Flying is something we take for granted these days - it is a very quick, easy and relatively economic way of travelling long distances, but in the beginning, things were very different.  The lecture takes a passenger’s perspective to the history of flying as we progress from those early planes to airships (where you would dress for dinner), to flying boats (which could reach Australia in 10 days), to the postwar aircraft and finally to today's extensive range of economy flights. 

The cabin crew are central to the story. The earliest ones were qualified nurses, to provide reassurance to the passengers. Over time their role has evolved and today their primary responsibility is passenger safety.  How their uniforms have changed over time is a really interesting topic.   Many of them have been  created by some of the greatest designers, including Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Vivienne Westwood and Yves St Laurent.  There was also a period in the ‘swinging sixties', when some airlines had pretty outrageous crew uniforms.

A keen and accomplished photographer Roger Mendham has gained Distinctions from the Royal Photographic Society and has recently completed 3 years as President of the Surrey Photographic Association. His artistic taste is predominantly 20th century and he is particularly interested in the visual aspects of art. He has studied the evolution of photography from its earliest days in the early 1800s to becoming a major art form in the late 20th and now 21st centuries. An experienced public speaker, his talks are all richly illustrated with both his own and images from some of the leading photographers in history.   

Irma Stern was one of the most important and influential artists to come out of South Africa in the twentieth century. A near contemporary of Munnings, her art shows some stylistic similarities although her subjects were very different. A similar concern with figurative painting was in Stern’s case directed at the production of luxurious flower paintings in the manner of Van Gogh whilst perhaps her most original achievement were the powerful portraits she painted of black African sitters in exotic locations and costumes.

Christopher Garibaldi is an independent researcher.  From 2010–2019 he was Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Horse Racing Museum). He has also been Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections,  and Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: where he was co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. From 1994–1997 he catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.  

Image: Congolese Woman, 1946, Copyright © Irma Stern™ Museum 2025

This lecture is an introduction to Francisco de Zurbarán, the Spanish contemporary of Diego Velàzquez, whose works are being celebrated in a major exhibition at the National Gallery, London, from 2 May to 23 August 2026.   Some 50 paintings by Zurbarán and his son Juan are being shown from Spain, France, Britain and the USA.  These include altarpieces, life-size paintings of saints and smaller meditative still lifes.  Zurbarán’s main patrons were the religious orders of Seville, then a thriving and wealthy maritime city, but he also painted in Madrid for King Philip IV.  His naturalistic paintings have a special intensity and power even today. 

People will probably have heard of Zurbarán through his series Jacob and his Twelve Sons, which hang in the former home of the Bishops of Durham at Auckland Castle.  In 2010 the Church Commissioners decided to sell them, but Jonathan Ruffer, the philanthropist and hedge-fund millionaire, campaigned to save them for the nation as well as setting up a permanent Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland. 

Gail Turner is a historian, art historian, and painter. She is passionate about Spain and Spanish topics. She has been a long-time lecturer for The Arts Society, and before Covid she taught on courses at the V&A, and for Art Pursuits, the National Gallery and the Art Fund. She has lectured on Cambridge University Summer Schools, the Courtauld Institute Summer Courses, Inscape, and for many arts organisations in Europe. In the past she led tours to Spain for The Arts Society and Martin Randall Travel. Gail lectured in the Prado and Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid in the 1980s, and was Deputy Curator of Keats Shelley Memorial House, Rome, before that. She was also once a Christie’s consultant in Illuminated Manuscripts. In 2015 Gail was awarded the Encomienda de Isabel la Católica (the equivalent of the CBE) by the King of Spain for promoting Spanish culture among British audiences. She is President of The Arts Society Colchester. 

Frederic Leighton’s studio-house (now Leighton House Museum) is one of the most remarkable buildings of the nineteenth-century. First built in the 1860s, Leighton continued to extend and embellish his home over the next thirty years, transforming what had been a relatively modest house into a palace of art filled with fascinating collections of fine and decorative art. The construction of the exotic Arab Hall, lined with Islamic tiles collected as Leighton travelled through the Middle East brought new fame to the house as Leighton’s reputation continued to grow.

Daniel Robbins is Senior Curator, Museums with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and is responsible for two of London’s most significant house museums: Leighton House and Sambourne House. Formerly with Glasgow Museums, he has organised many exhibitions and contributed to numerous catalogues and publications around nineteenth-century art, architecture and design, including the authorship of the companion guide to Leighton House. He was responsible for leading the award-winning project to restore the historic interiors of the house completed between 2008 and 2010 and for the subsequent £9.6 million refurbishment of two unsympathetic twentieth-century additions made to the museum. Completed in October 2022, the house reopened to great acclaim and was a finalist for the Art Fund Museum of the Year Prize in 2023.    

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.

This lecture coincides with Gainsborough’s House exhibition Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk, which is being held from November 15, 2025 – March 22, 2026. Amy Lim is the co-curator of this exhibition in Sudbury.

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, and a tutor at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. She was recently an exhibition researcher at Tate, contributing to British Baroque: Power and Illusion (2020) and 'Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920' (2024). 

THE LECTURE IS PRECEDED BY THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, WHICH STARTS AT 2.15PM

The story of two extraordinary women: Lady Hester Stanhope, niece of William Pitt, who travelled extensively in the Orient, made an epic journey to Palmyra and died in the mountains of Lebanon, and Zenobia, queen of the splendid oasis city and trading emporium of Palmyra in the Syrian desert during the 3rd century AD, who dared to challenge the might of Rome and conquered an empire which stretched as far as Egypt. 

Sue Rollin works as a tour guide and lecturer in India and the Middle East, and as a freelance interpreter for the European Union, United Nations and other international organisations.

Formerly staff interpreter at the European Commission, Brussels, and tutor and lecturer in Assyriology and Ancient History at the Universities of London and Cambridge, she has also worked as an archaeologist. She has published Blue Guide: Jordan and Istanbul: A Traveller's Guide. 

This lecture explores the birth of the Soviet mosaic from its roots in Islamic mosaics and Communist propagandist posters through to the question of preservation in post-Soviet Central Asia. We explore why Soviet thinking was so keen to bring art out of galleries and into public spaces, and how, in an era when Socialist Realism was the only permitted artistic expression, every public artwork came with a message, a value and an agenda. How did Soviet artists deal with the uncomfortable reality that Muslim Central Asia was a Russian colonial conquest?

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and Journalism at Leicester University. He moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, which became the largest non-government employer in town. After an anti-Western purge he had to leave, and spent a year in Cambridge writing A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent three years in the High Pamirs of Tajikistan training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down, followed by two years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Chris is now based in Cambridge writing fiction, and lectures for The Art Society. He also leads tours to Central Asia, returning whenever he can, having left a large chunk of his heart there.

In this lecture Rome tourist guide Stuart Harvey looks at some of the famous British visitors to Rome between the 1500s and 1800s, and how these Grand Tourists changed the art world. These wealthy travellers not only visited the great works of art and architecture, but also wanted portraits, miniatures, mosaics and ancient sculptures to purchase for their family collections. We will meet renegade cardinals, exiled royals, wealthy aristocrats and of course the artists who came to study, as well as some of the fascinating characters that catered to them in Rome, as we look at how the art world in Rome adapted to this lucrative new market.

Stuart Harvey is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide and also a Guida Turistica Abilitata della Provincia di Roma. He has worked in educational tourism since 1992, leading study tours all over Europe. Living in Rome since 2003, Stuart has developed a great love for the Eternal City and its many treasures. In addition to his primary career as full-time Rome tourist guide, Stuart’s entertaining and lively lectures and virtual tours bring the rich artistic and historical wealth of Rome’s 28 centuries to life for people all over the world. 

Immerse yourself in a world of carnations, tulips, hyacinths and roses as you discover the history of the famous Turkish Iznik ceramics from its origins imitating Chinese porcelain to its 16th-century heyday and subsequent decline. 

Dr Antonia Gatward Cevizli is an independent art historian specialising in both Italian Renaissance art and Ottoman art. She gained her PhD from the University of Warwick. Her publications focus on cultural and diplomatic exchange between the Italian city-states and the Ottomans. Antonia has lectured for a number of institutions including Sabancı University, Istanbul; Sotheby’s Institute of Art; the National Gallery; the V&A Academy and The Courtauld summer school. Her interests are wide- ranging and she has also worked across the collections of both Tate Modern and Tate Britain as a professional guide. She has lived in Siena, Venice and Istanbul. 

Loaded with symbolism, the colour blue creates meaning, provokes emotion and ignites memory on a personal, and a cultural level, throughout the world.

From the sacred shade of Ultramarine, to the ancient roots of Indigo, to the startling alchemy of Prussian, blue has been used to venerate icons since the earliest human civilizations. Enjoy this rich history of colour via two powerful forces: Impressionism and Japanese Print. 

When Monet’s waterlilies met Hokusai’s Great Wave, the values of art changed forever.

Alice White is a contemporary oil-painter, and a Tutor at the University of the Arts London and University College London. She has provided Guest Lectures at Kings College London, The Art Workers' Guild and the Courtauld Institute of Art. Alice’s solo show 'A New Wave' documented her year’s residency as Artist for Animals at ZSL London Zoo. Recent projects include 'The Art of Science' (Scott Polar Institute, University of Cambridge 2021). She regularly exhibits at the Mall Galleries in London. 

Starting with a look at the origins of opera as a form of courtly entertainment in Italy in the early years of the C17th, this overview takes in the opulent spectacles at the French court of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King”, and pokes its nose into opera houses across Europe in the Baroque era, including those in London, where Italian opera gained an unlikely foothold, and was memorably described by Dr Johnson as an “exotic and irrational entertainment”.

Sandy Burnett 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, he 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. 

This lecture covers surprising attempts to create some graphic unity, even in the 1860s and 70s, the expansion of the Underground and the need to create some cohesion between the different operating companies, as well as Leslie Green's architecture and the Arts & Crafts movement, Frank Pick, Edward Johnston's typeface, Charles Holden's architecture and the Streamline Moderne/Art Deco movement, right up to recent schemes and future works including the Elizabeth Line and Northern Line extension to Battersea. 

Mark Ovenden is a broadcaster and author who has sold a quarter of a million books and appeared on many TV and radio programmes. He specialises in the subjects of industrial design and architecture - especially in the world of public transport. Since he became an Arts ?Society accredited lecturer in 2018 he has delivered scores of lectures to societies all over Britain and also in Europe, the most popular being his talk on the London Underground. 

His first book (a New York Times "Bestseller") was a guide to the maps of Transit systems across the planet and it has been re-issued many times. His works have been translated by Penguin and others into half a dozen languages. His titles include two books about the Paris Metro and others about Railway Maps, the New York Subway, the London Underground,  Underground Cities and Cartography design. 

A Reminder - from March 2025 all lectures begin at 2.30pm

'I write only for fame…' -  Jane Austen 

When Jane Austen declared that she wrote ‘only for fame’, she was, of course, being ironic: she published anonymously; there is no record on her gravestone that she was a writer; and her books fell out of print shortly after her death.  But now Jane Austen is one of our best loved authors, with legions of adoring fans throughout the world.  Her novels have inspired countless stage and screen adaptations, and even provided solace to soldiers in the trenches.  She is the face of the £10 banknote, and she adorns tea towels and fridge magnets everywhere.  Jane Austen is now very famous indeed.    But how did it all happen?  This lecture charts Jane Austen’s rise to fame; it explores the making of a literary celebrity and examine Austen’s legacy, 250 years after her birth.

Following a career in teaching, Annalie Talent spent several years working on education programmes at museums and literary houses across the UK, including the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere; Wordsworth House in Cockermouth; Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire; and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. At Jane Austen’s House, Annalie won two Sandford Awards for Excellence in Heritage Education. She also worked with the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and Chawton House Library in promoting Austen’s work to young people. 

A Reminder - from March 2025 all lectures begin at 2.30pm

As the people of Norway became Christians from the 11th century, they started building wooden churches. Using particular techniques, they managed to build churches that still stand, some eight centuries later. Their very peculiar and rather extraordinary silhouette adorns the Norwegian landscape here and there and has become a national symbol. We will see how they were constructed and why they look the way they do. We will also examine the decorative elements, sometimes reminiscent of the Viking Age, and others in line with European medieval art.

Dr Caroline Levisse is an art historian based in London. She was born in France where she studied art history before moving to Copenhagen. In Denmark, she focused on research work and completed a PhD on the relations between art and religion in contemporary Scandinavian art. After graduating in 2013, she moved to London and started teaching art history with adult education providers. She has since developed a range of courses focusing on 19th and early 20th century Western art. She has published articles in French and English in academic journals as well as magazines and newspapers, such as Church Times and Arts sacrés. 

A Reminder - from March 2025 all lectures begin at 2.30pm

In the middle of the 11th century, at the time of the Norman Conquest, Palermo was one of the greatest commercial and cultural centres of the Muslim world. It was a busy metropolis with over 300 mosques, abuzz with markets, exchanges, craftsmen and artisans and all around were parks and pleasure gardens with fountains and running streams, so typical of the Muslim world. In 1072 Palermo fell to the Normans, taken by Roger I.

Jane Angelini is a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society and other arts organisations. She speaks several foreign languages and has translated a number of works of 19th century Russian literature for Penguin Books and Oxford University Press. She has a BA in Russian Studies and an MA in Byzantine Studies. She and her husband run an art gallery in St James’s, Piccadilly, which specialises in 20th century art. 

PLEASE NOTE THE LECTURE IS PRECEDED BY THE AGM, WHICH STARTS AT 10.45am

The Huguenots came to England in huge numbers in the late 17th century, bringing a wide variety of skills  as silk weavers, silversmiths, clock makers, opticians, bankers, gilders, ironworkers, horticulturists etc. Names such as Paul de Lamerie, Samuel Courtauld and Jean Tijou spring to mind. In virtually all areas, they were innovators and more advanced than the English, who were forced to improve their own skills or go out of business. Although the majority settled in London, others found their way to East Anglia, Macclesfield and Canterbury. This talk examines their lasting legacy.

Sue Jackson originally 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.

This lecture celebrates the 400th anniversary of Charles I’s accession to the throne in 1625.  Charles I’s obsession for collecting works of art began when, as a 22-year-old prince, he travelled to Spain and saw the magnificent collection of the Spanish king, Philip IV.  On becoming King in 1625 Charles purchased the fabulous collection of the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua, which included works by Titian, Raphael, and Andrea Mantegna’s astonishing series of paintings ‘The Triumphs of Caesar’.  Charles engaged Peter Paul Rubens to paint the ceiling of the Banqueting House in Whitehall ,and he appointed Anthony van Dyck as his Court Artist.  Van Dyck’s iconic royal portraits created the enduring image of Charles I we remember today. By the end of his reign Charles had amassed over 2000 works of art ,but in doing so he had bankrupted England and alienated his people. Tragically as the collection expanded his political fortunes plummeted.  His life ended on the scaffold in 1649 and most of the collection was sold in what was known as ‘The Commonwealth Sale’ in 1650. While many works were retrieved by Charles II during the Restoration, others now hang in the great art galleries of Europe.

Barbara Askew is a Historian and  has been a London Blue Badge Guide since 1988. She is a lecturer, examiner and course director on Blue Badge Guide training courses and is an acknowledged expert on Royalty and Windsor Castle. Barbara is the only Blue Badge Guide accredited to guide the Albert Memorial.

PLEASE NOTE THIS LECTURE COMMENCES AT 10.45am

For the series and film ‘Downton Abbey’ Andrew was commissioned to make many jewels for the main characters, and this inspired him to create a talk based on this unique period.  Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case. This lecture takes us through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence.  Along with this, Andrew illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

Andrew Prince has had a passion for jewellery since he was a small child. In 1980, when he was nine, Andrew's mother took him to the Princely Magnificence exhibition at the V&A, exhibiting Renaissance jewels dating from 1500 to 1630. It proved a revelation. Dazzled by the splendour and opulence of the jewels on show, Andrew decided then and there that creating jewellery was what he wanted to devote his life to.  His taste for fine 'costume jewellery' can be traced back to an antique market, where he came across a late Victorian brooch set with what he initially thought were emeralds and diamonds. He realised that beautiful jewellery didn't require expensive stones, and that it was the elegance of the design and the quality of the workmanship that truly mattered. Private commissions then started to trickle in. The trickle turned into a flood, as celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Shirley Bassey were seen wearing Andrew's creations.  In 2005 he was asked to make tiaras and jewellery for ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’ starring Judy Dench. In 2009 pieces were commissioned for ‘The Young Victoria’ starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson, and in 2012 he was chosen by the creators of ‘Downton Abbey’ to supply a large collection of jewellery for the third series. The characters played by Maggie Smith, Shirley Maclaine, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery were all adorned with elegant tiaras, combs, earrings and necklaces designed and created by Andrew Prince.

A king's favourite who amassed a great art collection.

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was the favourite of King James I - who addressed him as ‘my sweet child and wife’ - and subsequently chief minister to King Charles I. Buckingham was a beauty, and he surrounded himself with beautiful things. He enjoyed exquisite clothes, like the fabulous white silk suit encrusted with diamonds that he wore to visit the Queen of France. He was a superb dancer. When he cut capers during a court masque King James startled visiting ambassadors by shouting out ‘By God, George, I love you!’. He was also a great patron of the arts.

The lecture includes a brief history of frames and focuses on their design and construction, including how frames have developed in Europe, influenced often by prevailing architectural styles.  The design and making of frames gives an insight into their design and selection, gilding techniques over time, together with the materials used in the workshop. The lecture also discusses the conservation of frames, and how to choose the right one to transform a painting and display it to its best advantage. 

Julia Korner is a specialist and lecturer in fine art conservation and the restoration of paintings, sculptures and frames. She is also a valuer, passionate collector, advisor and curator of paintings and works of art. Julia trained in art history and conservation in Cambridge. Then she worked for twenty years at Christie's as a paintings’ specialist, building extensive knowledge of Old Masters and of British, European and American paintings from the 1700s onwards. Julia has worked independently in her own studio in West London since 1997. Here, she and her small team give specialist conservation work personal and expert attention through restoration, scientific analysis and research. Damaged paintings, polychrome statues, over-mantles, traditional gold leaf & gesso frames, along with unusual and exquisite handmade cabinets all emerge transformed by the conservation work, or created from scratch, under her expertise, knowledge and care.  Julia also acts as an advisor, valuer and exhibition curator for public and private collections, in the UK and abroad. 

Chatsworth's 105-acre garden and surrounding 1000-acre park is a fascinating and varied historic landscape, particularly famous for its waterworks, rock garden and sculptures. It encompasses work by many of the finest landscape designers of English history, from the formal London and Wise parterres of the late 17th century and the work of William Kent and Capability Brown in the 18th century, to the great, self-taught Victorian genius Joseph Paxton, who was head gardener for more than 30 years. Created and developed on a suitably ducal scale, the garden has absorbed the best of each generation to become a uniquely layered landscape. The last 60 years has seen the garden develop in new ways, and become home to a growing collection of contemporary sculpture and a new landscape design by Dan Pearson and Tom Stuart Smith. This lecture spans five centuries to tell the story of one family's impact on a Derbyshire valley.

Simon Seligman studied art and architectural history at Warwick University. For 19 years, until 2010, he worked at Chatsworth House in a variety of roles, latterly as Head of Communications. He has lectured about Chatsworth, the Devonshire Collection and associated topics throughout the UK and on several US tours. Alongside his lecturing, Simon is a Life Coach in private practice, and works part time for John Ruskin’s charity the Guild of St George.

Following the opening of Japan to Western trade in the 1860s, paintings, prints and artifacts from Japan came to Europe and the West, creating new styles and demand for all things ‘Japanese’. This continued into the 20th century and inspired artists to create daring new designs in architecture, space and design.

An independent researcher and historian specialising in Japanese history, art and culture, Suzanne Perrinfounded Japan Interlink in 1995 to promote the understanding of Japan in the UK. She studied Nihonga traditional Japanese painting at Nagoya University of Arts, and the Japanese Language at the Japan Foundation in London. Suzanne has lectured to a wide range of institutions including universities, museums and adult education groups in the UK and overseas. She has published articles on Japanese culture and contemporary living for various magazines, and published her first book in 2016 titled Bridges: Anglo-Japanese Cultural Pioneers 1945-2015. She is working on her second book, on Japanese craftspeople in Kyoto, and visits Japan regularly to continue her research.

Two hundred and fifty years after Antonio Stradivari’s death, his violins and cellos remain the most highly prized instruments in the world. Loved by great musicians and capable of fetching fabulous sums when sold, their tone and beauty are legendary. Every subsequent violin-maker has tried to match them. Not one has succeeded. How can that be? This lecture explores that central mystery by following some of Stradivari’s instruments from his workshop to the present day. It is a story that travels from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, and from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings. Toby Faber’s book Stradivarius: Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius was described in The New York Times as ‘more enthralling, earthy and illuminating than any fiction could be.’ The lecture is illustrated with pictures of violins and of key individuals and locations, as well as with some short musical recordings.

Toby Faber is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber & Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press. Toby has written three narrative histories, Stradivarius – Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius,  Faberge’s Eggs, and Faber & Faber – The Untold Story, as well as a novel, Close to the Edge. Of these, only the obvious one is published by the family firm.

The international art market is today dominated by four British auctioneers, their world record prices sensationally reported by the world’s media. But what is it like behind the canvas? How do auction houses function? What goes on behind the scenes and what is required for a successful sale to take place? With an overview of the rise of two of the main London salerooms, Sotheby’s and Bonhams - both founded in the 18th century - this lecture, given by an auctioneer with thirty-five years experience in both houses, reveals all.

Simon Cottle is a leading international specialist, author and lecturer in British and European Glass. Currently an independent Fine Art consultant. He was formerly Managing Director, Bonhams Europe, and Director of European Ceramics and Glass at Bonhams Auctioneers, London (2007-2021) and former Head of European Ceramics and Glass at Sotheby's, where he was also a director and auctioneer (1990 to 2007). Following studies for a degree in History at Cardiff, Washington and Manchester universities, Simon started his career as a senior curator of ceramics, glass and silver at museums in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Glasgow (1979-1990). He is Hon. President of the Glass Circle, Fellow of the Guild of Glass Engravers and a Fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York.

2024 - 2028 marks one hundred years since Winnie-the-Pooh was introduced to children of all ages in the four iconic books created by A A Milne and E H Shepard. First seen in When We Were Very Young (1924), Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood had their own adventures in Winnie-The-Pooh (1926), with Now We Are Six (1927) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), giving us more wonderful poems and stories which include the introduction of both Tigger and Poohsticks. This lecture tells the story of how these much loved books were created by the genius of Milne and Shepard’s groundbreaking collaboration and why they remain embedded in our national identity. A wonderful opportunity to see behind the scenes of these marvels of childhood for a hundred years. 

James Campbell has an MA in the History of Art, and a particular interest in the work of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist E H Shepard (1879-1976). He has been lecturing for over twenty years and has lectured across the UK and overseas to community groups, Literary Festivals, Art Societies, military museums, and to private clubs and societies. His books Shepard’s War and The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 2015 and 2017 respectively. He is currently working on a joint biography of A A Milne and E H Shepard commissioned for the centenary of the Winnie-the-Pooh books.

Image ©The Shephard Trust,  Not For Reproduction.

Of all the notable aspects of the life of the great Sun King, Louis XIV (1638-1715), the best remembered is his creation of Versailles, the immense chateau which he built on the site of his father’s old hunting lodge.  Versailles became the seat of French government, the setting for all grand court ceremonial and the envy of every other European monarch. This lecture will look at the sumptuous state apartments, the vast gardens and pleasure pavilions, the spectacular entertainments which took place both inside and outside Versailles, the collections of the King, and the etiquette of life at one of the greatest courts in Europe.

Jane Gardiner has an MA in History of Art from the University of London. Jane was Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby's, UK. She trained at the V&A and continues to lecture there. She has also lectured for the National Trust, the Art Fund, London University, Buckingham University, l'Institut d'Études Supérieures des Arts in Paris, a private women's college in Saudi Arabia, on cruise ships, and at antiques fairs and interior design conferences in the USA.

In 2022 the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) celebrated its 150th anniversary. It was founded to keep hand embroidery alive and to offer suitable occupation to educated women who would otherwise have been destitute. Today it is a thriving centre of hand embroidery education to the highest level.

This lecture goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the last 150 years and the School’s changing fortunes including: being part of the ‘Kensington set’; the links with the Arts and Crafts and Aestheticism movements; the connection with the SAS; the move to Hampton Court Palace, and the variety of commissions the RSN has undertaken from wedding dresses to Oscar gowns and from runway garments to ecclesiastical vestments.

Susan Kay Williams is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, in 2015 she was made a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in recognition of her work on the history of dyes. Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Canada, China, Japan, and Taiwan as well as for the V&A and across the UK. 

In 1565 Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, picturing daily life over a year, changed the way we view the world through art. Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas, both sacred and profane. In Bruegel's hands however, the landscape and the viewer’s interaction with it, became the focus. Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, this lecture explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment, and our individual places within a shifting cosmos.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster.  He appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 and contributes to newspapers, magazines, and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely on the culture of Central Europe during the 19th. and 20th. centuries. He has given talks for the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York. He lectures extensively to arts societies in the UK and overseas. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, was published in June 2022.

Between about 1890 and 1930, Arts and Crafts designers built and contributed to hundreds of churches across England. Some are famous schemes, which include the church building and all its interior fittings, for example those at Brockhampton in Herefordshire, Holy Trinity in Sloane Square in London and St. Andrews in Roker, Sunderland. Sometimes it is just one commission – a stained glass window, a screen, a font cover. This lecture explores how designers such as Morris & Co., in churches like St Andrews in Selsley in Gloucestershire, changed the course of church furnishing in England, and how the next generation of Arts and Crafts designers revolutionised church design. There is a particular focus on All Saints’ Church Brockhampton, perhaps the finest Arts and Crafts church in Britain.

Kirsty Hartsiotis has been the curator of decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham since 2008, and prior to that was the curator and manager of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. At Cheltenham she looks after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection, which includes the important private press archive, the Emery Walker Library. She has curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts and Private Press Movements, most recently Ernest Gimson: Observation, Imagination & Making. Kirsty Hartsiotis is also a freelance researcher and is currently researching Arts and Crafts war memorials and the work of Arts and Crafts designers in churches in the South West. For over 20 years she has been an oral storyteller, and has published a number of collections of stories. She is the newsletter editor for Society of Decorative Art Collections, a regular columnist for Cotswold Life, and writes on art history and folklore for many other publications.

Throughout the history of Dior there was one fashion artist who had carte blanche to illustrate, promote and define the essence of Dior, through a flowing, striking brushstroke that was to become a trademark of Dior’s elegant philosophy. This fascinating talk explores the life and art of René Gruau (1909-2004), and shows why his imaginative and beautifully crafted illustrations for Dior are considered to be some of the most iconic fashion images of the 20th. century.

With a background in fashion and broadcasting, Connie Gray is a specialist in the history of 20th century fashion illustration and its powerful legacy. She has worked with the most influential fashion publications internationally and the great couture houses of Paris, London and New York. She lectures regularly in the UK and the USA and sits on advisory boards at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and Special Collections at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. As a curator and archivist, she works with institutions and foundations on acquisitions, conservation and exhibition projects. She has curated specialist exhibitions, including most recently Legends Only: David Downton at Claridge’s in 2022 and 100 Years of Fashion Illustration at The Society of Illustrators, New York. Other specialist exhibitions have included those for Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Cruise, held on their flagship ship Queen Mary 2 to celebrate London and New York fashion weeks. As the lead curator for the art gallery Gray M.C.A, she curates the acclaimed annual exhibition Drawing on Style, which celebrates the masters of fashion illustration, along with accompanying lecture programmes.  During Covid, Connie Gray wrote and presented a popular series of on-line masterclasses, talks and short films on the subject of fashion illustration.

The Persian empire exploded into life during the middle of the 6th. century BCE and for the next two centuries was the largest empire in the world. It stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to the Indus valley in the east, from the Eurasian steppes in the north to Egypt and Arabia in the south. In around 515 BCE, its third Great King, Darius I, commissioned the building of a new city, Persepolis, with his palace at its centre. We know a great deal about this palace, and one of its central features, the Apadana Staircase, can be seen in replica in the British Museum. What can this palace and its art tell us about the ideology of this extraordinary and influential empire?

James Renshaw has a degree in Classics from Oxford University, and from 1998 he has taught Classics at secondary school level.  He currently teaches at Godolphin and Latymer school in London, where he runs the school’s Ancient World Breakfast Club, which has an ethos similar to that of The Arts Society.  James Renshaw has published a number of textbooks related to the classical world, including In Search of the Greeks and In Search of the Romans. In addition to his school teaching, he has lectured for the V&A Academy, most recently on their Classical World and its Afterlife and Classicism from the Ancients to the Renaissance courses.  He is a keen traveller, and has taken many photos of ancient sites, a number of which have been used in his books and lectures.

The flower paintings of Cedric Morris (1889-1982), illustrating plants around the Mediterranean, the Canaries and beyond, reveal him to be a consummate botanist.  In 1940, following a fire, Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines were forced to relocate their East Anglia School of Painting and Drawing to Benton End near Hadleigh, in Suffolk. It was not just a school but a vibrant eclectic artistic hub, in a setting of Morris’s horticultural genius. Morris lived at Benton End until his death, enjoying national stature as artist and plantsman whose legacy included over 90 new irises.

Caroline Holmes is an Academic Tutor and Course Director for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.  She lectures for the Royal Horticultural Society, museums, arts societies, specialist travel companies and online for The Gardens Trust.  She has lectured widely internationally and as a guest lecturer for several cruise companies. She is a consultant garden and landscape designer specialising in evoking historic, artistic and symbolic references.  Caroline is the author of 12 books including Water Lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac, the genius behind Monet’s Water Lilies; Impressionists in their Gardens; Follies of Europe: Architectural Extravaganzas; Monet at Giverny and Icons of Garden Design. Her contributions to Viking TV include Monet’s Garden at Giverny. She is a presenter and contributor for television and BBC Radio 4. In 2017 Caroline Holmes received the Herb Society of America ‘Elizabeth Crisp Rea Award’.

Drawing on his own experiences as both a child and adult actor, Tyler Butterworth reveals the pains and the pleasures of a career in the theatre, and takes us through the various intricate processes of putting on a play, from the actor’s perspective - from the casting session to the curtain call, and all stops in between.  On the way, Tyler reveals how props can let you down at crucial moments, how actors survive when out of work, and how to deal with stage nudity.

Tyler Butterworth grew up in a theatrical family and spent twenty-five years as an actor, working extensively in film, television, theatre and radio. He then worked as a development producer in television documentaries and was closely involved with NASA on a landmark commemorative TV series. Currently he works as a voice actor, recording audiobooks, documentaries and voiceovers.  He also takes commissions from private clients to produce bespoke walking audio guides to cities across Europe: they are just like the audio guides you get in art galleries and museums but out on the street. He lives in Sussex where he walks on the South Downs and the South Coast.

Contemporary sculptor and installation artist Cornelia Parker is best known for her large-scale installations such as her (literally!) explosive work Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991), in which Parker took the archetypal British garden shed, and its contents, and had it blown up by the British Army!  The debris is then installed around a single light bulb, creating the dramatic effect of an explosion frozen in time. Intrigued as she is with the idea of ‘cartoon deaths’, of things being squashed, stretched, dropped from a height or detonated, she transforms everyday objects in order to investigate their nature and value. However, such destruction very often results in work of extraordinary beauty and maps an intriguing and unique thought process.

Rosalind Whyte has a BA and MA from Goldsmith’s College, and an MA (distinction) from Birkbeck College. She has long experience of leading guided tours at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, and the Royal Academy.  She has been a member of the Greenwich Tour Guides Association, leading tours of historic sites in Greenwich including the Queen’s House. She lectures to art societies and on cruises, and leads art appreciation holidays.

Keith’s lecture is a very personal account of how Caravaggio came into his life. This journey embraces the story of Caravaggio’s life and his paintings, and epitomises how art can inspire anyone. 

During his presentation Keith will lead a discussion of a number of aspects of Caravaggio’s life and work, such as: 

• "The Betrayal of Christ” - a painting ‘lost’ for almost 400 years, found by chance in Dublin 1990. 
• No body, no grave, no record of his death. How did Caravaggio die?      
• Caravaggio and his models, including himself.
• Did Caravaggio’s alleged bi-sexuality, trigger a sequence of events which directly led to his  premature death?
• Malta; a year on the island which promised so much, but ended in disaster.
• Caravaggio and Costanza Colonna; a bond that helped him throughout his life and very nearly saved him…but not quite. 

Keith Bonser was a teacher and senior manager in education for 38 years. Retirement in 2008 gave him the opportunity to pursue a specific interest that had its origins in 1995, when a weekend break in Dublin introduced him to Caravaggio.  Keith has travelled extensively throughout Europe to see Caravaggio’s paintings in situ, tracing his life story from the town of Caravaggio to the cities of Milan, Rome, Naples, and the islands of Malta and Sicily. Keith subsequently wrote a book on these experiences. Caravaggio came into Keith’s life completely by chance -and life has never been quite the same since.

Wine appeared across the Mediterranean and Europe about 7,000 B.C. and has been part of our society ever since. There is rich evidence of the role wine has played in these areas and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity. From the kwevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C., the symposia in ancient Greece, the thermopolia of Pompeii, the hospices of Europe, to the dining tables of fine society, wine has been ever present. Drawings, paintings, engravings, buildings, pottery and wine labels themselves all contribute to the story.

David Wright has been a wine retailer, importer and distributor for 30 years. In that time, he has presented tastings and talks on wine to trade and private audiences. Some of these have taken the form of wine ‘tastings’ or charity events where a particular subject is presented and wines tasted. He is fascinated by the rich evidence of wine, going back millennia, in the form of paintings, decorated drinking vessels, buildings and literature.

Image: Drinking vessel, Hittite, 1400-1300 B.C. The Met.

Standing in a large cathedral, we might ask ourselves how, why and for whom did ordinary human beings create these sky-scraping, dizzyingly high buildings on which even the top-most parts are delicately decorated? For God, for personal redemption and to make a living are the answers to the last two, but the "how" is harder to understand. Imogen Corrigan introduces us to the Master Masons who both designed the buildings and ran the site. They directed everything - sourcing the vast quantities of wood and stone, recruiting the workforce and knowing enough about the various trades to be able to create heaven on earth out the cacophony of thousands of chisels and hammers. In their decisions on construction they were continually balancing decoration against strength - we only see their successes, after all. They were charismatic leaders but also real people who got into trouble with the law, occasionally cheated on contracts, and who liked to start a job but not to finish it. Today we can only wonder at the scale and breathtaking beauty of their creations.

After nearly twenty years in the British army, Imogen Corrigan went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. She works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe, as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. She has written Stone on Stone: The Men who Built the Cathedrals (2019). She is a Freeman of the City of London, being a Member of the Company of Communicators.

Image: Kneeling mason

Grayson Perry is arguably Britain’s favourite living artist.  Jacky Klein has been a close collaborator of Perry’s for more than a decade, interviewing him numerous times and enjoying exclusive access to his archive, and in this talk she explores his techniques and sources, his themes and subjects, and the diverse artworks he has produced across ceramics, tapestry, print-making, sculpture and architecture. How did Perry, almost unknown until his mid-40s when he unexpectedly won the Turner Prize, come to be Britain’s most popular artist since David Hockney and Lucian Freud? And where might this peculiarly British National Treasure be going next?

Jacky Klein is an art historian, publisher, writer and broadcaster, specialising in modern and contemporary art. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, she worked as a curator at Tate, the Barbican, the Courtauld and the Hayward. In 2008 she moved into art publishing, holding senior roles at Thames & Hudson and Tate Publishing and subsequently as Director of HENI Publishing, a small independent arts publisher. She has written the bestselling Grayson Perry (3rd edition 2020) and co-authored a number of other titles including Alfred Cohen: An American Artist in Europe (2020), Body of Art (2015) and What is Contemporary Art?, a children's guide to the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Jacky has presented and contributed to a range of television programmes, online films and livestreams, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's “Front Row”. An experienced lecturer for museums, galleries, literary festivals and online, she has taught at a number of arts institutions including University College London, Christie’s Education, the V&A and the Royal Academy of Arts. She is a Trustee of the UK Association for Art History and an Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute.

Image: Grayson Perry selfie, 2020.  © the artist.

This lecture is the keystone in a series which looks at the technical innovation, combined with creative genius and remarkable craftsmanship, that enabled the poster to become the world’s first effective method of mass communication. From ‘Les Chats’ by Edouard Manet to ‘Saxoleine’ by Jules Cheret, and ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Divan Japonais’ by Toulouse-Lautrec, Charles Harris shows us inspirational work by the generations of superb artists who made the poster great - magnificent Mucha, socially-conscious Steinlen, and many more. We will learn how an effective poster is designed and how it plays on the mind, and why most posters today go unnoticed.

Charles Harris is a global-award winning Creative Director of international advertising agencies who has lectured extensively on design, illustration and photographic styles as they have influenced the building of brands. He is particularly interested in the role of posters and poster artists in the history of advertising.  Charles Harris has himself created posters for major brands including British Airways, Nestlé, Sony, General Motors and Shell. His travel writing and photography has appeared in various airline magazines as well as Time. He has also written and produced several hundred TV and radio commercials and corporate videos. He is a member of The Arts Society Winchester.

Image: Beer poster

Throughout her career, Dame Laura Knight painted a wide variety of models.  This lecture gives us the stories of many colourful characters, including children such as Phyllis Crocker, fellow artists such as Elieen Mayo and Ella Naper who along with professional models posed for Laura’s paintings of the nude. Also included are stars of the London ballet and the theatre, personalities from the circus including the animals and beloved gypsies, ending with models Laura painted during WWII.

Catherine Wallace is a freelance art historian, author and  lecturer. She also runs her own online Art History Courses and live Study Days with a focus on Cornish art as well as leading guided tours of galleries and museums in Cornwall. She studied Fine Art at Leeds and Canterbury before completing a Master’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies at St Andrews University.

Image: © Nottingham City Museums and Galleries ©Estate of Dame Laura Knight 

This lecture traces the soul of Russia through its rich musical heritage – from the unaccompanied choral music of the Orthodox Church to gypsy romances, magical ballets and songs performed by the Red Army Choir.  As well as examining how the diverse sounds of church bells, sacred chant and folk song inspired masterpieces by composers such as Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, we will also take a fresh look at the many familiar melodies which seem a part of our culture but are in fact Russian, and vice versa.

Rosamund Bartlett is 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 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 which include 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.

Image: The Fiddler by Marc Chagall, 1912.

This lecture explores the history of three very different but successful families.  The Sackville Wests have been part of the British establishment since the time of William the Conquerer; the Astors and the Rothschilds came to England as wealthy immigrants in the nineteenth century. Caroline Rayman explores their family history and looks at the splendid gardens they have created in the English countryside. 

For many years Caroline Rayman has lectured to universities and art organisations in America, and on cruise ships. She was an official guide at the British Museum and has published articles on samplers. Her lectures range from the role of the royal mistress in history to more scholarly lectures on Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Image:  Sissinghurst © National Trust.

The Glasgow Boys revolutionised painting in Scotland and brought it into the mainstream of European art. ‘The Boys’ were young Scottish artists who looked to France for their inspiration – ‘the auld alliance’ – and many of them studied in Paris. One group painted together in Grez-sur-Loing, adopting the ‘square brush technique’ used by Jules Bastien Lepage. Other members of the group came together through old friendships – Paterson and MacGregor had known each other at school, while Guthrie and Walton were old friends. They soon established a vigorous style of oil painting, using large square brushes and thick paint with bold colours.  Watercolour also played a major part with works by Walton, Lavery, Henry, Crawhall, and Arthur Melville as perhaps the finest. Japanese prints were an important influence and Henry and Hornel visited Japan to paint its landscape and people. The work of the Glasgow Boys is surprisingly fresh and modern. and very popular today – as shown by the success of the recent exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Julian Halsby studied History of Art at Cambridge. He was formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art. His publications include Venice - the Artist's Vision (1990, 1995), The Art of Diana Armfield RA (1995), Dictionary of Scottish Painters (4th. edition 2010), A Hand to Obey the Demon's Eye (2000), Scottish Watercolours 1740-1940 (2nd. edition 1991), A Private View - David Wolfers and the New Grafton Gallery (2002). He interviews artists for The Artist Magazine and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and The Critics Circle. A practicing artist, he was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1994 and appointed Keeper in 2010.

Image: A Hind’s Daughter by James Guthrie, 1883.  

Shrines, stupas, cave temples, colonial grandeur and modernist architecture – this lecture looks at the history of Sri Lanka through its intriguing art and culture. For much of this beautiful island’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. Georgina Bexon examines the fascinating story of Sri Lankan art and the original minds, talents and spirits that created this unique visual world.

Georgina Bexon is an art historian specialising in South Asian art, who has lived and worked in the UK, USA and Singapore. Her practice includes lecturing, writing, consulting and collecting and she has developed a network of gallery and artist connections in Europe, the USA and India, which she visits regularly.  Consultant Art Historian at the Oriental Club in London and an official tour guide at Tate Modern, Georgina is also a guest speaker on luxury cruise ships, for which she has developed a series of art talks relating to Asian and Pacific destinations. She has been a visiting lecturer at UK universities, presents talks at leading art institutions including Christie’s Education New York and the Museum of Modern Art, Moscow and speaks at international art conferences, most recently in New York, Paris, London and Lisbon. Georgina holds a BA in Art History from Southampton University, an MA in Arts Management and Policy from City University of London and an MA in Art History from SOAS, University of London. She is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Asiatic Society.

Image: Monkey God

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

Chris Aslan Alexander was born in Turkey (hence the name Aslan) and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and Journalism at Leicester University. He moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, which became the largest non-government employer in town. After an anti-Western purge he had to leave, and spent a year in Cambridge writing A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent three years in the High Pamirs of Tajikistan training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down, followed by two years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Chris is now based in Cambridge writing fiction, including Alabaster, Manacle, Mosaic, and The Broken Hexapus. He is currently working on a new book on the Silk Road about travel and textiles, and lectures for The Art Society. He also leads tours to Central Asia, returning whenever he can, having left a large chunk of his heart there.

Image: Three carpet makers

The Bayeux Tapestry is instantly recognisable and one of the most outstanding cultural objects to survive from the early Middle Ages. Long admired for its vivid narrative, today it is the unanswered questions that most intrigue modern audiences: was it made in England or France? Was it stitched by men or women? This sparkling lecture looks not only at its creation, but also at its more amazing afterlife. Displayed by Napoleon to bolster French ambitions for a new cross-channel invasion; cherished by Victorian embroiderers as an icon of women’s heroic joint efforts; hunted down by Hitler, who was outwitted by bureaucratic obfuscation. A fluent French speaker, Timothy Wilcox brings a lifetime’s interest in Anglo-French relations to bear on a famous object set to become even more celebrated as it enters its next surprising chapter.

Timothy Wilcox is a writer, lecturer and exhibition curator with special interests in British art, in landscape and in watercolour painting. He was a museum curator in the British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings following positions at the V&A, in Liverpool and Hove. As a freelance curator and lecturer since 1997, he has organised exhibitions on Laura Knight, Hilda Carline, John Sell Cotman and John Constable, at venues including Tate, The Lowry, the Wordsworth Trust and Dulwich Picture Gallery. He contributes regularly to the Courtauld Institute Summer School and lectures at museums and galleries in Britain, Europe and the USA.

A personal account by the landscape painter and art historian, Lydia Bauman, of her journey through New Mexico in search of the iconic motifs painted by American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).

Hear of the insights and discoveries made about the life and work practice of the legendary painter and see how the desert of New Mexico, Miss O'Keeffe's 'backyard' for over fifty years - inspired a very different artist working today in London.

Lydia Bauman was born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at Newcastle University (John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award); an MA in History of Art from The Courtauld Institute, London, (19th-20th century art - Distinction for thesis on Matisse's Illustrations to Poetry). Lydia has lectured to diverse adult audiences, notably in London's National Gallery and MFA Boston USA. Her book on Great Themes in Art is being considered for publication by Merrell Books for worldwide distribution.

The foods we eat at Christmas have a long, curious and visually spectacular history. This lecture narrates and illustrates that history from Medieval boar’s head and brawn, by way of highly decorated seventeenth century mince pies to the almost forgotten Twelfth Night Cake. Medieval illuminated manuscripts, paintings and prints from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, and illustrations from cookery books provide us with images of some of the lost glories of the British Christmas feast.

Peter Ross has a History of Art degree, an MA in London history, a PhD in the cultural history of an English Criminal, and qualifications in the teaching of adults. Currently Principal Librarian at Guildhall Library, he has for 20 years lectured on a broad range of topics including the history of English books, portraiture, and London history. Peter has appeared on TV and radio as a consultant on the 18th century criminal Jack Sheppard and on the history of English food. His most recent publication, The Curious Cookbook, was published by the British Library.

Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) movement in Munich contained a mix of Russian (Kandinsky, Jawlensky and Werefkin) and German artists (Franz Marc, August Macke, Gabriele Munter). In 1912 they published the Blue Rider Almanach, a compendium of modern art.

The group was influenced by art emerging from France, especially the work of Van Gogh and Gauguin, and Fauvist colour combined with Cubist and Futurist construction of the picture surface. An important influence was the Orphism of Robert Delaunay.

The group was also influenced by folk art and a new form of spiritual belief promoted by the Theosophists. Both Kandinsky and Franz Marc believed Europe was on the verge of a new era of ‘the Great Spiritual’ and sought to create a new art for this era. This led them to develop abstraction and also to paint a series of apocalyptic images in the year before the First World War.

Colin Pink has a BA in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Southampton and a MA in the History of Art from Birkbeck, University of London. He specialises in the interrelationship between the history of ideas and the history of art and has lectured on aspects of modern art at a wide range of cultural organisations: Putney School of Art and Design; the Temenos Academy; APT Studios; Mascalls Gallery; the Museum of Futures, Surbiton; the Jerwood Gallery, Hastings and the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea. He also curates exhibitions and has published two books of poetry: Acrobats of Sound, 2016 and The Ventriloquist Dummy’s Lament, 2019.

The temple complex of Angkor is the greatest archaeological site in Asia. There are dozens of temples, many covered in jungle, but the most important is Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th century, it is the biggest religious monument in the world, a recreation on earth of the Hindu cosmos, aligned with the sun and moon and covered with exquisite carvings. This lecture will focus on Angkor’s artistic heritage and religious symbolism. It will reveal the history of the Khmer empire and its flowering of sculptural art including other temples such as the mysterious Bayon and Banteay Srei, carved in pink sandstone. Denise Heywood describes contemporary Cambodia and the living arts, especially classical dance, performed at the temples in celebration of the gods. Gorgeous dancers in shimmering silk costumes reenact the Ramayana as the setting sun turns everything from red to gold.

Denise Heywood is an Art historian, author, lecturer, photographer and journalist. She worked in Cambodia in the 1990s and has been a scholar of Southeast Asian art ever since. Her books include one on the Buddhist temples of Laos, Ancient Luang Prabang and Laos, also in French, and Cambodian Dance Celebration of the Gods, with a foreword by the daughter of King Sihanouk. She lectures for the Art Fund, the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, for the V&A and many other museums and organisations. 

Many people now carry a phone with a camera capable of taking very high-quality pictures, and yet the painting of botanical specimens persists with new Florilegium Societies still being formed. Why is a drawing and painting still considered to be superior to a digital image? This talk looks at the history of botanical illustration from drawings made on rocks 20,000 years ago to the present day, taking in the lives of both the artists and the plants immortalised in the artwork.

Timothy Walker was director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014, and since then a college lecturer and tutor at Somerville College, Oxford. 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 as a place where science and art meet on equal terms. Timothy’s lectures investigate this relationship.

In 1660 the Stuart monarchy was restored. Returning from exile with Charles II were numerous Royalist landowners, bringing with them, from Holland or France, new tastes in garden design, and a longing to put down roots. In this lecture the paintings and plans of the gardens they created are shown – the last splendid flowering of the formal Italianate garden in this country - alongside some of the exuberantly colourful and intricate gardenthemed embroidery of the period.

Lucy Hughes-Hallett is a cultural historian and novelist. Her book on Gabriele d'Annunzio, The Pike, won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the Costa Biography Award. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Historical Association, she has reviewed for all of the UK’s serious newspapers. In September 2020 she was chair of the judges for the International Booker Prize. 

Despite the traumatic nature of their dislocation and the obstacles they often encountered on arrival in the UK, those who fled here from Nazi-dominated Europe in the 1930s and 1940s made a deep, pervasive and long-lasting contribution to British culture. Focussing on the visual arts, this lecture will examine the nature of this contribution, embracing not only household names such as Gombrich, Kokoschka, Schwitters and Heartfield, but also lesserknown but fascinating figures such as Albert Reuss, Josef Herman and Marie-Louise von Motesiczky.

Monica Bohm-Duchen is an independent, London-based art historian, curator and writer. The institutions for which she has worked include the Tate Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, Sotheby's Institute of Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art. In the mid-1980s she acted as researcher and co-curator for the pioneering exhibition Art in Exile in Great Britain 1933- 1945. At Birkbeck, University of London, where she is Associate Lecturer, she teaches a course entitled The Immigrant Experience in Modern British Art. She is the initiator and Creative Director of Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Culture, a nationwide arts festival which took place from March 2019 to March 2020 (see https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org/)and contributing editor of the companion volume, which focuses on the visual arts.

Image above: Refugees c.1941 Copyright Josef Herman Estate with kind permission Ben Uri Collection.

As well as being a great painter, a key founder of modern art, van Gogh was also a great writer. We all thrill to his vibrant colour, dynamic brushwork – that sense that he is painting on the edge and taking us there with him as he discovers new vistas in the sublime as well as the everyday. Our response to his art is heightened by the awareness of how much tragedy haunted his short creative life. In his letters he clarifies his thoughts, focuses the direction of his art. It is his letters that provide the bridge linking the man and his art, an exploration of himself and his world.

Sarah Stopford is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She studied art history as part of her first degree at Harvard. After a further degree in English at Cambridge and a career as a teacher of English literature in both the United States and England, she returned to the world of art history where her special interests are in British and post-1900 art as well as the connections between literature and the visual arts.

From 1912 Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven revolutionised Canadian Painting - and not only landscape painting. Some were war artists who went on to produce delightful portraits and townscapes; but all were inspired by the Canadian landscape and the wilderness to the ‘North’. The early focus was on Algonquin Park near Toronto-into which Tom Thomson mysteriously disappeared in 1917. The others continued for two decades as a formal group. Their paintings not only ’moulded the way Canadians looked at their land’, they also ‘capture the eye, stir the memory and feed the heart’. The talk will discuss the main artists within the group (including Thomson, FH Varley, Lawren Harris and AY Jackson and show some of their defining works. Comparisons will also be made with the French impressionists with whom they are regularly compared.

Richard Thomas completed an MA in Canada in Development Studies, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in History and Political Science. His career as an academic and as a political and institutional analyst in the field of International Development enabled him to travel widely in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He always sought to understand the arts and culture of the country or region he was living or working in since they illuminate the past and help to explain the present. Some of his lectures (Cobbett, Gillray and Hadrian) began with the history but have been developed for The Arts Society by emphasising the culture and art, architecture and cartoons of the period.

Perhaps the best sculptor in wood ever to lift a chisel, Grinling Gibbons learned his craft as an apprentice in a Rotterdam shipyard, becoming an obscure ship decoration carver at Deptford. A chance encounter with the diarist John Evelyn propelled Gibbons to the notice of Charles II, enabling the carver to reach the height of his profession, collaborating with Wren and Vanbrugh, building a substantial business for his atelier, becoming King’s Carver and a soughtafter provider of high quality decorative and monumental work in wood, stone and bronze. Much of his work survives in country houses, large churches, state apartments and museums.

Justin describes Gibbons’s life and career, and discusses the techniques he used to create a convincing illusion of reality. Illustrated with over-mantels, picture frames, sculpture and architectural mouldings from many private and public collections, this talk makes a case for identifying Gibbons as a major artist.

Justin Reay studied History of Art and Architecture at Oxford following service as an officer in the Royal Navy and a long career in business. He has written extensively on naval history and was the Admiralty Liaison Officer for the historians working on the bicentenary commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar. He has worked as a teacher and as a senior academic manager at the Bodleian Library and is Secretary of the Colloquium of Learned Societies at Oxford. Among his impending works are an edition of Samuel Pepys’s naval papers in the Bodleian’s collections, and his study of the Admiralty in London, and he is researching maritime art in the National Trust collections. 

Albrecht Dürer was a painter, printmaker, engraver and theorist and is generally regarded as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.  He was also the first artist north of the Alps to paint a signed self-portrait, while his watercolours are the first autonomous landscape paintings. This year marks the 550th anniversary of his birth, and to celebrate this The National Gallery is staging an exhibition  entitled Dürer’s Journey: Travels of a Renaissance Artist.  This lecture will study the life and works of this master, his trips to the Alps, Italy and the Netherlands and the influences that shaped his art. 

Shirley Smith graduated from the University of East Anglia with a First-class Honours degree in the History of Art, specialising in the Italian and Northern Renaissance. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a part-time lecturer for the University of East Anglia and for the Department of Continuing Education of the University of Cambridge. She has run study days and certificate courses as well as residential weekend courses. She also lectures for the Art Fund and for individual clubs and societies. She is particularly keen to set the art and architecture of the period on which she lectures in the context of the society for which it was produced.

Image: Young hare – Albrecht Dürer (Courtesy of the Web Gallery of Art)

Please note the AGM starts at 10.45, followed by the lecture

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.

Ian Swankie is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture. He is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours at each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Six years ago, he established a weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London, and he gives talks on a variety of subjects. He is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars. 

Join us for a virtual tour of Hampton Court Palace, one of Henry VIII’s favourite and most magnificent residences.  The palace was the scene of some of the pivotal events of his turbulent reign, and Henry remains a dominating presence to this day. Through a range of visual images and video we will discover the building itself, the dress, tapestries and art collection of the Tudor court and hear how Henry VIII and his courtiers exchanged gifts to celebrate New Year.

Our guide will be Siobhan Clarke, who has been a Guide Lecturer for Historic Royal Palaces for twenty years, delivering tours and lectures on the palaces of Hampton Court, Tower of London, Kensington and the Banqueting House. She is an author and historian. Her latest book, ‘King and Collector: Henry VIII and the Art of Kingship’, will be published by The History Press in March 2021.

The 'poor little rich girl' who changed the face of twentieth century art.  Not only was Peggy Guggenheim ahead of her time but she was the woman who helped define it. She discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. Through collecting not only art but the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.

Alexandra Epps is an Official Guide and Lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery, a Pallant House Gallery Lecturer and a Qualified Guide to the City of London, offering lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. she is a member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association and co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015). Alexandra’s background is in design having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years.  She has a BA from St Martin's School of Art and an MA from London College of Printing.

The beauty of Kenneth Grahame’s prose is widely acknowledged but the story is so full of wonderful imagery that it almost demands to be illustrated. First published in 1908 without illustration, the classic tale of Ratty, Mole, and the incorrigible Mr Toad has been in print ever since. What is less well known is that it has been illustrated by more than ninety artists – making it the most widely illustrated book in the English language.

However, ‘Willows’ is a far more interesting book than its popular and often young audience might appreciate. It deserves recognition as a novel in which adult readers will find not just humour and entertainment but wisdom and meaning. In this engaging presentation we will revisit the story as depicted by numerous well known illustrators such as E H Shepard, Arthur Rackham, Robert Ingpen, Val Biro and Inga Moore. Where appropriate we will compare and contrast the same scene in the book through the eyes of different artists, a study known as ‘comparative illustration'.

We will also explore how the story came to be written for Grahame’s son, Alastair and the interesting but ultimately tragic life of Kenneth Grahame.

This lecture will be presented online on Zoom, and we will send details to members in December. 

John Ericson - Formerly a lecturer at the University of Bath.  He has worked extensively overseas as an educational consultant and this has given him the opportunity to give lectures and presentations at conferences all over the world.

In his professional life he has developed a particular interest in presentation skills including the role of pictures in learning and the appropriate use of PowerPoint. This coupled with his ability to relate well to people of all ages and backgrounds makes him an impressive and confident public speaker.

All his talks are entertaining, highly informative, very well illustrated and presented with warmth and humour.

Famously, every morning of his adult life, Beethoven measured out exactly 60 coffee beans for his breakfast.  A man who is capable of such discipline over a cup of coffee, can surely apply that exactness elsewhere in his life; and in Beethoven’s case, it was applied to his compositions. In fact, the detail found in his music is often so subtle, that most people don’t even know it’s there. The lecture explores Beethoven’s genius as a writer of music, at the same time setting his extraordinary story against the backdrop of 19th century warfare, revolution and dramatic social changes. Beethoven will be 250 years old on 17 December 2020.

This lecture will be presented online on Zoom, and we will send details to members in November. 

Peter Medhurst’s work as singer, pianist and lecturer-recitalist has taken him all over the world, and in the last few years he has toured New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, and made frequent tours in Europe.   Closer to home he has presented events at the Barbican, St John’s Smith Square, and The Royal Festival Hall.   He has also directed presentations at the Wallace Collection and other London galleries, linking the visual arts with the world of 17th and 18th century music making.  His particular interests are centred on the music, art and history of Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Halle, Dresden and Venice, Rome, Madrid and Delft and has been associated with a number of travel companies including Tailored Travel.

Cinematic images are modern art forms. In the ‘golden age’ of cinema – before the development of CGI technology – film-makers had to construct sets to represent landscapes, townscapes, and interiors. Sometimes they used paintings and photographs, sometimes they built scale models, sometimes they constructed full-size replicas. In each case, they created an art installation they then captured in celluloid images.

Drawing on new insights from the archaeology of cinema, this lecture will use the films of renowned British director David Lean to explore the art of cinema. How do the ‘artists’ – in this case formed of large collaborative teams (directors, screenwriters, production designers, costume designers, camera crews, fixers, etc) – choose locations, construct sets, dress actors, and, more generally, ‘imagine’ the world they seek to represent? How much is authentic, and how much preconception and prejudice? What are the influences on the way the cinema depicts the world?

This lecture will be presented online on Zoom, and we will send details to members in September.  We are offering some Zoom training for members not familiar with it: details from colchester@artssociety.org

Neil Faulkner was educated at King's College Cambridge and Institute of Archaeology UCL. He works as lecturer, writer, archaeologist and occasional broadcaster. He is a research fellow, University of Bristol, and editor, Military History Monthly. He is director, Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project and Great Arab Revolt Project. His writing includes The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain, Apocalypse, Hidden Treasure, Rome: Empire of the Eagles, and The Ancient Greek Olympics: a visitor's guide, and Lawrence of Arabia's War. Major TV appearances include Channel 4's Time Team, BBC2's Timewatch, Channel Five's Boudica Revealed and Sky Atlantic's The British.

Perhaps the best sculptor in wood ever to lift a chisel, Grinling Gibbons learned his craft as an apprentice in a Rotterdam shipyard, becoming an obscure ship decoration carver at Deptford. A chance encounter with the diarist John Evelyn propelled Gibbons to the notice of Charles II, enabling the carver to reach the height of his profession, collaborating with Wren and Vanbrugh, building a substantial business for his atelier, becoming King’s Carver and a sought-after provider of high quality decorative and monumental work in wood, stone and bronze. Much of his work survives in country houses, large churches, state apartments and museums.

Justin Reay describes Gibbons’s life and career, and discusses the techniques he used to create a convincing illusion of reality. Illustrated with over-mantels, picture frames, sculpture and architectural mouldings from many private and public collections, this talk makes a case for identifying Gibbons as a major artist.

After officer service in the Royal Navy and a long career in business, Justin Reay studied History of Art and Architecture at Oxford.   He has written extensively on naval history and was the Admiralty Liaison Officer for the historians working on the bicentenary commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar.   He has worked as a teacher and as a senior academic manager at the Bodleian Library and is Secretary of the Colloquium of Learned Societies at Oxford. Among his impending works are an edition of Samuel Pepys’s naval papers in the Bodleian’s collections, and his study of the Admiralty in London, and he is researching maritime art in the National Trust collections. 

Despite the traumatic nature of their dislocation and the obstacles they often encountered on arrival in the UK, those who fled here from Nazi-dominated Europe in the 1930s and 1940s made a deep, pervasive and long-lasting contribution to British culture. Focussing on the visual arts, this lecture will examine the nature of this contribution, embracing not only household names such as Gombrich, Kokoschka, Schwitters and Heartfield, but also lesser-known but fascinating figures such as Albert Reuss, Josef Herman and Marie-Louise von Motesiczky.

Monica Bohm-Duchen is an independent, London-based art historian, curator and writer. The institutions for which she has worked include the Tate Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, Sotheby's Institute of Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art. In the mid-1980s she acted as researcher and co-curator for the pioneering exhibition Art in Exile in Great Britain 1933-1945. At Birkbeck, University of London, where she is Associate Lecturer, she teaches a course entitled The Immigrant Experience in Modern British Art.  She is the initiator and Creative Director of Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Culture, a nationwide arts festival taking place from March 2019 to March 2020 (see https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org/) and contributing editor of the companion volume, which focuses on the visual arts.

Image: Refugees, c.1941, Josef Herman, (c) Josef Herman Estate with kind permission of the Ben Uri collection

As well as being a great painter, a key founder of modern art, van Gogh was also a great writer. We all thrill to his vibrant colour, dynamic brushwork – that sense that he is painting on the edge and taking us there with him as he discovers new vistas in the sublime as well as the everyday. Our response to his art is heightened by the awareness of how much tragedy haunted his short creative life.  In his letters he clarifies his thoughts, focuses the direction of his art.  It is his letters that provide the bridge linking the man and his art, an exploration of himself and his world. 

Sarah Stopford is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern.   She studied art history as part of her first degree at Harvard.   After a further degree in English at Cambridge and a career as a teacher of English literature in both the United States and England, she  returned to the world of art history where her special interests are in British and post-1900 art as well as the connections between literature and the visual arts. 

From 1912 Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven revolutionised Canadian Painting - and not only landscape painting. Some were war artists who went on to produce delightful portraits and townscapes;  but all were inspired by the Canadian landscape and the wilderness  to the ‘North’. The early focus was on Algonquin Park near Toronto - into which Tom Thomson mysteriously disappeared in 1917. The others continued for two decades as a formal group. Their paintings not only ’moulded the way Canadians looked at their land’,  they  also ‘capture the eye, stir the memory and feed the heart’. The talk will discuss the main artists within the group (including Thomson, FH Varley, Lawren Harris and AY Jackson and show some of their defining works. Comparisons will also be made with the French impressionists with whom they are regularly compared.                          

Dr Richard Thomas completed an MA in Canada in Development Studies, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in History and Political Science. His career as an academic and as a political and institutional analyst in the field of International Development enabled him to travel widely in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He always sought to understand the arts and culture of the country or region he was living or working in since they illuminate the past and help to explain the present. Some of his lectures (Cobbett, Gillray and Hadrian) began with the history but have been developed for The Arts Society by emphasising the culture and art, architecture and cartoons of the period. 

In our somewhat prurient present day, John Ruskin has perhaps the misfortune to be remembered mainly for his failed marriage to Effie, and the famous libel case involving J. M. Whistler, yet he strides his century as an English writer, artist and critic, social reformer and philanthropist. He was foremost in shaping public taste and aesthetics, and was a talented and prolific artist, especially of architecture and landscape. He had a great love of nature, nurtured by his interest in botany and geology, and as a forerunner of William Morris and his circle, he was a proponent of beauty and function going hand-in-hand, with a deep concern for the relationship between art, morality and social justice. This lecture, following a biographical structure, is illustrated with paintings that caught his critic's eye, extracts of his influential architectural writing, and the backdrop of various locations- the Lake District and Venice among them, with which he is ever associated.

Denis Moriarty spent most of his early working life as a BBC TV and Music and Arts producer.    He was educated at Reading School, and after national service read history at St John’s College, Oxford.   Among his programmes at the BBC were a series of English Towns with Alec Clifton-Taylor, Face The Music with Joseph Cooper and Joyce Grenfell, One Hundred Great Paintings, and films on Egypt for Chronicle and Timewatch.  He lectures widely for The Arts Society, and addresses meetings of the National Trust, English summer festivals, civic and literary societies.   He has directed study tours at home and abroad including many different music festivals, and has also led architectural and historical tours.

Please note the AGM starts at 10.45, followed by the lecture.

Pablo Picasso had a tumultuous relationship with Britain over the course of his life, related to both his personal politics and the shock of his art. This hour-long talk examines the lasting effects of Britain on Picasso and of Picasso on Britain. From the artist’s initial visit to London in 1918 and the display of his monumental Guernica (1937) in Manchester in 1938, to his visit to Britain for the International Peace Conference in 1950 as a communist delegate and the cancelled 1952 Picasso retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, the relationship – and the surrounding public controversies – reveal a multitude of fascinating connections between the most prolific artist of the twentieth century and a country on the verge of its global artistic renaissance.  

Kate Aspinall is an independent historian, writer, and artist. Based in London, she focuses her academic work on British visual culture in the twentieth century, and she has spoken recently at Tate, the Courtauld, the Towner and Pallant House, among other galleries. She consults for the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and is a Trustee of the Association for Art History, representing freelance and independent art historians. She has degrees from the University of St Andrews, the Courtauld Institute and the University of East Anglia. 

The opening of trade routes across Eurasia by land and sea enabled the movement of peoples, along with their cultures, arts, beliefs, technical skills and aesthetics. This was to have a profound influence on the arts of China, introducing new forms, designs, and materials, along with the craftsmen to pass on their skills. This lecture will look at several examples of masterpieces of art from China in the first millennium AD to illustrate this influence and show how the arts of China were greatly enriched by its Silk Road links.

Dr Susan Whitfield is a writer, scholar, lecturer and traveller of the Silk Roads. During 25 years curating the collections of manuscripts from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites at the British Library, she also helped found and then developed the International Dunhuang Project (IDP), now a thriving international collaboration working on the art and artefacts of the eastern Silk Road. She has lectured and written widely on the Silk Road. Her latest book, Silk, Slaves and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road, was published in March 2018. She has also curated several major exhibitions and organized field trips to archaeological sites in the Taklamakan desert.

Please note this lecture starts at 10.45am.

The Venetian scuole were semi-religious confraternities or guilds bound together by profession, nationality or devotion and the Scuola dedicated to St Roch was one of the wealthiest and most prestigious, enabling its members to fund the construction and decoration of a splendid new headquarters. The vast canvases which cover the walls and ceiling of this elegant Renaissance building represent one of the most ambitious artistic projects of the 16th century and one of the greatest achievements of their creator, Jacopo Tintoretto, a project encompassing around 60 paintings to which he dedicated well over 20 years of his life.  We examine how Tintoretto was able to secure this celebrated commission, and explore the genesis and development of the series. The lecture assesses how these moving and dramatic paintings reflect the teachings and activities of their patrons, and considers their impact and influence on subsequent generations of artists including Rubens, Velázquez and El Greco, who famously praised Tintoretto’s Crucifixion as being the greatest painting in the world.

Siân Walters is an art historian and lectures for the National Gallery, The Arts Society, The Wallace Collection, Friends of the Royal Academy, The London Art History Society, The Art Fund and many other art societies and colleges in the UK and Europe. She was also a lecturer at Surrey University for many years. Having graduated from Cambridge University, Siân spent four years in Italy and France where she worked for the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the eminent scholar H.C. Robbins Landon. As well as running Art History in Focus, she spends much of the year lecturing abroad, particularly in Italy and Spain, and is well known for her enthusiastic, structured yet informal approach. Siân is delighted to have been nominated by an independent travel company in 2008 and 2009 for the Daily Telegraph’s Best Guide Award. In 2016 she was named a Highly Commended finalist in the Wanderlust World’s Best Guide Awards. 

Rembrandt van Rijn is the best known of all the Dutch masters. Working across the genres, he painted landscapes, religious scenes, mythological subjects and portraits. Celebrated as the most successful artist in Amsterdam, he revolutionised the treatment of portraiture. By way of contrast, Vermeer’s artistic output was more modest, and after his death became almost entirely unknown for well over a century. What is it we learn about Dutch art of the 17th by contrasting these two artists? Join us to think about the titans of the Golden Age of Dutch art and the society from which they emerged.

Lucrezia Walker is a regular lecturer at the National Gallery both in front of the paintings and in the lecture theatre. For the Tate Gallery's Development department she speaks to their corporate sponsors in their offices and at their private receptions in both Tates. She teaches US undergraduates on their Study Abroad semesters in London. She was Lay Canon for the Visual Arts at St Paul's Cathedral 2010-2014.

Since its foundation in 1925, Faber & Faber has built a reputation as one of London’s most important literary publishing houses. Part of that relates to the editorial team that Geoffrey Faber and his successors built around them - TS Eliot was famously an early recruit - but a large part is also due to the firm’s insistence on good design and illustration. 

This lecture traces the history of Faber & Faber through its illustrations, covers and designs. Early years brought innovations like the Ariel Poems – single poems, beautifully illustrated, sold in their own envelopes. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was an emphasis on typography, led by the firm’s art director Berthold Wolpe; his Albertus font is still used on City of London road signs. In the 1980s, the firm started its association with Pentagram, responsible for the ff logo. Along the way, it has employed some of our most celebrated artists as cover illustrators – from Rex Whistler and Barnett Freedman to Peter Blake and Damien Hirst. 

Slides will range from book covers, advertisements and photos of key individuals, to illustrations of the concepts behind the designs. The talk will also be peppered with personal insight and anecdote. Faber and Faber is the last of the great publishing houses to remain independent. As the grandson of its founder, Toby Faber grew up steeped in its books. He was managing director for four years and remains on the board. He is passionate about the firm’s success, and intensely proud of his association with it.

Toby Faber has written two works of narrative history, Stradivarius and Fabergé's Eggs, published by Macmillan in the UK and Random House in the US, and given lectures associated with these two subjects at venues including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Library of Congress and the Huntington Library, as well as a number of literary festivals. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber & Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press and the Copyright Licensing Agency.

The long shadow of the Arts and Crafts Movement has hung over English gardening for most of the twentieth century. The dominance of Miss Jekyll and the enduring popularity of gardens at Hidcote and Sissinghurst have proved to be an enduring legacy.

There were always subversive undercurrents of alternative styles and influences which, as the new century gets into its stride, have gained a greater importance and momentum. Post-Modernism, rich in symbolism, has, in gardens like Portrack, Little Sparta and Througham Court, explored the worlds of literature and science, while plants, for centuries an abiding passion of English gardeners, have continued to cast their spell, with newly-discovered plants enriching gardens across the country.

Towards the end of the century the New Perennial Movement, originating in Europe, has allied itself to our increasing desire to go organic, and the interest in woodland and wild-flower meadows, to produce a freer, gentler style of planting, spearheaded by Tom Stuart-Smith, perhaps more in tune with the Twenty-First Century.

James Bolton set up a garden design business in 1992, following two years as head gardener at the Old Rectory, Farnborough.  He had previously trained with the Direction des Parcs et Jardins in Paris. He lectures extensively on garden history to The Arts Society and elsewhere.  He was Faculty Director of Design History at the Inchbald School of Design, and now runs 'Border Lines', the leading tour company to the finest private gardens in Britain, Europe and South Africa.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert expressed their love for each other through art. Every birthday and Christmas they exchanged gifts of paintings, sculpture and jewellery, and they commissioned artists to record their lives together at Balmoral and Osborne House. They were keen amateur artists, sitting side-by-side to draw and to try their hand at etching. And they took pleasure in arranging their collection of portrait miniatures, drawings and prints in a special room the prince designed at Windsor Castle. 

We will look not only at glamorous paintings by artists such as Landseer and Winterhalter, but also at the more personal watercolours the couple took pleasure in arranging in their treasured ‘souvenir albums’. This lecture tells the story of these royal patrons and collectors who were every bit as passionate about art as they were about each other. 

Dr Susan Owens is an art historian, writer and curator. She studied English literature at Oxford University and European art at the Courtauld Institute, then wrote a doctoral thesis on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s play Salome at University College London. She worked as a curator for the Royal Collection before becoming Curator of Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Susan has written or co-authored books on decadent interiors, natural history illustration, watercolours, drawings and self-portraits, and is a regular contributor to publications including the Times Literary Supplement, the Literary Reviewand The World of Interiors. Now freelance, Susan lives in Suffolk. Her book The Ghost: A Cultural History, was published in 2017 and Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art  in 2018. She is currently writing a book about the British landscape in art and literature. 

Zen Buddhism has exerted a profound influence on the formation of Japanese visual culture since its introduction in the 13th century to the present day. Zen Buddhism’s emphasis on the practice of meditation, self-discipline, and the austere lifestyle appealed to the patrons from the warrior class, and the Zen teaching became the dominant philosophical basis that supported the development of the distinctive aesthetics of the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of the art forms, such as ink painting, dry landscape gardens and Noh drama, developed during this period. This lecture will examine the beauty of simplicity, the spiritual essence, and the close affinity to nature that characterize the arts of Zen.

Dr Meri Arichi studied Art History in London and Florence, and worked at Christie’s in Kings Street, London, from 1989 to 1993. She returned to university to study Asian Art at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in 1993, and completed a Post-graduate Diploma in Asian Art (1994), MA (1996) in History of East Asian Art, and PhD (2003) for her thesis on Shinto-Buddhist syncretic Art. She has been teaching History of Japanese Art in the Department of History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS as a Teaching Fellow since 2007. She has also run courses at the Birkbeck College, V&A, British Museum, and the Courtauld Institute of Art Summer School. She has led tours to Japan and lectured on cruises.  

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

Dr John Stevens is a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, and a member of academic staff at the SOAS South Asia Institute.  His PhD in History is from University College London. He teaches British Imperial history, Indian history and Bengali language, and is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh. He publishes widely in the fields of British and Indian history. His biography of the Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen – Keshab: Bengal’s Forgotten Prophet - was published by Hurst, OUP New York and OUP Delhi in 2018. He appears regularly in the Indian media, and was recently a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.

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

Nigel Bates is the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet and has been a performer for nearly forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra. He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC's Maestro at the Opera and Pappano's Classical Voices documentary series. He is a regular contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH. He has given lectures for over twenty years, including arts societies and conservatoires in the UK and across Australia.

PLEASE NOTE THIS MEETING WILL START AT 10.45 AM NOT 11.00 AM

When Amadeo Modigliani arrived in Paris from Italy in 1906, he brought with him a love of Italian Renaissance painting including the works of Botticelli and Simone Martini. He was soon involved in the group of progressive painters based in the Bateau Lavoir including Picasso, Braque and Matisse. However Modigliani’s Bohemian lifestyle and dependence upon drugs and alcohol isolated him from many serious painters. Instead he sought the company of Maurice Utrillo, the self-taught alcoholic painter of Paris and Chaim Soutine an eccentric Russian painter.

Modigliani’s early work in Paris is mostly sculpture inspired by Greek and Egyptian Antiquity, but he turned to drawing and painting developing his very personal style of elongated portraits. He paints many of the leading Parisian figures of the time – Picasso, Diego Riviera, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, and Leon Bakst. He also conducted passionate affairs with beautiful and unusual women including the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Beatrice Hastings and Nina Hamnett. We trace his Bohemian life through the cafés and restaurants of Montmartre and Montparnasse.

At first his only income was made by selling his drawings for a few francs in street cafés, but soon he caught the attention of Leopold Zborowski and Paul Guillaume, art dealers who began to sell his work. In 1916, encouraged by Zborowski, Modigliani began painting sumptuous nudes often influenced by the Italian masters.

In 1918 he met the beautiful Jeanne Hebutherne who was to become the real love of his life. She bore him a daughter in November 1918 and they lived together in poverty in a flat in Paris. However in 1919 Modigliani took part in an exhibition in London alongside Picasso, Braque, Dufy and Matisse and one work was bought by Osbert Sitwell. Modigliani was on the brink of success. On New Year’s Day 1920 he wrote ‘A new year. Here begins a new life’, but three weeks later he died from tubercular meningitis. His distraught mistress, now pregnant again, threw herself to her death from a bedroom window. His grave stone is inscribed : ‘Death overtook him as he came to glory’

Julian Halsby studied History of Art at Cambridge. Formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art. Publications include Venice - the Artist's Vision (1990, 1995), The Art of Diana Armfield RA (1995), Dictionary of Scottish Painters (1990, 1998, 2001, 4th edition 2010), A Hand to Obey the Demon's Eye (2000), Scottish Watercolours 1740-1940(1986, 1991), A Private View - David Wolfers and the New Grafton Gallery (2002). Interviews artists for the Artist Magazine and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and The Critics Circle. A practising artist, he was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1994 and appointed Keeper in 2010.

The story of one of the greatest creative collaborations of all:  Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, whose team of dancers, choreographers, and costume and set designers transformed expectations of what a night in the theatre could be, and the circumstances behind its most notorious stage work of all. Sandy examines the build-up to the première of ‘The Rite of Spring’ in Paris, takes a look at the original costumes, plays excerpts from this fascinatingly inventive score, and explores what divided opinions of that first-night audience quite so dramatically.  No, nothing could top the riot at the Rite in 1913…

After studying music 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 music presenters on BBC Radio 3. He enjoys a varied career that embraces broadcasting, conducting, playing double bass and communicating his passion for music. His radio series for Ireland’s RTÉ Lyric FM, Great Moments in Classical Music, recently won silver in the Specialist Music category of the PPI Radio Awards. He regularly leads cultural lecture holidays, and is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music. 

PLEASE NOTE DECEMBER LECTURE TAKES PLACE  A WEEK EARLIER THAN IN PREVIOUS YEARS. THE LECTURE WILL START AT 10.45 AM NOT 11.00 AM.

Where better to spend Yuletide than in snowy Russia?  Imagine yourself wrapped in furs, speeding along in a troika, bells ringing, as you come home from church after celebrating the end of the 40-day Christmas fast.  This lecture explores the traditional religious and folk customs associated with Christmas in Russia before the Revolution, the secular celebrations introduced to Russia by Peter the Great, the drastic changes introduced in Soviet times by Stalin, and what Christmas means to Russians today.

Rosamund Bartlett is a writer, scholar and translator with expertise in Russian and European art, literature and music.  She is an Associate of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford. She is the author and editor of several books, including Wagner and Russia and Shostakovich in Context, as well as biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy.  Rosamund has in addition received recognition as a translator, having published two volumes of Chekhov’s stories and the first uncensored edition of his letters. Her new translation of Anna Karenina for Oxford World’s Classics was published to acclaim in 2014.  She has lectured on Russian and European cultural history at public institutions around the world, ranging from the National Theatre in London to the Hillwood Museum in Washington DC.  She led the recent campaign to save Chekhov’s house in Yalta, and in 2010 was awarded the Chekhov 150th Anniversary Medal by the Russian government in recognition of her educational and charitable work.  

Hans Holbein, who wasn’t born in England at all (he was born in Germany in 1497/8), is a prime candidate for the title of Father of British painting. He brought the Renaissance from Northern Europe to London and was the first known, named artist to emerge in this country. Working in perilous times, he produced a widely ranging oeuvre in all sorts of different materials and ended up as court painter to King Henry VIII. The faces and figures that emerge from his portraits form a procession of the age, portrayed with penetrating psychological insight that turns such celebrities of that turbulent time as Erasmus, Thomas More and Henry himself into our contemporaries. 

Sarah Stopford is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She studied art history as part of her first degree at Harvard.  After a further degree in English at Cambridge and a career as a teacher of English literature in both the United States and England, she has returned to the world of art history where her special interests are in British and post-1900 art as well as the connections between literature and the visual arts. 

Over the past three decades or so, the UK has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of sculpture parks and gardens opening throughout the country.  Today they play a key part in ‘cultural tourism’ and, while each one is very different, all display outdoor contemporary sculpture in beautiful landscape settings. The lecture takes the audience on a visual tour of some leading examples, and discusses how sculpture and landscape interact in varied locations– in rural landscape, landscaped parkland, private gardens, artists’ studio-gardens and the grounds of historic houses, Chatsworth being the leading example.  It looks in detail at four outstanding places - the Cass Sculpture Foundation at Goodwood, Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield, the Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green in Hertfordshire and Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Little Sparta in South Lanarkshire.

Mary Yule studied art history at Birkbeck College and the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA in 20th Century British Art).  She was assistant Director and Director of Grants at the Art Fund until 2006.  She has lectured for the Art Fund and Kingston University, and also at the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and Museums Association conferences and study days.   Her publications include  A Place for Living Art: The Whitechapel Art Gallery 1952-68, Artists and Patrons in Post-War Britain (2001) and articles in Art Fund and museum publications.  

Cloaked for months of the year in snow or mist, it is only in summer that the more benign character of Norway, Denmark and Sweden is revealed, providing the inspiration behind the  ravishing paintings of artists such as Kitty Kieland, Anders Zorn, Elif Petersson and Peder Krøyer to name just a few. Often working in small communes, such as at the north Danish coastal village of Skagen, these artists adapted the style of impressionism to the limpid light of the Nordic climate, a light which is hauntingly beautiful in the long hours of summer and especially at twilight. Midnight bonfires, moonlit promenades and the midsummer dance are all favourite subjects of these artists who depicted a world of summer stillness and tradition just as it was about to be shattered by the firestorm of World War I.

A senior modern languages teacher in an independent grammar school for many years, Brian Healey has also enjoyed a successful parallel career since the 1980s as a professional artist and interior designer. Since 2006 he has been regularly appointed to a number of prestigious ocean and river cruise lines, either as resident artist, guest lecturer on art history or as destination speaker for more than forty countries. Most recently this work has successfully extended to art guiding through important towns and museums in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.

This lecture looks at the development of the sport of horseracing in England through its associated cultural material from the late seventeenth century to the modern period. Using the wealth of paintings, archive material and decorative art objects associated with and depicting the ‘Sport of Kings’, the lecture will take as its starting point the earliest origins of the sport including the development of Newmarket and the Jockey Club as racing’s ‘Headquarters’. Treasures of the Turf also explores other influential racing circuits.

Christopher Garibaldi is the director of the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket.  He was Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum 1998-2003.  In 1997-1998 he was Curator for exhibition George Wickes of Bury St Edmunds, Royal Goldsmith.  In 1994-1997 he catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Speaker's Residence - The House of Commons.

The lute holds a special place in the history of art: painters of the Italian Renaissance depicted golden-haired angels plucking its delicate strings, evoking celestial harmony; in the sixteenth century, during the rise of humanism, the lute was a becoming pastime of educated courtiers, as depicted by the likes of Holbein and Titian; throughout the seventeenth century the instrument continued to play a key role in emphasising the intimate, debauched and transient pleasures of interior scenes by Jan Steen and portraits by Frans Hals. This lecture looks at the lute, and other musical instruments, as devices to express various aspects of the human character throughout the ages.

Adam Busiakiewicz is an Independent Art Historian and Guide Lecturer at the Wallace Collection. After completing his BA in History at UCL in 2010 he held the position of Head of Historical Interpretation (curator) at Warwick Castle. He left the castle in 2013 after winning a full AHRC studentship to pursue a MA in Fine and Decorative Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. In December 2014 he became the youngest Guide Lecturer at the Wallace Collection, where he regularly gives talks, tours and lectures to both public and professional audiences. Adam is currently planning a publication on the Grevilles of Warwick Castle, and has had articles published by the British Art Journal and Hispanic Lyra (Spain’s leading Guitar History publication).

Image courtesy of the National Gallery, London

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

Rupert Willoughby is a prize-winning historian who specialises in the domestic and social life of the past. He is the author of the best-selling Life in Medieval England for Pitkin, of guides to castles owned by English Heritage and Hampshire County Council, and of a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen’s Village and Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture. He contributes regular obituaries to The Times and The Daily Telegraph, writes privately-commissioned histories of houses, and is an experienced lecturer - and occasional broadcaster - on a broad range of topics, with a particular interest in architecture, interior decoration and costume.

Delacroix is seen as a Romantic artist. In 1830, however, he set off for Africa and wrote wonderful, thoughtful  journals which we will consider. This lecture will examine his responses to a new country which he saw as exotic and will discuss why later artists such as Matisse and Kandinsky followed in search of some of his magic. We will look at Delacroix’ working methods and his use of colour and understanding of the light which so inspired him in Africa. We will focus on how he broke the mould and set out with a revolutionary spirit.

Jacqueline Cockburn is a linguist and art historian, with first degrees in French and Spanish and Art History, an MA in Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Art History and Spanish on 'The Drawings of García Lorca as gifts, citations and exchanges'. Taught at Westminster School as Head of Art History for 16 years and has lectured at Birkbeck for 20 years. She is now Managing Director of an art tour company. She is currently publishing a book on Masterpieces of Art in London.

Please note this lecture starts at 10.45 am

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

A writer and broadcaster, Gavin Plumley appears on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributes to The Independent on Sunday and The Guardian. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, including to the National Gallery, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York, as well as for history of art societies and The Art Fund.

For Lee Miller a woman at war was any woman caught up in World War II. She shot faultless images for Vogue’s haute couture in London’s bombed out streets. She documented the magnificent work of the WRNS, ATS, the Land Girls, the WRVS and the nurses. She shows us the refugees in Europe, girls accused of collaboration and women forced into slave labour or prostitution and concentration camp victims. Their roles range from bravery to stupidity and from enforced involvement to volunteering. It is told against the background of Lee Miller’s own life story which takes her from being a fashion supermodel via life as a surrealist artist to a combat photographer and finally a gourmet cook.

For the past 30 years Antony Penrose has conserved and disseminated the work of his parents, Lee Miller and Roland Penrose. He is the director of The Lee Miller Archives and The Penrose Collection at Farley Farm House in Sussex and has seen his parents' work featured in major exhibitions at the V&A, National Portrait Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Whitworth. He has lectured at museums and universities around the world, and made documentaries for television. Publications include The Lives of Lee Miller, Lee Miller's War (editor), The Angel and the Fiend, The Home of the Surrealists, Roland Penrose the Friendly Surrealist and The Boy Who Bit Picasso.
Image © Lee Miller Archives, England 2018. All rights reserved.

Please note this lecture starts at 10.45 am

The Bible gives us very little information about the wise men who came from the East bearing Christ the famous gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. All reference to them is housed in the opening chapter of St Matthew’s Gospel and what information is given is surrounded by ambiguity and approximation. However, by contrast, there is no shortage of music, poetry and art that has been inspired by these men, and this lecture examines the impact of the Three Kings on the culture of later generations. Music performed includes: The Three Kings – Cornelius, The People that Walked in Darkness from Messiah – Handel, The Coventry Carol – Traditional, I Saw Three Ships – Traditional, Where is He that is Born King of the Jews? From Christus – F Mendelssohn.

Peter Medhurst appears in the UK and abroad as musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts, as well as taking groups to Europe. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

This lecture explores the taste and fashion for porcelain figure sculpture in the eighteenth century, beginning as a form of table decoration and gradually moving on to the mantelshelf and into the china‐cabinet; and how these figures reflect eighteenth century society in miniature.
During the lecture you will meet characters from the Commedia dell’Arte and the English stage, beggars and pedlars, exotic figures from distant lands, lovers and musicians, shepherds and shepherdesses, the gods of Olympus – and even the occasional monkey!

Jane Gardiner has an MA in History of Art, University of London. Trained at the V&A and continues to lecture there. Was Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby's, UK. Has also lectured for the National Trust, the Art Fund, London University, Buckingham University, l'Institut d'Etudes Superieures des Arts in Paris, a private women's college in Saudi Arabia, on cruise ships and at antiques fairs and interior design conferences in America.

Without any doubt Antonello da Messina stands out as the greatest renaissance artist Sicily produced. Although he travelled to the mainland and up to Venice, most of his professional life was spent in his home city of Messina producing works of exquisite beauty. One of his strengths was in being able to learn new techniques and styles, adapting them to his own particular style. It has been said that he was always able to catch the moment of the mind and it is true that the faces that look out from his paintings are those of real people. His use of Netherlandish limpid light combined with northern Italian use of perspective and detailed symbolism make his pictures unforgettable, once seen.

After nearly 20 years in the British army, Imogen Corrigan went to the University of Kent to study Anglo‐Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with first class honours. Works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours on land.

The long shadow of the Arts and Crafts Movement has hung over English gardening for most of the twentieth century. The dominance of Miss Jekyll and the enduring popularity of gardens at Hidcote and Sissinghurst have proved to be an enduring legacy. There were always subversive undercurrents of alternative styles and influences which, as the new century gets into its stride, have gained a greater importance and momentum. Post‐Modernism, rich in symbolism, has, in gardens like Portrack, Little Sparta and Througham Court, explored the worlds of literature and science, while plants, for centuries an abiding passion of English gardeners, have continued to cast their spell, with newly‐discovered plants enriching gardens across the country. Towards the end of the century the New Perennial Movement, originating in Europe, has allied itself to our increasing desire to go organic, and the interest in woodland and wild‐flower meadows, to produce a freer, gentler style of planting, spearheaded by Tom Stuart‐Smith, perhaps more in tune with the Twenty‐First Century.

James Bolton set up a garden design business in 1992, following two years as head gardener at the Old Rectory, Farnborough. He had previously trained with the Direction des Parcs et Jardins in Paris. He lectures extensively on garden history to NADFAS and elsewhere. He was Faculty Director of Design History at the Inchbald School of Design. He now runs Border Lines, the leading tour company to the finest private gardens in Britain, Europe and South Africa.
Reading list:
English Garden History by Tom Turner (Antique Collectors Club)
The Architect and his wife by Jane Ridley (Chatto and Windus)
Gardens with Atmosphere by Arne Maynard (Conran Octopus)
English Gardens in the Twentieth Century by Tim Richardson (Aurum Press)

Louis XVI’s Queen acted as a patron to Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, one of France’s most famous female artists (and one whose husband gambled away her hard‐earned fortune). Both women shared a dress designer in the innovative rags‐to‐riches Rose Bertin. It was Bertin’s fashions and Vigée-Lebrun’s naturalistic style of portraiture that created Marie-Antoinette’s image and attempted to defuse ‘the Austrian’s’ unpopularity. Explore their creative collaborations and learn what became of these remarkable women during the French Revolution.

Marie‐Anne Mancio trained as an artist before gaining a PhD in Art and Critical Theory from the University of Sussex. Has lectured in art history for the City Lit, Tate Modern, the Course, Art in London, London Art Salon, Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Nth Degree Club and many private art societies; also runs art history study tours abroad.

Africa is not generally associated with great art but Nigeria is associated with three major artistic traditions; the 2,000 year old Nok terracottas of the north, the Bronzes of Ife from the 12th to 15th centuries and the later Benin Bronzes. Richard lived in Nigeria in the 1960s, near Ife, and became familiar with the art of Ife and Benin and the role they played in society. The art, the technology (using the lost wax process) and the cultural relevance of the Bronzes will be illustrated and discussed in the lecture.

Dr Richard Thomas completed an MA in Canada in Development Studies, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in History and Political Science. His career as an academic and as a political and institutional analyst in the field of International Development enabled him to travel widely in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He always sought to understand the arts and culture of the country or region he was living or working in since they illuminate the past and help to explain the present.

Augustus and Gwen John were brother and sister, born in the west of Wales in the 1870s. Both studied at the Slade School of Art in London. His work has been called brash and shallow, and hers dismissed as fussy and spinsterish. These assessments are not really fair to either artist, and this lecture takes a careful look at their lives, up to the point of Gwen’s death in 1939. At that time, she had no public reputation whatsoever, and her brother was enjoying enormous professional and critical success. By the time he died, however, the positions had been reversed.

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.

On the basis of sensational new evidence from archaeological fieldwork, Neil will contrast the legend of Lawrence of Arabia with the true story of what happened in the famous desert war of 1916 to 1918. Is the legend a myth? Was Lawrence, as some claim, a liar and a charlatan? Or does the legend reflect reality? Was he, in fact, a brilliant military commander and a sincere advocate of the Arab national cause? ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is an early 20th century instance of celebrity culture. Neil will analyse the invention and re‐invention of the legend from 1919 onwards through memoirs, photos, films, paintings, biographies, and documentaries.

Neil Faulkner was educated at King's College Cambridge and Institute of Archaeology UCL. Works as lecturer, writer, archaeologist and occasional broadcaster. Research Fellow, University of Bristol. Editor, Military History Monthly. Director, Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project. Director, Great Arab Revolt Project. Author of The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain, Apocalypse, Hidden Treasure, Rome: Empire of the Eagles, and The Ancient Greek Olympics: a visitor's guide. Author of forthcoming Lawrence of Arabia's War. Major TV appearances include Channel 4's Time Team, BBC2's Timewatch, Channel Five's Boudica Revealed and Sky Atlantic's The British.

Please note this lecture will start at 10.45 am

It’s almost taboo to mention money in the labels on art gallery walls, yet in reality even other-worldly artists like Blake or Van Gogh were as pre-occupied with cash as the rest of us.  Many were downright commercial, and if they weren’t, the dealers were.  We watch the tug of war between creativity and credit in financial vignettes from five centuries.  Poverty awaited some who insisted on highly detailed finish in the 17th century when sketchier painters  delivered faster and cheaper.  Sir Godfrey Kneller in the reign of Queen Anne had a production line that put factories to shame.  We eavesdrop on Charles Dickens as a virtuoso financial advisor solving a little local difficulty for William Holman Hunt.  We look at prices for new art in relation to the cost of living for both artists and patrons in the past and conclude by wondering whether today’s colossal world art market is to the benefit or at a cost for creativity.

David Phillips studied History at Oxford, and from 1968-82 worked for Nottingham Castle Museum. From 1982-98, Lecturer in Museum Studies and Art History at University of Manchester. Published a book about museum practice with Manchester University Press, Exhibiting Authenticity (1997). 

Since the 19th century English high society had 'wintered over' on the Côte d'Azur, but always left by April. In the early 1920s, however, an intoxicating mix of artists, writers, musicians and international visitors, inspired by a mythological seascape of luminous colours, created a new summer season. Sun tans and sportswear soon became 'de rigueur' in the chic new coastal resorts, villas and hotels. This liberating playground of ideas across the visual design arts was stimulated by impresarios Serge Diaghilev and Paul Poiret. Traditional boundaries were torn down. Matisse, Picasso, Dufy, Cocteau, and Chanel merged the worlds of fashion, theatre and interiors. Cole Porter, Scott Fitzgerald, and the intriguing Gerald and Sara Murphy introduced an American perspective and attracted an influential new set of discerning patrons and collectors. We will 'time travel' to meet them.

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

Please note this lecture will start at 10.45 am

Who is Santa Claus? The familiar image of the jolly fellow with the white beard and red suit was to a large degree the creation of American illustrator Thomas Nast in the 1860s. This lecture follows the various transformations of St. Nicholas through 1,600 years of history. Originating in Byzantine Turkey in the fourth century, the cult of ‘Nicholas of Myra’ was actually the result of two completely different Nicholases getting muddled up. In 1087, when a bunch of Italian sailors snatched the saint’s relics and took them back to Puglia, ‘Nicholas of Myra’ became ‘Nicholas of Bari’. Medieval Europe made St. Nicholas into one of the greatest miracle-workers of all time. His stories were painted everywhere. Saving poor girls from prostitution and sailors from shipwreck, rescuing boys from kidnappers, clerks from murderous innkeepers, and babies from boiling bathwater... Nicholas became the Mister Fix-It of western sainthood. Add a propensity for gift-giving, and a feast day during Advent, and what do you get...? Santa Claus.

Janet Robson is an independent art historian with a BA in History from UCL (1980), an MA in Early Sienese Painting and a PhD in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art (1997 & 2001). Has over a decade of lecturing and teaching experience, including summer schools and public programmes, for the Courtauld, Birkbeck (University of London) and Christie's Education, as well as private study groups. She has published extensively on thirteenth and fourteenth-century Italian art. The Making of Assisi: the Pope, the Franciscans and the Painting of the Basilica, her book on the frescoes of the Upper Church of San Francesco in Assisi (co-written with Donal Cooper) was published in August 2013 by Yale University Press. She has also published numerous book chapters, essays and articles in journals including the Burlington Magazine, Apollo and Art Bulletin. Has travelled and studied extensively in Italy, having held research fellowships at the British School at Rome and at Villa I Tatti (Harvard University) in Florence, and now divides her time between Assisi and London. 

Art was in ferment in the decades leading up to the First World War. By moving into abstraction the boldest members of the avant-garde changed the very language of art, and also gave expression in their work to an apocalyptic vision full of violence and fragmentation, which proved to be darkly prophetic of the hostilities which broke out in 1914. This lecture will explore the different ways in which the actual experience of war affected the creativity of avant-garde artists across Europe, and show how much it had changed by the time of the Armistice in 1918. Ranging from trench art to artistic retrenchment in Paris and from Cubism and Camouflage to Russian Suprematism, this lecture examines the work of artists such as Picasso, Braque, Léger, Carra, Dix, Kirchner, Klee, Kokotchka, Macke, Kandinsky and Chagall.

Rosamund Bartlett has a doctorate from Oxford and has held senior university posts, most recently at the European University Institute in Florence. Specialises in comparative study of art, music and literature, and currently writing a book on the Russian Avant-Garde and European Modernism. Author of several books, including biographies of Tolstoy and Chekhov, whose works she has also translated for Oxford World's Classics. Extensive experience lecturing in Russian cultural history at venues such as the V&A, the National Theatre and Covent Garden, and broadcasts regularly on the BBC. Often invited to lecture on tours, and is founding Director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, set up to preserve the writer's house in Yalta.

This lecture examines the materials, techniques and history of enamelling in the decorative arts from Ancient Egypt to the present day, including jewellery and metalwork. There is a particular focus on enamelling in the Arts and  Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau.

Sally Hoban is visiting Lecturer at the University of Birmingham and has lectured extensively on art, design and antiques throughout the UK. Has broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Four, presents regular history programmes in the Midlands and her publications include Miller's Collecting Modern Design (2001). She has an Honours certificate in public speaking from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and is a freelance arts journalist for local, national and international media.

Born in the small village of Kirkharle, Northumberland, Lancelot Brown rose to become the most famous landscape designer in England. Working with contours, water and trees, he created landscapes so breathtakingly natural the poet Whitehead commented that only Dame Nature could distinguish between his work and hers. At sites such as Stowe, Blenheim, Bowood, Luton Hoo, and Croome Court, Brown’s style gently echoed the Italian artists of the previous centuries, and was itself further popularised in contemporary paintings of landscape as fashions in late 18th century art turned from artifice to nature, or more correctly to artificial nature. Marking the  300th anniversary of his birth this talk will consider the life and work of Brown, and examine the accolades and the charges laid at his feet - genius or vandal, artist or copyist? The talk is illustrated with images of Brownian landscapes both in reality and in painting.

 Twigs Way is a garden historian, author, researcher and lecturer. She presented Lost Gardens for Channel 4 and has appeared on Gardeners' World as well as making media appearances on a wide range of garden history related topics. Carries out freelance research in the history of specific gardens and parks for bodies such as English Heritage, the National Trust and various private clients, and has a specific interest in the portrayal of plants and gardens in art and literature and the social aspects of garden history. Her publications include A History of Women in the Garden, the highly illustrated A Nation of Gardeners, and a short biography of Gertrude Jekyll, as well as the quirky History of Garden Gnomes! Currently working on the Eighteenth Century Diaries of the Marchioness Grey of Wrest Park and is also involved in the 2016 tercentenary celebrations of one of our greatest landscape designers Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.

Edouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère of 1882 is one of the most treasured possessions of the Courtauld Collection. Here we are invited to engage with a young barmaid at work in a fashionable Parisian establishment. A gentleman waits to be served, whilst in the background spectators watch the night's entertainments. All seems to be well - but is it? What sort of establishment was this? Who frequented it? What 'entertainment' was provided here? Who was the barmaid - and the gentleman? Is this a straightforward representation of a contemporary scene or is Manet, often called the godfather of Modern art, playing with accepted conventions to undermine the coherence of the image and its content? This lecture explores the many different facets of this iconic painting and guarantees you will never look at it in the same way again.

Lizzie Darbyshire is a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art. Has wide experience as a freelance lecturer in the History of Art, working with fine arts societies and art galleries throughout Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Lizzie is particularly interested in placing works of art within their wider social and economic context, exploring the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ behind the paintings. Lizzie is a Past Chairman and now President of Hambleton DFAS.

 Armour was one of the great Renaissance art forms, but today it is usually overlooked by art historians, scholars and enthusiasts. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries almost all of the richest, most powerful noblemen in Europe could be counted as dedicated patrons of the armourer’s art. This was an intensely personal art, both expressive and decorative. Its essence was the creation of a living sculpture, a process which demanded not only fantastic skill in the sculpting of iron and steel, but also mastery of all decorative techniques available to the Renaissance metalworker. The achievements of virtuoso master armourers like Kolman Helmschmid, Konrad Seusenhofer, Filippo Negroli, Pompeo della Cesa and Jacob Halder were not however just about splendour and richness. They also embodied more complex messages, about status and the social order, divine power, and attitudes and identities.

Tobias Capwell is curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and an internationally acknowledged expert on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. His book, Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection (2011),  was named Book of the Year by Apollo Magazine in 2012. Appears regularly on television, most recently as presenter and armour advisor on Richard III: The New Evidence (2014), and as the writer and presenter of Metalworks: The Knight's Tale (2012). Recent publications include The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe 1520 1630, ex. cat. (2012) and 'The Arming of an English Man at Arms, c.1415', appendix, in Sir Ranulph Fiennes' new book Agincourt: My Family, The Battle, and the Fight for France (2014). After fifteen years of research, his book Armour of the English Knight 1400-50 will be published in 2015; it will be the first of three volumes exploring the story of armour in late medieval England.

The merchants of seventeenth century Holland filled their town houses with paintings. A favourite subject was scenes of everyday life, depicting behaviour both good … and bad. But these upright Calvinist citizens rejected Catholic Baroque melodrama. They wanted nothing to alarm the in-laws or corrupt the children. Innocent objects hint at adult themes: plucked chickens and lap dogs, lutes and virginals, oysters and artichokes, foot warmers and bed warmers. This is a world of subtle hints and double-entendre, spoken through a language of symbols, emblems and motifs. Join me to explore the hidden meanings in everyday scenes and become a fluent reader of ‘Double Dutch’!

 Lynne Gibson is now working as a freelance lecturer in the History of Art, Critical and Contextual Studies, as well as in practical Drawing, Painting and Printmaking. For many years lectured for the universities of Sussex and Bristol where she introduced 'Understanding Art' to the Lifelong Learning programme and residential summer schools. Gives talks, lectures and guided tours to a wide range of organisations and institutions including ARCA colleges, the National Trust, National Gallery, art museums and art societies. Also, when time permits, works as a professional artist specializing in oil painting and etching. Solo and group shows have included the RWA, British Museum and the Barbican.

Sofonisba Anguissola was a talented and successful Italian Renaissance painter. Her lengthy career included fifteen years painting portraits at the court of King Philip II of Spain. Anguissola was celebrated in her lifetime: her work was admired and discussed by Vasari and when she was in her 90s, Anthony  Van Dyck sought her advice on art. This lecture presents Anguissola’s life and career in its historical context and explains how her oeuvre is growing as she is now recognised as the author of paintings hitherto attributed to male artists.

Angela Smith holds a PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. Author of numerous articles and several books including A Timeline of Art History (2013). Experienced lecturer who has taught for several universities. Worked as a researcher for the National Inventory Research Project. Has led tours to various museums and galleries, most recently a three week cultural tour in Spain for ADFAS. Has led courses of study days for several NADFAS groups including A History of Western Art & Architecture, Art & Architecture along the Silk Road and English Church Architecture.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE STARTS AT 10.45 NOT 11.00

Textile weaving has had a long history in Western visual culture. With origins in ancient Egypt and Greece,the first western woven tapestries to survive in numbers came from Coptic Christian Egypt. But it is in the medieval period that large cycles of narrative tapestries at last appear.

Religious themes such as the Apocalypse, seen in the great Angers series, and secular life caught in the magnificent Devonshire Hunting tapestries give us an unparalleled view of medieval society and beliefs.

The Renaissance introduced innovations to textile design, as it did in all the arts, and tapestries now became sophisticated in design, expensive to weave and much sought by the powerful. Great artists such as Raphael provided designs which would set standards for centuries to come. In England, early collectors such as Henry VIII and Bess of Hardwick set up huge collections.

In the seventeenth century Charles I and his courtiers emulated their predecessors. However these cavalier patrons had access to the best of the new Mortlake factory, a royal foundation, which in its early decades was the finest weaving centre in Europe.

In time it was superseded by the French Gobelins factory, organised to provide Louis XIV with all the luxury fittings needed to furnish Versailles. This was the last great period of tapestry weaving as in the eighteenth century tapestry was eventually replaced by silk as the wall covering of first choice

Tom Duncan

Dr Tom Duncan was educated at Trinity College, Dublin where he studied Hisotry of Art and Ancient History and Classical Archaeology. He then studied for his Masters in the United States and moved to England in 1984 to complete his Ph.D. For many years he taught at university level, and now lectures widely to heritage and artistic organisations, nationally and internationally.

He regularly leads tours through his own company, Ciceroni,specialising in four areas: Ireland, Italy, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin.

18th century England, a time of discovery in art and science, saw not only the flowering of the Industrial Revolution, but also that of the self-made man. It was a time of gentlemen’s clubs and societies, where like-minded men would meet and discuss: engineers and so-called 'natural' philosophers the latest innovations of the day. The most famous of these was The Lunar Society.

Through the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby we will explore the lives, achievements, common interests and connections between a unique group of individuals from this period who either attended the Lunar Society or were associated with it: James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley, Richard Arkwright, Joseph Wright of Derby and others.

We shall also touch on the achievements of others, on the periphery of The Lunar Society, who were achieving great things in this period, such as Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks.

Leslie Primo

Leslie Primo has a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures, guided tours and special talks at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. He also lectures at the City Literary Institute, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute.

PLEASE NOTE THE DECEMBER LECTURE STARTS AT 10.45

“…in which it is the very trickery that pleases me. But show me how the trick is done, and I have lost my interest therein.” Seneca (3BC-65AD) 

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. Egypt was the cradle of magic. Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions for the edification of worship and to hold power over the people. Where there was power there was magic.

Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’. Magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ lest they by sentenced to death for ‘witchcraft and conjuration’ under the edicts of Henry V111.

With the emergence of the Music Hall, Magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked in there thousands to watch the extraordinary feats of The Great Illusionists. This gave birth to legendary tricks such as pulling a rabbit from a hat and sawing a lady in half. And if magicians guarded their secrets with their lives, how was the Magic Circle formed ? – Home to 10,000 secrets.

Even today, in our super technical age of ipods and broadband, the wonder and surprise of magic are as popular as ever, not forgetting the Harry Potter craze.
Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion is a whistle stop tour of the history of mystery from 3000bc to the 21st century and be careful! – you might be amazed and bewitched.

Bertie Pearce

Bertie Pearce is a Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star He has performed all over the world in weird and wonderful places including: The Magic Castle in Hollywood; The Kulm Hotel in St Moritz and The Bertie and Boo Cafe in Balham,London. His ‘Soiree Fantastique’ Show at The Magic Circle in 1999 was a sell out and in 2003 he put on “All Aboard – The Comedy of Cruising” at The Bridewell Theatre in London which sold out for 11 nights. In 2008 he performed with his sister Boo in ‘A Spoonful of Magic’ at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon and this was followed by Bertie and Boo’s “Wonders of The World’ Show which played at the Brighton Festival Fringe.

He inherited a fascination with conjuring from his maternal Grandfather Charles Derek Hill who was a classic amateur conjourer of his day, building illusions at the family firm, Higgs and Hill. Equipped with a BA(Hons) in drama from Manchester University, Bertie went on to the Ecole Internationale du Theatre Jaques Lecoq in Paris. After a summer season in Jersey and two pantomimes he served time on the Cruise Ships for four years. His eyes were opened to the wonders of world travel and some unbelievable passengers which provided the material for his show All Aboard.

In 2009 Bertie became an accredited Nadfas Lecturer and has toured extensively sharing his passion for Magic, Punch and Judy, Victorian Pastimes and Charles Dickens. His love of people and performance ensures that there is always a new and exciting gig around the corner.

Aside from performing Bertie loves the calm of the Sussex countryside where he has lived all his life. He loves gardening, forestry, making things and is very involved in his local church All Saints Church Crowborough. He is married and has two children, six light sussex chickens, two pigs and a border terrier called Buttons.

When steamships extended their services across the Mediterranean in 1840 and Alexandria could be reached from England in just fifteen days, the Middle East was opened not just to tourists, but to artists as well. For these pioneering British painters the Middle East was both a temporary home and an inspiration. For some like Holman Hunt it was a place of religious pilgrimage.

For others, such as Richard Dadd, it held more dangerous consequences; after returning home, he murdered his father and was incarcerated in an insane asylum. J.F. Lewis lived the Egyptian life for ten years before returning to England where he recorded that exotic world for the rest of his life.

Sarah Stopford

Sarah Stopford is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She studied art history as part of her first degree at Harvard. After a further degree in English at Cambridge and a career as a teacher of English literature in both the United States and England, she has returned to the world of art history where her special interests are in British and post-1900 art as well as the connections between literature and the visual arts.

The decisive allied victory over Napoleon brought to an end a series of wars that had convulsed Europe. Most people of the time experienced these conflicts not on the battlefield but through art. This lecture explores the contrasting views presented by British and French artists, including such masters as J. M. W. Turner and J.-L. David.

We also consider the insatiable public appetite for rather less elevated art forms, ranging from ladies’ fans illustrated with the latest military news, to full re-enactments of naval battles played out on real water at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

Lois Oliver

Dr Lois Oliver studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and writing her doctoral thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855. She worked at the Harvard University Art Museums before joining the curatorial team at the V&A and then the National Gallery, where she curated the major exhibition ‘Rebels and Martyrs’ (2006) and a series of three touring exhibitions. Currently Assistant Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, she lectures for arts organisations throughout the UK, writes audio and multimedia tours for clients including Tate, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy, and has appeared on TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 5.

During his long and prolific career as a ‘landscape gardener’, Repton worked on a huge array of commissions. Much of what he created still exists, but, as much as anything, it is for his remarkable output of written commentary and the watercolour illustrations contained in the renowned Red Books, for which he is remembered today.

This talk, based around the images from these books, explores Repton’s idea of ‘landscape gardening’ and his ambition to bring an idealised vision of England to life, in defiance of a changing world, the threat of invasion, the spread of industrialisation, and the loss of traditional rural life.

By following the changing style and content of his art and gardens, we can share Repton’s journey, as he struggled to remain relevant as Britain moved during his lifetime from an embattled fragmented nation to a global superpower.

Keir Davidson

Having worked as a Landscape Designer, Keir Davidson pursued his interest in Japanese Gardens and the art of the Japanese Tea Ceremony whilst living in Kyoto. After a career in landscape design, largely in the USA, he now lectures for NADFAS on the history and design of Japanese gardens and the tea houses and gardens of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Closer to home, Keir also lectures on the history of English landscaping, focussing on the work of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton. His publications include: The Art of Zen Gardening (1983) and A Zen Life in Nature: Musô Soseki in his Gardens (2007).

Modern sculpture is mysterious to many people. Frequently abstract or distorted in form, and complicated rather than illuminated by critical jargon, it seems difficult and inaccessible. Yet everywhere we go, sculpture is: invading our space, demanding to have attention paid. That is what makes it so challenging, and potentially so rewarding.

The story of sculpture through the 20th century reveals a growing understanding of how form can be manipulated to explore emotion as well as appearance, how materials can dictate meaning as well as shape, and how technical skill and concentrated imagination can use a three-dimensional language as expressively as any painter, poet or novelist to give us insights into the rhythms and meanings of life itself.

Initially controversial, the names of the sculptors involved have tended to become more accessible than what they made. Jacob Epstein and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska; Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore; Michael Ayrton, Anthony Gormley, Elisabeth Frink and Eduardo Paolozzi – their work stands at the heart of our time, and yet still, too often, people looking at individual pieces are intimidated where they should be enthralled. The viewing of sculpture is an exploration, an adventure, something to be enjoyed. This lecture sets out to prove that we can all be explorers.

Justine Hopkins PhD

After taking her first degree at Bristol University in English and Drama, Justine Hopkins turned to Art History, studying for an MA at the Courtauld Institute specialising in European Art of the Romantic period. She then spent a year in Belize and the British Museum drawing Ancient Mayan pottery, before returning to the academic world to gain a PhD from Birkbeck College, London for her researches into the interactions of Science, Religion and Landscape Painting from the French Revolution to the Origin of Species.

Since then she has worked as a freelance lecturer in Art History for Bristol, London, Oxford and Cambridge Universities; the Tate, National and National Portrait Galleries; the Victoria and Albert Museum; Sotheby’s, Christies’ and assorted independent institutions.

Her biography of the c20th sculptor and painter, Michael Ayrton, was published in 1994; she has also contributed articles to a wide variety of periodicals and dictionaries, most recently the New Dictionary of National Biography and the Oxford Dictionary of Western Art.

She lives in Bristol, in a house built in 1637 with timbers from ships that sailed against the Armada which she shares with a teacher, a photographer and a black cat called Martha. She divides her time between writing and lecturing,and makes lamps worked from glass beads for relaxation.

In 1824 the neglected poet-painter William Blake was discovered by a new generation of idealistic artists, calling themselves 'the Ancients'. Regarding Blake as a modern prophet, they despised the contemporary art world and created intensely expressive paintings of nature. Samuel Palmer is widely described as a visionary and linked with his friend and mentor William Blake.

This lecture tells the story of these visionaries – and of their influence on later artists.

Susan Owens

Susan Owens is a writer and freelance curator with a degree in English literature from Somerville College, Oxford, a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld and a PhD from University College London. Formerly Curator of Paintings at the V&A, she was responsible for oils, watercolours and drawings from 1800 to the present day having previously worked for the Royal Collection as Assistant Curator of the Print Room at Windsor Castle. Susan Owens publishes and lectures widely on British art. Amongst her many publications are The Art of Drawing: British Masters and Methods Since 1600 (2013); Amazing Rare Things: the Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery(2007; co-authored with David Attenborough, Martin Clayton and Rea Alexandratos), and Watercolours and Drawings from the Collection of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother(2005).