of opera and dance and the roots of today's Royal Ballet companies. A fully illustrated talk with audio & video clips.

24 October 2023 – Stuart Harvey

Mussolini and Rome – “il Ventennio Fascista”

In Italy the two decades that Benito Mussolini was in power are referred to as “il Ventennio Fascista”. In this lecture we will examine the origins of fascism and how Mussolini was able to take such total control of the Italian state, focusing particularly on his use of propaganda and symbolism from Ancient Rome. Then we will examine the physical changes his regime brought to the city, examining the monumental building projects that came to define the “fascist style”, many of which are still prominent parts of the urban landscape of Rome today. Finally we will track the fall of Mussolini and some of horrors of the Nazi occupation of Rome prior to the liberation of the city by Allied Forces in June 1944.

28 November 2023 –  Cynthia Coleman Sparke
Fabergé in Ukraine

The House of Fabergé‟s meteoric success saw a modest jewellery concern transformed into one of the world‟s most iconic brands. By 1900, the firm had gained international recognition, stunning the press and public with its displays at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. At the dawn of the new century, Fabergé was poised for expansion, choosing Kiev and Odessa as outlets. We will discuss the beauty and grandeur of Ukraine‟s aristocratic estates, jewels of the Crimean Peninsula that drew the most prominent families seeking respite from Northern winters.
 

12 December 2023 – Sandy Burnett

Christmas in Bach’s Leipzip: The Christmas Oratorio of 1734/5

Sandy Burnett’s close relationship with Bach’s music stretches back for decades; between 1997 and 2010 he directed a complete cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas in West London. In this illustrated talk he explores how Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Weihnachtsoratorium or Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig. An overview of Bach’s life and achievement precedes a close look at this magnificent work which draws on various forms ranging from recitative, arioso, aria, chorale, and instrumental sinfonia through to full-blown choruses which are infused with the joyous spirit of the dance.

Sandy Burnett’s close relationship with Bach’s music stretches back for decades; between 1997 and 2010 he directed a complete cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas in West London. In this illustrated talk he explores how Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Weihnachtsoratorium or Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig. An overview of Bach’s life and achievement precedes a close look at this magnificent work which draws on various forms ranging from recitative, arioso, aria, chorale, and instrumental sinfonia through to full-blown choruses which are infused with the joyous spirit of the dance.

For more details CLICK HERE

The House of Fabergé’s meteoric success saw a modest jewellery concern transformed into one of the world’s most iconic brands.  By 1900, the firm had gained international recognition, stunning the press and public with its displays at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.  At the dawn of the new century, Fabergé was poised for expansion, choosing Kiev and Odessa as outlets.  We will discuss the beauty and grandeur of Ukraine’s aristocratic estates, jewels of the Crimean Peninsula, that drew the most prominent families seeking respite from Northern winters.  

For more details Click here

In Italy the two decades that Benito Mussolini was in power are referred to as “il Ventennio Fascista”. In this lecture we will examine the origins of fascism and how Mussolini was able to take such total control of the Italian state, focusing particularly on his use of propaganda and symbolism from Ancient Rome. Then we will examine the physical changes his regime brought to the city, examining the monumental building projects that came to define the “fascist style”, many of which are still prominent parts of the urban landscape of Rome today. Finally we will track the fall of Mussolini and some of horrors of the Nazi occupation of Rome prior to the liberation of the city by Allied Forces in June 1944.

Fotr more details CLICK HERE

For more than three centuries Sadler's Wells has been a place of entertainment and a part of London's theatrical history with a reputation known across the world. Surviving many highs, lows and re-buildings, the theatre has hosted and nurtured an impressive array of performing companies over the years. We follow the unique story of The Wells which includes pony racing, naval warfare, Shakespeare with Sir John Gielgud as well as the strongest connections with the worlds of opera and dance and the roots of today's Royal Ballet companies. A fully illustrated talk with audio & video clips.

For more details CLICK HERE

Houses made from wool that warm in the depths of winter, carpets that tell stories, woven bands that appease ancestors, embroideries that ward off evil, and kilims that store kitchenware, with everything ready to be packed and carried on yak, or camel at a moment’s notice; the little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak are explored in this lecture, along with the rise and fall of nomadism and where nomadism fits within the modern world. Chris also shares from his own experience of working with nomadic yak herders in the High Pamirs for three years.

 For more details CLICK HERE

As requested by members at the talk, links to some of Chris' upcoming tours are:

https://www.indusexperiences.co.uk/tours/a-carpet-ride-to-khiva-2023/

https://www.indusexperiences.co.uk/tours/unravelling-the-silk-road-2024/

The Carpet Ride to Khiva tour will also be taking place in April of next year.

From Holbein to the arrival of photography, the English have always kept a special place in their affections for the miniature.  No other country has supported such an unbroken succession of miniatures and flourishing development for so long. More closely bound up with people’s lives than any other art form, these portraits provide, in Sir Roy Strong’s happy image, a ‘keyhole’ into the lives of Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians and Victorians.  The aim of this lecture is to provide a tour through three centuries of wonderful portraiture and the changing ages they represent: a tapestry of English history seen through the eyes of its miniaturists.

For More Details CLICK HERE

For Mark Cottle's reading list CLICK HERE

More correctly called ‘foliate heads’, there was a proliferation of Green Man images around the year 1400. The lecture discusses how the image may have evolved from pagan and Classical times and what its purpose may have been. Although they may originally have been connected to ancient fertility rites, the majority show either distorted or very mature faces which seems to contradict the notion that they were associated with May Day frolickings. It may be that we can learn more about its meaning if we take into account the historical events of the time and their effect on the nation’s imagination.

For more detals CLICK

For a list of local Sussex Green Men/Foliate Heads Click here

‘My shoes are not fashion. They are gestures: objects that happen to be fashion’. Manolo Blahnik ‘A shoe without sex appeal is as barren as a tree without leaves’. Rita de Acosta Lydig, patron of Yantorny.   A seemingly frivolous subject, but one which is layered in symbolism, fantasy, desire and status. We will look at representations of the historic shoe in art of various periods, and also the late nineteenth/twentieth century developments which led towards the shoe as an art form and the enhanced status of the designer working for an international celebrity clientele. Whether it be the extreme elongated points of medieval poulaines, denoting an impracticality which was of no concern to its wealthy male wearers (in fact setting them apart from the mundane worker), or the towering chopines seen in Carpaccio’s courtesans, or red heels as symbol of aristocratic status, or Sex in the City character, Carrie Bradshaw, whose pair of Manolos become a mugger’s object of desire - we will explore the powerful symbolism of footwear, and enjoy the sheer beauty of these creations as seen through paintings, portraiture, film and fine examples of footwear in worldwide historic collections. The changing styles, shapes, and materials of male and female shoes and footwear will be examined in their social, cultural and sartorial context.

For more details CLICK HERE

 Mary Alexander’s Biography

 Thirty years' experience as a lecturer, with a BA in History and History of Art and a MA with distinction in History of Art from University College London.  Experience includes public lectures in museums, tutoring for the Open University, visiting lecturer at Christie's Education in London, museum curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of Costume, Manchester. Now a freelance lecturer to various arts, heritage and antiquarian societies. She also worked in Pentagram design consultancy in London and New York, organising conferences and special events. Author of various articles on design and visual awareness issues, her background combines an unusual blend of academic and visual communications skills. Lectured for ADFAS Australia and New Zealand in 2011, 2013 and 2016. Mary is an enthusiastic member and President of The Arts Society Glaven Valley.

Whenever a major museum is robbed of its treasures, the BBC website reports the event under the heading ‘Entertainment’. The implications of this are more interesting than they at first seem. Art thefts have been a constant presence in the news media since the early decades of the twentieth century and Hollywood and international cinema were not slow to catch on to the general public's fascination with these dark developments. This talk seeks to draw connections between three strands — the rise of the international art market from 1900, the theft of major works of art from museums and private houses in the twentieth century, and the emergence of cinema as an art form in the early twentieth century. All three can be seen to feed off one another. Criminals noticed the extraordinary prices being paid for masterpieces and responded accordingly, while cinema latched on to these real-life thriller crime narratives, turning art thieves into glamorous anti-heroes such as Thomas Crown. More recently, art collectors have sought ever more secure locations in which to store their art, with freeport warehouses now holding billions of dollars of the world’s masterpieces. This talk traces the connections between some of the most popular art heist movies and the reality of the art market and reveals one or two little-known examples of early ‘art crime cinema.’

For More details Click here

Dr Tom Flynn is a UK-based art historian, writer and art consultant.  He holds a First Class Honours degree in Art History from the University of Sussex, a Masters in Design History from the Royal College of Art and a doctorate from the University of Sussex.  His interests include contemporary art; sculpture history; museology and the history of museums; art crime; issues in cultural heritage; and the historical development and professional practice of the European art markets.

He is Senior Lecturer at Christie’s Education, Adjunct Professor at Richmond, the American International University in London, visiting Senior Lecturer at Kingston School of Art, and teaches at a number of other UK and European universities. He has taught for many years on the summer Post-Graduate Certificate in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection Studies at the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA) in Amelia, Umbria, Italy.  A former Henry Moore Foundation post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Sussex, he has written for numerous international art publications and is the author of The Body in Sculpture (Everyman Art Library, 1998), and co-editor (with Dr Tim Barringer) of Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture and the Museum (Routledge, 1997). He has written monographs on a number of British contemporary sculptors, including Sean Henry, Terence Coventry and Charlotte Meyer. His most recent book, The A to Z of the International Art Market was published by Bloomsbury Press in 2016 and published in a Chinese edition in 2019.

The following was sent by Tom after the talk at the request of several members

Art Crime Films referred to in Tom Flynn’s Talk
Needless to say, there are numerous films dealing with art crime of various sorts,
but this short list refers to the films I mentioned together with the director in each
instance. Most if not all can be found on either Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
North by Northwest (1959) — Alfred Hitchcock (An action spy thriller featuring a
hilarious fine art auction scene with Cary Grant foiling his pursuers)
To Catch a Thief (1955)— Alfred Hitchcock (About a jewel thief on the Riviera)
The Moderns (1988) — Alan Rudolph (About the “Lost Generation” in Paris
between the wars, focusing on issues of authenticity in art and literature)
The Last Vermeer (2019) — Dan Friedkin (An account of how the art forger Han
van Meegeren faked Vermeers and was tried for collaborating with the Nazis)
The Monuments Men (2014) — George Clooney (How the Allies formed a team
of servicemen to rescue works of art looted by the Nazis)
The Train (1964) — John Frankenheimer (The story of Rose Valland, who helped
foil the Nazi plot to move looted art from Paris to Germany)
Klimt (2006) — Raúl Ruiz (About the artist Gustav Klimt in fin-de-siècle Vienna)
Woman in Gold (2015) — Simon Curtis (The restitution of a Gustav Klimt
painting stolen from its Jewish owners during the Second World War)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) — John Huston (Search for a mysterious bird
sculpture starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade)
Rififi (1955) — Jules Dassin (One of the first art crime ‘caper’ movies by a director
later married to Melina Mercouri, Greek Culture Minister)
Topkapi (1964) — Jules Dassin (An attempt to steal a priceless jewel from the
Topkapi Museum in Istanbul)
Dr No (1962) — Terence Young (The first film in the James Bond franchise and an
enduring classic)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) — Norman Jewison (Theft of money)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) — John McTiernan (Theft of masterpieces)
The General (1998) — John Boorman (IRA heists on Irish country houses)
Entrapment (1999) — Jon Amiel (An insurance agent in pursuit of an art thief)
Headhunters (2011) — Morton Tyldum (A man steals works of art from private
homes and replaces them with copies)

Originally designed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, then transported to Sydenham and rebuilt and enlarged, the Crystal Palace was Joseph Paxton’s masterpiece, and was the largest iron and glass building ever constructed.  It dominated the south London skyline for over 80 years until its tragic destruction by fire in 1936.  This is the history both of the Great Exhibition and the building that housed it, and the on-going artistic legacy of both.

For more details CLICK HERE

2022 LECTURE PROGRAMME

25 January 2022 – Rosalind Whyte BA (Hons) MA MA

Nothing to Declare: Art Stopped at Customs

In 1926 there was a significant clash between the worlds of ‘Art’ and ‘Law’, when American customs officers refused to accept that Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s Bird in Space was a work of art. This led to the legal case of Brancusi v United States and is just one example of what can happen when the worlds of ‘legal’ and ‘creative’ collide.  The results are often bizarre and highly amusing. This lecture explores some of those situations … When is a gun not a gun? How close did Japanese officials come to destroying Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’?  What did Australian customs make of an artwork entitled An Oak Tree?

22 February 2022 – Nicola Moorby BA MA

Looking over the Artist’s Shoulder: The Italian Sketchbook of J M W Turner

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Italy was the country of every artist’s dreams. This lecture recreates a visual tour of Italy in the company of J M W Turner. By studying rarely seen drawings from his travel sketchbooks we will take a privileged look into the world of the artist, following in his footsteps through Venice, Rome, Tivoli and Naples. Through his most intimate and private sketches we will recapture the excitement and dangers of nineteenth-century tourism, and the British love of Italian culture and history. In addition to on-the-spot sketches documenting where he went and what he saw, we will examine Turner’s artistic response to his Italian experiences, tracing the evolution of his ideas from preparatory studies to finished watercolours and oils.

15 March 2022 – Brian Stater BA MSc

When Britain Clicked: Photography of the Swinging Sixties

British photography enjoyed a golden age in the 1960s. Young, talented newcomers broke out of the conventional studio to revolutionise perceptions of fashion, portraiture and popular culture. This lecture looks at a range of superb images from photographers such as David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Lewis Morley, Tony Ray­Jones and Jane Bown. 

26 April 2022 – Gavin Plumley BA (Hons) MA

A Hungarian Metropolis: Art and Culture in Budapest

The Budapest was formed in 1873 by the unification of Buda and Pest, situated on either side of the River Danube. The new capital was the focus of resurgent Hungarian nationalism, which found expression through lavish new buildings, the continent’s first underground railway system and myriad paintings featuring specifically Hungarian subjects and locales. Meanwhile, in the countryside, composers Bartók and Kodály began to collect the music of their compatriots. Placing these endeavours in a historical context, this talk explores how the Hungarians came to understand national identity through cultural means.

24 May 2022 – Angela Findlay BA (Hons), Dip Artistic Therapy

The role of the Arts in breaking the cycle of Crime, Prison & Re-offending

Years of working as an artist within the Criminal Justice System in England and Germany have given Angela unique insights into the destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of the minds, lives and challenges of offenders. With extraordinary slides of art projects and prisoner’s art, she demonstrates how within the process of creating art of any discipline, there are vital opportunities for offenders to confront their crimes and develop the key life skills so essential in leading a positive and productive life. A frequent response to this talk has been “I had no idea!” and indeed it casts light onto areas of our society where the Arts not only are visual, decorative or commercial, but absolutely vital, hugely relevant and potentially life-changing.

28 June 2022 – Barry Venning BA MA

Giles: His Life, Times and Cartoons

The cartoonist, Carl Giles, once said that he loved his creation, Grandma Giles – that fearsome, black-clad, gambling, drinking battleaxe – because she allowed him to say things through his cartoons that he was too polite to say in person. She helped him to poke fun at authority in all its forms, from Hitler to traffic wardens and even his employers at the Daily Express, who didn’t trust him and had sub-editors scouring his cartoons for subversive background details. His admirers included Prince Charles, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Tommy Cooper, and it was no surprise when he was voted Britain’s best-loved cartoonist in 2000. Few people realise, however, that this likeable and humane satirist was also a war correspondent who witnessed the horrors of Belsen, where he found that the camp commandant, Josef Kramer, was also a great fan of his work. Giles gave us a remarkable picture of a half-century of British life. He was also, as his editor John Gordon put it “a spreader of happiness’ and ‘a genius…with the common touch’.

Summer Break

27 September 2022 – Dr Scott Anderson MA PhD FSA (Scot) ASFAV (Hons)

Art Nouveau and Art Deco Ceramics

In an age when few of us can afford to purchase great works of painting and sculpture, decorative ceramic items can still be affordable and very interesting to collect. The stylistic period known as Art Nouveau, from around 1895-1914, and the subsequent era of Art Deco, between the two World Wars, have left us with a fascinating design heritage in the form of pottery and porcelain vases, decorative plaques and figurines that provide the content of this course. Included is a look at the designers and their ceramic creations from Britain, Europe and the USA, ranging from little known names such as the American Genevieve Hamilton, who produced Art Deco figures, to better known producers such as Sevres, Poole Pottery, Clarice Cliff and Rozenburg, who produced Art Nouveau egg-shell porcelain that seems almost weightless when handled! Liberally illustrated, with numerous images of beautiful ceramics.

25 October 2022 – Louise Schofield BA (Hons) Dip Class Arch
Rescuing Zeugma from the Floodwaters of the Euphrates

In Spring 2000 an archaeological drama began to unfold on the banks of the Euphrates river in Turkey, close to the border with Syria. A small team of French and Turkish archaeologists found a Roman city on the banks of the river, with mosaics and wall-paintings finer than those of Pompeii. However, just beside them was the almost completed Birecik Dam, and the Turks had begun to flood the great reservoir behind it, taking the city under water. This lecture tells the story of the extraordinary archaeological rescue excavation that then took place (racing against the inexorable waters for four and a half months as they rose at a rate of two feet a day) and the fabulous treasures recovered, including mosaic floors (arguably the finest ever found) depicting colourful scenes from myth and legend.
 

22 November 2022 – Tessa Boase MA, Dip Art History (Florence)

Fashion, Fury and Feminism: Women’s Flight for Change 

When social historian Tessa Boase told the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds she wanted to write their early story, they refused to let her visit their archives. To a former investigative journalist, this was a challenge she could not resist . . . This lecture shines a light on the intriguing story of women’s love affair with plumage ­ – and of the brave eco feminists who fought back on behalf of the birds. Moving from a polite Victorian tea party to an egret hunt in a Florida swamp; from a suffragette ‘monster rally’ to a milliner’s dusty workshop, you’ll be taken back in time to a world where every woman, of every class wore a hat

13 December 2022 – Bertie Pearce BA (Hons)

‘A Dickens of a Christmas and God Bless Everyone’

Charles Dickens has often been proclaimed as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and indeed on hearing that Dickens had died, a cockney barrow-girl said: “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?”  Dickens revived the Christmas traditions with his warm portrayal of Christmas in the domestic setting; with plum pudding, piping hot turkey, games, dancing and family cheer by the hearth. Although he celebrated Christmas in numerous works it is his enduring master piece, ‘A Christmas Carol’ published on 19th December 1843 which immortalises the spirit of Christmas Cheer. Dickens was a man of extraordinary energy and talent: literary genius, reformer, public speaker, actor and amateur magician.

For a printable version, Click here

Charles Dickens has often been proclaimed as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and indeed on hearing that Dickens had died, a cockney barrow-girl said: “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?”  Dickens revived the Christmas traditions with his warm portrayal of Christmas in the domestic setting; with plum pudding, piping hot turkey, games, dancing and family cheer by the hearth.

Although he celebrated Christmas in numerous works it is his enduring master piece, ‘A Christmas Carol’ published on 19th December 1843 which immortalises the spirit of Christmas Cheer. Dickens was a man of extraordinary energy and talent: literary genius, reformer, public speaker, actor and amateur magician.

For more details CLICK HERE

When social historian Tessa Boase told the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds she wanted to write their early story, they refused to let her visit their archives. To a former investigative journalist, this was a challenge she could not resist . . . 

This lecture shines a light on the intriguing story of women’s love affair with plumage ­ – and of the brave eco feminists who fought back on behalf of the birds. Moving from a polite Victorian tea party to an egret hunt in a Florida swamp; from a suffragette ‘monster rally’ to a milliner’s dusty workshop, you’ll be taken back in time to a world where every woman, of every class wore a hat.

For more details CLICK HERE

In Spring 2000 an archaeological drama began to unfold on the banks of the Euphrates river in Turkey, close to the border with Syria. A small team of French and Turkish archaeologists found a Roman city on the banks of the river, with mosaics and wall-paintings finer than those of Pompeii. However, just beside them was the almost completed Birecik Dam, and the Turks had begun to flood the great reservoir behind it, taking the city under water.

This lecture tells the story of the extraordinary archaeological rescue excavation that then took place (racing against the inexorable waters for four and a half months as they rose at a rate of two feet a day) and the fabulous treasures recovered, including mosaic floors (arguably the finest ever found) depicting colourful scenes from myth and legend.

For more details CLICK HERE

In an age when few of us can afford to purchase great works of painting and sculpture, decorative ceramic items can still be affordable and very interesting to collect. The stylistic period known as Art Nouveau, from around 1895-1914, and the subsequent era of Art Deco, between the two World Wars, have left us with a fascinating design heritage in the form of pottery and porcelain vases, decorative plaques and figurines that provide the content of this course.

Included is a look at the designers and their ceramic creations from Britain, Europe and the USA, ranging from little known names such as the American Genevieve Hamilton, who produced Art Deco figures, to better known producers such as Sevres, Poole Pottery, Clarice Cliff and Rozenburg, who produced Art Nouveau egg-shell porcelain that seems almost weightless when handled! Liberally illustrated, with numerous images of beautiful ceramics.

For more details CLICK HERE

The cartoonist, Carl Giles, once said that he loved his creation, Grandma Giles – that fearsome, black-clad, gambling, drinking battleaxe – because she allowed him to say things through his cartoons that he was too polite to say in person. She helped him to poke fun at authority in all its forms, from Hitler to traffic wardens and even his employers at the Daily Express, who didn’t trust him and had sub-editors scouring his cartoons for subversive background details.

His admirers included Prince Charles, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Tommy Cooper, and it was no surprise when he was voted Britain’s best-loved cartoonist in 2000. Few people realise, however, that this likeable and humane satirist was also a war correspondent who witnessed the horrors of Belsen, where he found that the camp commandant, Josef Kramer, was also a great fan of his work. Giles gave us a remarkable picture of a half-century of British life. He was also, as his editor John Gordon put it “a spreader of happiness’ and ‘a genius…with the common touch’.

For more details CLICK HERE

Years of working as an artist within the Criminal Justice System in England and Germany have given Angela unique insights into the destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of the minds, lives and challenges of offenders.

With extraordinary slides of art projects and prisoner’s art, she demonstrates how within the process of creating art of any discipline, there are vital opportunities for offenders to confront their crimes and develop the key life skills so essential in leading a positive and productive life. A frequent response to this talk has been “I had no idea!” and indeed it casts light onto areas of our society where the Arts not only are visual, decorative or commercial, but absolutely vital, hugely relevant and potentially life-changing.

For more details     Click here

After the lecture several members asked for the data to write to their MPs. Below is a summary of Angela's slide:

Please note that these statistics can fluctuate and vary with interpretation, but they will give you a general idea of reoffending rates and some of the underlying reasons, which are influenced by age and the length of sentence. 

Approximately 67% of under 18’s re-offend within a year of release

Approximately 46% of adult prisoners re-offend within a year of release

Approximately 58% reoffend after sentences of less than 12 months

About two thirds suffer from some sort of personality disorder

Approximately 65% of adult male prisoners have a reading age of less than 8 years

About half of the prisoners cannot write

Just over half are dyslexic compared to just 5-10% of the general population

There are approximately 86,500 prisoners in the system – the UK lock up more people than anywhere else in Western Europe, which costs in the region of £37,000 per year, to keep a person in prison, and £100,000 to keep a person in a Young Offenders Institution.

Re-offending costs the government in region of £18.1bn per year.

The Budapest was formed in 1873 by the unification of Buda and Pest, situated on either side of the River Danube. The new capital was the focus of resurgent Hungarian nationalism, which found expression through lavish new buildings, the continent’s first underground railway system and myriad paintings featuring specifically Hungarian subjects and locales. Meanwhile, in the countryside, composers Bartók and Kodály began to collect the music of their compatriots. Placing these endeavours in a historical context, this talk explores how the Hungarians came to understand national identity through cultural means.

For more information Click here

Below is a copy of an email from Gavin Plumley listing all the Hungarians he named in his lecture – we had mentioned that some of us got lost with so many new names when talking with him over lunch!

Many thanks for your very kind email and, indeed, for the committee’s hospitality on Tuesday. It was a great joy to be with you and to have such an engaged audience, particularly given the language barrier and the complexities of Hungarian history. 

In case it’s useful to your members, here is a list of the names mentioned in the talk:

Lajos Kossuth (1802–94)

István Széchenyi (1791–1860)

Sándor Petőfi (1823–49)

William Tierney Clark (1783–1852)

August de Serres (1841–1900)

Gyula Rochlitz (1825–86)

Samu Pecz (1854–1922)

Ödön Lechner (1845–1914)

Simon Hollósy (1857–1918)

Gyula Benczúr (1844–1920)

Károly Ferenczy (1862–1917)

Belá Bartók (1881–1945)

Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967)

István Csók (1865–1961)

Béla Belázs (1884–1949)

Miklós Bánffy (1873–1950)

All best wishes, Gavin 

British photography enjoyed a golden age in the 1960s. Young, talented newcomers broke out of the conventional studio to revolutionise perceptions of fashion, portraiture and popular culture. This lecture looks at a range of superb images from photographers such as David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Lewis Morley, Tony Ray­Jones and Jane Bown. 

For more information CLICK HERE

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Italy was the country of every artist’s dreams. This lecture recreates a visual tour of Italy in the company of J M W Turner. By studying rarely seen drawings from his travel sketchbooks we will take a privileged look into the world of the artist, following in his footsteps through Venice, Rome, Tivoli and Naples. Through his most intimate and private sketches we will recapture the excitement and dangers of nineteenth-century tourism, and the British love of Italian culture and history. In addition to on-the-spot sketches documenting where he went and what he saw, we will examine Turner’s artistic response to his Italian experiences, tracing the evolution of his ideas from preparatory studies to finished watercolours and oils

For more information CLICK HERE

In 1926 there was a significant clash between the worlds of ‘Art’ and ‘Law’, when American customs officers refused to accept that Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s Bird in Space was a work of art. This led to the legal case of Brancusi v United States and is just one example of what can happen when the worlds of ‘legal’ and ‘creative’ collide.  The results are often bizarre and highly amusing. This lecture explores some of those situations … When is a gun not a gun? How close did Japanese officials come to destroying Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’?  What did Australian customs make of an artwork entitled An Oak Tree?

For more information CLICK HERE

Over 2500 years in the making the great British pantomime is a very potent brew indeed. Mix the earliest Greek and Roman drama with commedia dell'arte and medieval morality plays, then stir in a sprig of 17th century masque, a dash of 18th century harlequinade and a hefty shot of Victorian music hall and, hey presto, you have the modern Christmas pantomime. (Oh no you don't!).

For more information click HERE

How was Napoleon such an excellent self promoter? What was it that drove him? What on the other hand drove his wife? And what was it that made Napoleon and Josephine one of the most followed couples in history? These questions can be answered giving a true insight into their character by exploring the collections at the Chateau de Malmaison. The Estate, which was bought by the couple as their private retreat, away from the Pomp and Ceremony of the Official Residences, was made into a National Museum in 1905 amassing a huge collection of their possessions. Paintings, personal objects, complete room layouts, and some magnificent pieces of porcelain are just some of the things on display.

For more information click HERE.

Dumfries House in Ayrshire was acquired for the nation following a last minute rescue in 2007, largely through the involvement of HRH the Prince of Wales. Never before opened to the public, Dumfries House is a forgotten Georgian gem, designed by Adam and furnished by Chippendale and others. Once a home of the Marquises of Bute, Matthew Williams has known and admired Dumfries House for twenty years. The story of its controversial rescue is both fascinating and entertaining.

For more information click HERE:  

One of the most derided towns in England, renowned for its dullness, Basingstoke is distinguished only by its numerous roundabouts and absurd Modernist architecture. Rupert explains that the post-war planners, who inflicted such features as ‘the Great Wall of Basingstoke’ on the town, were politically-motivated and bent on destroying all traces of its past. He reveals the nobler Basingstoke that is buried beneath the concrete, and the few historic gems that have survived the holocaust. Hilariously told, it is a story that neatly illustrates the ugliest episode in England’s architectural history. As Betjeman wrote prophetically, “What goes for Basingstoke goes for most English towns”.

For further information, click HERE: 

CHURCH RECORDERS

From 2021 The Arts Society is no longer affiliated with Church Recording. For information on The Church Recording Society please see - churchrecordingsociety.org.uk 

LECTURE PROGRAMME 2020-2021 - SUMMARY

22 September 2020 – Dr Anne Anderson BA PhD FSA

California Dreaming: Impressionists and Post-Impressionists at the Norton Simon Museum via Zoom It comes as a surprise to most tourists to find so much culture centred on Pasadena, Los Angeles, a rather attractive Art Deco city that is the home of the Norton Simon Museum. Over a 30-year period, the industrialist Norton Simon (1907–1993) amassed a stellar collection of European masterworks from the Renaissance to the 20th century. The museum has the most significant collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in California. Works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, who alone is represented by over one hundred works of art, are displayed alongside the vibrant palettes of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin. Complementing these works are Auguste Rodin's monumental bronze sculptures, displayed in the Museum's front garden. Outstanding paintings by Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard lead to the doorstep of 20th-century Modernism: seminal works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse will complete our tour.  Investments made in Max Factor cosmetics and Avis Cars Rentals, as well as California’s famous ‘OJ’, certainly paid dividends.  

27 October 2020 – Dr Neil Faulkner PhD

Dickens, Lawrence and Zhivago: David Lean’s Art of Cinema via Zoom

Cinematic images are modern art forms. In the ‘golden age’ of cinema – before the development of CGI technology – filmmakers had to construct sets to represent landscapes, townscapes, and interiors. Sometimes they used paintings and photographs, sometimes they built scale models, sometimes they constructed full-size replicas. In each case, they created an art installation they then captured in celluloid images. Drawing on new insights from the archaeology of cinema, this lecture will use the films of renowned British director David Lean to explore the art of cinema. How do the ‘artists’ – in this case formed of large collaborative teams (directors, screenwriters, production designers, costume designers, camera crews, fixers, etc) – choose locations, construct sets, dress actors, and, more generally, ‘imagine’ the world they seek to represent? How much is authentic, and how much preconception and prejudice? What are the influences on the way the cinema depicts the world.

24 November 2020 – Barbara Askew BA (Hons) Dip Ed MITG

Gilt and Gorgeousness – 200th Anniversary of King George IV’s Accession to the Throne via Zoom

On coming to the throne George IV instinctively understood the majesty and splendour appropriate to the monarch of the richest and most powerful country in the world. This lecture traces his developing taste as Prince of Wales, Regent and King and examines connections between his royal residences as well as his spectacular legacy to the Royal Collection – the greatest by any monarch since  Charles I.

8 December 2020 – Nigel Bates

In the Kingdom of Sweets via Zoom

The Nutcracker has delighted audiences at Christmas for many decades yet it was deemed a failure at its first performances.  We take a close look at how this well-loved ballet now takes its rightful place on stage and how the music of Tchaikovsky along with story-telling, design and dance all come together to make the most magical escape for young and old alike.  The lecture includes several performance video clips.

26 January 2021 – Simon Inglis

Great Lengths – On the Art & Architecture of Britain’s Historic Swimming Pools & Lido’s

Swimming is Britain’s second favourite form of physical recreation (after walking). Almost everyone has memories of visiting their local baths. But whilst not all these memories might be positive – drooping knitted cozzies anyone? – for many swimmers the baths themselves are cherished. Some, particular those built in the late Victorian and Edwardian years, are rich with decorative tile work, stained glass, polished wood and terracotta detailing. This sense of municipal pride continued into the 1920s and ’30s, when Art Deco and Modernist lidos became the urban beaches of their day. In this lecture, Simon highlights the treasures of aquatic art that survive, and considers how the pools of today compare. 

23 February 2021 – Doug Gillen BA (Hons)

Hidden Canvasses – Street Art and the City

There's more to the world of street art than Banksy, Hidden Canvases is a beginner's guide to the biggest art movement since pop art.  From train writing in New York to interactive technology that brings murals to life, the concept of un-commissioned public art is a very different beast to that which it once was.  Hidden Canvases explores the key stages in street art's growth examining the different elements and styles that comprise the scene with no rules.  From the international superstars to the local underground heroes you're guaranteed to leave knowing your Invader from you Aryz and who knows you might even start looking at the world a little differently.

23 March 2021 – Sarah Cove BA (Hons) ACR FIIC FBAPCR

Fakes and Fortune (or, have I discovered a Constable in my Attic?!)

Sarah Cove founded the Constable Research Project in conjunction with the V&A Museum in 1986 to study John Constable RA’s materials and techniques from the technical and scientific point of view. Since then she has examined over 250 works from collections worldwide, from tiny oil sketches on fragments of canvas, paper supports and boards to the ‘six-footers’, some of Constable’s most famous and iconic paintings including The Haywain (1821), The Leaping Horse (1825) and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831). She has developed a technical chronology that assists with the dating of his known works, relatively few of which were signed and dated by the artist, and is also useful for the attribution (or not) of newly discovered pictures. She has been instrumental in the attribution of three significant Constable oils for BBC1’s Fake or Fortune? series, appearing in 2014 and 2017. In 2014 she set up a Facebook page that is hugely successful in raising awareness of her research so that now she is regularly contacted by people that think they have a found a previously unknown Constable!! Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture which gives a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how such decisions are made and will describe some extraordinary successes but also crashing disappointments. Stories will include, at opposite extremes, a hugely publicised oil sketch reputedly worth £250,000 that turned out to be a copy and the chance discovery of a fabulous, almost abstract, oil study of the 1830s that had formerly belonged to an American G.I.

27 April 2021 – Ian Cockburn BA (Hons) MA (Courtauld)

Moorish Architecture: The Legacy of a Vanished Kingdom

The Alhambra of Granada, the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alcazar of Seville are the three most impressive monuments to the architectural creativity of the Moors in Spain, but there are many other examples worthy of mention too.  The classical origins that influenced the Moorish style are less well-known, but fascinating to explore, as too is the unique interior decorative style developed by the Moors, which gives their architecture its beauty and exotic appeal – an appeal so strong that the Christians sometimes copied it, even as they slowly reconquered the territory from its Islamic rulers. This lecture provides a comprehensive introduction to the peninsula’s Moorish architecture.

25 May 2021 – Imogen Corrigan BA (Hons) FRSA

The Book of Kells

This extraordinary manuscript dates to about the year 800 and is almost certain to have been written on the remote Scottish island of Iona. Some people say it has the most sublime beauty. Others, such as Umberto Ecco, describe it as a ‘product of cold-blooded hallucination’. It is partly a fantasy of intertwined animal, bird and people’s heads, but also a standard Book of the Gospels with all that entails including full-page miniatures that illustrate the story. It doesn’t stand alone because the intricate iconography is found in other manuscripts as well as on Anglo-Saxon preaching crosses. In its time it has been annotated by the helpful and stolen by the wicked (it was found months later in a ditch, so it is robust too). It is a testament to the spirituality, not just of the men who created it, but of the Christianity of that time and place. It is also surprisingly full of mistakes. 

22 June 2021 – Dr Caroline Shenton DPhil (Oxon) FRS FRHistS

Packing up the Nation

This is the gripping and sometimes hilarious story of how a band of heroic curators and eccentric custodians saved Britain’s national heritage during our Darkest Hour. As Hitler’s forces gathered on the other side of the Channel to threaten these islands, men and women from London’s national museums, galleries and archives forged extraordinary plans to evacuate their collections to safety. Utilising country houses from Buckinghamshire to Cumbria, tube tunnels, Welsh mines and Wiltshire quarries, a dedicated team of unlikely heroes packed up their greatest treasures in a race against time during the sweltering summer of 1939, dispatching them throughout the country on a series of secret wartime adventures, retold in this talk.

Dr Caroline Shenton DPhil (Oxon) FSA FRHistS

Packing up the Nation

                                              via Zoom

This is the gripping and sometimes hilarious story of how a band of heroic curators and eccentric custodians saved Britain’s national heritage during our Darkest Hour.  As Hitler’s forces gathered on the other side of the Channel to threaten these islands, men and women from London’s national museums, galleries and archives forged extraordinary plans to evacuate their collections to safety. Utilising country houses from Buckinghamshire to Cumbria, tube tunnels, Welsh mines and Wiltshire quarries, a dedicated team of unlikely heroes packed up their greatest treasures in a race against time during the sweltering summer of 1939, dispatching them throughout the country on a series of secret wartime adventures, retold in this talk.

25 May 2021 – Imogen Corrigan BA (Hons) FRSA Please note, This is a Zoom Lecture

The Book of Kells 

This extraordinary manuscript dates to about the year 800 and is almost certain to have been written on the remote Scottish island of Iona. Some people say it has the most sublime beauty. Others, such as Umberto Ecco, describe it as a ‘product of cold-blooded hallucination’. It is partly a fantasy of intertwined animal, bird and people’s heads, but also a standard Book of the Gospels with all that entails including full-page miniatures that illustrate the story. It doesn’t stand alone because the intricate iconography is found in other manuscripts as well as on Anglo-Saxon preaching crosses. In its time it has been annotated by the helpful and stolen by the wicked (it was found months later in a ditch, so it is robust too). It is a testament to the spirituality, not just of the men who created it, but of the Christianity of that time and place. It is also surprisingly full of mistakes. 

Moorish Architecture: The Legacy of a Vanished Kingdom

via Zoom

The Alhambra of Granada, the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alcazar of Seville are the three most impressive monuments to the architectural creativity of the Moors in Spain, but there are many other examples worthy of mention too.  The classical origins that influenced the Moorish style are less well-known, but fascinating to explore, as too is the unique interior decorative style developed by the Moors, which gives their architecture its beauty and exotic appeal – an appeal so strong that the Christians sometimes copied it, even as they slowly reconquered the territory from its Islamic rulers. This lecture provides a comprehensive introduction to the peninsula’s Moorish architecture.

 The Zoom Link for this event will be sent out on Sunday 25th April.

23 March 2021 – Sarah Cove BA (Hons) ACR FIIC FBAPCR

Fakes and Fortune (or, have I discovered a Constable in my Attic?!)

Sarah Cove founded the Constable Research Project in conjunction with the V&A Museum in 1986 to study John Constable RA’s materials and techniques from the technical and scientific point of view. Since then she has examined over 250 works from collections worldwide, from tiny oil sketches on fragments of canvas, paper supports and boards to the ‘six-footers’, some of Constable’s most famous and iconic paintings including The Haywain (1821), The Leaping Horse (1825) and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831). She has developed a technical chronology that assists with the dating of his known works, relatively few of which were signed and dated by the artist, and is also useful for the attribution (or not) of newly discovered pictures. She has been instrumental in the attribution of three significant Constable oils for BBC1’s Fake or Fortune? series, appearing in 2014 and 2017. In 2014 she set up a Facebook page that is hugely successful in raising awareness of her research so that now she is regularly contacted by people that think they have a found a previously unknown Constable!! Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture which gives a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how such decisions are made and will describe some extraordinary successes but also crashing disappointments. Stories will include, at opposite extremes, a hugely publicised oil sketch reputedly worth £250,000 that turned out to be a copy and the chance discovery of a fabulous, almost abstract, oil study of the 1830s that had formerly belonged to an American G.I.

23 February 2021 – Doug Gillen BA (Hons)

Hidden Canvasses – Street Art and the City

There's more to the world of street art than Banksy, Hidden Canvases is a beginner's guide to the biggest art movement since pop art.  From train writing in New York to interactive technology that brings murals to life, the concept of un-commissioned public art is a very different beast to that which it once was.  Hidden Canvases explores the key stages in street art's growth examining the different elements and styles that comprise the scene with no rules.  From the international superstars to the local underground heroes you're guaranteed to leave knowing your Invader from you Aryz and who knows you might even start looking at the world a little differently.

26 January 2021 – Simon Inglis

Great Lengths – On the Art & Architecture of Britain’s Historic Swimming Pools & Lidos

Swimming is Britain’s second favourite form of physical recreation (after walking). Almost everyone has memories of visiting their local baths. But whilst not all these memories might be positive – drooping knitted cozzies anyone? – for many swimmers the baths themselves are cherished. Some, particular those built in the late Victorian and Edwardian years, are rich with decorative tile work, stained glass, polished wood and terracotta detailing. This sense of municipal pride continued into the 1920s and ’30s, when Art Deco and Modernist lidos became the urban beaches of their day. In this lecture, Simon highlights the treasures of aquatic art that survive, and considers how the pools of today compare. 

8 December 2020 – Nigel Bates

In the Kingdom of Sweets via Zoom NOTE! Starts at 10.30am

The Nutcracker has delighted audiences at Christmas for many decades yet it was deemed a failure at its first performances.  We take a close look at how this well-loved ballet now takes its rightful place on stage and how the music of Tchaikovsky along with story-telling, design and dance all come together to make the most magical escape for young and old alike.  The lecture includes several performance video clips.

24 November 2020 – Barbara Askew BA (Hons) Dip Ed MITG

Gilt and Gorgeousness – 200th Anniversary of King George IV’s Accession to the Throne

Note: Lecture via Zoom

On coming to the throne George IV instinctively understood the majesty and splendour appropriate to the monarch of the richest and most powerful country in the world. This lecture traces his developing taste as Prince of Wales, Regent and King and examines connections between his royal residences as well as his spectacular legacy to the Royal Collection – the greatest by any monarch since  Charles I.

27 October 2020 – Dr Neil Faulkner PhD

Dickens, Lawrence and Zhivago: David Lean’s Art of Cinema via Zoom

Cinematic images are modern art forms. In the ‘golden age’ of cinema – before the development of CGI technology – filmmakers had to construct sets to represent landscapes, townscapes, and interiors. Sometimes they used paintings and photographs, sometimes they built scale models, sometimes they constructed full-size replicas. In each case, they created an art installation they then captured in celluloid images. Drawing on new insights from the archaeology of cinema, this lecture will use the films of renowned British director David Lean to explore the art of cinema. How do the ‘artists’ – in this case formed of large collaborative teams (directors, screenwriters, production designers, costume designers, camera crews, fixers, etc) – choose locations, construct sets, dress actors, and, more generally, ‘imagine’ the world they seek to represent? How much is authentic, and how much preconception and prejudice? What are the influences on the way the cinema depicts the world.

Prof Anne Anderson

With a first degree in archaeology and a PhD in English, Anne was a senior lecturer in Art and Design History at Southampton Solent University for 14 year. During 2009-2010, Anne worked on Closer to Home the reopening exhibition at Leighton House Museum, Kensington.

She has curated three national exhibitions, including The Truth About Faeries (2009-11) and Under the Greenwood: Picturing the British Tree (2013). Her book on The Perseus Series was published for the Edward Burne-Jones exhibition (2018). She has held several prestigious fellowships including Fellow of the Huntington Library, CA (2008 and 2018) and Fellow of the Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Library and Museum (2009/10). Currently a tutor for the V&A Learning Academy, Anne specialises in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement. Her career as an international speaker has taken her all over the world, including Jersey, Spain, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. She undertook her fourth lecture tour of Australia, for ADFAS, in 2018.

22 September 2020 – Dr Anne Anderson BA PhD FSA

California Dreaming: Impressionists and Post-Impressionists at the Norton Simon Museum via Zoom It comes as a surprise to most tourists to find so much culture centred on Pasadena, Los Angeles, a rather attractive Art Deco city that is the home of the Norton Simon Museum. Over a 30-year period, the industrialist Norton Simon (1907–1993) amassed a stellar collection of European masterworks from the Renaissance to the 20th century. The museum has the most significant collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in California. Works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, who alone is represented by over one hundred works of art, are displayed alongside the vibrant palettes of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin. Complementing these works are Auguste Rodin's monumental bronze sculptures, displayed in the Museum's front garden. Outstanding paintings by Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard lead to the doorstep of 20th-century Modernism: seminal works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse will complete our tour.  Investments made in Max Factor cosmetics and Avis Cars Rentals, as well as California’s famous ‘OJ’, certainly paid dividends.  

LECTURE PROGRAMME 2019-2020

24 September 2019 25th Anniversary Meeting – Bertie Pearce BA (Hons) 

Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion - is a whistle stop tour of the history of mystery from 3000 BC to the 21st century and be careful! – you might be amazed and bewitched.

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. Egypt was the cradle of magic.  Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions for the edification of worship and to hold power over the people.  Where there was power there was magic. Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’. Magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ lest they be sentenced to death for ‘witchcraft and conjuration’ under the edicts of Henry VIII.  With the emergence of the Music Hall, Magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked in their thousands to watch the extraordinary feats of The Great Illusionists.  This gave birth to legendary tricks such as pulling a rabbit from a hat and sawing a lady in half.  And if magicians guarded their secrets with their lives, how was the Magic Circle formed? – Home to 10,000 secrets.  Even Today in our super technical age of ipods and broadband, the wonder and surprise of magic are as popular as ever, not forgetting the Harry Potter craze.

22 October 2019 – Matthew Williams BA (Hons) 

Portmeirion – A Welsh Italianate Fantasy

Portmeirion is an extraordinary surprise; a colourful and delightful fantasy village on the coast of north Wales created from the 1920s by the remarkable architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.  Portmeirion was his personal defiance against the advance of modernism and what he saw as the despoilment of Britain.  By the 1950s it had become the playground of artists, intellectuals, aristocrats and the merely rich.  Regular visitors included H G Wells, Bertrand Russell and Noel Coward (who wrote Blithe Spirit at Portmeirion).  Sir Clough’s daughter Susan created Portmeirion Pottery, which during the 1960s and 70s, was synonymous with cutting-edge ceramic style. This lecture looks at the place, its architecture and associations.  Matthew also draws on some personal memories, as his uncle was Resident Director of Portmeirion for 30 years.

26 November 2019 – Viv Lawes MA BA

The Honourable East India Company and East-West Trade: Chintz, Chinese Export and Chinoiserie 1600 – 1800

This lecture explores the way in which the East India Company developed its methods of trade.  It shows how the 17th century textile trade with India established a methodology for sending out patterns to be copied by the artisans, replacing the original system of importing textiles that were native in design.  The system of sending out patterns to be copied was the norm by the time the East India Company made inroads into China in the 18th century – a precursor of modern trading methods. The Company rapidly evolved its strategies, sending out several ships at a time to China and eventually setting up permanent settlements in Macao.  The currency and balance of trade is explained, and methods of production are illustrated with a number of Chinese export pieces, predominantly Chinese painted silks but also including furniture and porcelain.  It concludes with drawing the distinction between Chinese export and Chinoiserie, using examples made in Europe during the same period.

10 December 2019 – Charles Harris B.Sc. Iowa State

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Wish

The most beloved American illustrator of the 20th century always portrayed life as he wished it would be.  And so it was that Norman Rockwell was most at home portraying the ideal family Christmas often with direct connections to Dickens and the English Yuletide Tradition.  A bounty of Christmas posters, magazine covers, cards and even Norman Rockwell Christmas gifts will keep you entertained throughout.  Your American-born lecturer shares his own experiences of the ideal American Christmas from sleigh rides and ice-skating in the woods to trimming the tree and wondering how Santa got down the chimney.  Light and lively Christmas fair!

28 January 2020 – Andrew Prince

From Downton to Gatsby: Jewellery and Fashion 1890 to 1929

For the series Downton Abbey, Andrew was commissioned to produce many jewels for the main characters, and this inspired him to create a talk based on Downton and the changing styles of the time portrayed.  Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case.  In his talk Andrew guides you through the extraordinary periods and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great Couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce works of art of outstanding quality and glittering opulence. Along with this he discusses the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and how they were worn with the sumptuous gowns.

25 February 2020 – Alexandra Epps BA MA

Art of Light: Stained Glass in the City of London

The magical qualities of stained glass windows in the historic churches of the City of London - windows both old and modern created by a series of remarkable artists and craftsmen in a variety of styles.  Discover their symbolism, spiritual dimensions and above all radiant visual beauty.

24 March 2020 – Rupert Willoughby BA (Hons)  

Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture – CANCELLED now 28/09/2021

One of the most derided towns in England, renowned for its dullness; Basingstoke is distinguished only by its numerous roundabouts and absurd Modernist architecture. Rupert explains that the post-war planners, who inflicted such features as ‘the Great Wall of Basingstoke’ on the town, were politically-motivated and bent on destroying all traces of its past. He reveals the nobler Basingstoke that is buried beneath the concrete, and the few historic gems that have survived the holocaust. Hilariously told, it is a story that neatly illustrates the ugliest episode in England’s architectural history. As Betjeman wrote prophetically, “What goes for Basingstoke goes for most English towns”.

28 April 2020 – Carole Petipher  

The Collections of Napoleon and Josephine at Chateau de Malmaison

CANCELLED now 23/11/2021 

How was Napoleon such an excellent self-promoter?  What was it that drove him?  What on the other hand drove his wife?  And what was it that made Napoleon and Josephine one of the most followed couples in history?  These questions can be answered giving a true insight into their character by exploring the collections at the Chateau de Malmaison.  The Estate, which was bought by the couple as their private retreat, away from the Pomp and Ceremony of the Official Residences, was made into a National Museum in 1905 amassing a huge collection of their possessions.  Paintings, personal objects, complete room layouts, and some magnificent pieces of porcelain are just some of the things on display.

26 May 2020 – Rosalind Whyte BA (Hons) MA MA

Nothing to Declare: Art Stopped at Customs CANCELLED now 25/01/2022

In 1926 there was a significant clash between the worlds of ‘Art’ and ‘Law’, when American customs officers refused to accept that Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s ‘Bird in Space’ was a work of art.  This led to the legal case of Brancusi v United States and is just one example of what can happen when the worlds of ‘legal’ and ‘creative’ collide.  The results are often bizarre and highly amusing.  This lecture explores some of those situations… When is a gun not a gun?  How close did Japanese officials come to destroying Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’?  What did Australian customs make of an artwork entitled ‘An Oak Tree’?

23 June 2020 – Gavin Plumley BA (Hons) MA

A Hungarian Metropolis: Art and Culture in Budapest CANCELLED now 26/04/2022

Budapest was formed in 1873 by the unification of Buda and Pest, situated on either side of the River Danube. The new capital was the focus of resurgent Hungarian nationalism, which found expression through lavish new buildings, the continent’s first underground railway system and myriad paintings featuring specifically Hungarian subjects and locales. Meanwhile, in the countryside, composers Bartók and Kodály began to collect the music of their compatriots. Placing these endeavours in a historical context, this talk explores how the Hungarians came to understand national identity through cultural means.