This lecture examines the unusual phenomenon of the artist monk or “frate dipintore” in Renaissance Florence, men who lived, on the one hand, an austere and cloistered existence and yet rose to become some of the most successful and highly respected artists of their time. Fra Filippo Lippi, Lorenzo Monaco and Fra Angelico were well-known not only as painters of devotional works for their own orders but also as highly active and successful figures outside their monasteries. How were they able to lead these demanding and no doubt attractive double-lives, and did their religious duties help or hinder their artistic activities? We discuss these questions with reference in particular to works on display in the National Gallery. 

Biography

Siân Walters is an art historian and the director of Art History in Focus. She has been a lecturer at the National Gallery for more than 20 years and taught their first online course, Stories of Art, in September 2020. She also lectures for The Wallace Collection, The Art Fund and many art societies and colleges throughout Europe, and taught at Surrey University for many years. Siân appears regularly on radio and television and has recently been commissioned by the National Gallery to write a book on Still Life in the collection. 

Her specialist areas include 15th and 16th century Italian Art, Spanish Art and Architecture, Dutch and Flemish painting and the relationship between Dance and Art (she is an honorary advisor to the Nonsuch Historical Dance Society). Siân studied at Cambridge University where she was awarded a choral exhibition and a 1st for her dissertation on the paintings of Arnold Schoenberg. She has lived in France and Italy where she worked for the eminent Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon and for the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. She spends much of the year organising and leading specialist art tours abroad, including bespoke trips for The Arts Society.

In recent years Siân has been asked to represent the National Gallery at the International Hay Festival, and was named a Highly Commended finalist in the  World’s Best Guide Awards. In 2018 she was invited to be the guest lecturer on the inaugural BRAVO Cruise of Performing Arts alongside Katherine Jenkins, Julian Lloyd Webber and Ruthie Henshall. In 2020 Siân presented the first online courses for both The Wallace Collection and The National Gallery, and was one of the first accredited lecturers to provide online Zoom lectures.

In 2020 she created a programme of online tours called Cultural Travels from Home, with live visits by special arrangement, broadcast from a number of major European art galleries allowing virtual access to their collections and exhibitions, from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice to the Castello Storzesco in Milan. The programme has included the world’s first ever livestream tours of the Basilica of San Marco and Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, the Medici Palace in Florence, the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, the Brera Art Gallery and Castello Sforzesco in Milan, the Palazzo Baldeschi in Perugia, the Palazzo Colonna and Palazzo Farnese (French Embassy) in Rome, the National Gallery of Slovenia and many more. These collaborations continue to raise important funds for the galleries and cultural sites as well as those working in the cultural sector. These are being offered to Arts Society groups as part of their online tours/events programme. 

Image Angelico, Palo di fiesioli Wikimedia Commons

Music was a constant theme in Edouard Manet’s life and art. His wife Suzanne Leenhoff was a gifted pianist, and regular musical soirées were held at the Manet family home. His pictures of musicians and their audiences range from major early canvases depicting itinerant gypsy musicians and Spanish dancers, through to paintings encompassing the full range of Parisian musical culture, from private performances to street entertainment, café concerts and the Paris Opera. Manet also designed cover illustrations for music composed by his friends. Bringing together Manet’s art and the music that inspired him (including Spanish flamenco, Wagner piano reductions, café songs, and opera highlights) this lecture immerses you in Manet’s world.

(exhibit 2027)

Biography:

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

Image Public Domain

This lecture focuses on the design impact of the Great Exhibition and the need for a 'legacy institution' in the form of the South Kensington Museum. We look at the building as a work of art and explore the work of William Morris, Fredrick Lord Leighton and other influential designers of the Victorian Age.

 Biography:

Anna Warrillow has a  BA in the History of Art & Italian from the University of Sussex and an MA in Renaissance Decorative Arts & Design from the Royal College of Art.  She worked for 6 years as a curator in the Sculpture Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum and also for the Henry Moore Family Trust. She is adjunct lecturer at the American International University in Richmond where she teach undergraduates The History of London. 

Blue Badge Guide since 2013, conducting bespoke private tours for discerning visitors to London. She has her own guiding company Canvas and Stone Tours since 2018 www.canvasandstonetours.co.uk. Her background and passion is art and history and she lectures for art, history and academic societies.

Peggy Guggenheim was the 'poor little rich girl' who changed the face of 20th century art. Not only was she a woman ahead of her time, but also one who helped to define it. She discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. Through collecting not only art, but often the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.

 Biography

Alexandra Epps is an official guide and lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the Guildhall Art Gallery. #she is a qualified guide to the City of London, offering walks, talks and tours about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association. Co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015). Alexandra’s background is in design having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years. BA Saint Martin’s School of Art, MA London College of Printing.

Image Public Domain

The source of the stuff of dreams, the poppy is a beautiful, fragile flower with immense power. Opium (from the greek ‘opion’ – poppy juice) is a hypnotic bringer of sleep, delightful lethargy and relief from pain. It is also highly addictive. Greed led to the introduction of this hugely desirable substance first to China, and then to Europe. The beguiling seduction of its effects led to its use to quieten troubled minds and calm agitated children and babies. Its use, often by those with troubled minds, led to the creation of great works of art in music, art and literature. Social and art history meet as this lecture unfolds.

 Biography

Amanda read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge. From 1978-1988 she was curator at the Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1718 to present day. In 1988-1995 she moved with her family to Japan, lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. In 1995 she returned to the UK, fundraising for arts companies, writing, lecturing and guiding tours to Japan. Most recent publications are on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West. 

The Grand Tourists of the 1700s changed the art world. Rome was now filled with wealthy travellers, many from Britain, not only visiting the great works of art and architecture, but also looking for portraits, miniatures, mosaics and ancient sculptures to purchase for their family collections. This lecture will highlight some of the most famous visitors to Rome, including many artists who came to study, and will introduce 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.

Biography

Stuart is a “History and Art Communicator” of 30 years' experience. He is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide (qualified in 1998 - awarded “New Guide of the Year”) and also a Guida Turistica Abilitata della Provincia di Roma (qualified in 2010). Since 1992 he has lead 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, 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. 

The earliest cars were purely functional and lacked even the most basic of passenger comforts, such as doors or even windscreens to protect passengers from the elements.    However, progress was rapid and by the mid-1920s we entered a golden age of automobile design.   A new generation of stylish cars were influenced by the art deco movement and the ‘Great Gatsby era’ included some of the most famous and fabulous cars ever built.  This period was followed by the Streamline Moderne influenced cars of the 1930s and 40s, with aerodynamic shapes and lots of chrome detailing.  This talk covers some of the most beautiful cars ever built, and focuses on the work of the coachbuilders, who were inspired by the art movements and created ‘mobile works of art’.

 Biography

A keen and accomplished photographer Roger has gained distinctions from the Royal Photographic Society and is currently the 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.

Note:  this talk is also available as a two-lecture Study Day programme:

Lecture 1 covers the evolution of cars up to and including the Art-Deco inspired cars of the late 1920’s and early 30s.

Lecture 2 starts with the Streamline Moderne cars of the mid-1930s before moving to the Jet Age cars of the 50s and the emergence of the Italian supercars. 

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 very famous indeed, but it was not always like this.  She published anonymously and was unknown in her lifetime.  There is no record on her gravestone that she was a writer and her books fell out of print shortly after her death.  So just how did Jane Austen become the literary superstar she is today? 

This lecture will chart Jane Austen’s rise to fame; it will explore the makings of a literary celebrity and examine Austen’s legacy, 250 years after her birth.     

In this amusing lecture Tyler will talk about the seemingly happy world of professional, family pantomime - and what it’s really like. He will recount the bouquets and the brickbats and look at the famous names, the greatest dames and the old routines that we all remember ; he will look at when it all works – and when it does not.  Why is it that this most precious of British traditions will always endure, and why, surprisingly, every actor wants to do it. This is a revealing look at professional panto from someone who was born into it. 

 Biography

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. Now, he produces walking audio guides to cities across Europe for private clients. He lives in Sussex where he walks on the South Downs and the South Coast. 

Image © Tyler Butterworth

Our rich cathedral choral tradition is unique. Drawing on his own experience as a chorister in Wells Cathedral, Roger will give a lively insight into the life of a cathedral chorister. The lecture will explore the development of the tradition from medieval times to the present. It will be illustrated with examples of some of the outstanding choirs of the 20th and 21st centuries.  

Biography

Roger was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English. He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh. After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England. He is President Emeritus of The Stoke Poges Society.

Image © Roger Askew

Norse handout here

When we walk into any gallery, why do we see so many depictions of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, but not Viking ones? This lecture explores how Norse myths and legends have been portrayed in the decorative and fine arts over more than 1,300 years and reveals quite how few depictions we have (although some are superb) and how varied they can be. In order to explain key themes in the artworks, the talk begins with a brief overview of the pantheon of deities, the Norse creation story and Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. It then looks at Viking-age representations in wood, stone and metalwork, the effect of Christianisation, and 16th century manuscripts illustrating the Icelandic Eddas.  It continues with 19th century paintings and sculpture created in a period of Scandinavian romantic nationalism, the appropriation of mythological images by the Nazi regime and more recent re-interpretations of Thor, Odin, Loki and the Valkyries in cartoon, Manga and film as well as conceptual art. 

Works examined include paintings and illustrations by Henry Fuseli and William Blake, oils from the Danish Golden Age and the Swedish and Norwegian Royal Academies, 19th century sculpture, and 20th century works by Carl Larsson, Hilma af Klint, Asger Jorn and Anselm Kiefer.

Using these examples, the talk considers differences in material culture and worship patterns between Viking-age Scandinavia and the classical world, resulting in completely different legacies. It considers the lack of any stable imagery - which has led to Norse deities donning 16th century armour, rococo wigs, togas, space suits and even just birthday suits.  The lecture concludes by revealing the five key reasons why we see the Viking gods so much in popular culture but almost never in the fine arts. 

Biography

James Vaux is a researcher and lecturer specialising in Nordic arts, culture, design and history. He has presented extensively on diverse topics throughout his career to demanding audiences across the globe, including CEOs and government ministers. His talks now focus on understanding artistic achievements through their historic, cultural and political context.  

James aims to question the underlying narratives behind artists, designers and movements, to explore the 'why' and the 'how' instead of the conventional 'who', 'what' and 'when' . A truly gripping Arts Society talk needs a mystery to be solved, not a chronological series of items and events.

James took a law degree at Oxford with First Class Honours and qualified as a solicitor before switching career. As a managing director of the international bank Rothschild, he advised governments and corporates worldwide. He set up and ran the bank’s Nordic operations, living and working in Scandinavia and immersing himself in the countries’ arts, culture and history. James then gained an MA (Distinction) at UCL in Language, Culture and History (Scandinavian Studies). His dissertation was on Swedish design, and he specialised in landscapes, the Viking Age, politics and literature. 

He has also studied interior design and art history at the Inchbald School, Mid-Century Modern at Sotheby’s Institute and electronic music at Point Blank. He hosted a local radio show for four years. He lectures and provides study days focusing on Scandinavian Modern design, Danish design, Norse mythology, Icelandic literature, Swedish literature, the Modern Breakthrough in Nordic culture and the role of modernism in the Cold War.

 image © Thor’s Fight with the Giants, 1872, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.  

Eyrarland Statue of Thor, c.1000, National Museum of Iceland.

This lecture will be preceded by the AGM at 10.15 am

Ealing Studios is often hailed as the most quintessentially English of all the film studios. Run by Sir Michael Balcon, for decades the studio reached its zenith in 1949, releasing Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets.  Ealing Studios made films that have a reputation for cosiness, whimsicality and an ever-so-gentle subversiveness.  This talk revisits these films and views them again in the light of post-war ‘new waves’ that were beginning to emerge across Europe.

This lecture celebrates the 400th anniversary of the accession of Charles I in 1625.  His 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 King Philip IV. 

Image: Charles I by Van Dyke. Queens Gallery Windsor Castle. Creative Commons Agreement

Prague is one of the great treasure houses of Europe. Reduced to a near ruin under the communists, it has been restored to its former glory, a unique blend of Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture.  We will look at the rich fabric of Prague's past, its legends and its history, as well as the artists, composers, statesmen and rogues that have illuminated this fairy tale city.

Photo credit: William Zhang, Unsplash

Saint George, patron saint of England is, perhaps surprisingly, not English, but his image abounds in diverse places all over the country.  This lecture tells how not only his cult, but also his image originally appeared in England and then was disseminated throughout the realm and over the centuries.

Image: St. George and the Dragon. Anonymous,1437-50 (Henry V Chantry Chapel, Westminster Abbey)   Photo credit: Andy Barker

In 1971 Linda Nochlin wrote her famous essay, Why have there been no great women artists?  Since them, much has been done to insert women into the canon and uncover their lives and works. This talk looks at the obstacles that women faced and how they managed to overcome them. We will see the differences in family background, place of birth and how the period affected their chances of success.

Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (National Gallery) Image licensed for non-commercial use through a Creative Commons agreement

Mario Testino and David Bailey may be household names that spring to mind when we think of the great fashion and portrait photographers of the 20th century, but where does Jorge Lewinski's reputation lie among these significant individuals? Have you heard of him?  

 Image © Bill Burlington

This presentation tells of the Mozart family's visit to London (1764-65) when the 8-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus befriended George III and became the subject of medical research.   Dr Griffiths illustrates his talk with music, explanations and performances of Mozart's witty and precocious miniatures.  Music by Mozart's son, Franz Xaver (also known as Wolgang Amadeus Mozart Jr), brings the the morning to an emotional conclusion.

Image courtesy of The Arts Society website

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art. Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas both sacred and profane, but in Bruegel's hands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus.  Looking at the paintings, 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.

Biography:

Writer and broadcaster Gavin Plumley who appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, Royal Opera House, National Gallery, National Trust, National Theatre, British Museum and V&A. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is out now. 

Image: Hunters in the Snow (Winter) Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Flemish 1525-1569) 

PLEASE NOTE: This lecture will take place at Denbies

Lt Col Jones provides a personal account of the preparation and build up to the National Day of Remembrance held at the Cenotaph at Whitehall in November each year in the presence of His Majesty the King and Queen and the Royal Family and Heads of State on behalf of the Royal British Legion and the nation.   Timing and precision are everything. Find out how the music for this event is prepared ahead of the big day in this behind-the-scenes presentation.

 Image ©Jason Thompson, Unsplash

Bandstands are a distinctive feature of public parks and seaside promenades all over Britain, but what do we actually know about them? Why did they appear in our earliest parks? When were they erected and who made them? This lecture explores and provides answers to these questions, showing how the bandstand evolved from the builds and 'orchestras' of the early Pleasure Gardens of the 18th century and how they appeared in nearly every public park and seaside promenade of the time.  How was design influenced by the great landscape designers and, importantly, how did a very small number of Scottish foundries corner the market across the world. You will leave the lecture with a smile on your face - it is a highly amusing lecture!

Image © Paul Rabbitts

This lecture is preceded by the AGM at 10.15 a.m.

NB. Owing to building work at Dorking Halls, the lecture in July will take place at Denbies

For many years, Scottish artists found it necessary to travel south to make their names and careers in art, but with the increasing importance of the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow from the end of the 18th century, an independent Scottish art scene became possible. These developments will be traced through individuals such as Sir Henry Raeburn, the first artist to find success while remaining in his native Scotland, and Sir David Wilkie, important as one of the first to truly export Scottish art. This lecture will also look at the parallels between Scottish and other European art, as well as periods of divergence, touching on art movements such as the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists. 

Image: Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823) The Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch 1790s (National Gallery of Scotland)

NB. Owing to building work at Dorking Halls, this lecture will take place at Denbies

In 1882 Gertrude Jekyll wrote a short but seminal article in The Garden in which she urged the readers to 'remember that in a garden we are painting a picture'.  As an accomplished watercolour artist, Miss Jekyll was familiar with the principles of using colours, but she felt that in gardens these principles 'had been greatly neglected'.  This lecture looks at how to apply these principles to designing a border, but it also looks at the ways in which a border is different from a painting.  However, it goes further than this and looks at how contemporary work, those of Turner, Monet, Rothko and Jackson Pollack evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like.

image © Timothy Walker

Delacroix wrote to his brother, 'If I have not fought for the country, at least I will paint for her.' This lecture explores one particular painting, Liberty Leading the People, placing it at the heart of French Romanticism and looks at its powerful role in the aftermath of the July Revolution and its mixed critical reception. It also covers the historical background and the influences that led to the creation of Liberty and her compatriots on the barricades and asks why this icon of French revolutionary fervour continues to exert its fascination today.

Image: Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823) The Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch 1790s (National Gallery of Scotland) 

For all the things that have been written about the great Sun King, Louis XIV, he is best remembered for the creation of Versailles; the immense chateau which he built on the site of his father’s old hunting lodge and which became the seat of French government, the setting for all grand court ceremonial and the envy of every other European monarch. This lecture will be an introduction to the sumptuous state apartments, the vast gardens and pleasure pavilions, the spectacular entertainments which took place both inside and out, the collections of the King and the whole etiquette of life at one of the greatest courts in Europe.

Image © PicRight

Image: Jean Baptiste Martin, Antique Gallery Versailles

Susan will provide an intimate look at the fashions of the 1920s at Barkers Department store, Kensington, London. Drawing on an historic album of photographs and promotional material, Susan will paint a picture of the spectacular fashion shows held at the store. Chairman, Sir Sydney Skinner, was ground breaking in building a Fashion Display Hall with a catwalk, unique in its day, to entice customers to view the latest season’s fashions. Celebrity supermodels of the period are pictured in theatrical fashions, which were then promoted in the daily press. At a time when the economy was struggling from the Great Depression, Barkers invested in fashion marketing, positioning itself as a luxury department store.

The tranquil and meditative paintings of Johannes Vermeer are among the best-loved artworks in the world. Relatively little is known about the master from Delft, but that has not deterred a torrent of publications about him, both fictional and scholarly. One of the most hotly debated topics in Vermeer literature is his supposed use of the camera obscura.  We will tackle this controversy head on by investigating the history of optical devices in art and examining the latest theories on Vermeer’s technique.  It will be a great opportunity to look at Vermeer’s beguiling body of work afresh through  a different lens.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) have iconic status in Mexico. Rivera's intricate visual narratives, rich with allegory and symbolism, adorn the walls of public buildings. Inspired by Aztec and Maya imagery, and by early Italian fresco painting, his vast murals combine social criticism with faith in human progress. Kahlo's work, unlike Rivera's, is small in format. Arguably Mexico’s most original painter, she made herself the principal theme of her art. Her paintings reflect her experiences and dreams. This lecture surveys the work of both artists; it chronicles their turbulent marriage and Mexico's history after the 1910 Revolution. 

Image: Frida Kahlo with Diego Rivera in 1932. Carl Van Vechten photograph collection

The remarkable untold story of Carry On actor Peter Butterworth, and his wife, Britain’s first female tv impressionist Janet Brown, best known for her impression of Mrs Thatcher. Using classic film and tv clips, personal mementos, and rare photographs and letters from his family’s unseen collection, Tyler reveals the private story behind his parents’ public lives. It’s a journey that takes in MI9, the building of a theatre in the notorious WW2 prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III, nights at Chequers with a Prime Minister, This Is Your Life, and many more moments in their long, shared life in the theatre. 

One of the world’s most popular athletic events commemorates Pheidippides’s epic run from the battlefield of Marathon to his native Athens. Apart from the amazing courage of Pheidippides, why remember a battle that took place more than 2,500 years ago? Since the 19th century, historians have argued that it was a crucial event, one that had decided ‘the whole future of human civilisation’. As John Stuart Mill put it, ‘the Battle of Marathon, even as an event in English history, is more important than the Battle of Hastings’. Rupert re-creates the background and the battle itself in thrilling detail. He looks at the various ways in which ancient Athens has influenced our art and culture, and argues that Marathon was, indeed, the battle that saved ‘Western Civilisation’. Eye-opening, edge-of-your-seat stuff.

Image:  The Soldier of Marathon by Luc-Olivier Merson (1846-1920). Pheidippides giving word of victory after the Battle of Marathon. Painting in the Public Domain

This lecture tells Ukraine's story through the shared culture that binds its proud people together. We will explore the sacred art and architecture of Kyiv and its links to Byzantium, as well as the distinctive characters and ethnicities of Odesa and Lviv. Tracing Ukraine's complicated multi-ethnic history also means looking at its rich folk culture traditions. These range from native song and the secret codes embedded in ancient embroidery, which have exerted a surprising impact on modern painting and contemporary haute couture, to Cossack dancing and borshch.  

Image: Embroidery by Hanna Sobachko 1912 

AGM at 10.15 a.m. followed by lecture

Agatha Christie is often dismissed as a writer of intriguing but lightweight novels which are no more literary than the average cryptic crossword. If her work is credited with any political meaning at all, it is seen as self-evidently reactionary and outmoded. This talk suggests that, looked at another way, the work can be read as exposing a disorder at the heart of polite society. Christie emerges as one of the 20th century’s great chroniclers of political instability.’

The extraordinarily rich hoard found at Sutton Hoo dates to the early 7th century from which we learn a great deal about the wealth of the country at the time, inter-action with other cultures and status within Anglo-Saxon society. What we cannot yet prove is who was buried within the ship found in the mound, although the popular theory is that it was King Readwald of East Anglia. Images of the treasures found as well as Old English poetry are used to discuss kingship and power in Anglo-Saxon England.

Old Saigon, elegant Hanoi, mystical Ha Long Bay:  these places captivated French artists of the 19th century colonial regime in Vietnam where they taught painting at the School of Fine Arts. Their sensual portraits and exotic landscapes evoked an idyllic world of gracious people with rich artistic traditions harking back to ancient civilisations.  Imbuing their students with Western ideas, artists such as Alix Aymé, who revived lustrous lacquer work and silk painting, and Victor Tardieu, a pupil of Matisse, formed a generation of Vietnamese painters whose creative expression fused Eastern imagery with Paris Modernism.

The historic background of Indochina, of ancient Hindu temples, Buddhist pagodas and Chinese style palaces, were transformed by the addition of French architecture and culture. A new aesthetic emerged, depicted by French artists as paradisical and romantic, which reflected an era and a way of life that would vanish with war.

Based on three years of research, why wass this Baltimore woman, born in 1896 into relative obscurity, so demonised by the British establishment and wider commonwealth? She was accused of being a spy, prostitute or Nazi sympathiser, yet, after she married the ex-King and became Duchess of Windsor, she turned her exile and hatred into a platform from which to launch herself as one of the world’s best dressed woman, who entertained in the most elegant homes fit for a king – or an ex-king.

Was she simply a clothes horse for dress designers and jewellery makers or did she have a heart that has never been fairly understood? Included are pictures of Wallis and the clothes and jewellery she had made especially for herself as well as the homes she lived in. It is the story of how, in the context of the 1930s, this woman who had three husbands was unacceptable as Queen of England and of the Empire. Who was this woman and what was the power she had over King Edward Vlll? Seventy-five years since the Abdication in 1936, is now the time to reassess That Woman?

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

Maples at Cuckfield, Sussex

Photo credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

This lecture is about the White House’s most celebrated twentieth century residents. Others had been, perhaps, more intellectual, such as Eleonora Roosevelt, certainly others utterly perfidious, just to name Nixon for one, but no other couple who inhabited the White House were ever so glamorous, sophisticated and celebrated. Of course, they will never be forgotten given the tragic end to the Kennedy presidency, but this has tended to overshadow, somewhat, the astounding aesthetic and artistic changes made during their relatively brief tenure. Apart from the wonderful film tour of the residence made by Mrs Kennedy and still shown to visitors today, the Rose Garden was a fine creation by Jackie and her friend, the renowned garden designer Bunny Mellon. So too, the interiors were restored seriously, based on historical research and items belonging to the house throughout its history were purchased and returned, even in many cases gifted back by patriotic individuals. Take a trip down memory lane and visit Camelot in this richly illustrated talk.

These two very different cities are rich in buildings, paintings, history and personalities. Toledo was an important city in medieval times where Christians, Jews and Muslims co-existed, and its buildings include a former mosque, two medieval synagogues, the Cathedral, and the great late-15th century church of San Juan de los Reyes. El Greco settled and worked here. In contrast the vibrant city of Madrid became the capital of Spain in 1561 and has many imposing Habsburg, Bourbon and 19th century landmarks. Among them are the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the convent of the Descalzas Reales and the church of San Antonio de la Florida, as well as Madrid’s great museums with their wealth of Spanish paintings.

Photo: Toledo courtesy of Mary Riley

Possibly the most admired historic English building outside London, Blenheim Palace is an uncompromising World Heritage monument to English military ambition and one family's self importance. The story of its construction is a fascinating catalogue of excess and outrage, while the result is both monstrous and utterly sublime. It is in the effect that its perceived spirit has had on consecutive generations of Marlborough's, that is most revealing.  It is also from within this 'cauldron' that a Churchill was born, recently voted the "the greatest Britain of all time". This lecture explores these themes and the characters involved, marvelling at the genius of Vanburgh and considering the real impact the palace has left on the nation.

This is an in-depth look at the profound mystery of perception. There is an eternal fascination with the unfathomable, the weird ambiguous state of seeing things which are not there – yet are there. It carries us back into that long gone,deeply missed period of our childhood when magic was common place and when the boundary between the possible and the impossible was very blurred. In the same way as a magic trick surprises and delights us there is a primal enjoyment in being deceived by optical illusions. Since Roman times illusions have been used in art. The stretching and distorting of perspective has been highly developed by artists to create a range of effects on the viewer

A look at the enduring appeal of The House of Fabergé. The business visionary at its helm and the imperial patronage that ensured its prestige. Exactly how did a modest jewellery concern with an extremely un-Russian sounding name become an enduring symbol of Romanov luxury?

This talk takes us beyond the legendary Easter eggs to consider the design sources, materials and techniques that distinguished the legendary Russian firm from its contemporaries. We look, in particular, at Fabergé gifts that were selected to convey romantic ties, filial devotion, diplomatic esteem, and even loyalty from beloved pet.

AGM at 10.15 a.m. followed by lecture

Three great families and their gardens is the story of three very different, but hugely successful families:  the Sackville Wests, the Astors and the Rothschilds.   The Sackville Wests have been part of the establishment since Norman the Conqueror and the other two families are wealthy immigrants who came to England in the l9th century.  The lecture traces the history of the families, discusses their contribution to life in England and celebrates the splendid gardens that they have created.

The illustration shows the White Garden at Sissinghurst by John Erskine

Mr Punch's reign as premier puncturer of pomposity spanned five monarchs; his blend of cartoons, jokes and satire holding up a mirror to society, with a wry grin, pointing out questionable politicians, unimaginative beaurocrats, rude shop assistants, striking workers, rich foreigners, rising prices and ... the British railways - recognising that to laugh rather than cry is a good tonic.

Punch Magazine described itself as: 

"a guffawgraph"

"a refuge for destitute wit"

"an asylum for the thousands of drawings, orphan jokes and perishing puns which otherwise wander about without so much as a shelf to rest on"

Murder, poison, corruption and incest: all perfect ingredients for sensational popular culture. But in an age known for its brutality and church corruption were the Borgias really so bad? This lecture reveals the real family that dominated the Papacy and Italian politics during the last decade of the 15th century: the charismatic figure of Pope Alexander VI, living inside his sumptuously decorated apartments, the career of his son, Cesare, cardinal, general, employer of Da Vinci and the model for Machiavelli’s The Prince, and the journey of Lucrezia Borgia from “the greatest whore in Rome” to a devout and treasured duchess of the city Ferrara. Sometimes truth is more intoxicating than myth.

At the height of the Italian renaissance when most of the names one comes across are male, one woman stood out as a ruler, a patron, an art collector (of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Mantegna, Perugino, Bellini and many others). She courted poets and writers, became an icon of fashion and was, quite frankly, a bit of diva.  Her name was Isabella d'Este and Sarah Dunant has been living in her close company for the last two years writing a novel about her. In her lecture she will try not to channel her too directly.

This lecture is a look at backstage life at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the pressures faced by performers, be they singer, dancer, conductor or musician.  We see how the building copes with the demands of modern productions and examine audience expectations both inside the theatre and out. We also look at some of the highs and try to understand some of the lows that have been the fortune of the Royal Opera House over the years.  Fully illustrated including audio and video clips.

Features the artists that travelled with Cook including: Alexander Buchan, Sydney Parkinson, William Hodges and John Webber. They created sensational artworks and illustrations of the people and places of South Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia and several Pacific islands. Highlights of the life and work of Sir Joseph Banks are addressed as he popularized the participation of professional artists on British voyages of exploration.

Glittering and Dangerous . . .

The lecture is of general interest and charts opera’s close connection with the society that is paying for it. The talk moves from the 17th and 18th century preoccupations with princely patronage, classical plots, courtly manners, high voices, enormous costumes and happy endings through the gear change of the war and revolution to the 19th century concerns of nationalism, epic themes and doomed heroines. The talk is based on years of writing articles, programme notes and lecturing for the Royal Opera House and the BBC.

For thousands of years the mystery of the Golden Section has inspired thinkers from all disciplines - artists and architects, mathematicians and musicians.

Discover the secrets of its sacred geometry and beauty within creations from classical to contemporary.

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) was one of the leading figures in the fight for the unification of Italy during the nineteenth century.  During his lifetime he attracted almost fanatical devotion.  He was a romantic and heroic figure who captured the imagination of Italians but also of the British.  His interest to the British prompted a fashion for everything from Staffordshire figurines, biscuits and blouses to the famous red shirts that became symbols of the Risorgimento and Italy's fight for freedom.  This fascination on the part of the British culminated in a triumphant visit in 1864 when over 500,000 Londoners turned out to see him in Trafalgar Square.

This lecture looks at the amazing life of Garibaldi through the art of the Risorgimento and uses paintings, documents, newspaper accounts and the many representations of him in popular British culture to trace the reasons for his popularity in this country. It looks at the many links he had with Britain and how he fits into the contemporary artistic fashions of the period.

Image Copyright: all images are cleared for copyright for publicity purposes on websites or in society newsletters/programmes - Image © Ch

This lecture looks at ordinary working people: skilled and unskilled workers in both urban and agricultural environments, craftsmen, artisans, shopkeepers, domestic servants, entertainers, prostitutes, beggars, paupers, slaves. Throughout the history of western art, they have always been there: for centuries as mute observers, background detail or comic relief. As the world changes, art changes: this talk will discuss the move of low-life subject matter from the despised and vulgar fringes of popular taste into the respectable mainstream and out again into political radicalism and avant-garde edginess. 

The illustration is  A Cottage Girl by Thomas Gainsborough

Modern art is often considered difficult, but it is much less so when seen through the eyes of some of the greatest cartoonists of the last one hundred and fifty years, who provide a humorous and sceptical but instructive guide to modern art from Courbet to the Britart of the 1990s. A chance to enjoy the insights and cartoons of (among others) Daumier, Larry, Thelwell, Matt, the wise guys at the New Yorker magazine and, of course, the immortal Giles. Collectively, they provide an absorbing, illuminating and, above all, a funny, revealing and sidelong view of 150 years of modern art. 

For the series Downton Abbey, Andrew was commissioned to produce many jewels for the main characters, and this inspired him to create a talk based on Downton and the changing styles of the time portrayed.

Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case.

In his talk Andrew guides you through the extraordinary periods and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great fashion houses collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce works of art of outstanding quality and glittering opulence. Along with this he discusses the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and how they were worn with the sumptuous gowns.

Why were foreigner painters preferred by the aristocracy in London to native-born English painters, why did foreigners come in the first place, what was their motivation, and what was the impact of foreigners in London on English art and art practice? The lecture will look at the various formats and uses of art, tracing foreign artists from the Tudor period through to the Renaissance and Baroque, looking at their origins and how they came to work in England. It will examine the contributions of artists such as Holbein, Gerrit van Honthorst, Marcus Gheeraerts the younger, Lucas and Susanna Horenbout, Isaac Oliver, Paulus van Somer, van Dyck, Peter Lely, and Rubens, and how these artists influenced the British School of painting, and assess their legacy.

Our virtual walk down Edinburgh's Royal Mile begins with a panorama at Castle Rock before delving into the medieval life and architecture of the 'Closes' and homes of Scottish Enlightenment writers and artists. We will see a cathedral and the World's End before our walk ends at Holyrood Palace in its Royal Park.


 

2020 marked the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael. The monumental figures and clarity of form of his art epitomises the grandeur of the High Renaissance while his masterful drawings, in a variety of media, reflect his creative processes. His early death at the age of 37 belies the scope of his work and future influence. In this lecture, we will study his art and architecture, from his early work in Urbino and Florence to its full maturity in Rome.

Cleopatra, the woman for whose love’s sake, Antony is imagined to have given up the chance to rule the Roman world, has been inspiring painters, poets and film-makers for more than two millennia. Their gorgeously voluptuous depictions of her, offer insights into changing concepts of beauty, and into the racial and sexual assumptions underlying them.  Showing images ranging from Roman portrait busts, through medieval illuminations, the glorious works of Renaissance masters like Michelangelo, the splendour of Tiepolo and the exoticism of Gustave Moreau to 20th century film stars (Theda Bara, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and the Carry On team’s Amanda Barry), the lecture shows how Cleopatra became a screen onto which artists have projected their wildly differing fantasies about exotic danger and erotic bliss. 

With a population of more than a million, Birmingham is Britain's second city, a thriving place for the arts and entertainment as well as being a great manufacturing centre. But how did a small impoverished Anglo-Saxon settlement on the banks of a tiny stream manage to become so? On our walk through the city Ian Jelf aims to give us some of the answers, together with a few surprises on the way. This visit will give a taste of what we will see on our History and Art in the Birmingham Area Tour from 8th to 11th September.

Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, and the story tells of its origin and appearance in all societies across the Mediterranean and through Europe. There is rich evidence of the role wine has played in these societies and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity.

People wonder about the relationship between art and wine. To answer that the lecture shows slides that include kwevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C, tomb drawings from ancient Egypt, wineware from Greece, extracts from Cato’s de Agri Cultura , the thermopolia of Pompeii, a spectacular mediaeval building in France, paintings and cartoons and so on, all of which are relevant to how wine has become commonplace. Apart from how wine was originally made this talk is not really about the liquid itself.

Caravaggio is known for his adherence to reality but how did he weave the real lives of his models into his paintings? What became of Fillide Melandroni, courtesan to cardinals, the star of Caravaggio’s Judith and Holofernes who was under the control of pimp Ranuccio Tomassoni, whom Caravaggio murdered? Why did Caravaggio choose Fillide’s friend, street prostitute Anna for the penitent Magdalene? What role did fellow artist Mario Minniti play in Caravaggio’s works? And was Caravaggio his own best model?

Glittering and Dangerous . . .

The lecture is of general interest and charts opera’s close connection with the society that is paying for it. The talk moves from the 17th and 18th century preoccupations with princely patronage, classical plots, courtly manners, high voices, enormous costumes and happy endings – through the gear change of the war and revolution to the 19th century concerns of nationalism, epic themes and doomed heroines. The talk is based on years of writing articles, programme notes, and lecturing for the Royal Opera House and the BBC.

Walking through the centuries : Time travel in York

Enjoy a leisurely stroll around one of England’s most beautiful cities - taking in some hidden corners and quirky spots you might have over looked before. George VI said that the History of York is the History of England: join Sarah Cowling, a Blue Badge Guide, in uncovering the many layers that make up this fascinating city.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, born in December 1770, the lecture guides us through the life and work of this brilliant, cantankerous, visionary and astonishingly original composer, a man who tore up the rule book of classical music. Visual illustrations include a selection of contemporary portraits, while musical examples are drawn from his genre-busting piano sonatas, quartets and symphonies, and from the revolutionary opera Fidelio. We’re talking about much more than just a musician here – Beethoven was a true Romantic artist, or as he preferred to describe himself, a “poet in sound”.

Deborah (‘Debo’) Devonshire, the youngest of the Mitford sisters and wife of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, was hefted by marriage to one of Europe’s greatest treasure houses, Chatsworth. In partnership with her husband, she imbued it with a spirit, elegance and sense of welcome that transformed it from being the worn-out survivor of decades of taxation, war and social change into one of the best-loved, most-emulated and heavily-visited historic houses, gardens and estates in the country. With responsibility for Lismore Castle and Bolton Abbey as well, her passport stated her profession as ‘housewife’.

She became a best-selling author and speaker, champion of the countryside, founder of one of the first farm shops, trustee and patron of numerous charities and good causes, devotee of Elvis Presley and the most famous poultry keeper in the country. She met Hitler and Churchill, knew Macmillan and Kennedy, was a trusted confidant of the Prince of Wales, played her part as the steady heart of the Mitford sisters’ melodrama and was friends with a dazzling array of artistic contemporaries.

Blue Badge Guide and lecturer Anna Warrillow will be giving a talk on some of the highlights to be found in the British Museum. Included will be some old favourites, such as the Lion Hunt Reliefs which greeted visitors to the Palace of King Ashurbanipal, as well as some objects that perhaps aren’t so familiar, such as the Leaping Bull from Crete, or the Holy Thorn Reliquary which houses a relic from the Passion of Christ. Find out about the origins of the museum, enjoy the close up detail of these objects and hear their stories.

From an Indian river bed thousands of years ago to the Tower of London – the fascinating story of the ‘Mountain of Light’. The story of this celebrated diamond is not only intriguing but also full of surprises; it has been the subject of desire, jealousy, intrigue, passion and political chicanery. This lecture follows the journey of this fabulous diamond from the depths of early Indian history through the bloody history of the Mughals to the power and politics of the British Empire, illustrated by extraordinary artists who were committed to describing the events and emotions of their time.

The Nazis looted over 20% of Western Art during World War II, confiscating art from Jewish families and emptying museums throughout Europe. This lecture will provide an overview of Nazi looting by setting the scene in Nazi Germany, discussing Hitler’s obsession with art and how the Monuments Men recovered art after the war. Several landmark cases will be discussed in detail, including Gustav Klimt’s celebrated Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer and the stash of more than 1200 artworks found in possession of the son of a notorious Nazi dealer.

T

Features the artists that travelled with Cook including: Alexander Buchan, Sydney Parkinson, William Hodges and John Webber. They created sensational artworks and illustrations of the people and places of South Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia and several Pacific islands. Highlights of the life and work of Sir Joseph Banks are addressed as he popularized the participation of professional artists on British voyages of exploration.

From Essex Punk Potter to Superstar National Treasure

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

For thousands of years the mystery of the Golden Section has inspired thinkers from all disciplines - artists and architects, mathematicians and musicians.

Discover the secrets of its sacred geometry and beauty within creations from classical to contemporary.

Years of working as an artist within the Criminal Justice System in England and Germany have given Angela unique insights into the destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of the minds, lives and challenges of offenders. With extraordinary slides of art projects and prisoner’s art, she demonstrates how within the process of creating art of any discipline, there are vital opportunities for offenders to confront their crimes and develop the key life skills so essential in leading a positive and productive life.

This talk casts light onto areas of our society where the Arts not only are visual, decorative, or commercial, but are absolutely vital, hugely relevant and potentially life-changing, and is interspersed with personal accounts of humorous or slightly horrifying situations.

Leonardo da Vinci was not a physician so why did he study anatomy?  He believed that art was based on a scientific understanding of everything depicted and accurate representation depended on his getting under the skin and into the mind of his subjects.  He also subscribed to the hypothesis that man was a microcosm of the universe.  It followed that if the form and function of man could be explained then the universe would be better understood.

This talk explores the way in which Leonardo acquired his knowledge of anatomy from experience through extrapolation to human dissection and ties in with the chronology of his travels and well-known artistic achievements.  It is illustrated with examples of his anatomical drawings and reflects the extra ordinary accuracy of his findings.

Cleopatra’s Needle stands serenely on the Victoria Embankment in London but it begs many questions. What are obelisks for?  Where did this one come from? Was it really Cleopatra’s?  Who brought it here? Why? How?

This is the tremendous story of an extraordinary artefact and its exciting journey from the sands of the Nile to the banks of the Thames. A project for Victorian engineering, beset by almost insuperable difficulties, tragedy and triumph, it was the wonder of the age.

Forks and salt cellars, Bacchus and the Garden of Eden, medieval banquets, Mrs Beeton and coffee-houses:  through the centuries, food and its rituals have provided a vibrant opportunity for artists to celebrate, to analyse their world and even to develop complex ideas of morality.

At the heart of the home, a shared fascination with food not only provides the perfect opportunity to flaunt money and status through elaborate artefacts, but also illustrates shifting fashions and styles of eating. In painting and sculpture, religion, mythology and social traditions are rich in themes of food and shared meals, from still-lives to The Last Supper. 

The lecture examines the changing significance of food and feasting and its symbolism for faith, wealth and even gender, through objects and images.

This new talk is a homage to René Lalique, the 20th century's greatest glass designer. Lalique's extraordinary work was unrivalled, combining his unique visual sense with a perfect understanding of glassmaking technologies and revolutionary approach to marketing. This talk is a visual feast, covers Lalique's early work in jewels and furniture before he dedicated the remainder of his life, c1905-45, to glass. His output spanned simple, pressed cosmetic pots through car mascots and stemware to the unique cire perdu (lost wax) vases that today can command tens and even hundreds of thousands of pounds.

When it was completed in 1912, the Great Omar was the most elaborate and opulent binding ever created. It was embellished with more than one thousand jewels, five thousand leather onlays and a hundred square feet of gold leaf; and took a team of craftsmen over two and a half years to make. It went down with the Titanic. This lecture tells the story of the Great Omar and the bookbinders Sangorski and Sutcliffe, who were known for their fabulous jeweled bindings. It is also the story of life after the tragedy, and of one young man, in particular, who decided against the odds to recreate the binding – a venture which itself is mired in tragedy and which occupied him for the rest of his life.

We start with a painting of the Thames and Tower of London in 1500, which tells a fascinating tale about a French prince and poet. We continue with Dutch views of Tudor Palaces on the Thames in 1620, and then look at 18th century paintings by Canaletto and his distinguished English rival Samuel Scott. After views by Turner, Constable and Tissot, we turn to various 19th century artists, including three French Impressionists. The 20th century landscapists include Stanley Spencer and others more surprising. The lecture covers much of the Thames from its source to its estuary, and includes the Regatta at Henley, as seen by four different artists. As usual, modern photographs are shown from the same viewpoint, which show us how much the scene has changed, but also, how much the artist has changed the scene.

Artists were never far behind the explorers who opened up the west of America in the 19th century. Now, their paintings give a powerful, if romanticised, perspective on the country and people that the settlers found. Even at their most grandiose these paintings often have a touch of elegy about them. Sometimes it is allegorical, as in the series of paintings by Thomas Cole that charts the Course of Empire, from the pastoral state, through apotheosis, to decadence and ruin. Sometimes it is anthropological: pictures by Alfred Jacob Miller give us the only record we now have of some Native Americans and their customs - from how they dressed to how they hunted buffalo. And sometimes it is decidedly self-serving, as when Albert Bierstadt reflects that one day his picture of the unspoilt Rocky Mountains may be displayed in a city built upon the site that he has painted.

Bierstadt is a particularly interesting character. An adept self-promoter, he moved in exalted circles, and conceived the idea that the Grand Duke Alexis, on a state visit to America, might enjoy a buffalo hunt: a notion which resulted in the Tsar’s third son celebrating his birthday in 1872 in a remote part of Nebraska, accompanied by Buffalo Bill, George Custer, a party of Sioux Indians led by Crazy Horse’s uncle, and the great Civil War general, Philip Sheridan. It was Sheridan, as much as anyone, who sponsored the extermination of the buffalo herds which once roamed the American plains, realising that this was the way to force civilisation on the Sioux and other native American tribes. Fifteen years later, this story would come full circle, as Bierstadt, by now out fashion, tried to find an exhibitor for his own nod towards nostalgia, The Last of the Buffalo.

This lecture portrays the story of the civilisation of America’s west, as told through some of the most monumental paintings ever conceived.

Artists were never far behind the explorers who opened up the west of America in the 19th Century. Now, their paintings give a powerful, if romanticised, perspective on the country and people that the settlers found. Even at their most grandiose these paintings often have a touch of elegy about them. Sometimes it is allegorical, as in the series of paintings by Thomas Cole that charts the Course of Empire, from the pastoral state, through apotheosis, to decadence and ruin. Sometimes it is anthropological: pictures by Alfred Jacob Miller give us the only record we now have of some Native Americans and their customs - from how they dressed to how they hunted buffalo. And sometimes it is decidedly self-serving, as when Albert Bierstadt reflects that one day his picture of the unspoilt Rocky Mountains may be displayed in a city built upon the site that he has painted.

Bierstadt is a particularly interesting character. An adept self-promoter, he moved in exalted circles, and conceived the idea that the Grand Duke Alexis, on a state visit to America, might enjoy a buffalo hunt: a notion which resulted in the Tsar’s third son celebrating his birthday in 1872 in a remote part of Nebraska, accompanied by Buffalo Bill, George Custer, a party of Sioux Indians led by Crazy Horse’s uncle, and the great Civil War general, Philip Sheridan. It was Sheridan, as much as anyone, who sponsored the extermination of the buffalo herds which once roamed the American plains, realising that this was the way to force civilisation on the Sioux and other native American tribes. Fifteen years later, this story would come full circle, as Bierstadt, by now out fashion, tried to find an exhibitor for his own nod towards nostalgia, The Last of the Buffalo.

This lecture portrays the story of the civilisation of America’s west, as told through some of the most monumental paintings ever conceived.

The work of women photographers has often been unfairly neglected. This lecture seeks to correct that by examining the contribution of three outstanding British practitioners: Julia Margaret Cameron, a Victorian pioneer; Jane Bown, a brilliant portraitist; and Fay Godwin who excelled in landscape photography.  We also explore the work of two highly influential Americans: Dorothea Lange, who produced brilliant documentary images; and Annie Leibovitz, who continues to both surprise and delight her audience.

It was once thought that art did not exist in any form until around 30,000 BC when the Cro-Magnons took over from the Neanderthals in the Palaeolithic period. However a carved and painted figurine found in Morocco in 1999 is now said to be at least 400,000 years old. Throughout this lecture we will look at some of the very earliest examples of art from across the pre-historic world. From carvings to cave paintings, the innate skills of our ‘uncivilised’ ancestors will amaze you.

Why do people look the way they do in portraits of the past? From the alarmingly lead-whitened cheeks of the Renaissance, to the disappearing hairlines and mouse-hair eyebrows of the 17th and 18th centuries and rouged-cheeks of the Victorians, portraits have been governed by cosmetics, fashions and ever-changing concepts of beauty. Not only women, but men too were at the mercy of changing trends in hair styles, wigs, jewellery, smallpox patches and artificial teeth. From the application of rhubarb or boiled pigeon, mercury or lead, powders and poisons have dominated the ‘look of an age’.

While the portraitist strove to capture the individual, this had to be translated through the mask of stylish convention, balancing reality with the ‘ideal of beauty.’

The white robed friars of the medieval Carmelite monastery to the west of Blackfriars, gave both name and site to the glasshouse bought in 1834 by City wine merchant James Powell for his 3 sons.  By 1900 Whitefriars was famous worldwide for its exquisite domestic glass, made in the Arts and Crafts style, and also its stained glass and mosaics.  One of the most important customers was William Morris, who so influenced the company’s designs that it became famous for applying the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement to what it made. It also supplied the mosaic tesserae for the scheme devised by William Blake Richmond, at the end of the 19th century, to decorate the choir vaults of St Paul’s Cathedral.  Whitefriars moved out of London after the First World War to a green field site near Harrow.  Some of the finest modern glass from the 20s to 70s was made here until the factory closed in 1980.  The glass is now highly collectible. The company history is well documented and a fascinating social record of the period.

With wit, intelligence and meticulous research, Anthony illuminates van Gogh.  Anthony tracked down the exact sites where he painted.   Using a two-screen system to compare the actual painting sites with the paintings, he takes you on an unforgettable journey in the master's footsteps. Anthony talks about the Vincent ' Magic' that turns canvas and paint into £30,000,000.

Anthony studied at Liverpool College of Art at the time of the Beatles and came to study painting at London University's Slade School where his History of Art tutor was the great Sir E.H. Gombrich. He spent thirty years teaching at various art colleges and then set up his 'Roadshow' in 1983 to share his enthusiasm for Art and artists and to allow time for painting.  Anthony continues to be a full-time painter and lecturer.

Thomas Heatherwick has won many awards and honours:  in 2004 he was the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry:  he won a Gold Medal for his British Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010; and in the same year he was designer of the year in Japan.   Sir Terence Conran spotted his talent early on and has described Heatherwick as ‘the Leonardo da Vinci of our times’.         

Heatherwick’s work received world-wide coverage in 2012 when, with his studio team, he designed the Olympic Cauldron at the London Olympics.   The giant ring of fire rising up from the centre of the Olympic Stadium was a memorable sight and in the lecture we will look at how they achieved that spectacular moment.   The Heatherwick Studio also designed the new red London bus, the first re-design of such an iconic symbol of London for 50 years.   A part-model of the bus was featured at the acclaimed exhibition of their work at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2012.

Heatherwick’s approach is multi-disciplinary, and with his colleagues he blends architecture, sculpture and engineering to produce elegant results, from large urban spaces to individual items such as his Zip Bag for the French firm Longchamp.    As well as the conversion of the Coal Drop buildings at King’s Cross into a shopping area, the Studio has major projects underway in Cape Town, Shanghai and New York.  In New York, they are involved in four concurrent projects, two forming part of the development of West Manhattan – a great achievement for a British designer.

Heatherwick’s innovative approach is now in demand all over the world, and the lecture will highlight the broad range of his designs.

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

The operas of Gilbert & Sullivan are rich in contemporary satire and witty personal allusions. The lecture tells how each of the 14 operas, on which the partners collaborated, drew inspiration from the world in which they lived.  As a result, celebrities, politicians, social mores, manners, artistic taste, the class system – even Queen Victoria’s red drawing room at Windsor Castle – are poked fun at.

The lecture relates how the then first Lord of the Admiralty, WH Smith, became the model for Sir Joseph Porter KCB in HMS Pinafore, how Oscar Wilde inspired  Bunthorne – the fleshly poet – in Patience, and how Gilbert himself was the model for the Judge, in Trial By Jury.  The lecture is illustrated with live arias accompanied on the piano.

Our AGM will precede this lecture, so we will start 15 minutes earlier at 10.15am. Please be prompt.

Summary: Discover the story of one of the most popular artists of the Renaissance, who languished in obscurity for centuries until rediscovered in the 19th century.

Synopsis:  Sandro Botticelli is now one of the most popular painters of the Italian Renaissance. His beautiful 'Primavera' and elegant 'Birth of Venus' are amongst the best known images from the Florentine Golden Age, but the times he lived in were volatile and dangerous and his art masked political turmoil and religious unease. As Florence moved from the luxurious era of the Medici to the religious austerity of Savonarola, Botticelli and his painting became caught up in this great change - but who were the angels or the devils in this story – and on which side was Boticelli?

What Jo says about herself: I read art history at Leicester University, then a post-graduate diploma in Oxford, specialising in the art and architecture of fifteenth century Italy. This was a wonderful opportunity to explore one of the most vibrant and exciting periods in history – and to do so surrounded by the marvellous collections of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.

I enjoyed a happy and successful twenty-year career in the book trade, eventually running a specialist art bookshop in London, and working with the auctioneers, Christies. I also thoroughly enjoyed teaching adult education classes in art history and, in 2000, I became a volunteer guide for Tate Modern and Tate Britain.

Much of my work now is for The Arts Society, but I also lecture for Dulwich Picture Gallery, The Art Fund and for local art groups and societies. Through my links with Tate I've also lectured on several P&O cruise liners. I really enjoy lecturing and introducing audiences to the periods, places and artworks that I love. 

IMAGE: Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" (c. 1485) in the Uffizi Galleries, Florence

The Wallace Collection in London contains an outstanding array of paintings, furniture, porcelain, arms and armour, and other works of art, including sculpture, glass, miniatures, gold boxes and enamels.  It was brought together by five generations of one family between about 1760 and 1880. All the Founders were remarkable men but the greatest collectors were the 4th Marquess of Hertford and his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace, who lived most of their lives in Paris. It is their French upbringing which largely explains the strong, but by no means overwhelming, French emphasis to much of the Collection.  It was Lady Wallace, the widow of Sir Richard, who bequeathed the Collection to the British nation in 1897.  This lecture tells the fascinating story of the Wallace Collection’s formation, and also presents many of its finest treasures.

Lecturer: STEPHEN DUFFY was Curator of the 19th Century Paintings and Exhibitions of the Wallace Collection. He read History and the History of Art at New College, Oxford. 

Image:   Probably the most famous painting in the collection is “The Laughing Cavalier” by Frans Hals. 

No highway in the world is as laden with romance and adventure as the Silk Road (from 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD). It was the world’s largest trade link, linking China with the Mediterranean 8,000km (5,000 miles), crossing the most spectacular and inaccessible regions in Asia. Merchants travellers and monks crossed “burning” deserts and snow-capped mountains, while carrying trade goods; silk, jade, carpets, spices, glass and lapis lazuli, and other luxury goods. Oasis towns edged the Taklamankan desert and the foothills of mountains – here Buddhist monks created hundreds of stunning, colourful fresco/painted cave temples. 

The lecture looks at the recent archaeology of the Silk Route: the cave temples: Dunhuang, Bezeklik, the Silk Road’s Mummies, Gandara and ancient Bactria (Afghanistan) the Tilly Tepe Gold Hoard.

Hanne Sutcliffe has lectured extensively to museums, art and historical societies as a NADFAS and Art Fund lecturer.  She has been a guide, lecturer and researcher on sixteen tours to China as well as lecture tours in South Africa, the USA, and twice in Australia. She has lectured in Europe and on cruise liners in the Far East; an extra?mural lecturer at Leeds University and Harrogate College; Published 'Chinese Ceramics at Lotherton Hall'; and is a Council Member of Oriental Ceramics Society.

Pop Art is a figurative, realist, brightly-coloured response to the modern world of consumerism, youth culture and the mass media in Britain and the USA. Inspired by popular and commercial culture, Pop artists were fascinated with their own modern era - the post-war world of advertising, Hollywood films, pop music, comics and the cult of celebrity.

Valerie Woodgate:  Lecturer and Guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, also at many other London Galleries, for the National Trust and other organisations. Lecturer for Tate on P&O Cruises.

Former member of the teaching team at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Script-writer for the Living Paintings Trust, which brings art to the blind and partially-sighted.

Lecturer to The Arts Society throughout Britain, and to related organisations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Gold in South America had a spiritual importance. Its brilliance evoked the Sun — the golden disk that nourished the Earth. In Peru and Colombia, goldsmiths made some of the most spectacular treasures of the ancient world. Cast and hammered, gold was transformed into sacred offerings for tombs and temples. Europeans, by contrast, saw gold as a commodity — the ultimate symbol of wealth. For decades, Europeans searched in vain for El Dorado, the legendary Golden One. Although many golden treasures were melted down for bullion, magnificent works of art are preserved in the museums of Peru and Colombia.

Chloe Sayer is a freelance specialist and author in the art and culture of Latin America. A Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. She has curated several exhibitions and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. She has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.

Image: Chloe Sayer

James McNeil whistler (1834-1903) was one of the most colourful personalities of his day. Argumentative, Theatrical,  a great dandy whose saving graces were his wit and of course his art. His “Nocturnes”, “Symphonies”, and “Harmonies” introduced a new aesthetic to British art, and demonstrated the radical concept of art for art’s sake. He drew upon an eclectic range of influences. Velasquez, contemporary French avant-garde painters with whom he was friendly, Japanese prints, English watercolourists, all contributed to his  distinctive style. A notorious libel trial bankrupted Whistler but is now looked upon as a defining and vitally important moment in the history of art. The lecture, which explores all aspects of his achievements from printmaking to interior decoration, will demonstrate why he was “a one Man Revolution”. 

Image: Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian

PATSY ERSKINE-HILL

Brought up in Italy, France and Switzerland, she holds a first class degree in Italian from Trinity College, Dublin and a Masters degree in Imperial Russian history from Edinburgh University. Ran her own business for many years, finishing with a 5 year contract teaching at a US university. Now back in the UK, she lectures widely to history societies, university groups, special interest associations and on cruises. Her interests are the society, art and architecture of Imperial Russia; Italian history, art and culture; the English eighteenth century.

Art UK: Uncovering the Nations Hidden Oil Painting Collection

The Public Catalogue Foundation was set up in 2003 to catalogue every oil painting in public ownership in the UK. This ambitious project involved visiting 3,000 collections across the country and photographing over 212,000 paintings. These paintings are reproduced in an acclaimed series of 85 hardback catalogues entitled Oil Paintings in Public Ownership. In 2010 the PCF joined forces with the BBC to create the Your Paintings website (www.bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings) on which oil paintings in our national collection are now available to view online.  

This lecture offers an insider’s view of the project and describes some unusual collections visited, intriguing paintings uncovered, detective work involved and assistance given by The Arts Society (NADFAS) members. The project continues as more collections are added, and the public is invited to help improve the painting data. 

Mary-Rose Rivett-Carnac

Gained a 1st class honours degree in History of Art and English Literature, and an MA in Victorian Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London. Has written several arts-related articles and in 2010 contributed a chapter on the Victorian artist F.D. Hardy to Wolverhampton Art Gallery’s exhibition catalogue. Is a volunteer guide at Dorich House Museum, studio-home of the Russian sculptor Dora Gordine, and at Turner’s House, Twickenham. Since 2007 has worked for the Public Catalogue Foundation on an acclaimed arts project that is the subject of her lectures.

Image: Claude Monet (1840–1926)  The Church at Vétheuil (1880)  Southampton City Art Gallery

The human face carved as a mask disgorging leaves from its mouth. Since Tudor times they are believed to signify the old nature spirits and fertility gods. Dr David Bostwick, lecturer and consultant on historic buildings reveals the fascinating truth.

Image: Dr David Bostwick

Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532-1625) gained international renown in her lifetime. Contemporary viewers are frequently amazed at how fresh and contemporary her paintings appear. Her legacy of at least 30 paintings (mainly portraits), provide insight into the personality of this artist who was promoted by Michelangelo and served as the first woman court painter. Particular focus is made on the manner in which she introduced into domestic portraiture a greater informality. Her work is examined within discussion of the context of daily life as a woman artist during the high Renaissance.

MR PUNCH is the most famous puppet character of all time. His comic irreverence gave “Punch” magazine its title. His anarchic vitality has inspired opera, ballet and punk rock and his enduring popularity has seen his likeness on goods ranging from Victorian silverware to computer video games.

Appearing in England in 1662, Punch is descended from the Italian clown Pulcinella of the fifteenth century commedia dell’arte tradition.

Today, this Lord of Misrule uses his slapstick to dispense with oppressive authority, be it politicians, political correctness or the devil, while proclaiming his notorious refrain: “That’s the way to do it!”

LIKE any sub-culture, street art has become more famous and well-known in the wake of its golden years. As with the punk and hippy eras there are still hangers-on but the main event is almost certainly over. As I will explain, like any sub-culture, the rise of street art was the moment when the long history of graffiti stepped that much further from vandalism, becoming at its best ‘unsanctioned public art’. Politicised, concept led, humorous and even beautiful, street art will probably go down in history as among the greatest visual sub-cultures to engage a generation.            

William Lunn

USING illustrations from carvings, wall paintings, pottery, mosaics, sculpture, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, and eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings, Sarah traces the history of one of the world’s most ancient and beloved musical instruments from thousands of years BC, to its arrival in northern Europe, including the huge developments and improvements during the renaissance and nineteenth centuries that created the highly mechanised and beautiful instrument we see played in orchestras and as solo instruments today.

Performing on her own reproduction and antique instruments, Sarah will demonstrate the development and evolving sound and repertoire of the harp throughout its history.

FROM the late seventeenth century to the modern period this lecture looks at the development of the sport of horseracing in England through its associated cultural material. 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 and because of the national nature of the sport can be adapted to include links to the local area.

Christopher Garibaldi is Director of the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket.

IN this lecture Angela will adopt a chronological approach as she discusses aspects of the brilliant Islamic visual culture that was produced in Spain.

We start by considering the results of Umayyad rule in Cordoba – including the building of the Mezquita, the Great Mosque and the palace city of Madinat al Zahra.

We continue by tracing the subsequent history of Muslim culture in Spain and examine Hispano-Islamic ceramics, ivories and other artistic forms.

We conclude by considering Muslim art and architecture during the Reconquista including the building of the Alhambra in Granada.

THE lecture offers a light-hearted but critical review of public sculpture today. Since antiquity, sculpture has transformed public spaces, celebrating and commemorating people and events and, at best, reflecting the spirit of the age.  

Contemporary public sculpture is more diverse and often aims to meet political, social or corporate agendas, yet it can provide an enlivening and sometimes controversial focus for our public spaces.  The lecture discusses many successful examples of public sculpture today, like the Angel of the North, Richard Serra’s Fulcrum at Broadgate and the series of commissions for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, plus some that are less successful.  It also looks to the future and to works not yet realised, like the White Horse at Ebbsfleet – and much more besides.

THIS talk will consider his life and work and examine his aims and methods, as well as the accolades and the charges laid at the feet of ‘England’s Greatest Gardener’. Born in the small village of Kirkharle in Northumberland, Lancelot Brown rose to become the most famous landscape designer in England, incidentally refusing work in Ireland as he had “not yet finished England”.

Working with the most essential elements of contours, water and trees, he created landscapes so breathtakingly natural that the poet Whitehead commented wryly that only Brown and Dame Nature could distinguish between his work and hers. At sites such as Petworth, Blenheim Palace, Luton Hoo, Wrest Park, and Croome Court, Brown used the land as his canvas. His naturalistic style was itself further popularised in contemporary paintings as fashions in late eighteenth century art themselves turned from artifice to nature, or more correctly to artificial nature. Rising to the position of Chief Gardener to George III, Brown resided in the grace and favour home of ‘Wilderness House’ at Hampton Court, where he ironically insisted on retaining the formal gardens.

PUBS and their signs are a fundamental part of our history and cultural heritage. In this colourful and entertaining lecture John shows some of the most interesting and distinctive signs before exploring the fascinating stories behind the origin of some of their peculiar names. Who could fail to be intrigued by “The Bucket of Blood”, the “Cow and Snuffers” or even the “Eager Poet” – and who on earth was “Blind Jack”?

SINCE its foundation in 1925, Faber and 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 – T S 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 and 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, I grew up steeped in its books. I was managing director for four years and I remain on the board. I am passionate about the firm’s success, and intensely proud of my association with it.             

Toby Faber

JAN VAN EYCK was one of the greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance. He introduced radically new styles of painting and left his peers gasping with admiration at his innovative skills and his sheer artistic genius. This lecture looks at some of his most challenging, beguiling and enigmatic paintings.

Artist, Architect and Art Historian Photo: The Uffizi Gallery

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of his birth, this lecture will examine the various talents of this man and how they reflected the spirit of the times. Giorgio Vasari was self-opinionated, biased, even vindictive, yet his “Lives of the Artists” is central to Italian Renaissance Art. To contemporaries, however, his fame was not as a writer but as an artist and architect, employed by the most important patrons in 16th century Italy, notably Duke Cosimo de’Medici, for whom he designed arguably the greatest art gallery in the world, the Uffizi, although its original purpose was not to display art.

A look at embroidery techniques and what has been achieved through history to the present day.

This lecture focuses on the work and collection of the Royal School of Needlework. We will be shown a varied range of embroidery techniques including blackwork, whitework, goldwork, silk shading Jacobean crewel work etc that have been used in Western Europe, and how they are used today by students of the school. This is a well illustrated lecture that appeals as much to non-stitchers as to those skilled in embroidery.

In his seminal book, The Passport, the History of Man's Most Travelled Document, Martin Lloyd traces passports back three and a half millennia.

This lecture will take us back a mere three and a half centuries to demonstrate with the aid of illustrations from his passport collection how their design developed from the handwritten paper to the technically complex document that we use today. We will also be shown how art and artisanship have played an important and sometimes secret part in the longstanding desire to fox the forger. He will show us how the forgers have responded to the challenge presented by these secret safeguards. You will never look at your passport in the same light again.

The pharmaceutical Delftware collection at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Blue and white tin-glazed earthenware has long been admired and collected for its attractive appearance, but this lecture goes further by examining English delftware with a pharmaceutical purpose. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum holds an important collection of English delftware drug jars and pill tiles dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. They include the earliest known dated English drug jar, extremely rare dated English delftware pill tiles, and jars that held substances as unfamiliar as oil of fox, and as familiar as powdered almonds. This lecture presents the Society's collection, and provides a beginner's guide to these beautiful yet practical vessels. By placing them in their wider historical context, Briony will also demonstrate that delftware drug jars have an undervalued role to play in understanding medical practices in the 17th and 18th centuries

This lecture tells a story which is improbable, extraordinary, funny, poignant, and always entertaining John Opie RA was the eighteenth century artist,” the carpenter’s boy” touched by genius. Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, his legacy of paintings can be found across the world. His work is exhibited in the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Collection, His name appears in reference books, encyclopaedias, and on lists of important portraits, great artists, great Cornishmen, even of quotations - yet most people have never heard of him. He is buried next to Reynolds in St Paul’s.

Note: on Wednesday 13th April we have a Walking tour of the Great Fire of London sites

The Great Fire of London of 1666, which came only months after the Great Plague, devastated most of the City of London. 13,500 houses, 87 churches and 44 livery halls, as well as many public buildings, were destroyed within four days. This lecture examines the devastation wrought by the fire, looks at the inspirational plans put forward for the rebuilding of the City and explains how the reconstruction which followed changed the face of London for ever.

With major furniture commissions in 54 of the 68 Oxbridge colleges, countless museums, palaces, boardrooms and churches, it is highly probably that you have sat on a Luke Hughes chair or around a boardroom table without knowing it. Despite a scholarship to Peterhouse and subsequent History of Art and Chinese degree, Luke Hughes chose to become a furniture maker. But an accident climbing in the Himalayas necessitated a more intellectual approach that considered the true requirements of modern furniture design. He has since become a dominant figure in the British furniture world with his revolutionary mantra of "flexibility" and "practicality", not to mention the phrase "fine architecture is grossly undermined by bad furniture". This lecture shows what modern furniture requirements say about our society today and illustrates many of the fabulous commissions undertaken by Luke Hughes, many beyond the scrutiny of the public.

Forget Callas and Domingo – the theatre at Covent Garden has had a most chequered 300-year career. Panto first saw the light of day here: popular Christmas entertainments put on, then as now, to pay for the serious plays and operas during the rest of the year. Even in the 21st century, operas and ballets have echoes of those first Christmas shows: Columbine and Harlequin still dance in The Nutcracker, the children still escape the witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella either sings (Rossini or Massenet) or dances (Ashton) her way to the obligatory happy ending.

Few artists have been blessed with such an instinctive talent for painting as Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28) who died at the age of twenty-five. Although not as famous now as his great contemporaries Turner and Constable, he was a more instinctive artist than either, producing some of the most exquisite paintings and watercolours of the Romantic era. Born in England, but living most of his adult life in France, he established his reputation in both countries at a time when their artistic interests were closely linked. This lecture looks at his place in the history of art and discusses some of his most beautiful works in oil and watercolour.

The new season starts with a lecture about the country house located at Rockingham near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, which was the seat of the Marquesses of Rockingham and then the Earls Fitzwilliam. This is a story of untold wealth and magnificence, political power, royal visits and family rivalry. David Winpenny will tell us about the history of the aristocrats who built the house, their rival styles of architecture, how the house was saved, and of its re-opening . What part did shuttlecocks have to play in this fascinating story? In July 2015 any of you with a spare £8 million could buy the place as it’s up for sale through Savill’s.

It would be hard to find a more exciting and inventive group of artists than Peploe, Cadell, Fergusson and Hunter. They produced some of the most dramatically colourful and admired works of the 20th century. Their landscapes, portraits and still-lifes will be studied, paying particular attention to vibrant sensual colour, expressive brushwork and stunning sense of rhythm and design. The captivating freshness and optimism of these works is guaranteed to delight and inspire. This is a ‘must have’ for those going on the Glasgow trip and for those not going they will wish they were!

What does an expert look for and who do the jewels belong too? All will be revealed through many amusing anecdotes and personnel accounts of exciting discoveries made over many years through her involvement in the auction world. This fun and entertaining lecture will reveal some of the mysteries behind the world of auction and look at collections that have belonged to some extraordinary people.

Symbol of militarism and power, emblem of nature in all her gentleness and cruelty, and sporting icon of impeccable breeding, the horse is a reflection of mankind's views of itself. These themes are discussed in a lecture based upon Vivienne's research for an ongoing look on the subject.

The lecture is based on the Islamic manuscript, the Padshahnama (chronicle of the King of the World) which is the unique official history of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, who ruled India from 1628 to 1658. He is best remembered for the building of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Padshahnama is illustrated with 44 of the finest Mughal paintings in the world. They vividly depict the very dramatic events in the Emperor’s reign and the years before it. Most of the important individuals in Shah Jahan’s court can be identified and the paintings tell the remarkable story of the intrigues of court life as well as the Emperor’s Coronation, royal weddings, bloody battles and hunting scenes.

Although upward of a hundred pleasure gardens are known to have thrived in 18th century London, it was Vauxhall, with its walks, triumphal arches, statues and reputation for scandal, that became the firm favourite with Londoners and visitors alike. For the price of a shilling, patrons could stroll through the groves accompanied by the voices of nature, or – if they wished – could dine to the popular melodies of the day, borne high on the evening air from the famous Orchestra. Drawing on period newspapers and diaries, digital images, and music in the Vauxhall Gardens’ repertoire, Peter Medhurst gives a vivid impression of cultural life at London’s first ‘South Bank’. Music performed includes: The Lass with the Delicate Air - M Arne, Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind - TA Arne, Hornpipe for Vauxhall 1740 - GF Handel, Allegro from Organ Concerto in C - TA Arne, Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill - J Hook, and Farewell to Vauxhall - J Lamp

This lecture discusses the nature of materials used in oil painting, from the Middle Ages to the present day, and the problems associated with the ageing and deterioration of easel paintings. The problems can involve natural deterioration and neglect, accidental damage, vandalism and even war – the most surprising event being a large hole caused by a Turkish cannon ball going through a picture in the 18th century! The modern ‘museum standard’ approaches to conservation and restoration will be illustrated and you will also get some very useful hints on the care of paintings in homes.

Lee Miller was painted and photographed by some of the greatest artists of her day, Picasso, Dora Maar, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, and Roland Penrose, and in return she photographed them and some of the greatest moments in the history of the 20th Century. This is her life story told by her son and biographer. It charts her career from a fashion super model for Vogue in the New York and Paris of the 1920s, her collaboration and romance with Man Ray, and her photographic career that spanned working in Paris, New York and Egypt. And all this was before she returned to England with Roland Penrose and resumed working for Vogue. She became a war correspondent and then, famously, a combat photographer. In the post war years she continued to photograph her old friends, and a host of other figures from the worlds of art and literature. This is a brilliant introduction to our visit in April to Farley Farmhouse where Lee Miller lived

Hasn’t Christmas gone downhill and got hopelessly vulgar? Wasn’t there a time when it was a celebration of real values? We review some wonderful and some gloriously awful historic and modern Christmas imagery. We start with Giotto’s painting of the first Christmas crib. This is a light-hearted historical survey of mid-winter celebrations. Beginning in ancient Rome, we discover that much of our traditional Christmas is a more recent invention than we might think. We look at revels and rough-house Edwardian party games, and discover a marriage chronicled in annual photos of a couple with their tree and gifts over forty years. Will we all agree on which of the Christmas images we’ve been looking at are in good taste – and which are kitsch? Come and see what you think.