The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

Rome is a city of many glories, from distant antiquity onwards, and amongst her remarkable churches, fountains and monuments are the spectacular works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This complex, driven artist was the friend and confidant of Popes and princes, a child prodigy and a prolific, if understandably arrogant, genius. Find out about his architecture, sculpture, paintings, fountains – even plays – but also discover why such exuberance and magnificence became powerful weapons in a religious and political propaganda war.   

Biography:

Has combined teaching and lecturing with a career in art bookselling and has been a volunteer guide at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Now a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, The National Gallery, The Art Fund, and local art societies.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

This lecture or Special Interest Day (2 lectures) explores the origins and evolution of the nature and function of paintings created under an Emperor's patronage by artists of the Imperial School of Art.   Court art evolved separately from classical Chinese paintings and included portraiture plus scenes of court life and significant State Events. These were used as visual evidence of the political power of the Emperor and the splendor of his court.

Biography:

David was a Chartered Insurer by profession and a Fellow of the Assurance Medical Society, with extensive international experience as an author and lecturer in Medical Risk Assessment. David has in excess of 30 years of working and living in East Asia. Whilst living in Hong Kong (1991-2004) he, and his wife Wendy, assembled a collection of approximately 500, predominately Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Imperial Court Costume and related textiles/dress accessories. In late 2019 the Collection of Imperial Court Costume was acquired, in its entirety, by The Shanghai Museum, Peoples' Republic of China, to be displayed in a new annexe of the museum which will opened in 2025. A Past Committee Member of the Hong Kong Textile Society and regular contributor to a range of Oriental Art publications. David is an expert lecturer on Chinese Imperial Court Costume, plus all aspects of Imperial Court life, art and culture together with studies of China's greatest Emperors and Empresses. David has lectured for The Arts Society, and a wide range of other organisations, around the UK and within Europe. In addition he has carried out 4 lecture trips to Australia, plus New Zealand and SE Asia. He has organise and lead Imperial Art Tours to China for a wide variety of organisations. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

L. S. Lowry is one of Britain’s most popular artists and yet our very familiarity with his work has stopped us looking as closely as we should at this extraordinary artist. Though famous for painting the mills and factories of the industrial north-west of England, he was really a painter of the human condition. In this lecture I suggest that his work is the visual counterpoint of T. S. Eliot’s poetry and further, that we can claim him as our English Van Gogh. Too much? Come to the lecture and decide for yourself!  Original works by Mr. Lowry and other relevant artists will be available for viewing at the lecture.

Biography:

Michael is a familiar face to The Arts Society. He is President of The Arts Society Bolton and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Although retired, he continues to teach at the Manchester School of Art. He has published widely on European art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, his books include: L. S. Lowry: A Visionary Artist; The Impressionists by Themselves; The Stations of the Cross / The Captive Figure and the award-winning dramatic interpretation and publication of material originally performed by the Zurich-based Dadaists of 1916. A New Order: An Evening at the Cabaret Voltaire. His book on Gauguin, was written in association with the Gauguin Museum, Tahiti, and his book on Monet for the Musée Marmottan, Paris.  One of his most recent books concerns his wife’s life and work: The Human Touch: Ghislaine Howard. (Ghislaine is also an accredited lecturer of The Arts Society).  Michael is a practising artist, and has exhibited at the Royal Academy, the New York Art Fair and elsewhere. He is represented in Manchester Art Gallery and in many private collections both here and abroad. He has appeared on television and radio many times and in 2004 he and Ghislaine worked the film, Degas and the Dance which has awarded one of the prestigious Peabody awards. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

Many Impressionist artists were well known for their images of female figures engaged in contemporary everyday activities, and a number of critics reviewing their exhibitions regarded Impressionism as a quintessentially ‘feminine’ style. But what can these images tell us about nineteenth-century lived experience and the choices and processes involved in image-making? This lecture explores these questions through a close engagement with artworks by Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, and Edgar Degas. 

Biography:

Dr Lois Oliver is Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute. She has worked as a Curator at the V&A, the National Gallery, and the Royal Academy. Her recent exhibitions include ‘Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery and ‘Jock McFadyen: Tourist without a Guidebook’ for the Royal Academy. She has created audio and multimedia tours for many of the UK’s leading arts institutions and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV. Also a keen violinist, Lois plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra. Lois studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and writing her PhD thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

So many of our historical references for musical instruments can be found in works of art. Not only can these windows into the past show us what the instruments looked like but also the social context in which they would have been played. Music and different instruments also play a strong role within symbolism in art. Sophie explores the instruments in selected works and then gives live demonstrations on replicas of the instruments depicted.

Biography:

Sophie is a musician well-known for her prowess on the English border bagpipes and has become one of the foremost players of the instrument in the UK. She also plays a variety of early woodwind instruments such as shawm, rauschpfeife, crumhorm and recorder. She’s also one of a handful of British players of the baroque musette, an 18th century French bagpipe similar to the Northumbrian smallpipes. When not touring with GreenMatthews, Sophie also makes instruments (she made her own baroque oboe) and works with respected luthier Tony Millyard on his flutes. Sophie is self-taught on all of her instruments.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

We welcome our very own Valerie.

The image of the heart is used worldwide as a symbol of love, yet how did the curious, oddly-shaped and bloody heart become transformed into the symbol that is so familiar today? An amazing muscle with the anatomical role of a pump came to be represented as a beautiful, pristine and symmetrical form – a symbol of a wide range of emotions varying from pain, love and devotion, to moral courage and physical fortitude. The depiction of the heart in art has a long tradition, stretching back to ancient times, as well as being linked to religious spirituality and notions of chivalry and the crusades. In our own times it is used to focus mainly on love and romance.

Biography:

Valerie is an honorary Research Associate at Gresham College London (previously Registrar and Secretary of the College). Having studied at the Universities of Bristol, Manchester and the Witwatersrand, she has lectured extensively on Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture and published widely on the influence of astronomy and cosmology on art (including her PhD on the influence of Copernican heliocentricity on Michelangelo’s Sistine Last Judgment). After her main career in education management, she now works freelance, in order to pursue her writing and research (see:  www.valerieshrimplin.com). She is former Chair of the series of Conferences on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (www.insap.org). Author of many publications.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

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 Bexleyheath, and then at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith, and finally at his country home, Kelmscott Manor, a series of interiors that exemplified his ideas about art and design. This lecture explores not only the decoration, but also the relationships and lifestyles associated with each of these very different homes.

Biography:

Jo Banham is a freelance curator, lecturer and writer. From 2006-2016 she was Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and before that Head of Learning and Access at the National Portrait Gallery, and Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain. She has also been Curator of Leighton House and Assistant Keeper at the Whitworth Art Gallery. She has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration and interiors. She recently curated an exhibition on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement for the Juan March Fundacion in Madrid and the Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya in Barcelona and she is currently writing a book on the History of Wallpaper. She is also Director of the Victorian Society Summer School.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

To kick off our seasonal celebrations, musician and broadcaster Sandy Burnett is on hand to share his selection of much-loved Christmas tunes. Expect an hour of the finest festive music from across the globe – his selections include sparking moments from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, a heartwarming ballad from Mel Tormé, something from Soweto, a heavenly chorus from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Leipzig, an illustration of the English carol tradition at its finest - and something more cynical from Eartha Kitt…

Biography:

Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as music director for the RSC, National Theatre and in London’s West End, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3. Combining engaging scholarship with hands-on expertise, he devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, is a highly sought after double bassist on the London jazz scene, and was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow for the 2018-19 season.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

NEW LECTURE    From the late 1850s to the mid-1870s a new craze gripped the world. Photography had just begun to be popularised, and suddenly nearly everyone could afford a portrait of themselves to share with others. These small photographic portraits mounted on card were shot professionally in studios and handed out like business or greetings cards – just like we share ‘selfies’ on today’s social media. Across nearly two decades, over 400 million cards were estimated to have been printed and shared with friends, family, and fans. We think we invented the ‘selfie’, but we didn’t – welcome to the Victorian carte de visite.

Biography:

Studied History of Art & Architecture (BA Hons), and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby's where he was a Specialist in the Collectors' Department. Became director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions. Was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17. Founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has published over 15 books on emerging specialist subjects in the decorative arts. A Miscellaneous expert on the BBC 'Antiques Roadshow' since 2007 and an expert on the BBC's 'Antiques Roadtrip', has also co-presented five primetime TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. A member of the British Antiques Dealers' Association (BADA.org). Senior Vice President at a company offering digital solutions to the antiques industry. Has lectured across the world, including at the V&A in London, and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. A Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

This lecture follows on from the AGM

2025 will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the international 1925 Arts Décoratifs exhibition in Paris (giving its name to the style later to become  known as ArtDeco). Visitors from around the world, museum curators, retailers, and the international press  descended on Paris to see and buy the designs which would influence a new generation of artists and designers. We will ask such questions as – Why Paris? Was there a distinctive style? Who were the key movers and shakers? Which were the key disseminators? Using original black and white photographs set against actual colour artefacts, we will recreate the experience of walking through the stunning showcase pavilions.

Biography:

Mary Alexander trained as an art historian and graduated with a BA Hons in History & History of Art (University College London) and later an MA (with Distinction) in History of Art (University College London). She moved to Manchester to take up the post of Assistant Curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of English Costume, a renowned collection of historic dress. Subsequently she lectured in art history at the University of Leeds, the Open University and Manchester University Extra Mural Department. From 1995 - 2008, she was a Visiting Lecturer at Christie’s Education in London. Mary has also combined academic work with the world of design consultancy. In 1985 she joined Pentagram Design in London, a leading international design consultancy, and coordinated client presentations, publications, conferences and international special events, including the 1986 British Design event in Aspen Colorado. In 1988 she transferred to Pentagram’s New York office with the task of organising an international design conference held at Stanford University involving business, design and education leaders. As an experienced international speaker, Mary lectures regularly for The Arts Society throughout the UK, Europe and Australia and New Zealand. She also contributes articles to magazines, newspapers and professional journals. She was President of The Arts Society Glaven Valley, Norfolk from 2016- 2021. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

Does a life inform one’s art? Does it follow that a passionate, violent nature will inevitably create dramatic, even dark, artworks? The life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was full of drama and passion and it could be argued that his art mirrored his life. Although sometimes deeply disturbing, Caravaggio’s paintings demonstrate an understanding of realism and also of faith. This lecture will analyse both the art and the man, exploring these questions and getting closer to the meaning in Caravaggio’s works.

Biography:

Dr Alison Barker taught History and Art History at further and higher education for eighteen years before her current role as a Frontline Support Assistant at the University of Essex, Albert Sloman Library. She speaks widely to diverse groups on many historical and art historical topics, and has led guided tours at the British Museum and the National Gallery. Alison wrote her PhD thesis on the depiction of Saint George in art and has published work on his image in both England and Italy. Her forthcoming book, The Dissemination of Saint George in Early Modern Art will be published by Routledge in 2025.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

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.

Biography:

Dr Amy Lim is an art historian and curator, specialising in British fine and decorative arts from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. She is curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, and of the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham. She is also an exhibition researcher at Tate, contributing to British Baroque: Power and Illusion (2020) and  'Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920' to be held at Tate Britain, 16 May-30 October 2024. Amy has degrees in History and Literature & Arts from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. She runs an online art dealership, and has published articles and essays on a variety of art-related topics from gothic garden monuments to female patronage.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

In this lively introduction to the tapestry – so much more than the story of Hastings – Rupert unravels some of its mysteries, places it in the context of its age and firmly establishes it as a landmark in the history of Western art.

Biography:

Rupert Willoughby is an historian and Classicist, a poet, a father and a committed outdoor swimmer with a passion for castles, lakes and uncovering the layers of the past. A graduate with First Class Honours in History from the University of London (where he immersed himself in the ‘Byzantine’, or medieval Greek Empire), he is the author of the best-selling Life in Medieval England for Pitkin, and of a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen’s Village, and the whimsical, yet scholarly Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture. Rupert also contributes regular obituaries to The Daily Telegraph. Accredited by The Arts Society since 2011, he is an experienced lecturer, who is known for his light, humorous touch, his love of narrative and his vivid evocations of the past. Rupert’s forefathers were Vikings and his foremothers were Tatars.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

We all know van Gogh. We know the Sunflowers, Starry Night, his self-portraits, the bright prismatic colour applied with energetic strokes of the brush. We know his life was not an easy one. But why is he so famous? What makes him possibly the best-known artist in the world? Why does every gift shop in every gallery have a Vincent gift on display? What makes his paintings instantly recognizable? His failure to find sales or success during his lifetime, his suffering leading to self-mutilation & later to suicide at the age of 37 are all well known. What happened during his short life, and afterwards to transform him into the world’s best-loved artist?

Biography:

Lucrezia Walker Is a regular lecturer at the National Gallery. She is adjunct professor of art history for the University of North Carolina's Study Abroad semesters in London. She was Lay Canon for the Visual Arts at St Paul's Cathedral 2010-2014.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

Antoni Gaudí is well known and much loved. In this lecture, his work will be explored in detail. It will be shown how he engaged with nature in the most innovative and extraordinary ways. Inspired by honeycombs and spiders' webs, armadillo skins and mushrooms, trees and whales' bellies, he worked with extraordinary ceramicists, iron workers, tilers and decorative artists. We will look at his public and private buildings and his relationship with a wealthy and demanding patron. Private shy and retiring he was also humorous and witty in his extravagant style.

Biography:

Jacqueline is Managing Director of an art tours company, running residential courses in Andalucía, Southern Spain in the art and culture of the region www.artandcultureandalucia.com  Jacqueline is a course director and lecturer at the V&A and also lectures at The Royal Academy, The Art Fund, The London Art History Society and has toured New Zealand and Australia for The Arts Society. Her specialist field is Spanish Art, but she also lectures on European Art 1790-1950. Her most recent publication is A Taste of Art, London (Unicorn Press 2019). Jacqueline films her lectures and is currently delivering lectures, study days and courses online and live. See www.atasteof.art

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

The fears and anxieties of Vienna in the final years before the outbreak of the Great War found expression in the writing of Freud, the music of Gustav Mahler and the haunting paintings of Klimt, Kokoschka and Schiele. Shimmering portraits flecked with gold; hypnotic landscapes of vibrant brushstrokes; erotic dreams of decadence and death reveal a society in search for salvation at a time when mankind had lost faith in its future. The lecture traces the course of this brief, often dark but always dazzlingly inventive period of art.

Biography:

Douglas read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980. In that time he has given over 8000 lectures to universities, colleges and art societies. He was the director of  The New Academy of Art Studies for three years and is presently a regular lecturer at The Study Center, Christie's course 'The History of Art Studies' and other London courses. Among his more improbable venues for lectures are the bar on the QE2, MI5 headquarters, the Captain's Room at Lloyds, and an aircraft hanger in a German NATO base. Overseas he has lectured in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain, and has taken numerous tours around Europe. He has written and presented various TV documentaries, notably the Omnibus programme on Whistler and the exhibition video on William Morris. Three one-man exhibitions of his paintings have been held in England and Switzerland. He has published five novels, which have been translated into 8 foreign languages, and his book on Monet, River of Light, has sold 30,000 copies in England, America and France.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

Wool, cotton and silk have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing needed by the great nomadic cultures that were to dominate Middle Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and used as currency, creating a network of trading routes that led to the first outbreak of globalisation.

Biography:

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey (hence the name Aslan) and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge, and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came a couple more years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford, and is now based in Cambridge, but with plans to move to North Cyprus. When he’s not lecturing for The Arts Society, he writes. His latest book, Unravelling the Silk Road, is published by Icon Books. Chris also takes tours to Central Asia, returning whenever he can, having left a large chunk of his heart out there. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

This most celebrated of Victorian novelists led a life as colourful as any of his characters. From his earliest days he was a consummate performer, as actor and reader. However he lived two lives, one public, one private. This lecture will examine the huge popularity he came to enjoy in his lifetime in contrast to the unsteady nature of his personal life. We shall revisit the unique world he created in his 16 novels, his Christmas stories and numerous articles, as relevant and as entertaining today as in 19th century Britain.  

Biography:

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.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre and online, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

While many English gardeners have visited China to “collect” plants, few have gone to look for gardens.  The Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship Scheme funded this six-week trip to visit gardens and meet gardeners, with a view to building bridges between Chinese & English horticulture.  In addition to examining gardens and gardening, this talk looks at some of the wider cultural aspects of a country full of contradictions, and some wonderful food, and the very welcoming people.

Biography:

I read Botany at University College Oxford. After graduation, I worked as a trainee at Oxford Botanic Garden, the Savill Garden Windsor, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In 1985 I was awarded a Master of Horticulture by the Royal Horticultural Society of London. From 1988 to 2014 I was director (Horti Praefectus) at the Oxford Botanic Garden. Between 1992 & 2000 the OBGHA won 4 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show London. In 2009 the Botanic Garden was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for providing imaginative educational programmes for adults, students, children, and the general public, thereby breathing new life into education for people of all ages and enriching their lives. In 2010 I was elected as a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London. In the same year I presented a 3-part series of films on the history of botany on BBC4. Since 2014 I have been a tutor in Plant Biology at Somerville College, Oxford.    

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. This lecture follows the AGM and there will be no online presentation.

Jazz is one of music’s most important genres: a fascinating blend of rigorous structure, free-wheeling creativity, close-knit ensembles and imaginative improvisation. Drawing on his experience both as musicologist and gigging musician, Sandy can shed light on jazz from the inside. His talk covers the early years of jazz up to the Second World War, and touches on the disparate influences which lay behind the emergence of jazz. Musical illustrations range from the blues, ragtime and the very first jazz recordings through to classics by Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the dawn of the Swing Era.

Biography:

Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as music director for the RSC, National Theatre and in London’s West End, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3. Combining engaging scholarship with hands-on expertise, he devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, is a highly sought after double bassist on the London jazz scene, and was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow for the 2018-19 season.

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

In childhood and throughout his life, Sargent was described as being 'at home everywhere and nowhere.' Born in Florence to itinerant American parents, he adopted a frenetic pattern of international  travel throughout his life. The range and duration of his travels are truly staggering. Renowned as a society portraitist, in 1909 his dramatic decision to refuse further commissions provided a new found freedom.  Sargent also indulged his fascination for all things 'curious' - a favourite word.

Biography:

Mary Alexander trained as an art historian and graduated with a BA Hons in History & History of Art (University College London) and later an MA (with Distinction) in History of Art (University College London). She moved to Manchester to take up the post of Assistant Curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of English Costume, a renowned collection of historic dress. Subsequently she lectured in art history at the University of Leeds, the Open University and Manchester University Extra Mural Department. From 1995 - 2008, she was a Visiting Lecturer at Christie’s Education in London. Mary has also combined academic work with the world of design consultancy. In 1985 she joined Pentagram Design in London, a leading international design consultancy, and coordinated client presentations, publications, conferences and international special events, including the 1986 British Design event in Aspen Colorado. In 1988 she transferred to Pentagram’s New York office with the task of organising an international design conference held at Stanford University involving business, design and education leaders. As an experienced international speaker, Mary lectures regularly for The Arts Society throughout the UK, Europe and Australia and New Zealand. She also contributes articles to magazines, newspapers and professional journals. She was President of The Arts Society Glaven Valley, Norfolk from 2016- 2021.  

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

Charlie Chaplin was a man of contradictions – a playboy and a workaholic, an innovative artist and the last to embrace talking pictures. Chaplin revolutionised the language of cinema and in his guise as The Little Tramp he became the most universally recognised performer of all time. He had a tortured private life but he was adept at using elements of that life in his films. He was one of the few Hollywood producers to make an overt political stand in his films Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). His early films, particularly The Kid (1921) drew on the experiences of immigrants and the urban poor and on memories of his own deprived childhood in the slums of London.

Biography:

Colin Shindler has been lecturing on American and British social and cultural history for over 20 years. He was awarded his PhD at Cambridge University and subsequently lectured on film for their History Faculty between 1998 and 2019 exploring its relationship to modern British and American social and cultural history. He also teaches a variety of adult education courses at Madingley and Higham Hall in Cumbria and has lectured on cruises. Between 1975 and 1999 he pursued a wide-ranging career as a writer and producer in television, radio and film. He won a BAFTA award for his production of A Little Princess. His production of Young Charlie Chaplin was nominated for a US Prime Time Emmy. He wrote the screenplay for the feature film Buster and was the producer of various television dramas such as Lovejoy and Wish Me Luck. He has written three novels as well as numerous television scripts and radio plays but regards his greatest cultural contribution as choosing the title music for the police series Juliet Bravo. His most recent radio play Leni Goes to Hollywood, about the German film director Leni Riefenstahl, was broadcast on Radio 4 in August 2021. Other radio plays for R4 included How To Be An Internee (about P.G. Wodehouse) and one on Private Eye & The Profumo Affair (Rumours). Both were selected by the BBC as Drama Podcast of the Week He is the author of Barbed Wire and Cucumber Sandwiches: The Controversial South Africa Cricket Tour of 1970 which was short listed for the MCC/Wisden Cricket Book of the Year in 2021. He is best known for his childhood memoir Manchester United Ruined My Life which was short listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. His other publications include Hollywood Goes To War: Films & American Society 1939-1952 and Hollywood in Crisis: Films & American Society 1929-1939. I'm Sure I speak for Thousands of Others (2017) was a history of unpublished letters written to the BBC and his non-fiction novel Garbo & Gilbert in Love was an imaginative reconstruction of the infamous relationship of the two MGM stars. He is currently working on the television adaptation of his novel Hollywood Nazis. His next book is titled Granada Land: Coronation Street and the Emergence of the North 1960-1970. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

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. This talk is moving, informative and very original. Interspersed with personal accounts of humorous or slightly horrifying situations, these talks have kept audiences across the country engrossed. 

Biography

Angela Findlay is a professional artist, writer and freelance lecturer with a long career of teaching art in prisons in Germany and England. Her time ‘behind bars’ and later as Arts Coordinator of the London-based Koestler Arts, gave her many insights into the huge impact the arts can have in terms of rehabilitation. Though novel, her ideas were effective and in 2016 she was invited by the Ministry of Justice to support the case for the arts to be included in new, progressive programmes of rehabilitation and education. Brexit unfortunately reversed the direction of prison policy but art's role is still vital.  In the past decade Angela’s Anglo-German roots led her to research Germany’s largely unknown post-WW2 process of remembrance and the extraordinary culture of 'counter memorials' and site-specific artworks that emerged to express national shame and apology. With the current debates on statues and monuments, the ways Germany has tried to deal with its dark past is more relevant and inspiring than ever.    Angela has a BA(Hons) in Fine Art, a Diploma in Artistic Therapy (specialising in colour) and her paintings have been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her book - In My Grandfather’s Shadow - expanding on the above subjects was published by Penguin Transworld in July 2022. 

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

'The Musée d'Orsay is situated on the left bank of the Seine in Paris. It is housed in a former Beaux-Arts railway station and it contains works of art dating from 1848 to 1914. 

We shall be looking at 10 of my favourite pieces, including the little dancer by Degas, one of the very young dancers of the ballet who were known as 'the rats' Toulouse Lautrec painted the sides of a belly dancing booth for his friend from the Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (meaning greedy one) who had hit hard times. One of my favourites is a statuette of Yvette Gilbert, a naughty nightclub singer with a distinctive long neck and turned up nose who Toulouse Lautrec so cruelly portrayed in his sketches.. The Degas painting known as 'absinthe' tells the story of this popular drink known as the 'green fairy' and illustrates why it was banned in France. 

I aim to set each work within the social setting of its time and simply enjoy what I have to admit is a very subjective choice of works that I know and love.'

Biography

Linda holds a BA Hons in early Italian art, an MA in the works of George de la Tour and a Diplôme francais in french language and culture. She has published three books on Art and the Monarchy and she spent 27 years working for the Royal Palaces. Linda currently spends half the year in France.

* Please note that from November 2023 onwards lectures will start at 10.30 am.*

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

A Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

Just north of Piccadilly, in the city of Westminster, is the historic district of Mayfair, now one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the world. In this armchair tour, we’ll discover the humble early roots of this area and later its aristocratic appeal. We’ll visit famous gardens such as Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square, see posh shops, private members’ clubs, beautiful buildings including stately Georgian townhouses, plenty of public art and many hidden corners. As we duck in and out of alleyways and mews, we’ll discover some of the secrets behind the silk curtains and gilded shutters. 

* Please note that from November 2023 onwards lectures will start at 10.30 am.*

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

Biography

Michael is a familiar face to The Arts Society. He is President of The Arts Society Bolton and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Although retired, he continues to teach at the Manchester School of Art. He has published widely on European art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, his books include: L. S. Lowry: A Visionary Artist; The Impressionists by Themselves; The Stations of the Cross / The Captive Figure and the award-winning dramatic interpretation and publication of material originally performed by the Zurich-based Dadaists of 1916. A New Order: An Evening at the Cabaret Voltaire. His book on Gauguin, was written in association with the Gauguin Museum, Tahiti, and his book on Monet for the Musée Marmottan, Paris.  One of his most recent books concerns his wife’s life and work: The Human Touch: Ghislaine Howard. (Ghislaine is also an accredited lecturer of The Arts Society).  Michael is a practising artist, and has exhibited at the Royal Academy, the New York Art Fair and elsewhere. He is represented in Manchester Art Gallery and in many private collections both here and abroad. He has appeared on television and radio many times and in 2004 he and Ghislaine worked the film, Degas and the Dance which has awarded one of the prestigious Peabody awards. 

A search for Paradise Lost - was Gauguin nothing but a tourist seeking for a some lost Shangri-la or was he an exile searching for his lost home? He called himself  'the savage from Peru' yet was a master of self-promotion. An artist who was imprisoned by the myths he himself invented. Any of this could destroy a lesser artist - but not Gauguin.

Mark Hill is known to many from television appearances, particularly as an expert on BBC's Antiques Roadshow since 2007. With Judith Miller, he co-authored the Collectables Price Guide from 2002-17 and has published more than 15 books on emerging specialist subjects in the decorative arts. In September 2022 he gave us a lecture on one of his particular interests, Caithness Glass. Members thought it excellent,informative and delivered in great style.

In this new lecture, Mark will introduce us to the life and times of a Regency man of means through the private journal of John Margesson Esq (1794-1866), discovered in a quantity of books bought on eBay. The volume covers summer 1831 to summer 1833. Margesson's account describes his return from exile in France to his country house, his life in London and his return to the Continent ending in Rome. Mark will put John's observations of Regency London, his interests and his often, very opinionated, views on current affairs and notable people into the context of the time.

It promises to be a lively lecture as Margesson's nephew described him as “ the most spiteful, sly, and vindictive and wicked man I have ever met” ...........

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

The lecture will be at 10.30am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open from 10:00am. There will be free mince pies in the foyer beforehand.  Coffee will be available at the usual charge. Regrettably we will not be able to stream this lecture as Myles who usually provides technical support is unavailable. 

Sue Jackson will give us a suitably seasonal lecture. She writes 'the bleak midwinter held little appeal to the artist for many centuries until Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s ‘The Hunters in the Snow’ (shown here) in the 16th century. From pristine backdrop to the tempestuous snow storms of Turner to the capturing of ‘snow effect’ by the Impressionists, the ability of artists to convey snow as a symbol of peace but also of grandeur and terror is compelling.'

Sue worked in academic art and design publishing. She is a Fellow of the Huguenot Society, a Freeman of the City of London, a tutor at the City Literary Institute and a Blue Badge guide, conducting a variety of walks and visits.  

* Please note that from November 2023 onwards lectures will start at 10.30 am.*

The lecture begins at 10.30.am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online. New meembers are  invited to join the Committee for a short Reception with refreshments, in the Club Room, after the lecture.

Too soon for Christmas carols? After the charming lecture ‘In the Kingdom of Sweets’, on the Nutcracker ballet, that Nigel Bates gave us in December 2021, we wanted him to return. His December diary gets full years in advance so November it is. Nigel has been a performer for more than 40 years, notably as Principal Percussionist with the Royal Opera House Orchestra for 17 years, and he  has lectured for over 30 years.

A vast range of sacred and secular music has been inspired by and created for Christmas. Melodies from the Middle Ages happily sit side by side with modern tunes. We will look at contributions, old and new, to the festive season and hear musical examples from such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Willcocks and John Rutter. We will see how some of our best-loved carols have come into existence almost by accident and explore the creativity that goes into making a lasting Christmas Hit.

We are very pleased to welcome Stephen Baron and Marguerite Duncan-Sutherland in a change to the published programme .

The piano music of Chopin enjoys widespread popularity. The stories behind the music and the man are less well known. Stephen and Marguerite will paint a picture of Chopin, his life and times, including the turbulent relationship with the writer George Sand and his little-known friendship with his Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling. Marguerite will read excerpts from his letters and his often witty quotes about music. Stephen will play little known childhood polonaises, popular pieces and the dramatic third ballade.

Marguerite has sung extensively in Germany, Austria, Italy and France. She and Stephen have performed many concerts together. Stephen is a well-known pianist, accompanist and composer and is also an experienced lecturer in music, having worked for seventeen years at Birkbeck College and several other London institutions. He has recently released a Chopin CD and also a CD of songs with Marguerite.

This lecture will be preceded by the AGM which will start at 10.00am sharp at the Abbey Theatre.  There will be a break between the AGM and the lecture during which free coffee will be served. Please attend the AGM to ensure a quorum.The lecture will NOT be streamed.

The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. Please note that, at the lecturer's request, this lecture will NOT be streamed.

The Ming Dynasty will bring us a world of exquisite arts and crafts – gold vessels, red lacquer, jade sculptures, porcelain and silks for robes and shoes – which developed under the patronage of the Emperors. For nearly 300 years from 1368 this dynasty flourished; the name Ming translates as ‘bright’. Highly educated civil servants and wealthy merchants enjoyed painting, calligraphy, gardens, furniture and an elegant Culture of Tea. By the time the Ming declined Portuguese merchants were bringing tea and porcelain to Europe.

Anne Haworth, our lecturer, lived in Shanghai from 1995 to 2002 and gave lectures on the history of the China trade and European Chinoiserie to the international community in Shanghai and Beijing. On her return she catalogued Chinese ceramics at Kensington Palace and became a freelance lecturer and guide giving private tours of the major London galleries and museums.

An afternoon of fun with Bertie Pearce, highly acclaimed speaker and performer. His lecture 'Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion' is a history of mystery from 3000 BC to the 21st century. Ancient Egypt was the cradle of magic where Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions to hold power over the people. The age-old skill of sleight of hand proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’. In Henry VIII's time magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ and might be sentenced to death for ‘witchraft and conjuration’. As Music Hall emerged, audiences flocked to watch the Great Illusionists performing legendary tricks such as pulling a rabbit from a hat and sawing a lady in half. Illusion and magic retains its popularity today.

Bertie has a BA (Hons) in Drama and a Diploma Internationale from the École Internationale du Théatre, Jacques Lecoq. He is member of the Inner Magic Circle, with Gold Star. He has lectured and performed on cruise ships, to many societies, festivals, schools and colleges and toured the world with a magic cabaret show.

The lecture will be at 2.00pm at The Abbey Theatre. Afternoon tea will be served at 3.15pm, with table magic from Bertie. Tickets for tea at £20 will be on sale at the June meeting or by contacting the Secretary, Sue Bloomfield. If tea is not for you, come to the lecture for £5 payable on the day. We would be glad to see as many members as possible enjoy the celebrations.

June marks the 70th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which is remembered as one of the great events of the 1950s. This timely lecture on  the accession  of Charles III, introduces us to one of the largest and most important collections in the world. The Royal Collection of Art contains paintings from the Early Renaissance period to the Victorian era and beyond It is an important reflection of both the taste of the Monarch and of the social and economic thinking of the country at the time. There are less than 2,700 pictures hanging in the National Gallery in London – there are more than 7,000 paintings in the Royal Collection.

Linda Collins has lectured for Historic Royal Palaces, National Trust, Tate Modern and the National Gallery. She has written on Tudor  monarchs and their art collections. She is President Of the Arts Society Harpenden Area.

Illustration: The Prince of Wales's Phaeton, George Stubbs 1793 aquired by GeorgeIV.

The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

The lecture will be streamed online.

We are delighted to welcome back Dr Graham Griffiths. He stepped in at the last minute in January 2019 to give us an excellent talk on ‘Mozart in London’. The following January he returned and faced the lack of a working microphone or projector. Undaunted he gave an outstanding lecture on ‘Franz Schubert: The piano and power of friendship’. He has the gift of conveying his enthusiasm to make music accessible to all.

This May he will tell us about rediscovering the life and work of a forgotten pianist, teacher and Romantic composer in ‘Musical adventures in Russia: in search of the ‘Snow Maiden’ Leokadiya Kashperova’. Her music has now been published and recorded. We will hear extracts from these recordings during the lecture. She was BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week in December 2022.

Kashperova (1872-1940) travelled internationally as a soloist, her compositions were highly regarded, by Rimsky-Korsakov among others, and she taught, most notably for two years Stravinsky. Her 20-year career ended when she married a Bolshevik Leader who was her student. They fled for safety during the February Revolution,1917. They settled finally in Moscow where Leokadiya composed in secret and stopped performing. She became forgotten by the Soviet public. By the time she died she was mostly remembered for Stravinsky’s calling her ‘antiquated’ and ‘a blockhead’.

Dr Griffiths has a D.Phil. in Musicology from Christ Church, Oxford and has been Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at City university since 2015. He has previously been a lecturer at Sao Paulo State University, lectured for the British Council and delivered courses at Bath, Bristol, Canterbury Christ Church  and Oxford universities. Whilst researching Stravinsky for his doctorate, he found Kashperova’s name. His biography of Kashperova was published in March.

The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am.

The lecture will be streamed online.

When a critic described a work as ‘just little cubes’ he was being derogatory but most of all, he was not understanding the complex layers of meaning beneath the surface of the work. Cubist works are social, aesthetic, mathematical and philosophical. We will learn the language we need to understand Cubist works and to be able to unravel meaning. We will explore the working relationship of Picasso and Braque, after the painting of Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, and also see other so-called Paris Salon Cubists such as Léger and Juan Gris who made Cubism more palatable for its audience.

Our lecturer, Jacqueline Cockburn, is a course director and lecturer at the V&A and also lectures at The Royal Academy, The Art Fund, The London Art History Society. She has toured New Zealand and Australia for The Arts Society. Jacqueline's specialist field is Spanish Art, but she also lectures on European Art 1790-1950.

The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

The name Dufy conjures up bright, airy pictures of sailing boats and the Mediterranean. There was much more to him as Mary Alexander’s lecture ‘Dazzling Dufy: Invitation to a Luminous Feast with Raoul Dufy’ will show us. He was a key player in early twentieth century avant garde art, design and literary/theatrical circles in Paris. As a widely travelled polymath, Dufy's charismatic personality, wit and curiosity about the world was infectious.

Mary Alexander needs no introduction to those of us who attended her entertaining and informative recent Study Days on New York and on Paris at the Abbey Theatre. She has thirty years’ experience as a lecturer to a wide range of arts and heritage societies, at Christie’s Education in London and tutoring for the Open University. Dufy is her favourite painter.

The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

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.

Our lecturer is Joanna Banham, who has had a prolific career as a curator and art educator, culminating in 10 years as Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain. She is now a freelance curator, lecturer and writer.The lecture, as usual, will be at 10:45am at The Abbey Theatre, with doors open and refreshments available from 10:00am. The lecture will be streamed online.

10.45 At the Abbey Theatre and on youtube

The Sun King and the Court of Versailles

How appropriate at the start of our society’s 50th Anniversary Year that our lecture brings sunshine and gold to the dark January days. Louis XIV chose the sun as his emblem. He is best remembered for the creation of Versailles; the immense chateau which he built on the site of his father’s old hunting lodge and which became the seat of French government, the setting for all grand court ceremonial and the envy of every other European monarch. This lecture will be an introduction to the sumptuous state apartments, the vast gardens and pleasure pavilions, the spectacular entertainments which took place both inside and out, the collections of the King and the whole etiquette of life at one of the greatest courts in Europe.

Our lecturer, Jane Gardiner, has an MA in the History of Art from the University of London. She trained at the V&A and was Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby's, UK. She has extensive lecturing experience, at universities in the UK and abroad, the National Trust, the Art Fund, on cruise ships and at antiques fairs, whilst continuing to lecture at the V and A.

10.45am at the Abbey Theatre Only (no online lecture)

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.

10.45am at the Abbey Theatre and online

St. Petersburg’s dignity and grandeur is everywhere apparent. Peter the Great had before him a vast tabula rasa when planning his future capital at the beginning of the 18th century. The city he built was truly sumptuous – but it came at a price. 

This lecture tells the story of the buildings of St. Petersburg, but also the life that went on inside the buildings, focussing particularly on the city’s writers, musicians and artists, for whom St. Petersburg definitely had a personality – sometimes enigmatic, sometimes tragic - which they immortalised in their paintings, music and literary works.

Rosamund Bartlett a writer, lecturer and translator whose work as a cultural historian ranges across the arts. She completed her doctorate at Oxford and is the author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia. She is currently writing a history of the Russian avant-garde. Her new translation of Anna Karenina for Oxford World’s Classics was published to acclaim in 2014. She has written on art, music and literature for publications such as The Daily Telegraph and Apollo, and received commissions from institutions including the Royal Opera House, Tate UK, and the Salzburg Festival. Her lecturing work has taken her from the V&A and the National Theatre in London to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and she contributes regularly to Proms events and opera broadcasts on the BBC.

This lecture will be proceded by the AGM which will start at 10.00am at the Abbey Theatre.  Free coffee will be available before the lecture and no coffee will be served during the short break between the AGM and the lecture.

THE LECTURE

Mankind has exploited the medicinal properties of plants for thousands of years, yet the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people. This talk attempts to put the record straight and to show that plant products are used every day by all of us to relieve pain and suffering, to heal wounds and cure diseases. This is a talk with a very wide appeal and relevance.

From 1988 to 2014 I was the Director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.  Botanic gardens are often described as living museums, and garden curators lecture about them in the same way as museum curators talk about their collections. Gardens are often thought of a place where science and art meet on equal terms and my lectures often investigate this relationship.  Since 2014 I have been a college lecturer and tutor in Botany and Plant Conservation at Somerville College Oxford. 

10.45 at the Abbey Theatre and online.

Since it was founded in 1961, Caithness Glass has become renowned across the world. For 50 years, the company fulfilled the founders’ original aims of providing employment in rural Scotland and producing high quality, modern glassware for the home. Although much is known about their paperweights, until now little has been known about the designer and influences behind the decorative and tableware designs that built and maintained the company’s reputation.

Studied History of Art & Architecture (BA Hons), and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby's where he was a Specialist in the Collectors' Department. Became director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions. Was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17. Founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has since published over 12 books on specialist subjects in 20th century design and decorative arts. A Miscellaneous expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007, and has co-presented three primetime factual TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. Operations Director of Ronati UK, an internet company offering innovative digital services to the antiques industry. Has lectured across the world, including at the V&A in London, and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. A Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

10.45 at the Abbey Theatre and Online

Monet and Boudin introduce us to the world of the seaside but within a generation, Philip Wilson Steer, our finest Impressionist after Turner, took on the British mantle. The first British seaside resort was, improbably, Scarborough, nearly 300 years ago; later came Brighton. The NADFAS AGM has been held at Scarborough and Eastbourne, so the lecture will give an interesting insight into the growth of such resorts. We see this through the eyes of Victorian painters such as Frith, Wyllie and Berthe Morisot; in the 20th century we find Picasso, Stanley Spencer, Dorothea Sharp, Dame Laura Knight, Sickert and the Newlyn School. In addition, there are splendid railway posters from between the wars: the period of Art Deco. For each Society, I use locally relevant posters, many of them commissioned from Royal Academicians.

10.45 at the Abbey Theatre and online

Shrines, stupas, cave temples, colonial grandeur and modernist architecture – a look at the history of this beautiful island through its intriguing art and culture. For much of Sri Lanka's past Buddhist and Hindu have lived alongside each other peaceably and much of its culture is evidence of this spirit of tolerance and generosity. This talk examines the fascinating story of Sri Lankan art and the original minds, talents and spirits that created this unique visual world.

10.45 at the Abbey Theatre and online

The Japan-British Exhibition was held at White City in Shepherd Bush in west London from 14 May to 29 October 1910. The exhibition aimed to enhance the Anglo- Japanese Alliance at the time, and the Japanese government was keen to promote the export of Japanese goods as well as to encourage a better understanding of Japan among the general public in Britain. One of the most successful projects of this exhibition was the display of traditional Japanese art in the Fine Art Palace. The quality of paintings sent by the Japanese for this occasion was extremely high, including many paintings that are designated as national treasures today. This lecture will assess the impact of the exhibition on the perception of Japan in Britain, and consider its legacy.    

10.30am at the Abbey theatre and online

Warning - This lecture has been well received at other societies but does include detailed explorations of the naked human body. 

The pale flesh of Lucian Freud’s women. The red stars and barbs of William Coldstream’s nudes. The viscerally disturbing figures of Francis Bacon. This hour-long talk explores the special talent of British painters in the twentieth century for representing the human form in a particularly expressive manner. As disturbing as it is sometimes cathartic, the changing attitudes to depicting the human body reflected artists’ changing relationship to society and and to the events of the long and troubled twentieth century.

10.30am at the Abbey Theatre and on Zoom

Having designed St Paul’s Cathedral and more than 50 other London Churches after the Great Fire of London (1666), Sir Christopher Wren is better known as an architect rather than astronomer. But, as a Professor of Astronomy for the first part of his career, much of his architectural work still echoes his earlier astronomical and scientific ideas. Drawing on Wren’s role as a Professor of Astronomy (and details that survive of some of his lectures) this talk will aim to bridge the gap between the two major aspects of Wren’s career by focussing on the astronomical elements that influenced his later architectural career, especially the astronomical symbolism and significance of St Paul’s Cathedral and other selected Wren churches in the City of London.

10.30am on Zoom

The Power of Photography by Roger Mendham

Photographs have the ability to stop time, to provide a freeze-frame of a moment in time and space. They give the observer the opportunity to think, to react, to feel and to soak in the details of the circumstances surrounding the image. This talk examines some the most important images and photographers of the past century. It explores why these images are so powerful and influential in our understanding of history. 

At the Abbey Theatre 10.30am

In The Kingdom of The Sweets By Nigel Bates

The Nutcracker ballet has delighted audiences at Christmas for many decades yet it was deemed a failure at its initial performances. Based upon the current Royal Ballet production by Sir Peter Wright, this lecture takes 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, dance and a little bit of stage ingenuity all come together to make the most magical escape for young and old alike. Includes several performance video clips.

10.30am at The Abbey Theatre

Understanding Aboriginal Culture

The indigenous population of Australia occupied the land for over 60,000 years in relative isolation. Discover their ancient traditions and how they’ve adapted to modern times since the arrival of Captain Cook.

10am This lecture will follow a short AGM at the Abbey Theatre.

Free coffee available before the AGM.  No coffee available in the short break between AGM and Lecture.

An opportunity to ‘travel’ to New York and experience the excitement of visiting its premier modern art museum. Established in 1929 and newly extended in 2019, the museum offers a superb range of art ranging from Impressionism to the present day. On this trip I look briefly at its fascinating history and architecture, but mostly, I tour the collection through its different floors, looking closely at specific pieces and seeing how they resonate with other works close by. The talk offers a lively introduction to MoMA, and leads you through time, looking at different works by modern and contemporary artists from Vincent Van Gogh to Cindy Sherman. It should be of interest whether you have already visited the actual museum, or not!

10.30 pm at the Abbey Theatre

The pictures on gallery walls look so well-behaved, but there can be Bedlam behind the scenes. Based on my own and colleagues’ experiences, we relive the highs and lows of curatorial life. We find out what’s involved in a gallery make-over, dine (disastrously) with a Duke, discover a masterpiece - and are questioned by Chelsea CID as suspects in a massive art fraud. At the end of the day, the reward should be a gallery full of engaged visitors, and it does often happen - but not always. The incidents of daily curatorial life can be colourful, but in this talk they add up to a solid theme. What are the big issues that art curators face, and where should the whole business be going? 

At 10.30

Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, is famous both for its rich architectural and industrial heritage and for its vibrant culture. Charles Rennie Mackintosh is perhaps its best known and most internationally renowned artist. But there is so much more to discover about this city which was one of the powerhouses of 19th century Britain’s manufacture, trade and wealth.

This talk will focus on the 19th and 20th centuries; the architecture of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, the architecture and design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh and contemporaries (the Glasgow Four), the painting of the Glasgow Boys (c1880-1900) and the Colourists – Fergusson, Peploe, Cadell and Hunter.

This can be a virtual tour. Open  up the evolution of the city from a hermitage and village by the Clyde to Second City of Empire and its late twentieth century reinvention as the first UNESCO British City of Culture in 1990. We track this story though the city’s landmark buildings and archive images.

Raphael’s is one of the most famous names in art history, and until the late 19th century to emulate him was the goal for most artists succeeding him. Yet today he is not as well known as this might suggest. Is this because his biography is less dramatic than Caravaggio’s? or his career less tormented than Michelangelo’s? or is it because his qualities are difficult to define - the elusive qualities of grace, harmony and idealised beauty.

This lecture asks “what is the magic of Raphael?” It takes a fresh look at Raphael, exploring what he achieved, and looking, as if for the first time, at the beauty and grace of his work. It will examine his astonishing ability to grow and transform himself over the years of his career, and whose tragically early death leaves us wondering – had he lived, what would have come next?

https://youtu.be/PzCWrFunNF8

The history of English garden design can be told in different ways, but rarely can it be told "through the lens" of one garden.  The Oxford Botanic Garden was founded at the beginning of the 17th century and its design bears all the hallmarks of 17th century design.  Through the next 400 years successive Horti Praefecti (head gardeners) changed the features reflecting the art of gardening, and very occasionally the science of botany.   This talk looks at how the art of gardening has changed, or perhaps has not, in four centuries in Oxfordshire and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects garden design at the beginning of the 21st century.  The title of the talk refers to the fact that one of the motivations for garden design remains the desire to create paradise on Earth.  The meaning of paradise may now be less rooted in the Biblical account of the rise and fall of man, but there is still a clear vision of what we would like the world to resemble.  

Lecture topic type: lecture only

Lady Anne Clifford: A 17th Century landowner

Wednesday 14th April at 10.30

She was the only child of the Earl of Cumberland, whose vast estates in Yorkshire and Cumbria were left at his early death to her uncle, not to her, starting a long legal battle. She made two splendid marriages, first, as Countess of Dorset she was mistress of Knole; then the Countess of Pembroke of Wilton House. In 1643, she finally won back her estates. Her later years were spent wholly in the north, restoring her dilapidated castles and rebuilding churches with monuments to her ancestors. She kept a diary for many years, and died aged 86.

Beds & Herts Area Morning of Special Interest

Focusing on 17th Century Dutch Art

comprising an on-line lecture and a virtual tour of the Mauritshuis

with

Jane Choy-Furlow

on Friday 19th March 2020

10.00 am start until approx 1.00 pm

APPLICATION FORM

 Name                                              …………………………………………………………............

 Telephone Number                       ……………………………………………………………………..

 Email                                                  …….………………………………………………………………..

 Society                                               …………………………………………………………………………..

 Cost per device: £10

You will be e-mailed the Zoom links once your application form and payment has been received.

 You will be able to access the Webinair from 9.45am

The virtual tour will be a Zoom meeting to allow the tour to be interactive and for Jane to take questions as we tour the Mauritshuis.

 Please pay by either:

 Online banking to:
  The Arts Society - Beds and Herts Area,  Account No. 20787825,   Sort code 20 74 81, adding

Reference DSI21 plus your surname and then email your application form to Gill Gowing at  gmgowing@btopenworld.com or by cheque payable to “The Arts Society - Beds and Herts Area”  and post with your application form to Gill Gowing at 94 Moor Lane, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. WD3 1LQ

 Any queries, please contact:

Gill Gowing on gmgowing@btopenworld.com or 01923 777715 or 07882761471

Lecture: Prized Possessions - Dutch 17th Century Art in National Trust Houses

English country houses have traditionally been the home to Dutch Golden Age masters including impressive works by some of the best loved artists. The British have a fondness for collecting Dutch pictures with examples collected by some of the Nation’s most important patrons and displayed in some of Britain’s greatest houses. The National Trust has over 13,000 works of art, of these over 1,000 are Dutch 17th century paintings. Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Aelbert Cuyp, and Meindert Hobbema were extremely popular with the British nobility and entrepreneurs from the 17th to the 20th century. Some of the most beautiful examples of these artists are to be found in these houses. The talk will include the variety of paintings to be found, the artists who painted them and how they came to be in these houses.

Virtual Tour: Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands

The Mauritshuis is one of the most beautiful 17th century monuments in Holland and has been the home of the Royal Cabinet of Paintings for nearly 200 years. The collection of 17th century Dutch paintings is considered one of the top four in the world. The fact that this top collection is found in the intimate atmosphere of a residence of the same era known as the Dutch Golden Age makes it very special. And explains why it is often called the smallest of the great museums and the greatest of the small museums. 

There will be a short break between the two sessions

Jane is a resident of the Netherlands and enjoys giving lectures and tours at the Mauritshuis, Prince William V gallery and Huygens Museum Hofwijck in The Hague, The Netherlands. A few of the many exhibits in the Mauritshuis she has been part of are: the legendary Johannes Vermeer exhibit, Rembrandt by Himself and Holbein, Portraitist of the Renaissance.

She received her BSc from Salem State University, USA, her Med from Trinity College Dublin and continued art history studies at Leiden University.

A former Chairman of Mainland Europe AS area, she is presently a part of the Support Team.

In 2018 she was given the honour of Knight in the Order of Oranje Nassau by the Dutch King Willem Alexander of Orange for her knowledge and work in the field of the Arts esp. 15th to 17th century Dutch and Flemish art.

10.30am

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-54) was queen of the selfies long before Kim Kardashian but instead of using Instagram Frida used a brush & oils to paint her reality.  Often associated with the Surrealist movement, Frida denied this insisting she painted life exactly as she had experienced it.  Her work is often graphic and unflinching with subjects including murder, suicide, marital infidelity, miscarriage, revolution, living with a disability and death.

Frida’s personal life was tumultuous. Horrifically injured in an accident as a teenager she was dogged by physical pain and suffering for the rest of her life. She married, divorced and remarried the painter Diego Rivera. He was her artistic and political soulmate though an unfaithful husband. 

This illustrated talk examines Frida’s life and most iconic works. Recognised as one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century she is known for her originality, bold use of colour, passion and courage and as someone who created life and beauty in the face of great personal suffering and adversity.

Lecture topic type: lecture only

Art History with Anne - Newsletter

Lectures for March-April 2021

Victorian Artists: From Realists to Symbolists

Wednesdays at 11.00 am
17th March   James Tissot: Fashionable London
24th March   James McNeill Whistler: An American Abroad
31st March   Lawrence Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity
7th April        Gustav Klimt: ‘All Art is Erotic’
 
The lectures will be delivered live by Zoom.   They will be uploaded afterwards to my YouTube channel for a limited time and you will be provided a private link to view them again at your leisure.
The lectures last for around an hour.  There will be a question-and-answer session at the end.
As the lectures will be delivered live by Zoom, you will be able to ask your questions in person at the end. You can also use the ‘Chat’ function.
 
How to book
The lectures are priced at £10 a session. You can book each lecture separately. If you book all four lectures the cost will be £30 (one lecture for free!)
Please email Susan Branfield at susanbranfield@waitrose.com
You can pay by cheque or BACS (details will be supplied). Cheques should be made payable to Anne Anderson.
Once you register and pay, you will be sent an email with your link. Keep it safe!
After the lecture you will be sent a private link so you can access the lecture on my YouTube Channel. Each lecture is accessible for four weeks.
More information can be found at anne-anderson.com
 

Check out my YouTube channel: Anne Anderson Art and Design History Channel - where you will find open access to the following lectures free of charge. I hope that you enjoy them!

Mackintosh and the Glasgow Four
Everything Stops for Tea: A Social History of Tea Drinking
The Bauhaus 1919-2019: One Hundred Years of Modern Design
Other Worlds: from Alice in Wonderland to Lord of the Rings
Arts and Crafts Gardens: A haven in our troubled time (An award winning lecture!)
Art Nouveau Cities
Nordic Vision: Scandinavian Painting c.1880-1914
 
Chinamania at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum
Gems of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery: Lewis Waller painted by the Hon. John Collier
Gems of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery: The Smoker by Catalan artist Benlliure
 
Sorolla 1: Youth in Valencia
Sorolla 2: Family Life
Sorolla 3: Visions of Spain

The Festival of Britain - 1951

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. The Festival promoted British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts. It was an exhibition that changed the path of British art and design for a generation and established a new awareness of the 'contemporary' in cultural production and appreciation. Do you have any memories of this great event? As a child, did your parents perhaps take you to visit the main South Bank exhibition site in London? If you would like to share your reminiscences of this occasion, email your story to me at:  anne.anderson99@talk21.com and we will publish the best ones in our next Newsletter.

If you know anyone who would like to receive the Art History with Anne Newletter, please ask them to email anne.anderson99@talk21.com with the subject line: 'Please add me to your mailing list'

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Pots and Frocks - The World of Grayson Perry

At 2pm on Zoom

This lecture and the lecturer was rated at 4.66 out of 5, and the slides 4.56 out of 5.  A very high rating.

Best known for his outlandish appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego, Claire, Grayson Perry is now a core part of the art establishment, a Turner Prize winner, Royal Academician, popular broadcaster and colourful character. He’s possibly one of the world’s best-known contemporary artists. His works of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and prints are highly sought after. Often controversial, he tackles difficult subjects in a poignant yet witty way and holds a mirror up to society. This talk will examine Grayson Perry’s work, his exciting and thought-provoking exhibitions, and the unique character inside the flamboyant frocks.

Anne, who did our Christmas lecture is offering some lectures on Art History.

If your are interested please go to her website on https://anne-anderson.com/

Please copy and paste the link or type it in your browser.

The Sea in Danish painting

10.30 on Zoom

Feedback on this lecture: Lecture and lecturer 3.5 out of 5, slides 3.9 out of 5

No matter where you are in Denmark you will never be more than 30 miles (50 km) from the Sea.  With 4,500 Miles (7,000 km) of coastline, and 400 islands, unsurprisingly artists have been drawn over the centuries to record its beauty.  Magdalen’s particular interest grew out of the two journeys her artist relatives, Adrian and Marianne Stokes made to Jutland in the 1880’s when the colony of Skagen was attracting many artists from all over Europe and the USA.  Long before the railway reached this northern peninsular, the arduous journey by packet boat to Frederikshavn followed by 22 miles on a horse and cart with easels and canvases bought in Copenhagen, might have deterred less intrepid travellers.  The Stokes’s made friends with fellow painters such as Peder.S. Krøyer, and Michael and Anna Ancher who followed in the footsteps of Martinus Rørbye, Laurits Tuxen and Oscar Björck, all of whom managed to convey how the harsh lives of the fishing communities and the extremes of weather provided a backdrop for a rich seam of Denmark’s art history. 

The lecture will start with work by the earlier artists from the Golden Age of Danish paintings such as Christen Købke, Christoffer Eckersberg and Karl Isakson and discuss the influence of the great German painter Caspar David Friedrich who studied in Copenhagen.  The talk will explore the connection with cermaics as well: the origin of the Royal Copenhagen China company’s logo is inspired by the three seas that surround this old country, whose monarchy pre-dates ours. It will conclude with some examples of C20th and even C21st painters.

The feedback for this lecturer and her slides gave a rating at 3.5 out of 5

2pm on Zoom online

The success of Julian Fellowes’s Downton Abbey demonstrates our continued fascination with ‘the way we used to live’, the labours of those ‘below stairs’ arousing as much curiosity as the lives of the privileged. The Victorians transformed Christmas into the most important annual celebration, from inventing the greetings card to introducing the turkey. It became a family holiday; the preparation and eating of the feast, decorations and gift giving, singing carols and parlour games, all were essential to the celebrations. Many attribute this change to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who introduced the bedecked Christmas tree from his German homeland. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol espoused and popularised Victorian family values, charity and goodwill, peace and happiness, which encapsulate the spirit of Christmas. Using contemporary images this lecture charts how our modern Christmas was invented by the Victorians.

The feedback for Antony Buxton and his slides gave a rating of 2.7 out of 5

Lecture at 2pm on 11/11/20

Feedback on lecturer 2.73 out of 5, slides 2.72 out of 5.

William Morris is rightly celebrated as a designer and craftsman, who as a young man decided to dedicate his life to art to counter the ugly industrial world he saw around him. He was also a deeply reflective man and held passionate views on the quality of life which should be available to all, expressed in his considerable output of poetry and political writings.  This lecture draws together the work of the designer and artist, Morris’s own life experience with his views on ‘the art of life’.

For feedback see News 23/10/2020

10.30 By Zoom online

If you think of St Pancras International or New York Grand Central you imagine long romantic journeys. You know they are special places promising excitement and adventure. But there are dozens of other glorious stations in the UK and abroad. We will take a journey around some of the most evocative and splendid stations in the world. We will look not only at the magnificence of the architecture and the brilliant engineering but will discover numerous artworks within the stations and examine many depictions of stations in art – like Claude Monet’s Gare St Lazare or William Powell Frith’s Paddington. It may sound a bit anoraky, but it’s definitely not. It’s lavish, colourful and fun.

Feedback Results.  Thank you all those who left feedback.  The lecture score 4.4 and the slides 4.2 (Where 5=outstanding, 4-excellent, 3=very good, 2=good, 1=satisfactory and 0=poor)

11am on Zoom online

The festive works of Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, the last great eighteenth century painters of views, shaped the image of Venice in the minds of northern Europeans long after the city’s demise. Subsequently the most important pictures of Venice of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were painted by some of the most progressive artists from Europe and the United States. These included Turner, Manet, James McNeill Whistler, Walter Sickert, John Singer Sargent, Paul Signac, and Monet. Captivated by its unique atmosphere and beauty these artists found new approaches to challenge the run-of-the-mill visual stereotypes, developing their own unique strategies and techniques, marking a turning point in their work and making considerable contributions to the development of modern art.

Ralph's interest is mid eighteenth century English Rococo silver. He brings with him the pieces he is going to talk about for the listeners to handle and examine, together with a comprehensive collection of power point images, with close ups of features of interest. The Huguenot influence on this most decorative period is discussed, where new silversmithing techniques fused with new designs; together with methods of manufacture, interpreting the engraved heraldry of the items, and the social context.

He makes the talk entertaining as well as informative by taking the audience on a journey to uncover the original owners by tracing the heraldry, shows portraits of them, and reveals some of the life story associated with them; fabulously wealthy aristocrats and middling sorts, they variously had a stint in the Tower of London, had tragic family circumstances, had their descendents gamble away their estates, found their wife in a bed she should certainly not have been in, or were dragged to their death in an overturned carriage... Knowing the exploits of these original owners of these pieces adds considerably to their interest and brings another dimension to the handling.

This format also lends itself to study sessions, particularly a small group at a single table, where a greater range of pieces can be shown, and discussed in more detail, together with a session looking at silver wine labels * ; their evolving design from the 1730s, how wars with France determined the wines that were drunk, and how some makers families supplied them for several generations.

   * Also known as decanter labels. Originally introduced to identify the contents of opaque and dark coloured bottles.

With most of the votes clustered in the 'Excellent' and 'Very Good' category the average vote for this lecture was 3.58 and for the slides 3.28 (where 5 is outstanding, 4 is excellent, 3 is very good, 2 is good, 1 is satisfactory and 0 is poor)

Dukes, Popes, Doges and Medici were patrons of the greatest art of the Renaissance - BUT how much do we know of the women who commissioned and collected art, often in a pattern quite distinct from that of men? Lucrezia Borgia confounded her image as murderous and promiscuous by commissioning church buildings and artefacts; Alfonsina Orsini used architecture and sculpture to negotiate for power. Most formidable of all was Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, - “Hungry for art” as she described herself, she was unscrupulous in building a collection which was one of the wonders of Italy, commissioning paintings from Leonardo, Titian and Mantegna, assembling classical gems and statuary and unhesitatingly stealing, when required, what she coveted.

Who were these women and how did they overcome social constraints and restricted means to contribute to glory of the age?

The feedback on this lecture gave an average rating of 3 (Very Good) for both the lecture and the slides

The great composer Franz Schubert (1797-1838) surrounded himself with a brilliant circle of artists, poets, and musicians whose talents and kindness fed his Romantic creativity. This presentation tells the fascinating story of how Schubert rewarded his friends with gifts of his ‘divine music’. Celebrated images of Schubert – in concert, playing comic charades, or travelling by horse-drawn carriage across Austria - are illustrated by Dr Griffiths at the piano* via musical ‘postcards’ which immortalize the names of Schubert’s devoted companions, including the sweet Kupelwieser Waltz (written as a wedding present) or the amusing Hüttenbrenner Variations. Dr Griffiths invariably offers helpful explanations, delivered in his inimitable style from the keyboard. To conclude, a performance of Impromptus (1828): masterpieces of great lyrical beauty and power which bring the presentation to a rousing finale.

Feed back gave the lecture an amazing 4.56 rating (where 5 is outstanding and 4 is excellent)  which is one of the best ratings we have had.  We couldn't give a rating on slides as there weren't any owing to technical problems.

London’s National Gallery is a marvellous place to see how artists have treated the Christmas story through the ages. The most beautiful images ever made are here.

The earliest paintings date from before the Reformation when the richest imagery and fabulous stories of the saints were much admired. Following the Counter Reformation in the middle years of the 16th century, Catholic art was stripped of these colourful stories derived from the Golden Legend, which were regarded often as superstitious fabrications. There was still a big demand for Christmas images for altarpieces, but now earthed in every day life, emphasising Emmanuel – God with us.

By way of contrast the Protestant north stripped churches of art. However there was a market from private patrons, especially in Holland, where artists like Rembrandt painted some of the most tender and moving interpretations the theme.

By choosing images from the 1260s up to the mid 1600s we also see how Western European art developed in Italy and the Netherlands.

Feedback: Quality of Lecture 3.85 on average, Quality of Slides 3.56 on average

(Where Outstanding is 5, Excellent is 4, Very good is 3, Good is 2, Satisfactory is 1 and poor is 0).

Booklist for further reading after the lecture:-

The National Gallery has an excellent bookshop with various books on this subject.

Hall’s Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. Pub John Murray

Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. By George Ferguson. Oxford University Press.

The Image of Christ: Catalogue of the Millennium exhibition Seeing Salvation. Introduction by Neil MacGregor.  National Gallery publication.

Ever since the late nineteenth century, seduced by its intense light and sensual colours, visual artists (most of them from the north) have been irresistibly drawn to the Mediterranean coast of France. Claude Monet painted in Antibes in 1888; while in the same year, van Gogh, dreaming of setting up a “Studio of the South”, persuaded Gauguin – with disastrous results - to join him in Arles. Cézanne’s roots, of course, lay in his beloved Midi, to which he returned for good in 1899. Meanwhile, in 1892, Paul Signac sailed into the unspoilt port of St.Tropez, settling there and attracting large numbers of younger artists to the area – among them, his Neo-Impressionist disciples and members of the future Fauve group. In the early 20th century, Renoir would make the Midi his home, as would Bonnard and Matisse. And after the Second World War, so too would Picasso and Chagall. 

Feedback:  Quality of lecture rated 3.25 on average, Quality of slides rated at 3.3 on average.  (Where Outstanding=5, Excellent=4, Very Good=3, Good=2, Satisfactory=1 and Poor=0)

In the Elizabethan age, these exquisite miniatures capturing transient expressions (‘these stolen glances’) were regarded as jewels, to be held in the hand. Only about 1-2 inches in size, they were painted on vellum mounted on playing cards; the pleasurable symbolism of the hearts suit was chosen for pictures of spouses or lovers. Miniatures provide a portrait of the age, from its monarchs and courtiers, to grand ladies, city merchants and military men. The tiny miniatures reproduce excellently on screen, showing every detail of the astonishingly elaborate costumes: even down to ruffs, which were worn ever larger, so that in the end even eating became difficult. 

Iran has a sophisticated cultural heritage ignored in the headlines. The main part of the lecture illustrates the development of the spectacular architecture in the mosques and palaces of Persia through the Islamic period, with an emphasis on their brilliant tilework and painting, including the splendid buildings of Shah Abbas' early 17th century Isfahan. Persia’s classic gardens are mentioned, and beautiful examples of manuscript illustration (‘miniatures’) are included. The lecture explains how the Shi'a form of Islam originated and became the ruling creed in the late 20th century Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini. This puts the contemporary politics in the context of the country's fascinating cultural history.

 The lecture aims to explain the often bewildering and controversial world of modern and contemporary art. It covers all the key developments in painting and sculpture during the twentieth century, and examines how they relate to the major social changes and historical events of their times. 

Linda Smith

Holds two first-class degrees in Art History. Experienced guide and lecturer at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Lectures to secondary school audiences and independent arts societies.

http://theartssociety.org.uk 'The Astonishing Master Mozart Comes to London' replaces the Vivaldi lecture which was unfortunately cancelled at short notice.

The lecture starts with the young 8 year old Mozart, and some of his early music, and finishes with some music by Mozart's son, whose music some of us may be unaware of. Graham Griffiths will be illustrating the lecture at the keyboard.

The Salon beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world.

Denmark is blessed with no less than fourteen Royal Castles and palaces. Over the centuries the Danish Kings enriched the land with great buildings programmes, from simple dwellings to sumptuous palaces. In this lecture four of the most famous splendid palaces and the extraordinary history will be discussed:

·         Rosenborg Palace

·         Fredriksborg Palace

·         Amalienborg Palace

·         Fredensborg Palace (Palace of Peace).

The lecture includes the life stories of many of the royal Danish families.

A social and cultural historian, Daniel Snowman was educated at Cambridge and Cornell. After lecturing at Sussex University he worked at the BBC where he was responsible for a wide variety of radio series on cultural and historical topics. Daniel has held a Senior Research Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London. He is also a long-time member of the London Philharmonic Choir and has always had a strong and informed interest in music and musicians. He is an accomplished author and his output includes the subject of today’s lecture: A Gilded Cage: A Social and Cultural History of Opera.

Daniel’s lecture takes a holistic approach and he tells us much about impresarios, socialites and the process by which the art form most often accused of elitism has travelled from Venetian noblemen to the rugby stadium.

Hertsmere DFAS Lecture on June 14th 2017

Three Baltic Capitals – Vilnius, Riga and Tallin by Prof. Anne Anderson.

A glimpse of the rich culture of three distinctive Baltic capitals: Vilnius in Lithuania is a Baroque city with magnificent churches and monasteries dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, and also famed for its fine remarkable Gothic and Renaissance buildings. Napoleon wanted to place the brick-built Church of St. Anne in the palm of his hand and move to Paris.

In complete contrast is Riga. ‘The Little Paris of the North’ has the trappings of a European capital, with boulevards and the Opera House. Here the interest shifts to fantastical Art Nouveau apartment blocks created by Eisenstein.

Perhaps the prettiest of the three capitals is Tallin, with its romantic fortifications; indeed towers dominate the city’s skyline. Its web of winding cobblestone streets and charming 11th to the 15th century merchant’s houses combine to make Tallin one of the finest medieval European towns.

No stranger to Hertsmere Anne Anderson is an author, broadcaster, international NADFAS lecturer, since 1993, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians. She was a senior lecturer at Southampton for 14 years, specialising in the Arts & Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and Modernism. She currently teaches at Kingston University.

The April Lecture

I am the Very Model: Parody & Satire in the Operas of Gilbert & Sullivan.

The operas of Gilbert and Sullivan are rich in contemporary satire and witty personal allusions. This lecture tells how each of the 14 operas, on which the partners collaborated, drew inspiration from the world in which they lived by drawing on celebrities, politicians, social mores, manners, artistic taste and the class system. The lecture explains how the then first Lord of the Admiralty, W.H. Smith, became the model for Sir Joseph Porter KCB in HMS Pinafore, how Oscar Wilde inspired Bunthorne, the fleshly poet, in Patience, and how Gilbert himself was the model for the judge in Trial by Jury.

The ever popular Peter Medhurst is no stranger to Hertsmere; remember In the Wake of Handel and Paintings Inspired by Music and Music Inspired by Paintings, when he sang, played the piano and did everything but dance? Peter is a musician and scholar having studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.  

At the turn of the 19th century, Vienna was the capital of a vast empire and one of the most excitig artistic laboratories in the world. It produced painters such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, architects like Otto Wagner, Adolf Lood and Josef Hoffman, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Looking at these and other figures in context, the talk asks how and why the City of Dreams became a cultural hotbed around 1900.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster, pondering everything from Helena Bonham-Carter’s hair in the 80s to Georg Friedrich Haas’s search for a unique sound. He has interviewed writers, singers and actors, composers, conductors and clarinettists. Well known for his work on Central Europe and classical music, Gavin is equally at home on Broadway and in Tolstoy’s Russia.

You can find his work in newspapers, including The Guardian, The Times and The Independent on Sunday, and in magazines like High Life, as well as in opera and concert programmes around the world. He appears frequently on BBC Radio 3, both as a guest and, occasionally, as a presenter, as well as on BBC Radio 4, speaking on programmes such as Start the Week, Saturday Review and PM.

Justinian and Theodora bowed to no man when they ruled the world’s most powerful empire during the 6th century. A former prostitute and exotic dancer, Theodora was a woman with an unsavoury past, while her husband’s roots lay in Balkan peasant stock and yet together inspired some of most beautiful art in the Byzantine Empire. From the sublime mosaics of Ravenna and St Catherine’s monastery to the miraculous architecture of Hagia Sophia - who could forget the most outrageous imperial couple in Byzantine history?

Geri Parlby is a former Fleet Street journalist and film publicist She has a first class honours degree in History and Theology, a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology doctorate from Roehampton University in London. She has been lecturing for the past eleven years both in the UK and internationally and she is also principal lecturer on the NADFAS South West Area’s History of Art course and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Roehampton University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.