Lectures and Days of Special interest 2023
Meetings and Days of Special Interest in 2020
COVID-19: No lectures were held in April, May or June 2020. July lecture was replaced by a talk on Impressionists in their Gardens given on Zoom by Caroline Holmes and shared with Harlow and Woodford societies. September lecture was semi-hybrid: on Zoom but projected on the hall screen to a limited audience; in October we achieved "full hybrid": our speaker was in the Hall with a limited audience joined by others externally on Zoom webinar,
January 8 (second Wednesday):LONDON UNDERGROUND CATHEDRALS – the world-class art, architecture and design of London Underground Ian Swankie
The world’s first underground railway has a wonderful heritage of architecture, ingenious design, powerful advertising posters and unique calligraphy. In this talk we plot the early development of the Underground, examine the legacy of Frank Pick and Charles Holden, look at some of the iconic posters, and celebrate the award winning architecture of the modern Tube in the Jubilee Line Extension. We’ll also take a peek at some of the forthcoming Crossrail stations, designed by some of the world’s top architects
February 5: PIERRE BONNARD: The Old Master of Modern Art? Linda Smith
From his radical youth in the vibrant world of avant-garde 1890s Paris, to his death in rural Southern France in 1947, Pierre Bonnard moved from modern and urban subjects to the limited and domestic. Despite the glorious, atmospheric colour and shimmering decorative effect of his paintings, Bonnard was often dismissed by the avant-garde during his lifetime and by art historians after his death. More recent scholarship has revised this assessment, and this talk takes a close look at the artist’s work and changing reputation. Our lecturer, Linda Smith, holds two first-class degrees in Art History. She is an experienced lecturer and guide, especially at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She has lectured to a wide variety of audiences in different venues, including school and university students, and independent arts societies, both in the UK and overseas.
March 5 HIERONYMUS BOSCH Siân Walters
Siân Walters Studied at Cambridge University. She is a Lecturer at the National Gallery and The Wallace Collection and taught at Surrey University, specialising in 15th and 16th century Italian painting, Spanish art and architecture, and the relationship between dance and art. Her lecture entitled simply Hieronymous Bosch will focus on the mocking of Christ. Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work contains fantastic illustrations of religious concepts and narratives.
DAY OF SPECIAL INTEREST March 11 NEW YORK, NEW YORK: An Architectural Discovery Andrew Davies
Bustling noisy, vibrant, New York epitomises the modern city at its best (and occasional worst). We will explore its architectural story, from brownstones to Beaux Arts to Art Deco to modernism, revelling in such masterpieces as the Chrysler and Woolworth buildings, the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central and the Empire State Building. We will also visit such gems as the Frick Collection. Sit back and marvel! Andrew is extra-mural tutor for London, Essex and The Open University; author of nine books, including The East End Nobody Knows; a frequent contributor to radio and television, he has lectured all over the world and organises walks to complement his lectures.
April 1: BASINGSTOKE AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CULTURE Rupert Willoughby
Lecture cancelled in line with Government advice
May 6: DAME LAURA KNIGHT Rosalynd Whyte
Lecture cancelled in line with Government advice
June 3: BORN OF THE LANDSCAPE: Norwegian Arts from Stave Churches to Snohetta Rosamund Bartlett
Lecture cancelled in line with Government advice
July 1: Impressionists in their Gardens Caroline Holmes (This was the first Lecture on put out by the society on Zoom but you can view a summary of original lecture HERE)
Caroline, with a passion for gardens, has lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe, Japan and on cruises to the Baltic, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Indian Ocean. In 2017 she returned to The Arts Society in New Zealand. Lectures for the University of Cambridge ICE (Course Director for International Summer Programme), the Royal Horticultural Society, museums, and specialist travel companies. Picture: The famous monet bridge in a picture for France Tourism.
September 2: Note: This was the first hybrid lecture offered by our society with the speaker via Zoom projected to a small invited audience in our hall. We are grateful to Neil Faulkner for trialling this version of a hybrid lecture
GERTRUDE BELL: Traveller, Archaeologist, Orientalist, Imperialist Neil Faulkner
For a woman of her time and class, Gertrude Lowthian Bell’s achievements were extraordinary. She broke free of social constraint and convention to make outstanding contributions in the male-dominated worlds of exploration, archaeology, and imperial statesmanship. Partly because of this, however, commentary has tended to be gushing and uncritical.
Bell was a complex figure. The daughter of the one of the richest men in Britain, it was class privilege that made her achievements possible. Her politics were reactionary: she opposed women’s suffrage, campaigned for volunteers for the trenches, and opposed anti-colonial movements after the First World War.
This lecture will assess the character, career, and contribution of Gertrude Bell to exploration, archaeology, and imperial politics in the context of the tumultuous age through which she lived.
Educated at King's College Cambridge and Institute of Archaeology UCL, Neil Faulkner works as lecturer, writer, archaeologist and occasional broadcaster. Research Fellow, University of Bristol. Editor, Military History Monthly. Director, Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project. Director, Great Arab Revolt Project. Author of The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain, Apocalypse, Hidden Treasure, Rome: Empire of the Eagles, and The Ancient Greek Olympics: a visitor's guide. Author of forthcoming Lawrence of Arabia's War. Major TV appearances include Channel 4's Time Team, BBC2's Timewatch, Channel Five's Boudica Revealed and Sky Atlantic's The British.
October 7 (AGM moved to 6 October at 7pm on Zoom) Elizabeth to Elizabeth - Five Centuries of British Art Val Woodgate
This lecture went ahead as the Society's and possibly The Arts Society's first hybrid presentation to a socially distance audience of 40 and an audience on Zoom of some 60 home viewing points (c80 viewers). We acknowledge the true pioneering spirit of Val Woodgate in offering to give this lecture. We are told this may have been the first full hybrid lecture successful delivered to an Arts Society audience.
Lecturer and guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, also at many other London Galleries and for various art organisations.
Former member of the teaching team at Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Lecturer to The Arts Society (formerly NADFAS) throughout Britain, and to related organisations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Lecturer and runs courses at the Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
November 4 NAPOLEON AND HIS ARTISTS Barry Venning Lecture on Zoom
The French painter Girodet spoke for all those who worked for Napoleon when he said “We were all conscripted, but not all of us wore the uniform”. Bonaparte’s brilliant exploits in the Revolutionary Wars attracted artists from the earliest stages in his career and he made systematic use of art as propaganda to reveal himself as soldier, peacemaker, lawgiver and the possessor of semi-divine imperial power. He was fortunate to have at his command the greatest artists of the era, including Jacques Louis David, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Antonio Canova and the lesser known Charles-Antoine, Baron Gros, who produced some of the most astounding Napoleonic pictures. The lecture concludes by looking at the less flattering images of Napoleon that were produced in Britain and Germany.
Barry Venning is a historian of British Art with a particular interest in the work of J M W Turner, on whom he has published widely, including the volume on Turner in Phaidon’s Art & Ideas series and several catalogue essays for exhibitions in the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland. He was the BBC’s script consultant and expert commentator for a 2005 documentary on Turner’s Fighting Temeraire and has recently taken part (2013) in a BBC documentary called The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution. He has also published a study of John Constable’s paintings. His interests and his teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. He is currently Associate Lecturer in the History of Art with the Open University and lecturing on a freelance basis for Nadfas, Christie’s Education and other organisations.
DAY OF SPECIAL INTEREST Wednesday 25 November ART, MUSIC AND LITERATURE IN RUSSIAN SOCIETY Rosamund Bartlett
The Study Day went ahead on Zoom
Rosamund Bartlett follows her lecture in May by discussing three of her favourite topics - Art and Music and Literature - as they have developed in, been affected by and influenced Russian society.
Rosamund Bartlett is a writer, scholar, translator and lecturer specialising in Russian literature. She graduated from Durham University with a first-class degree in Russian and went on to complete a doctorate at Oxford.
She is the author of Tolstoy: A Russian Life (2010) and has translated Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (2014). She is also the author of Chekhov: Scenes from a Life (2004) and has translated two volumes of Anton Chekhov's short stories.
December 2: INN SIGNIA Pub signs, the artwork and the stories behind their names John Ericson On Zoom
According to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph we are losing 12 pubs a week - that’s over 600 a year and a significant part of our cultural heritage and landscape.
Inns and public houses are a rich part of Britain’s heritage. Their signs provide us with an abundantly illustrated guide to both our history and our cultural heritage.
Currently there are about 50,000 pubs in the UK with an extraordinary 17,000 different names.
Visits in 2020
Wednesday 22 January 2020
TOUR OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY 11.00 OR 11.15
Wednesday 12 February 2020
TOUR OF THE DRAPERS’ HALL 10.30
Wednesday 14 October
Visit to Henry Moore Gardens Dane Tree House, Perry Green, Much Hadham
2019
January 9 HISTORY OF GREENWICH
Rosalind Whyte
An overview of the history of Greenwich, starting with the enclosure of the Park in 1427 by Duke Humphrey of Gloucester and moving on to the Tudors in Greenwich, including royal births, deaths and other major events. The lecture goes on to look at the formation of a Royal Hospital for Seamen, described as the ‘darling object’ of Queen Mary II’s life. Including works from the National Maritime Museum’s collection to help illustrate the history, the lecture also looks at the art of Sir James Thornhill in the Painted Hall and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart’s Chapel, including work by Benjamin West PRA. Rosalind has a Masters in Art History from Goldsmiths College, University of London and a Masters in Gender, Society and Culture from Birkbeck College, University of London. She is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, as well as guiding at the Royal Academy. She is an accredited (National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies) lecturer and leads Art Appreciation holidays to various locations.
February 9 AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES -The Golden Age of Dutch Art
Lucrezia Walker
An Embarrassment of Riches in The Golden Age of Dutch Art will include discussion on Rembrandt's the Rise & Fall of a great artist; Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring; The birth of the still-life in 17th century Holland; and Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know: Caravaggio and the Baroque. Lucrezia Walker is an independent art historian. She works for the Education Department at the National Gallery and lectures for the Tate to their corporate sponsors, specialising in introducing current exhibitions, and teaching courses to the public. From 2009-2013 she was a Lay Canon at St Paul’s Cathedral, and continues to serve on the Visual Arts Committee. She was exhibition reviewer (1996-2002) for Harpers & Queen magazine, and her publications include: Techniques of the Great Masters (series): Gauguin, Degas, Manet; Revolutions in Art (series): Pop Art, Impressionism, Surrealism, Cubism. She is the author of 12 books on 19th century artists and art movements and teaches art history for the University of North Carolina in London. She is also a freelance arts reviewer for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio London.
March 6 COVENTRY CATHEDRAL - Icon and Inspiration
Alexandra Epps
The Cathedral Church of St Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current (9th) bishop is Christopher Cocksworth and the current Dean is John Witcombe. The city has had three cathedrals. The first was St Mary's, a monastic building, of which only a few ruins remain. The second was St Michael's, a 14th-century Gothic church later designated cathedral, that remains a ruined shell after its bombing during the Second World War. The third is the new St Michael's Cathedral, built after the destruction of the former.
April 3 MAD MEN AND THE ARTISTS - how the advertising industry has exploited fine art
Tony Rawlins
Fine Art has provided advertisers and their agencies with a great deal of material to use in their creative campaigns.
Tony Rawlins describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and while the works of Leonardo d Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. From the Renaissance, through to the present day, fine art continues to provide opportunities to enhance Brand imagery with admiration, humour, satire and irony.
Tony Rawlins started his career in advertising in 1965 as a mail boy in J. Walter Thompson. He worked as account director in a number of agencies before setting up on his own in 1985, primarily to handle Guinness accounts in Africa and the Caribbean, where he produced many commercials and ads for them over a period of 15 years. He remains active in the industry, but now concentrates on more philanthropic projects, such as a sanitation project in Haiti after Haiti was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Having been an Arts Society member for many years, he became an Arts Society accredited lecturer in March 2018. His lecturing experience includes presenting to client groups, sales conferences, students of creative advertising in the UK and overseas, on creative and marketing strategies and on film production. TASW is the first Arts Society to book him to lecture.
May 1 PASSIONS, PERSONALITIES &PATRONAGE - Chatsworth and the story of the Devonshire Family collections 1549-Present
Simon Seligman
Simon Seligman studied art and architectural history at Warwick University, including a semester in Venice. He is also a Graduate of the Attingham Summer school. From 1991 until 2010, Simon worked at Chatsworth, in a variety of roles, latterly as Head of Communications. He has lectured about Chatsworth, the Devonshire Collection and associated topics, throughout the UK and on several US tours (including the Metropolitan Museum and the National Gallery of Art). He has given numerous public presentations and interviews with the late Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. Publications include written or edited guidebooks and articles for and about Chatsworth.
June 5 THREE GREAT FAMILIES AND THEIR GARDENS - A history of the Astors, the Rothschilds and the Sackville Wests
Carolyn Rayman
Carolyn Rayman has lectured for many years to universities and art organisations in America and on cruise boats. She was an official guide at the British Museum and has published articles on samplers. Her lectures range from the role of the royal mistress in history to more scholarly lectures on Frederick the Great of Prussia. This lecture will tell the history of three very different families, their contribution to art and the splendid gardens they have created. The Sackville Wests have been important since the Norman Conquest and the other two families were wealthy 19th-century immigrants who contributed so much to English politics and culture.
July 3 PORTMEIRION - Italianate fantasy village in Wales
Matthew Williams
Portmeirion is an extraordinary surprise; a colourful and delightful Italian fantasy village on the coast of north Wales. The creation of one man, the remarkable architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis from the 1920s, Portmeirion is his personal statement of defiance against modernism and what he saw as the increasing ugliness and despoilment of Britain. Sir Clough opened the hotel there in 1926, and by the 1950s it had become the playground of artists, aristocrats, intellectuals, the fashionable and the merely rich. Regular visitors included H G Wells, Bertrand Russell and Noel Coward, (who wrote Blithe Spirt 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 as well as Portmeirion Pottery. Matthew draws upon some very personal memories (his uncle was Resident Director of Portmeirion for nearly 30 years) to make this a fascinating subject.
September 4 PHOTOGRAPHY AS FINE ART - Should we accept that the very best photographs can be regarded as art?
Brian Stater
Brian Stater’s chief interests lie in photography, architecture and history and he combines all three in his lecturing career. He has taught at University College London, since 1997 and became an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society in 2003. He is a member of the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography and an exhibition of his own photographs has been staged at UCL. In an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the skills of some great photographers of the past, he has begun to work with a pre-War Leica camera, as used by his great hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and many others. His lecture will look at the development of photography from recording to pictorial interpretation.
October 2 CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS IN THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Gavin Plumley (Start 10.30)
Described by The Times as a ‘leading cultural historian’, Gavin Plumley is well known for his work on Vienna and Central European art, music and literature at the turn of the last century.
You can find his work in newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes around the world. He appears frequently on BBC Radio 3, both as a guest and as a presenter, and on BBC Radio 4. Gavin is also a commissioning editor for the Salzburg Festival.
He lectures widely and has recently given talks for the National Trust, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the National Theatre, the National Gallery, the British Museum, the BBC Proms, the Oxford Lieder Festival, Wigmore Hall, the Royal Opera House and the CBSO, in addition to being an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society and a leader of cultural tours.
6 November IMAGES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
Dr John Stevens
Dr John Stevens is a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, and a member of academic staff at the SOAS South Asia Institute. His PhD in History is from University College London. He teaches British Imperial history, Indian history and Bengali language, and is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh. He publishes widely in the fields of British and Indian history. His biography of the Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen will be published by Hurst in 2018. He appears regularly in the Indian media, and was recently a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.
December 4 THE VERY MODEL OF AN ENGLISH ENTERTAINMENT - The works of WS Gilbert and A Suillivan
Roger Askew
Roger was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English. He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh. After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England. He is President Emeritus of The Stoke Poges Society and Chairman of Windsor and Maidenhead Decorative and Fine Arts Society. The peculiar geniuses of these two very different men united under the impresario, Richard D'Oyly Carte, to create one of the most individual and enduring forms of theatrical entertainment. Their operas celebrate the quirks and foibles of the British nation and are as alive today as in the 1880s. Illustrated with musical examples, this talk offers audience participation
Visits 2019
23 January BURNE-JONES EXHIBITION, TATE BRITAIN
27 February ANGELS THEATRE COSTUMES
20 March HIGGINS GALLERY & BUNYAN MUSEUM, BEDFORD
15 May CITY OF LONDON WALK including Mithraeum
9 June VAN GOGH EXHIBITION, TATE BRITAIN
17 July PENSHURST PLACE, KENT
SEPTEMBER 16-20 LICHFIELD
9 October LONDON WALK
13 November MUSEUM OF BRANDS
Programme 2018
January 3 - PLAYED IN LONDON - CHARTING THE HERITAGE OF A CITY AT PLAY - Simon Inglis
From its first century Roman amphitheatre to the 21st century Olympic Stadium at Stratford, London has always been a city of spectacles and sporting fever. In the 12th century crowds would gather at Smithfield to watch horse racing and ball games. In Tudor times they flocked to the tiltyards of Whitehall and Westminster to enjoy jousting, while in the 17th century the Stuarts were keen exponents of a game with the familiar name of Pall Mall. From more recent times Wembley, Wimbledon, Twickenham, Lord's and the Oval are known around the world.
February 7- BRANGWYN AT WAR -Libby Horner
Brangwyn was not an official war artist, although he produced over 80 poster designs during the first World War. The compositions and details were based largely on his experience of the Messina earthquake which he saw in 1909 when visiting his friend R H Kitson in Sicily. Such memories and sketches were supplemented by news agency photographs and the daily illustrations of destruction which appeared in The Times, together with loans of German and British uniforms and guns from the Imperial War Museum and the United States Naval Authorities.
March 7 - ART TREASURES OF MADRID - Valerie Woodgate
The many museums in Spain’s capital city provide a visual feast for the visitor. In this lecture we will concentrate on the collections of the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen- Bornemisza, all within easy walking distance of each other in the heart of the city. These museums house many of the most significant paintings in the history of European art
April 4 - ZAHA HADID - ARCHITECTURAL SUPERSTAR - Colin Davies
Dame Zaha Hadid died suddenly in 2016 at the age of sixty-five. Architectural historians of the future will surely recognise her as one of the most important architects of the 21st Century. She was born in Iraq and her reputation was global, but she made Britain her home. This lecture tells the story of her career from the visionary projects of the 1980s, through the years of frustration when many of her designs were considered unbuildable, to the prolific crop of successful projects built all over the world, in the last decade of her life, including the London Aquatic Centre. Colin Davis is Professor of Architectural Theory. and a former editor “Architects Journal" and contributor to magazines worldwide.
May 2 - THE HOMES OF WILLIAM MORRIS - Fiona Rose
Morris famously said, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” This lecture examines how his design philosophy influenced, and was influenced by, his homes including Woodford Hall, Red House, Kelmscott Manor and Kelmscott House. This talk is copiously illustrated by beautiful photographs, both internal and external, of the Morris homes mentioned, many of which were taken by the lecturer during private tours of Morris's abodes. Fiona has been lecturing about topics related to the Arts & Crafts Movement since 2010 and is an accredited lecturer of The Arts Society.
June 6 - THE GUGGENHEIMS: A DYNASTY OF ART COLLECTORS - Andrew Hopkins
What other family in the twentieth century managed to amass such extraordinary art collections, and design or purchase such astounding buildings to display their collections? Compared to the Frick and Gulbenkian, individual collections displayed in single museums, the Guggenheim name was transformed in the late twentieth century into a brand, some would say a chain. With celebrated museums in New York, with the flagship Solomon R. Guggenheim landmark on Fifth Avenue, together with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal in Venice, the family foundation did not stop there. They commissioned the celebrated building by Frank Gehry in Bilbao, which opened in 1997, and which is now considered a masterpiece of modern architecture and design. This lecture looks at the beginning of both Solomon’s and Peggy’s collections in New York City, with artists they acquired such as Kandinsky and Pollock, and traces the development and expansion of their collections over more than half a century, by which time the Guggenheim name had become synonymous with some of the most inspiring art and museums in the world. Previously Assistant Director of the British School at Rome from 1998 to 2002 and since 2004, Associate Professor at the University of L'Aquila. Part of his PhD (Courtauld Institute 1995) on Venetian architecture was awarded the Essay Medal of 1996 by the Society of Architectural Historians (GB).
July 4- AUSTRALIAN IMPRESSIONISTS - Ann Clements
Many people are familiar with the work of Australian Aboriginal artists, but few know of the Australian impressionists whose paintings of 19th century Australian life are a revelation of colour and warmth.
Ann Clements’ talk will be illustrated with many examples of these stylish and attractive works, something to feast your eyes on in the drab days of an English January. Ann Clements read History of Art and English at Manchester University, then worked for the Whitworth Art Gallery and later for the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art. She was an associate lecturer for Surrey University and has taught on day and summer schools and lectured at the V&A and for the National Trust.
September 5 - CHOPIN AND THE POLISH SOUL - Rosamund Bartlett
Rosamund Bartlett is a cultural historian with expertise in Russian literature, music, and art. She has a particular interest in European Modernism, opera, and the intersection between politics, history and the arts, and has lectured on these subjects at universities and public institutions around the world. Her books include Wagner and Russia and Tolstoy: A Russian Life. She has also written a biography of Chekhov, and published translations of his short stories and letters. Her new translation of Anna Karenina was published in 2014. She is a Trustee of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, for which is she currently overseeing the Early Chekhov Translation Project
October 3 – AGM 10.30am GILDED GLORIES - THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF GILDING -Jo Mabbutt
The art of beating gold leaf and gilding dates back to ancient Egypt. Gold leaf is nearly 500 times thinner than aluminium foil and traditionally craftsmen pounded gold for hours to create sheets thin enough to cover the most finely detailed surfaces. Jo Mabbutt is an incredibly talented decorative artist specialising in experimental surface decoration, combining gilding with print and hand painting. She works on a variety of surfaces, from paper to textiles to glass, and is currently developing ranges of gilded jewellery, fashion and interior accessories. (Picture: Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles.
November 7 - POTS AND FROCKS - THE WORLD OF GRAYSON PERRY - Ian Swankie
A native Londoner, Ian Swankie is a guide and a lecturer with a special interest in art and architecture.
His passion and enthusiasm for the city can be very contagious. "I just love showing people around, and giving lectures about subjects which excite me. I see my role as bringing things to life, and revealing secrets in an entertaining way. My hope is that everyone will learn something new in all of my lectures and tours. I like to visit areas often missed by mainstream tourists," he says.
The world of Grayson Perry, Britain’s favourite transvestite, is one such. Widely known for his appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego, Claire, woman, Grayson Perry RA is now a core part of the art establishment.
December 5 - GILES: HIS LIFE, TIMES AND CARTOONS - Barry Venning
An historian of British art with a particular interest in the work of JMW Turner, on whom he has published widely, including the volume on Turner in Phaidon's Art & Ideas series, and several catalogue essays for exhibitions in the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland. Barry Venning was the BBC's script consultant on Turner's Fighting Temeraire and has recently taken part (2013) in a BBC documentary called The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution. He has also published a study of John Constable's paintings. His interests and his teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. He is currently Associate Lecturer with the Open University and lecturing on a freelance basis for The Arts Society, Christie's Education and other organisations.
Days of Special Interest
2018
Wednesday 14 March
THE ART OF CLASSICAL GREECE - Neil Faulkner
Dr Neil Faulkner is a Research Fellow at Bristol University and a specialist in Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and First World War archaeology. He is involved in fieldwork projects in Norfolk, Jordan, and Slovenia. Neil is interested in processes of long-term change, and researches the relationships between humans, landscapes, and material culture in social transformations. He also works as a historian with a special interest in revolution and war, a role that includes editorship of Military History Monthly. He is a regular contributor to TV documentaries in the UK.
Wednesday 28 November
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH - Peter Medhurst
Music lovers generally regard JS Bach as the greatest of early 18th century composers. In fact, he is so important in the history of music that we close down the Baroque period with his death in 1750. However, Bach is also one of the most challenging of composers and rarely reveals the subtleties of his music on first or even second hearing, causing some of his listeners to feel distanced from many of the finer moments in his output. This lecture goes beneath the surface of Bach’s music to decode some of his musical symbolism, to reveal some of his working methods and to highlight some of his aesthetic goals.
Visits
2018
Monday 15 January
TOUR OF THE GOLDSMITHS’ HALL
Thursday 15 March
BRAINTREE MUSEUM and WARNER TEXTILE ARCHIVE
Photo: http://www.culture24.org.uk/sector-info/art47540
Monday 4 June
TOUR OF SPENCER HOUSE
Wednesday 11 July
WREST PARK, BEDFORDSHIRE
SEPTEMBER 17-20
DEVON
Programme 2017
January 4 JOHN SINGER SARGENT - MUCH MORE THAN A MODERN VAN DYCK - Frank Woodgate
Sargent was the great society portraitist of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, but he was much more than that. His art was extremely varied and the breadth of his work can still surprise people. As well as his wonderful portraits, the lecture includes examples of his landscape paintings, inspired by the Impressionists, his work as an official War Artist in Word War I and his extremely beautiful and delicate watercolours.
February 1 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - Tortured hero of troubled times - Neil Faulkner
Real–life hero and brilliant guerilla commander of an ’Arab Spring’ against the Ottoman Empire – or self–promoting charlatan? One of the greatest celebrities of the 20th century and also one of its most controversial figures, Lawrence’s legacy and writings are all too relevant to the politics and wars of the 21st. On the basis of sensational new evidence from archaeological fieldwork, Dr Neil Faulkner will contrast the legend with the true story of what happened in the famous desert war of 1916 to 1918.
March 1 VINTAGE FOUNTAIN PENS - Mark Hill
The pen is mightier than the sword! In today’s digital world of emails and tweeting, the art of writing has largely been left behind. Adding personality and individuality to communication, the tools of writing have a fascinating history dating back to prehistory and peaking in the golden age of the fountain pen in the 20th century. As well as a full history of development, major makers, keys to identification, dating and value are examined.
April 5 ROYAL COPENHAGEN PORCELAIN - Diana Lloyd
Freelance lecturer in ceramic, glass and the history of interior decoration in Europe, North and South America. Lectures at the Inchbald School of Design, the Interior Design School and for American University Groups, NT and Antiques Societies and Christie's Education. Guides groups through museum collections and country houses. Collects ceramics and glass. Diploma with Distinction in the Fine and Decorative Arts, Inchbald School of Design.
May 3 BURIED TREASURES Spectacular hoards of late Roman silver - Helen Rufus-Ward
The Late Roman era was a period of crisis riven by civil wars and barbarian invasions (Rome was sacked in 410 by Alaric the Goth). As a consequence of the break-down of society valuables were often buried for safe-keeping – the owners of which often failed to return to claim them. This lecture will examine a fabulous selection of silver vessels from these enigmatic and mysterious silver treasure troves (still being discovered and unearthed today). Marvel at the beauty and rarity of these magnificent objects within the context of their classical heritage and the lives of the people who once owned them.
June 7 THE DREGS OF THE PEOPLE REMAIN The Black Death and its aftermath - Imogen Corrigan
It is possible to see a shift in artistic tastes following the plague years which began in the mid C14th. This is understandable considering that we now know that at least 60% of the population of Europe and beyond perished in the first wave and that the disease recurred over the next 130 years. There is a distinct increase in interest in the macabre, but also in explorations of what will happen in the next life; some of it surprisingly optimistic and amusing. We see more interest in ex-pagan images and specific demands for spiritual protection and so what might be seen as a dust-to-dust mentality also becomes one of no tragedy, no triumph.
July 5 THE BRONZES OF IFE AND BENIN and an historical review of the art of Nigeria - Richard Thomas
Africa is not generally associated with great art but Nigeria is associated with 3 major artistic traditions; the 2,000 year old Nok terracottas of the north, the Bronzes of Ife from the C12-C15 and the later Benin Bronzes. Richard lived in Nigeria in the 1960s, near Ife, and became familiar with the art of Ife and Benin and the role they played in society. The art, the technology (using the lost wax process) and the cultural relevance of the Bronzes will be illustrated and discussed in the lecture.
September 6 CULTURAL POLITICS IN SCHUBERT'S VIENNA - Gavin Plumley. Franz Schubert lived in repressive times. It was said in 1828, the year he died, that an Austrian artist was a 'fettered being', who could not be liberal, nor philosophical, nor humorous. Gavin Plumley explores the tensions of living in Vienna under the aegis of State Chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich
November 1 - DAVID HOCKNEY - The Old Master of the Modern World - Douglas Skeggs. Douglas Skeggs will be talking to us about David Hockney, a very talented artist who has never stood still and who is also a draughtsman, photographer and stage designer. He turned 80 in July but is still working and his exhibition at Tate Modern has drawn huge numbers of fan....and others
December 6 - CHILDREN'S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS - John Ericson
As adults we carry in our heads a huge number of images from childhood and some of those most deeply etched come from illustrations in books we read as children. In this colourful and nostalgic lecture John Ericson considers a range of book illustrations plus the intriguing lives of famous illustrators such as Beatrix Potter, Arthur Rackman and Howard Pyle.
Days of Special Interest 2017
Wednesday 29 March
ARTS IN THE CITY OF LONDON - Alexander Epps
Lecturer and Guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery. By profession a graphic designer running a design consultancy for many years for a wide range of sectors including the arts, financial, government and professional services. BA Saint Martins School of Art, MA London College of Printing.Official Guide to the City of London, offering lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association. Co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015).Art History Tutor for City Lit Institute. Pallant House Gallery Lecturer.
Wednesday 10 May
COPPED HALL - Sylvia Keith
Copped Hall is a fine Georgian mansion that is currently under restoration. It is superbly sited on a ridge overlooking its landscaped parkland. The mansion is visible from the M25 which passes through a corner of the park. The mansion and gardens are situated on a site of ancient human habitation. Important buildings were demolished when the present mansion was built.From 1986-1995 a campaign was successfully fought by a committee comprised of representatives of local conservation societies against repeated large scale aggressive development proposals for the mansion and parkland. Three of these individuals set up the Copped Hall Trust – which finally saved the mansion and gardens by purchasing them in 1995.The Corporation of London had already saved the surrounding parkland by purchasing it in 1992. The main aim of the Trust is to permanently protect the site, to carefully restore Copped Hall and its gardens for educational and community benefit. Copped Hall and its gardens are strictly private.
Wednesday 22 November
OPERA: THE MELTING POT OF CULTURE - Sarah Lenton
This is my ‘calling card’. It is of general interest and charts opera’s close connection with the society that is paying for it.The talk moves from the 17th and 18th century preoccupations with princerincely patronage, classical plots, courtly manners, high voices, enormous costumes and happy endings – through the gear change of the war and revolution to the 19th century concerns of nationalism, epic themes and doomed heroines. The talk is based on years of writing articles, programme notes, and lecturing for the Royal Opera House and the BBC.
Visits 2017
Saturday 28 January
PURCELL CLUB, WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Wednesday 15 February
TOUR OF THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Wednesday 26 April
GUIDED WALK OF ART IN THE CITY
Wednesday 19 July
KENWOOD
Monday 18-Thursday 21 September
HULL
Sunday 22 October
TOUR OF LONDON GUILDHALL
Friday 17 November
ELY CATHEDRAL CHRISTMAS FAIR
Programme 2016
January 6 THE FASCINATING WORLD OF PLAYING CARDS
- Yasha Beresiner
February 3 SALVADOR DALI AND SURREALISM - Sarah Stopford
March 2 THE COLLECTIONS OF NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE at the Chateau de Malmaison - Carole Petipher
April 6 GREAT BRITAIN AND THE HANOVERIAN DYNASTY - Barbara Askew
May 4 THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND EAST-WEST TRADE - Chintz, Chinese export and Chinoiserie - Viv Lawes
June 1 THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF ENGLAND - Sam Newton
July 6 PERMISSION TO POISON – The Alnwick Garden - Caroline Holmes
September 7 SECRETS OF THE ROYAL PAVILION - Jackie Marsh-Hobbs
October 5 – AGM 10.30am TREASURES OF THE TURF - The fine and decorative arts of horse racing - Christopher Garibaldi
November 2 SOFT ANGELIC WHISPERS - The hidden history of the English medieval harp - Sarah Deere-Jones
7 Dec NORMAN ROCKWELL’S CHRISTMAS WISH - Charles Harris
Days of Special Interest 2016
Wednesday 9 March 2016
Vivaldi in Venice - Peter Medhurst
Wednesday 23 November 2016
Riviera Paradise
The fusion of art, design and pleasure on the Cote d'Aazur in the 1920s and 30s: Mary Alexander
Visits in 2016
Wednesday 10 February - Royal Institute of British Architects
Wednesday 20 April - Chiswick House and Garden
Wednesday 11 May - Jockey Club, Newmarket
August - Highgrove tour and lunch (date tba)
September Mon 19-Thurs 22 Bristol
Programme 2015
Jan 7 A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF DRINKING GLASSES - Jane Gardiner Consultant Lecturer, story of Art, University of London. Jane has been teaching at Sotheby’s Institute for 17 years. She trained at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specialising in early European ceramics and glass. She has also lectured for the University of London, Michigan State University, the National Art Collections Fund, the National Trust and l’Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts, Paris
4 Feb CHALLENGING TRADITION – MILLET AND THE BARBIZON SCHOOL - Frank Woodgate. Frank is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, lecturer at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, for the National Trust, the Art Fund and other organisations. Lecturer for Tate on P&O Cruises.
4 Mar THE ART OF SNOW AND ICE:How artists transformed a winter landscape - Sue Jackson
1 Apr BRINGING BACK THE NEEDLE: The story of an obelisk - Clive Bonham Carter
6 May AALTO TO IKEA – THE IMPACT OF SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN - Paul Atterbury. Paul once described the role of an Antiques Roadshow expert as 'part, doctor, part priest, someone who can send people away feeling glad they've come to the Roadshow, even if their object is quite worthless in commercial terms.' He specialises in the art, architecture, design and decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries.
3 Jun FLOWERS OF IMPRESSIONIST YOUTH - World War 1 and their Remembrance - Caroline Holmes
1 Jul JACOB BELL, A USEFUL AND HONOURABLE LIFE - Victorian art patron and pharmacist Briony Hudson
2 Sep JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY AND THE MEN OF THE LUNAR SOCIETY - Leslie Primo
7 Oct - AGM 10.30am THE DRAGON IN ASIAN ART - Jasleen Kandhari
4 Nov NAZI LOOTING - Shauna Isaac
2 Dec GRANDFATHER FROST AND OLD NEW YEAR -Russian Christmas - Rosamund Bartlett
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Days of Special Interest (DoSI Days)
Wednesday 25 November 2015
Dame Laura Knight and the English Watercolour Painters
Lecturer: Timothy Wilcox
Weds 25 February 2015
Thomas Chippendale and chinoiserie in the Country House
Speaker: Melissa Gallimore
Visits in 2015
Monday 26 January
Fishmongers Hall
Wednesday 11 February
Two Temple Place
Wednesday 11 March
Watts Chapel and Gallery – A national Gallery in the Heart of a Village
Thursday 23 April
Leighton House and 18 Stafford Terrace
Thursday 9 July
St. Paul's Waldenbury
Wednesday 19 August
Chenies Manor
14-17 September
Visit to Hereford and Worcester
Wednesday 23 September
Victoria and Albert Museum
Wednesday 28 October
Tiptree Jam Museum and the Munnings Art Museum, Dedham
Thursday 7 December
Tour and Lunch at Middle Temple Hall
Programme 2014
Wednesday 8 January
LOOKING OVER THE ARTIST’S SHOULDER
The Italian sketchbooks of J M W Turner
Speaker - Nicola Moorby – co-author of How to paint like Turner
Wednesday 5 February
PETRA – Caravan City of the Ancient Arabs
Speaker: Dr. Neil Faulkner
Wednesday 5 March
ART AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Spira
Apr 2 ROYAL AND FAMOUS FREEMASONS
Speaker: Pauline Chakmakjian
May 7 THE VIKINGS
Speaker: Barbara Askew
Jun 4 THE HISTORY OF THE HARP
Speaker:Sarah Deere-Jones
Jul 2 MANTUA, THE GONZAGA AND THEIR FAITHFUL ARTISTS
Speaker: Daniel Evans
Sept 3 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE SUNDIAL - KEVIN KARNEY.
Oct 1 – AGM 10.30am
VORX OF HART: EDWARD LEAR’S PAINTINGS AND WATERCOLOURS
Speaker: Ann Clements
Edward Lear (1812-88) described himself as a “Nartist who drew pigchers and vorx of hart”: as the twentieth child of 20 children that might not be that surprising…
Nov 5 FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO PARIS AND THE PARC MONCEAU - The story of a family, high finance, high society, patronage, collecting and tragedy Deborah Lambert
Dec 3 CHARLES DICKENS – THE MAN AND HIS LIFE THROUGH HIS CHARACTERS -
Bertie Pearce
Days of Special Interest - 2014
Wednesday 12 March: The History of the Tate and its Collection
Frank Woodgate
Wednesday 26 November: Music Inspired by Art and Art Inspired by Music:
Peter Medhurst
Visits in 2014
Wed 15 Jan and Wed 19 Mar WALLACE COLLECTION
Wed 12 Feb am and pm 2 TEMPLE PLACE, LONDON
Fri 7 Mar and 9 May ROYAL OPERA HOUSE WORKSHOPS, THURROCK
Thurs 10 Apr RANGERS HOUSE and DANSON HOUSE
Sat 21 Jun (evening) WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Wed 16 Jul LAYER MARNEY TOWERS and BRAXTED PARK
Wed 20 Aug - visit to Clarence House
Monday 15 – Thursday 18 Sept - visit to Leeds
Weds 22 Oct - Guided tour of Tate Britain
Wed 19 Nov - Visit to Royal Opera House
Fri 21 Nov - Joint visit with Harlow DFAS to National Gallery to view Exhibition
Programme 2013
Wednesday 4 December
The Dollar Princesses
Anne Sebba
Between 1870 and 1914 hundreds of American heiresses flooded the shores of continental Europe, trading fortunes for titles. They may have kept many a grand estate from collapsing but few provided lasting happiness when the fairy tale was exposed. This lecture examines the clothes, the portraits, the jewels, and literature of the Dollar Princesses.
Wed 6 Nov 2013
Clarice Cliff and Art Deco Ceramics
Speaker: Eric Knowles
As well as being a recognised expert in his chosen field, Eric Knowles is a well-known face in the world of antiques, particularly to viewers of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. He is one of those rare individuals who is able to share his considerable knowledge in a way that is exciting and easy to understand. He will talk about Clarice Cliff and the popularity of her art deco classics has led to a large international collectors' market which has grown considerably over the last twenty years with specialist auctions and exhibitions dedicated to her life and work.
Wed 2 October 2013
Pomp and Circumstance: Royal Ceremonies from Coronations to Jubilees
Chloe Cockerill
Following a lifetime passion for churches Chloe worked for The Churches Conservation Trust. She lectures for the National Trust, NADFAS & WEA and has a particular interest in heraldry and fabulous beasts.
Wed 4 Sept 2013
Legend and Lustre: Jim Thompson and Thai Silk - Denise Heyward
Denise is a lecturer, author, journalist and photographer. She has lived in France, America and, most recently, Cambodia, where she worked as a journalist for three years. Her subject will be Jim Thompson who arrived in Bangkok as a US army officer in 1945, fell in love with it and stayed. Captivated by the beauty of Thai silk, an ancient craft in decline, he resuscitated it and made it famous, creating costumes for films and embellishing his house, which today is a museum.
Wed 3 July 2013
Italian Memorial Sculpture 1820 - 1940
A Legacy of Love
with Robert Freidus
Robert is a member of The Church Monument Society, Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, Friends of Brompton Cemetery, The Mausolea and Monuments Trust
Wed 5 June 2013
Meet me at the Waldorf
Mary Alexander
Mary Alexander has a BA and an MA in History and the History of Art. For ten years she was a Visiting Lecturer and External Examiner in the History of Art and Dress at Christie’s Education in London
Wed 1 May 2013
A child of six could do it! Cartoonists on Modern Art
Barry Venning
Ever since the mid nineteenth century, modern art has been and still remains a popular subject for satire. Our Lecturer Barry Venning graduated with an MA in the History of Art (Courtauld)and has been an Associate lecturer for the Open University since 1986, teaching advanced courses on Modern Art, Italian Renaissance and “Art and its Histories”. He has written and lectured extensively on Turner, and he is the author of books on Constable (1992) and Turner (2003).
Wednesday 3 April 2013
After Miss Jekyll: English Gardens of the late C20th and Early C21st James Bolton
One time Faculty Director for Design History at the Inchbald School of Design James Bolton has lectured extensively for NADFAS and the National Arts Collections Fund, The Victorian Society and other groups. He specialises in garden history in England from 1600 and history of French and Italian gardens.
Wed 6 Mar 2013
The Green Man in English Churches Imogen Corrigan
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. In the army for 20 years, Imogen turned to a life-long interest, graduating from Kent University with a 1st class honours degree in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval History.
Wed 6 February 2013
Courtauld Collection at Somerset House Eveline Eaton
A “dream fulfilled” to study History of Fine Art and to graduate from the Courtauld, has given Eveline Eaton a career teaching at Surrey University and now as a freelance lecturer and tour guide, most particularly to Dresden where she is a member of the Dresden Trust.
Wed 9 Jan 2013
Nostalgia or Avant-Garde?
Andrew Spira
Dr Andrew Spira is a Course Director at Christie's Education. He published a book on the relationship between Russian icons and Russian avant-garde art in 2008 and is currently completing a book on the material culture of personal identity, from the Middle Ages until the present day
Visits in 2013
30 Jan Garrick Club February National Theatre
20 Mar Kelmscott House and Emery Walker House
15-17 Apr Glasgow
8 May Igtham Mote and Quebec House
15 Jul Belvoir Castle
14 Aug Ashmolean and lunch Oxford College
28 August Government Art Collection
16-19 Sep Dorset
Programme 2012
2012
Wednesday 5 December
Ivory, Bone and Antler - and Christmas
The first jewellery to be used by mankind was made from organic materials - used for their talismanic properties, for utilitarian items, or antlers used as pick-axes. But what would like for Christmas?
Maggie Campbell-Pedersen is a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and an Associate of the British Institure of Professional Photography who combines her qualifications to specialise in organic gem materials - that is those of plant or animal origin.
Wednesday 7 November 2012
The Drama behind the Taj Mahal
- the life and times of the Indian Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan
Oliver Everett, our speaker, served in the Foreign Office, including postings in India and Spain, Oliver Everett was Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, 1978-80; and then Private Secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales, 1981-3 and was Librarian in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, 1984-2002. He is now Librarian Emeritus following his retirement in 2002.
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Walter Sickert & the Camden Town Group
- an innovative circle of painters united by their desire to paint works of a modern character. This lecture introduces the core members of the group, led by Walter Sickert, and tells the story of their brief but significant association. Key themes of urban life are examined as well as Sickert’s infamous series of paintings inspired by the notorious Camden Town murder. NICOLA MOORBY, our speaker, studied at the University of York and Birkbeck College, London. A freelance art historian specialising in British art of the 19th and early 20th centuries she is a former curator at Tate Britain
Wednesday 5 September 2012
The Gardens of Versailles -Jane Gardiner
The Gardens of Versailles are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year. In addition to the meticulous manicured lawns, parterres of flowers, and sculptures are the fountains, which are located throughout the garden. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends from late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux – spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play.
Jane Gardiner, our speaker, trained at the V&A and for 17 years was a senior lecturer at Sotheby’s.
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Mrs Beeton presents…
....the Book of Household Management in its culinary contextIn costume, partly in character, covering Beeton’s life and times and the state of culinary play in 1861.
Annie Horner, our speaker, works as a researcher, costumed interpreter and consultant to historic sites looking to maximise the potential of their kitchens and dining areas.
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Reyntiens: Britain’s leading stained glass artist Libby Horner, Freelance art historian, curator, film producer, designer writer and NADFAS lecturer since 2001, speaks on Patrick Reyntiens, OBE. Born in 1925, Reyntiens is noted for his work on Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral and on the new Coventry Cathedral in collaboration with the artist John Piper as well as in other buildings in the UK, Europe and United States.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Satire, Print Shops and Ceramic illustrations
in late 18th and 19thC London
Mark Bills
Mark Bills, Curator of the Watts Gallery and author of the book The Art of Satire, uses a rich selection of illustrations from extensive and largely unpublished collections of satirical and caricature images to tell the story of visual satire in London, a city in which caricature flourished like no other. After exploring the significance of London as a subject and as the centre of production, he surveys satirical images of London life, from Hogarth's London to the age of Victoria considering the eclectic and vibrant tradition that continues into the twentieth century. The book encompasses new research and uses historical and literary sources to place the satire of London in the wider context of English satire as a whole.
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Virginia Woolf on Life and Art
As well as being a great novelist in the modernist style, Virginia Woolf is a superb essayist.. And as well as being bitchy about others, as she certainly was, she can poke fun at herself.
Our speaker is Karin Fernald is a RADA-trained actor with a high reputation as a solo performer on arts and literary subjects
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Venice in 18th Century London
As Venice declined many of its native artists and musicians – inspired by the constant procession of Englishmen on the Grand Tour – set their sights on the ever expanding English capital.
Peter Medhurst - musician historian and no stranger to our members - introduced his new lecture.
February 2012
Gothic Ireland Mark Corby
It will come as a surprise to many that a wealth of Gothic art and architecture can still be found in Ireland. Mark Corby, member of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Royal Archaeological Institute, freelance historian and researcher and presenter of TV historical documentaries brings Gothic Ireland to life.
January 2012
The Olympics: Ancient and Modern Sue Jackson
Sue Jackson, Blue Badge Guide and National Trust Lecturer, examples ancient vases and amphorae decorated with early Olympian scenes and sporting heroes. The Games had their beginnings in 776 BC at Olympia in Elis. With the exception of a brief spell in Rome, they continued at Olympia every four years until AD 393. The original event was the 192 metre sprint with other disciplines added over the centuries. In the Hippodrome, athletes competed in races from 4 to 13 kilometres riding bareback or on chariots. Though a servant might compete and win, the owner would collect the prize. In the Roman era, Emperor Nero entered with a 12-horse chariot. He fell off twice and never finished the race, but was still declared the winner!
Visits in 2012
7 Jan Whitechapel Bell Foundry
28 Mar Strawberry Hill
16 May Belmont House, Faversham
13 June Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire
17-20 Sept Liverpool and Salford
10 Oct Government Art Collection
Programme 2011
December 2011
The Punch and Judy Show
Bertie Pearce
Inner Magic Circle member with Gold Star and
Professor of Punch and Judy, Bertie Pearce inherited a fascination with conjuring from his grandfather. With a BA(Hons) in Drama from
Manchester University then Ecole Internationale du Theatre Jaques Lecoq in Paris he has performed in venues around the world
Followed by our Festive Lunch for 90 members
November 2011
Cooking for Kings:
The Life and Career of Antonin Careme
Ian Kelly
In a lavishly illustrated and mouth-watering lecture acclaimed biographer Ian Kelly traces the meteoric career of history's first celebrity chef, from abandoned orphan on the streets of Revolutionary Paris to international celebrity, cook to Napoleon, the Prince Regent, and Tsar of Russia.
October 2011
The Luttrell Psalter
An Illustrated Manuscript of the C14th
Speaker: Imogen Corrigan
Imogen Corrigan retired from the Army in 1994 as a Major, having served in the UK, Germany and Hong Kong. In 2004, Imogen graduated from the University of Kent with a 1st in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval History, and is currently studying for an M.Phil at Birmingham University researching The Development and Function of the Foliate Head in English Medieval Churches
Meetings in 2011
Weds 5 Jan Meissen Porcelain Jane Gardine
Weds 2 Feb Huguenots of Spitalfields Sue Jackson
Weds 2 Mar Frick Collection, York Hilary Williams
Weds 6 Apr Scandinavian Design Deborah Lambert
Weds 4 May Munich Metropolis with a Heart Eveline Eaton
Weds 1 Jun Chopin and Parisian Artistic Life Jeremy Barlow
Weds 6 Jul Florence and the House of Medici Jo Walton
Wed 7 Sep The Newlyn School Alan Read
Wed 5 Oct The Luttrell Psalter Imogen Corrigan
Wed 2 Nov Cooking for Kings Ian Kelly
Wed 7 Dec The Punch and Judy Show Bertie Pearce
Followed by the Festive Lunch (pictured)
Visits in 2011
6 March BBC Broadcasting House
11 May London Walk - Tony Tucker
22 June Lunch and concert at Finchcocks Music Museum
3 August Hatfield House
19-22 Sept Telford and Shropshire
22 October Westminster Abbey Purcell Club
Study Days in 2011
WEDNESDAY 9 March Splendours of the City Churches, Tony Tucker
Wednesday 30 Nov Windsor Castle and its occupants, Tony Tucker
Meetings and Days of Special Interest 2023
Credit: Pinterest.com
