In this lecture, Steve Carroll, compares Rococo, an early 18th century style of painting, often considered frivolous, with Pop Art of the 1960s. He will do this by cpmparing and contrasting the life and work of Anton Watteau (1684-1721) with that of Andy Warhol (1928-1987). By doing so he will argue that the spirit of Rococo is very similar to the philosophy of Pop Art. An ideal lecture if you want to reassess either movement.

During the Edo period of rule by the Tokugawa Shogunate (1615-1868), the arts of Japan gained in richness and diversity. With the rise of the merchant class and the growth of cities such as Edo (modern-day Tokyo), a new vitality was injected into traditional forms and an emerging middle class culture gave rise to exciting developments in the visual and performing arts. This lecture will consider the arts of the period including castle architecture, golden screen painting, ukiyo-e prints, textiles, lacquerware, and netsuke, as well as the emergence of the flamboyant kabuki theatre.

What was going on in the world of Scandinavian art during the heyday of the Parisian avant-garde? This lecture surveys developments in modernist art, music, literature, architecture and design in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland from the late 19th-century to the 1920s.  We will look at major figures such as Edvard Munch, Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Vilhelm Hammershoi, Georg Jensen, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Eero Saarinen, but also at the careers of pioneering female Scandinavian artists, including Harriet Backer, Hilma af Klint, Marie Kroyer, Anna Ancher and Helene Schjerfbeck.

French Can-Can has long been synonymous with the "Gay Paree" of the Moulin Rouge, immortalized by Parisian artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. While researching the history of can-can I was surprised to discover that this famous dance, supposedly the "national dance" of the French, in fact owed its origin to London as much as Paris. In this lecture I reveal how an unlikely Anglo-British, cross-Channel exchange of artists, impresarios and tourists led to the creation of can-can: a fusion of a revolutionary Parisian dance (the chahut) and London's rather more coy skirt-dancing.

Our planned speaker for tonight is unfortunately now unavailable.

We are pleased to say that we will be right royally entertained by Cameo Opera who will present popular songs from opera and the shows.

London's history is fascinating and full of colourful characters, from William Shakespeare to Dick Whittington's cat!  In this lecture we gallop through almost 2000 years of London's history brilliantly illustrated through the stained glass windows found in the city churches and livery halls.  Often overlooked, these provide a unique insight into the milestones which have made up London's story.  As well as18th, 19th century and 20th century windows we look at some of the most up-to-date and contemporary glass makers. 

New Orleans at the end of the 19th century was a busy port welcoming ships and sailors from all over the world bringing with them many diverse styles of music. It was also one of the few places in America where the music of the slave population was not just tolerated but openly enjoyed by black and white communities alike. In this Creole crucible it was not long before such a kaleidoscope of musical traditions would come together, react, and evolve into an exciting new music which would revolutionize and democratize culture, namely jazz.  

Sandy will kick off our seasonal celebrations, sharing his selection of much-loved Christmas tunes.

We can expect an hour of the finest festive music from across the globe.

Why do we always see Greek and Roman deities in galleries but never the Viking gods and goddesses? The answers are intriguing and will be explored in the 1,500 years of Norse Mythology in the fine and decorative arts, from pre-Viking jewellery to epic oil paintings, to Aselm Kiefer and Manga.

Justin will explore the concept of creativity and originality in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

If you think of St Pancras International or New York Grand Central you imagine long romantic journeys. You know they are special places promising excitement and adventure.
The lecture will take us on a journey to some of the most evocative and splendid stations in the world. Looking at the magnificence of the architecture and brilliant engineering and discovering numerous artworks within the stations and many depictions of stations in art.

The lecture tells of the ten iconic dresses within ten famous portraits from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Portraits that have shocked and delighted audiences in equal measure. From the scandal of Sargent’s little black dress to Whistler’s ghostly women in white, from Klimt’s golden visions fit for a queen to the swirling drapery of Leighton’s Flaming June. In the same way that every picture tells a story so too does every dress!

The lecture will trace P.G.Wodehouse’s remarkable career through his work in popular magazines from the 1900 to the 1960s. The prolific author created his first great literary saga with the exploits of cricketing hero Mike Jackson and his remarkable friend Psmith (the ‘p’ as he informs us is silent) in the Captain Magazine. P.G.Wodehouse enjoyed a 35 year run as a leading contributor to The Strand Magazine among others. This not only established his enduring reputation as a peerless wordsmith but also found the magazines and their artists helped shape his characters in return. As the world of popular reading changed, so did Wodehouse.

Richard will bring original illustrated magazines featuring Wodehouse’s work, and theatre programmes to the lecture.

American Impressionism has been unjustly neglected by European art historians.
American Impressionism is very different from its French equivalent. The subjects are more modern, the colours brighter and often more daring.

The lecture will be answering many questions such as :-

•  How did the Tube map become a design icon?
• What makes the roundel an internationally recognized transport symbol?
• Why were ceramic tiles used to line tunnels and how did they help the illiterate Edwardians?

In this lecture we will see birds depicted in Aboriginal rock decorations, millennia ago, then as the attributes of gods such as Juno’s peacocks or Minerva’s wise owl in classical times, right up to the present day.
Paintings by artists as diverse as Durer and Picasso and sculptures by Brancusi and Elisabeth Frink, amongst others, show birds of many different shapes and sizes, as both hunters and hunted.

2024 was the bicentenary of the National Gallery. Founded in 1824, the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square houses one of the world's finest collections of European paintings.This lecture uses highlights from the Gallery's collection to show how our vision of the "ideal" art collection has evolved over time, along with ideas of the kinds of people the Gallery was supposed to serve.

The principal aim of this lecture is to understand better the films of one of America’s greatest film makers by placing his work in the historical context of Jeffersonian democracy. Although Capra’s films were mostly set in his contemporary America the lecture looks at the reasons why that rural idyll, so foreign to the growth of a modern urban country, resonated so powerfully with audiences during the Great Depression. Capra won the Best Director Oscar for three times in four years for It Happened One Night (1934), Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can’t Take it With You (1938).

Biography

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

PLEASE NOTE THIS LECTURE WILL BE PRECEEDED BY THE AGM

People were bridging the Thames in the Bronze Age – 1,500 years before the Romans built London Bridge. In the 1,700 year wait for the next bridge, other crossings relied on watermen and horse ferries, as traffic jammed on London Bridge. The last 200 years have seen over 50 new crossings over and under the river. Some are great feats of engineering some are architecturally elegant. Every crossover changes the city’s genetic code. Even now a newly designed bridge awaits a start on site. This lecture explores the way we have connected across the Thames and what that tells us about the culture of the capital through time.

Biography

As a London walking tour guide and lecturer, I highlight the social, architectural and artistic history of my home city. It is a city I am passionate about, not least because it has a historic core larger and richer than any other world city. A member of the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association, my talks focus on the forces that have shaped and changed this multi-faceted metropolis and the artistic and cultural heritage that this has given us. After many hundreds of walks and a four-decade long career in housing and regeneration I have absorbed a deep understanding and appreciation of the capital. I’ve had some fascinating vantage points like the seven years build-up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games where I played a role in channelling potential long-term benefits into surrounding East London communities. My publications include Spitalfields: A battle for land

MacDonald 'Max' Gill, younger brother of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill, was an architect, graphic designer and letterer, best known for his pictorial maps, especially those for the London Underground. He also created painted maps for Arts & Crafts houses including Lindisfarne Castle, magnificent murals for Cunard liners, and eye-catching publicity posters for organisations such as the Empire Marketing Board. An enduring legacy is his alphabet for the Imperial War Graves Commission used on all British military headstones since the First World War.

Biography

Caroline is the great niece of McDonald Gill

I've always been aware of my close family ties to the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill, a fascinating but controversial character. In 2006, however, a family history project drew me into an exploration of the life and work of his younger brother. MacDonald 'Max' Gill was an architect, mural painter and graphic artist, famed for his humorous pictorial map posters for London Underground and the alphabet he designed for the British military headstone. Although my main profession has been English teaching, I now spend much of my time researching the Gill brothers and championing the work of the lesser known of the pair. I've co-curated numerous exhibitions including Out of the Shadows: MacDonald Gill at the University of Brighton and Max Gill: Wonderground Man at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. In 2016 I co-organised a series of events in the capital to celebrate the centenary of the author Eleanor Farjeon's delightful collection of verses entitled Nursery Rhymes of London Town and illustrated by Max Gill. I've contributed articles to a range of publications such as Country Life, the TAS journal and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  I've given talks for organisations including the National Archives, the Art Workers' Guild, Christie's, Friends of Kettle's Yard and the National Trust and was thrilled in 2016 to become an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society. I run the MacDonald Gill website and am the author of MacDonald Gill: Charting a Life. Download the MacDonald Gill pdf Download Eric Gill Early Years pdf Download Nursery Rhymes pdf

Worshipped by Aesthetes and cultivated by Impressionists the sunflower casts its golden rays across art and culture. The lecture traces its history from classical myth to 20th century paintings by Van Dyck and Van Gogh, Clytie and Klimt, Monet, Rivera, Wilde and Watts.

As the world emerged from WWII and French couturier Christian Dior introduced his revolutionary ‘New Look’ in 1947, fashion illustration was to play a pivotal role in the success of fashion houses who had struggled to survive the war years in Europe and new designers who were about to step onto the international stage.

Biography

With a background in fashion and broadcasting, Connie Gray is a specialist in the history of 20th century fashion illustration and French haute couture. She is regularly invited to lecture both in the UK and the US and sits on advisory boards at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London and Special Collections at FIT, New York. As a curator and archivist, she works closely with institutions and foundations on acquisitions, conservation and exhibition projects. She has been invited to curate specialist exhibitions including Legends Only at Claridge’s Hotel, London, 100 Years of Fashion Illustration at The Society of Illustrators, New York and Pioneers of Fashion in partnership with The Lee Miller Archives. Other specialist exhibitions have included Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Cruise on their flagship ship Queen Mary 2 to celebrate London and New York fashion weeks. As the lead curator for the art gallery Gray M.C.A, she curates the acclaimed exhibition Drawing on Style each year that celebrates the masters of fashion illustration and post war fashion houses alongside running comprehensive lecture programmes that accompany exhibitions in London and New York. She has written and presented a series of on-line masterclasses, talks and short films on the subject of fashion illustration and French haute couture that have become required viewing for students of fashion.

This lecture shows some of the surprising images that exist in some 400 churches in England, UK and the Continent. The art form was in vogue mainly in the 13th to 16th centuries and rarely includes religious images despite often being placed near to the high altars. Sometimes bizarre and often profane meant they survived the Reformation.

Much social comment can be gleaned from these carvings.

Biography:

After nearly 20 years in the British army, went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with 1st class honours, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. Works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. Has written Stone on Stone: the Men Who Built the Cathedrals, published 2019. A Freeman of the City of London, being a Member of the Company of Communicators. 

Mark Meredith will depict the lifestyle of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was an American newspaper publisher who had a net worth of £200 million. Hearst together with his architect Julia Morgan built/designed Hearst Castle with 165 rooms on his vast estate in San Simeon, California. He lived here from 1920s until 1947.

The lecture will describe the stunning collection of ancient and modern artworks that Hearst collected throughout his lifetime plus visit his numerous mansions.

Biography:

Mark is a writer, the founder of HouseHistree.com, and lectures regularly at societies, festivals and clubs in both Europe and the United States. After leaving Stowe School, Mark worked for twenty years as a plumber in London. However, his real passion has always been for history, particularly the history behind houses through the characters that conjoin to create them. His special interest lies with the great American houses and their relationships with those in Europe, both socially and architecturally. 

Pubs and their signs are a fundamental part of our history and cultural heritage. In this lecture John shows some of the most interesting and distinctive signs and then explores the fascinating stories behind their origins – The bucket of Blood  -  Cow and Snuffers – Eager Poet  and Blind Jack to name but a few.

Biography:

Formerly a lecturer at the University of Bath where he was Director of Studies in the School of Education with responsibility for the professional development of teachers. He has worked extensively overseas as an educational consultant and this has given him the opportunity to give lectures and presentations at conferences all over the world. Over the last decade he has been a popular speaker on the Arts Society circuit in the UK and Europe as well as a frequent visitor to the societies in Australia and New Zealand. 

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

As well as the talks he has developed from his professional background, he offers presentations on an eclectic range of topics that are derived from his diverse interests and enthusiasms such as, Art Inspired by Wine, Visual Illusions in Art and The Shakers of North America. All his talks are entertaining, highly informative, very well illustrated and presented with warmth and humour.

The lecture portrays how the term nocturne originated from the Irish composer John Field creating atmospheric and meditative night pieces but this term was also used in title of paintings by the American painter – James Whistler. The lecture explores the history of the musical nocturne and its relationship with the world of art.

Biography

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

Almost everyone has played Monopoly at some time in their life.  It is one of the world’s most popular and enduring board games.  But, how well do you really know it? This talk starts with the original Landlord’s Game of 1903 and its evolution into the game as we know it today.  Based on the classic 1936 London version we then take a photographic journey around the locations on that Monopoly board.   Expect some surprises as we explore the relationships between the various properties, look at the ones that don’t actually exist and uncover the story behind the game we all know so well - or do we?

E H Shepard loved Christmas, and this lecture describes, including his own words much of the magic and joy of successive festive seasons, from those of his own childhood to others throughout his long life. We see a range of artistic styles from full colour images to pen-and-ink personal Christmas cards, with cartoons, drawings and watercolours, some featuring the iconic images from the Wind in the Willows (the snow in the Wild Wood…) and Winnie-the-Pooh (Pooh and Piglet from The House at Pooh Corner). Many of the images have not been published for over fifty years

Biography

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

The Borghese Gallery houses what is arguably one of the greatest collections of art in the world. In the early 1600s Cardinal Scipio Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, amassed an incredible collection of ancient sculptures and renaissance art, including works by Titian, Botticelli and Raphael. Scipio added to this by commissioning statues from Bernini and buying up works by Caravaggio, Domenichino and other contemporary artists of the day. 

The collection also houses later artworks acquired over the centuries by the Borghese family, all in a magnificent building designed for Cardinal Scipio especially to house his collection. The Borghese Gallery is set in the Villa Borghese gardens, until a century ago the private gardens of the Borghese family, and today one of the most beautiful public parks in Rome.

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). He has worked in educational tourism since 1992, leading study tours all over Europe.

Living in Rome since 2003, Stuart has developed a great love for the Eternal City and its many treasures. In addition to his primary career as full-time Rome tourist guide, Stuart’s entertaining and lively lectures and virtual tours bring the rich artistic and historical wealth of Rome’s 28 centuries to life for people all over the world.

Tamara de Lempicka's story is one of self-invention. From her early beginnings as an aristocratic fugitive from the Russian Revolution, to later taking Paris by storm as a successful artist living on her own terms, she has become an icon of the Roaring Twenties. Her unique style reflects the shifting morals of the age, representative of the wealthy and decadent European elite, and boldly celebrating female sexuality. Few artists sum up an epoch quite as completely - a true art deco diva

Biography

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

Delacroix wrote to his brother: “if I have not fought for the country, at least I will paint for her.” This lecture explores one 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.

Bography

Daphne Lawson has an MA by Research and Thesis from the University of Canterbury on Degas’s Public and Private Spectacle and a BA in Art History from London University. Since 1994, until she retired two years ago, she was the full time Art History Lecturer for the BISC, Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, the European Campus of Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada. There, she taught Art History courses ranging from French Impressionism, European Romanticism and Pre-Raphaelite Painting to the survey programme spanning the period from Greek Sculpture to Contemporary British Art. she also published a chapter on Van Gogh in 2014 in The Edinburgh Companion to the Bible and the Arts. Her first career was as an actress. She was trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in theatre, film and television as an actress until her thirties when she had three children.

From late medieval times artists from the north have visited Italy in search of classical inspiration, not to mention prestige. “But why always Italy?” asks one 19th century Swedish artist, “Doesn’t our northern nature reflect eternity? Does not our gaze embrace the sky as well – and what a sky!” In Denmark, Hans Christian Andersen visits the little town of Skagen in the north of Jutland, a place of sand, storms and sky; describes it vividly and inspires artists to paint its wild and remote landscape where the North Sea meets the Baltic. Artists include a local girl, gifted Anna Ancher, whose personality and paintings are both compared by a contemporary artist to “a burst of sunshine”. In Sweden, symbolist landscape artist Prince Eugen, youngest son of King Oscar II, finds romantic inspiration in the lakes, forests, history and vivid folk art of Dalecarlia in central Sweden. Both Danish and Swedish landscape paintings feature the Blue Hour, that half hour or so just after sunset and before sunrise, when the landscape is suffused with a bluish light, highly atmospheric and iconic of the North

Biography

Karin is known for her entertaining lectures on writers and diarists connected with the arts from the mid-18th to 19th century, and moving forward in time with Virginia Woolf. Extensive research into diaries and letters bring lectures to vivid life. Karin illustrates them with slides of contemporary pictures and portraits from varied sources.

The British musical grew in its own unique way, with style, heart, guts and masses of fun. We are still entertained by revivals of Me and My Girl, The Boy Friend and Oliver! But what of the many more hit shows, such as Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet, Ivor Novello’s King’s Rhapsody and the bitingly satirical Expresso Bongo, that are no longer staged? This lecture rediscovers a distinctive West End story to give a new perspective on the shows and the people who made them. It’s an aspect of culture and personality unique to Britain – and fascinating in variety and success.

Biography

John Snelson has been fascinated by musicals all his life and is now a leading expert in British musical theatre (the subject of his PhD). His publications include Andrew Lloyd Webber (Yale University Press) and chapters in many authoritative reference works. He is especially known for exploring musicals – British and American – in the light of not just the music and the stage, but society and culture to reveal what makes them so appealing, enduring and important. He is well known as a writer and speaker on all aspects of the lyric stage – musicals, opera, ballet – and has written many programme articles for leading companies in the UK and abroad. John has given talks for, among others, the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, the Garsington and Glyndebourne festivals and for BBC radio. For 20 years he worked for the Royal Opera House. He currently lectures at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is completing a book on British musical theatre for Bloomsbury Publishing

In 1906 when the Royal Dance Troupe of Cambodia performed in Paris they created a sensation. The sculptor Auguste Rodin was in the audience and was captivated by the exquisite dancers whose meditative poses recalled the friezes on the temples of Angkor. This lecture describes the encounter and reveals the history of Cambodian dance that goes back to the origins of Angkor.

Biography

Art historian, author, lecturer, photographer and journalist. Worked in Cambodia in the 1990s and has been a scholar of Southeast Asian art ever since. Her books include one on the Buddhist temples of Laos, Ancient Luang Prabang and Laos, also in French, and Cambodian Dance Celebration of the Gods, with a foreword by the daughter of King Sihanouk. Lectures for the Art Fund, the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies on their post-graduate Asian Art Course and for the V&A; also for organisations such as Madingley Hall (University of Cambridge), the British Museum, the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, Asia House, the National Trust, the Royal Geographical Society and has lectured worldwide for universities, museums, colleges, art institutions, literary societies and travel organisations. She writes for art, literary and travel publications and has appeared on television and radio. She has led cultural tours to Southeast Asia and France for the Royal Academy, the Art Fund, Asia House and many more and lectures on cruise ships.

A jam-packed hour of information and entertainment. Take a trip with Margaret as she delves into the 5000-year history, development, design, music, and lore of this fascinating instrument.

Boasting over 1400 working parts, you will learn how the complex pedal mechanism was introduced and perfected into the instrument played today together with slides of the extraordinary designs as the instrument developed over the centuries.

Indulge in the lavishly decorated Rococo harps made for Queen Marie Antoinette, the fashion statement that became associated with the instrument - and listen as Margaret plays her harp for you on this unique musical journey

Biography

Margaret studied harp under the late Sidonie Goossens OBE and Sussex harpist Helen Arnold. She holds a Diploma in Music Performance on the harp and is also a Fellow of The Guild of Musicians and Singers.

Now one of the busiest harpists in the Southeast, Margaret has played for Royalty, given concerts at National Trust properties, played at City Guildhall, Clarence House, The Garrick Club, The Savoy, Ritz, Dorchester and Hilton Langham Hotels in London, Glyndebourne Opera House, Covent Garden and for many weddings, private parties, group meetings, receptions, launches, corporate, civic and charity functions.

Margaret is a very active member of the charity ‘Music in Hospitals and Care’ and gives bedside concerts for patients and mentally or physically disabled people in hospitals, hospices, and specialist care centres and nursing homes.

With her very varied repertoire and often resplendent costumes, she has delighted numerous audiences throughout the UK.

The first time the word cartoon was used in the sense that we know it today was in 1843 in Punch magazine. But the employment of satire, caricature, speech bubbles and the writing of captions had been around long before then. In this talk Ian tracks the early stages of cartoons and how, through the works of Hogarth and James Gillray, they gradually evolved. Copious illustrations abound  from the masters of their craft such as John Tenniel, John Leech, David Low, Vicky, Ronald Searle, Heath Robinson and Giles; and, bringing it right up to date, with Gerald Scarfe, Steven Bell and Peter Brookes.

Biography

Ian gained a First Class degree from Oxford University, qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then became a professional magician. He is a Member of The Inner Magic Circle. In 2014 he published Charles Dickens Magician: Conjuring in Life, Letters & Literature. He now divides his time between performing magic, giving talks and researching and writing. His latest book, The Century of Deception: The Birth of the Hoax in Eighteenth-Century England, is to be published in September 2021.

The civilisation of the ancient Maya reached its peak between AD 300-900. Across much of present-day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, dozens of great cities have been located, many still buried in remote parts of the jungle. Maya achievements in art and architecture were matched by a knowledge of maths, astrology, calendrics and hieroglyphic writing. Mural paintings, ceramic figurines and intricately carved stone panels provide an insight into the religious rituals, music, warfare, textiles and courtly life of the Maya. Today some six million Maya carry on many of the traditions of their ancestors.

Biography

Freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. Has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Has curated exhibitions, and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. Has made collections in Mexico and Belize for the British Museum, and is Research Associate in the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Ohtli medal by the Mexican government for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture. Her many publications include Mexican Textiles (British Museum Press, 1990), Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1990), Focus on Aztecs and Incas  (Watts Books, 1995), The Incas - The Ancient World (Wayland, 1998), Textiles from Mexico (British Museum Press, 2002), and Mexico: Clothing and Culture (Royal Ontario Museum, 2015). Has also published articles in travel guides, newspapers and magazines.

Over 2500 years in the making the great British pantomime is a very potent brew indeed. Mix the earliest Greek and Roman drama with commedia dell'arte and medieval morality plays, then stir in a sprig of C17th masque, a dash of C18th harlequinade and a hefty shot of Victorian music hall and, hey presto, you have the modern Christmas pantomime. (Oh no you don't!)

Biography

iles Ramsay is an independent theatre director and producer who specializes in creating new work with artists in developing countries. He is the Founding Director of the charity Developing Artists (www.developingartists.org), a Fellow of St. Chad’s College, Durham University and Course Leader in Theatre at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Giles has run theatre projects in Botswana, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Kosovo, Palestine, Mexico, Thailand and Zimbabwe and given numerous talks for institutions ranging from The Foundation for Mexican Literature in Mexico City to The Royal College of Physicians in London. He regularly lectures on the history and practice of theatre on the Queen Mary 2 as it sails from New York to the UK. Giles combines academic analysis with hands on experience to bring a unique insight to the world of the theatre.

Please note this lecture which is preceeded by the AGM at 10:45 is a change to the advertised lecture

Over the past 40 years street art has evolved from its roots in American graffiti to becoming a global art movement. For the past 7 years I have been photographing street art in London and beyond.  This talk focuses on a number of different styles of street art as well as some leading artists, including Stik, whose collaboration with Ingrid Beazely of the Dulwich Galley led to the creation of the Dulwich Outdoor Gallery

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. A scientist by background, his interest in art was sparked by his wife’s academic studies into the History of Art and he has a particular interest in 20th century art.  With his focus on 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. 

“The Heritage of Gilbert and Sullivan” – first a historical background then an assessment and overview of G&S plus a consideration of the precise genre of G&S and their place within the theatrical heritage of this country.  Then a close look with reasons for the vast amount of social and political satire within the shows, comments which are not just reflections upon Victorian society but which hold their meaning equally to the present day; finally to consider the world-wide popularity of G&S in the 21st C and modern production values. A video of various G&S show excerpts and production shots is used during the Lecture and is also available for your members to enjoy.

Biography

I have been a life-long enthusiast of G&S and as an author, two of my books are about G&S. Since 2010 I have been a Trustee of the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival – www.gsfestivals.org – an event that takes place annually in Buxton, Harrogate and Malvern plus some touring; I have also broadcast several times on various BBC national and local radio programmes about G&S.

Author and lecturer and for the past few years have given lectures regularly to many organisations including Arts Societies, Festivals and theatre groups throughout the UK. 

This lecture serves as an introduction to the art of South Africa whilst addressing important contemporary themes relating to the depiction of race, colonialism and the appropriation of African culture.

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

Biography

Independent Researcher. 2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art: www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk). 2008–2010 Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. 1994–1997 Catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

This lecture seeks to provide a balanced insight into the life and achievements of one of the most important women in Chinese Imperial history.

From relative obscurity as a low-ranking consort we explore the events that led to her confirmation as Dowager Empress Cixi in 1861 and her strategy to preserve, then revitalise, imperial rule after a series of humiliating military defeats by Western Colonial Powers plus several brutal ethnic uprisings.

We will trace the distinct cycles of Cixi’s power, as Emperors came and went, whilst the Dowager Empress moved periodically from a position of influence to full authority and then into times of enforced retirement.

Looking beyond Cixi’s desire to force China into the modern world we will gain an insight into her life within her beloved Summer Palace with a focus on her passion for painting, embroidery, fashion design and the extensive gardens. A location where Cixi forged some extraordinarily close relationships with leading western women.

Biography

A Chartered Insurer by profession and a Fellow of the Assurance Medical Society, with extensive international experience as an author and lecturer in Medical Risk Assessment. He has in excess of 25 years of working and living in Asia. Whilst living in Hong Kong (1991-2004) he assembled a collection of approximately 700, predominately Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Imperial and related textiles/costume accessories. Past Committee Member of the Hong Kong Textile Society and frequent speaker on Imperial Insignia and Badges of Rank.

David can organise and lead Imperial Art Tours to China for Societies. In late 2019 the Collection of Imperial Court Costume was acquired, in its entirety, by The Shanghai Musuem, Peoples' Republic of China to be displayed in a the new annexe of the museum opening in 2021.

This lecture will look at the enduring Western obsession with, and invention of the so called ‘exotic’ or ‘noble savage’ starting with the first discovery of the Island of Tahiti in1767 and charting the impact, through painted images of the island and their people, of the English and European influence in this part of the world through the eyes of not only Captain Cook and those who came before him, but also through the eyes of the artists that accompanied these pioneering voyages and into the 19th and early 20th century with the images of Gauguin. And to this end the lecture will Look at how romanticised depictions of the island and its peoples by artists such as: William Hodges (1744-1797), Benjamin West (1738-1820), John Webber (1751- 1793), and John Cleveley (c.1712-1777), and indeed those of Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903), not only bolstered these notions in the minds of Europeans, but helped to perpetuate and invent the Western notion of the exotic and the myth of paradise. This background of England’s exploration abroad also sees the involvement of Royal academicians such as its first director Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 – 1792), Johann Zoffany (1733 – 1810) and the botanist Joseph Banks (1743 – 1820). This lecture eventually comes into the modern period and looks at what happen to these notions of the exotic in the 19th century explored through the Impressionist and PostImpressionist work of this period’s most notable visitor to the island of Tahiti also looking for the exotic and paradise - Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903). His experiences, vibrant evocations of paradise through his paintings, and his discoveries and eventual death in the South Pacific bring this exploration of the exotic to its conclusion.

Biography

Holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. Was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, gave lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery for 18 years. Currently he lectures at the City Literary Institute, Imperial College, London, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute

Nothing illustrates more graphically the vast differences of approach between the post-war generation than the contrast between the styles - and life styles – of Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) and the younger Francis Bacon (1909-1992): the former all lightness, rational, ordered, serene and contemplative; the latter all darkness, outrageously unconventional and violent. At the same time, Graham Sutherland’s combination of surrealist fantasy and stark realism and apocalyptic themes had enormous appeal. The lecture examines the main themes influences and impact of this outstandingly talented generation.

Biography

Studied in Florence, Vienna and at the Courtauld Institute of Art.  Art historian, author, critic, exhibition curator, lecturer, his numerous publications include Matisse (1984); Bonnard (1994); Bonnard Colour and Light (Tate Gallery and Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1998); ‘The Genesis of a Decorative Aesthetic’ in Beyond the Easel: Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis and Roussel, 1890-1930 (The Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001); Behind the Mirror, Aimé Maeght and his Artists, Bonnard, Matisse, Miró, Calder, Giacometti, Braque (Royal Academy of Arts 2008-9); ‘Bonnard et l’art décoratif’ in Bonnard Peindre L’Arcadie (Musée d’Orsay, Paris 2015, Madrid 2016, San Francisco 2016); ‘The making of Matisse’, RA Magazine Summer 2017; ‘Bonnard’s use of colour’, RA Magazine Winter 2018; ‘Gauguin returns from Tahiti’, RA Magazine Autumn 2019. 'Christopher Le Brun painter sculptor', Sculpture Journal, Summer 2012. Television, BBC film, Pierre Bonnard: A Love Exposed, Omnibus, 17 February, 1998. Regular contributor to The Burlington Magazine and other leading art journals. Lectures extensively to universities, museums, galleries, National Gallery and Royal Academy

In an age where women had little public power, Isabella d’ Este (1474 – 1539) stands out as a formidable figure. She was one of the first and greatest female patrons and art collectors of the Renaissance. And her court in Mantua was filled with writers and poets of distinction. Her clever, educated and entitled voice sings out from thousands of letters which she composed in her meticulously designed study, and images – from Da Vinci to Titian – bring alive a woman whose eye for fashion was every bit as keen as her eye for art

Biography

Novelist, broadcaster and critic. Sarah read history at Cambridge, then worked for many years as a cultural journalist in radio and television on such programmes as Kaleidoscope (BBC Radio 4), The Late Show (BBC 2), and Night Waves (BBC Radio 3). She has published thirteen novels, taught renaissance studies at Washington University, St Louis, is a visiting tutor on the MA in creative writing at Oxford Brooks and has lectured around the world at festivals and conferences. Her last five novels have been set within the Italian Renaissance. In the Name of the Family (2017) completes the story of the Borgia family and the remarkable period of Italian history in which they lived. Her recent series on history for BBC Radio 4, called When Greeks Flew Kites is available on podcast or listen again: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b090ccrh/episodes/player

Born in Bonn in December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven became one of the greatest and most disruptive figures in the history of classical music. This talk presents an overview of this brilliant, cantankerous, visionary and astonishingly original composer, someone 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. It reveals how Beethoven became a true Romantic artist, or as he preferred to describe himself, a “poet in sound.

Biogaphy

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

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

Biogaphy

Carole is an experienced guide and lecturer on combined history and art tours in France with 20 years experience. Having lived and worked on a number of bespoke river vessels and converted barges there she has used them as a platform from which to research her lectures. She uses art in all its guises to explore the characters who shaped France and likes to delve behind the scenes to discover hidden truths.

How did the remains of Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop from Myra, Turkey, reach Bari, Italy in 1087? And how did this rather obscure churchman become the patron saint of sailors, merchants, prisoners and children in the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe? This lecture explores the development of St Nicholas’ medieval cult through the artefacts associated with it: icons, wall paintings and illuminated manuscripts, and charts his eventual transformation into the well-loved Santa Claus.

Biography

Lecturer and tutor for the Early Medieval Year Course at V&A. Dean of 'European Studies' for 2 US Universities. Freelance lecturer for The Art Fund. Study tours, cruises and tour groups. BA (History) University of Durham; PhD (Medieval Manuscript illumination) and MA (Medieval History of Art) Courtauld Institute.

Please note this lecture is preceeded by the AGM

St Catherine’s Monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai, Egypt was founded in the sixth century by Byzantine emperor Justinian I - the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments, the location of the legend of the Burning Bush and the resting place of the martyred body of St Catherine. The Greek Orthodox monastery is packed full of precious religious art – a splendid basilica with exquisite little chapels, intricately carved wooden doors and breathtaking mosaics, an amazing collection of the rarest early icons to survive, and a library of rare and beautiful religious manuscripts.

Biography 

Art Historian with a BA, MA and a doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Sussex who has published on Late Antique and Byzantine ivory carvings and 19th century plaster cast collecting. Since 2007 has worked at Sussex as an associate tutor delivering regular lectures. An experienced speaker who has delivered lectures at many universities and art institutions, such as the Wallace Collection and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

This is the story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British art, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. As unlike in background and temperament as their paintings were in style, these two creative geniuses transformed the art of landscape. This lecture/study day sets them head-to-head and examines their differences, their similarities, their battles and their shared triumphs. But who will ultimately be crowned star painter? As well as giving an overview of Turner and Constable, the subject provides an enjoyable overview of the British art world during the nineteenth century.

Biography

An independent art historian specialising in British art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She studied at the University of York and Birkbeck College, London. Formerly a curator at Tate Britain she has curated a number of exhibitions and has published widely on J.M.W. Turner, including contributions to the forthcoming online catalogue of the Turner Bequest. She is also co-editor and author of How to Paint Like Turner (Tate Publishing, 2010). In addition, she has published on Walter Richard Sickert and is co-author of Tate's catalogue of works by the Camden Town Group.

Biography

Dr David Bostwick ~ Lecturer and consultant in the Cultural History of the Medieval, Tudor and Stuart periods. Specialist in medieval imagery and interior furnishings and decoration 1400-1700. Tour leader. Former Keeper of the Social History Collections, Sheffield City Museums. Lecture tours to USA and Australia. Consultant on historic buildings and their interpretation to the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Scotland.

Zoom Lecture

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

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

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

Biography

My interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement, and William Morris in particular, began in my teenage years when I fell in love with Morris’s textile prints. After reading many biographies and publications about the great designer, I fell in love with the man.  In 2009 I turned my passion for the Arts & Crafts Movement into a career by starting my own business selling home interiors in the style of the Arts & Crafts era.

I have been lecturing about topics relating to the Arts & Crafts Movement for over 8 years.  I am an active member of the following Arts & Crafts Movement related societies: The William Morris Society, The Friends of Red House, The Friends of the William Morris Gallery, The Arts & Crafts Movement in Surrey association and The Voysey Society. I am a Trustee of the William Morris Society and Chair of their Business Development Committee. I have a BA (Hons) in Social Psychology from the University of Sussex, 1989.

Zoom Lecture

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 over 1200 artworks found in possession of the son of a notorious Nazi dealer.

Biography

Shauna Isaac has been active in World War II art restitution for several years and has worked with families and government organisations to recover Nazi looted art. She set up the Central Registry on Looted Cultural Property and served as a member of the Working Group for the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague. Shauna studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the UK and Smith College in the USA. She is a regular lecturer at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Her publications include articles for The Art Newspaper, The Times Literary Supplement and Art Quarterly. She is a contributor to the book Insiders/Outsiders: Refuges from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British Visual Culture.

Zoom Lecture rearranged from March 2020

Some artists painted so exquisitely that it’s hard to credit that their personal lives were a series of lascivious engagements, missed deadlines, accusations of fraud and exasperated patrons, but that is the case with the fifteenthcentury Carmelite monk, Fra Filippo Lippi. His work still causes wonder 600 years after he was born. His legacy was not only the many innovations he made in composition and colour, but also that Botticelli was one of his pupils and Filippino Lippi was one of two children he had with the nun, Lucrezia Buti. Filippo Lippi’s life is very well documented so we are able to follow him through his many adventures and commissions. We can see his style evolve from the monumental forms of Masaccio who was his first great influence, to the graceful elegance of his later work, full of soft shades, delicate moulding and astonishing attention to detail. He was able to make a pearl look like a real pearl. He graduated from stolid groups of holy figures, to scenes that are both ethereal and riotous. His last great works in Spoleto Cathedral must surely have gained him a place in heaven.

Biography

After nearly 20 years in the British army, went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with 1st class honours, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. Works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. Has written Stone on Stone: the Men Who Built the Cathedrals, published 2019. A Freeman of the City of London, being a Member of the Company of Communicators

Zoom lecture. Please note this was originally the evening meeting it will now be given at 11.00am and is available to all members.

Some of the untold stories and images of the Napoleonic Wars featuring Nelson's spy, enterprising women and the families left on shore.

Biography

Helen is a Fellow of the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies at the University of Exeter, where she gained her PhD. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a trustee of the ss Great Britain. She has published extensively on 19th century sail, women in the maritime world, and in 2015, in a departure from her usual maritime theme, published a well received biography of a WW2 fighter ace. She is currently working on a series of books on Isambard Brunel's shipping ventures. Her lecturing experience is wide and she is a speaker onboard all three Cunard ships. She has appeared on radio and television, and is a regular maritime expert for programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are? She is based in Cornwall and London.

Zoom Lecture

This is a journey through the 60s in music and images, following the Beatles from the Hamburg Reeperbahn in 1960 to Abbey Road in 1969. The band was always fascinated by the visual arts - the ‘fifth Beatle’, Stuart Sutcliffe, was a prodigiously talented painter - and they also learned very early on that artists and designers could help promote their image and their music. Their rise to global fame was aided and recorded by an impressive roster of photographers, including Astrid Kirchherr, Bob Freeman, Robert Whitaker, Angus McBean and Linda McCartney. The innovative covers for releases such as Rubber Soul (Bob Freeman) Revolver (Klaus Voormann), the White Album (Richard Hamilton) and Sgt. Pepper (Peter Blake & Jann Haworth) turned album design into an art form in its own right.

MR BARRY VENNING

An historian of British art with a particular interest in the work of JMW Turner, on whom he has published widely, including the volume on Turner in Phaidon'sArt & Ideas series, and several catalogue essays for exhibitions in the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland. He was the BBC's script consultant on Turner's Fighting Temeraire and has recently taken part (2013) in a BBC documentary called The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution. He has also published a study of John Constable's paintings. His interests and his teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. He is currently Associate Lecturer with the Open University and lecturing on a freelance basis for The Arts Society, Christie's Education and other organisations.

Zoom lecture

Biography

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

MR IAN COCKBURN

Art historian with a BA (Birkbeck College) in art history and an MA (Courtauld Institute of Art) in medieval Spanish art history. Specialist in the nearly 800 years of Moorish occupation and Christian reconquest of medieval Iberia. 

Founder and director of an art tours company, specialising in guided cultural tours in Spain, plus lecturing in London at institutions such as the V&A, SOAS, Christies Education, and the London Art History Society. Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of Art History Link-Up, a charity that offers an education in Art History to young people regardless of their background.  Working in partnership with galleries, schools and other institutions, AHL-U provides accredited courses where there is a gap in provision in the formal education sector.  Formerly a Chartered Accountant and senior manager in multi-national IT companies, with extensive public-speaking experience.

Summary to follow.

Louise Schofield is an archaeologist who was Curator of Greek Bronze Age and Geometric Antiquities at the British Museum from 1987-2000.  Her book, The Mycenaeans, was co-published by the Getty Museum and the British Museum in 2007. She now writes, lectures and runs international archaeological projects – previously in south-eastern Turkey, Greece and Albania and currently in Ethiopia. And rather wonderfully she has just been appointed Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Rome.

The commander of HMS Victoria little expected when he docked in the port of Napier, New Zealand, on 3rd February 1931 that two hours later his vessel would be aground, the port wrecked and the town consumed by fire. The earthquake struck at 10.47 and by the end of the day, Napier was in ruins. But from this catastrophe rose a phoenix for Napier was rebuilt in record time and today Napier has the largest number of art deco buildings in the densest concentration of anywhere on the planet.

This lecture introduces you to pre-earthquake Napier; taking you through the quake and the rescue operation it then looks at the factors influencing the rebuilding. Finally we go on a photographic tour of Napier as it is today so that you can see why Napier is known as The Art Deco Capital of the World.

Biography

Has been lecturing to various groups, including U3A, National Trust, historical societies, Gresham College and business groups since 2008. Previously worked for HM Immigration Service, and has broadcast on local and national television and radio.

It would seem that there has never been fascination in an artist to rival the Dutchman who simply signed his work ‘Vincent’. We are all aware of the recent exhibitions and the remarkable prices realised for this humble artist’s work. Most of us appreciate the beauty of his efforts but how much to we know about the man himself? This lecture considers exactly why, despite never selling a painting and his committing suicide in poverty, no art historian today denies his genius. There are extraordinary, little know facts to be revealed, while enjoying the remarkable range of his talent. Though seeming so extreme and exceptional, the tragic story of his loveless life is deeply moving and his humanity makes a lasting impression.

Biography

He has travelled much of the world, combining painting with tour lecturing – principally to American university students on bespoke tours. Spent six years as a consultant for Luke Hughes and travelled the country advising on the furniture needs of prestigious buildings, including museums, palaces, schools and cathedrals. Now based in London, spends much of his time lecturing and undertaking research, while assisting at the British Museum with outreach events and visiting lecturers. As an advocate of non-violence, he is the author of the book Evolving the Spirit – From Democracy to Peace, commended by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Laureate recently released from 15 years of house arrest, as meaning a great deal to her.

The origins of our English Christmas stretch far back into European history, combining the pagan traditions of the Roman and Scandinavian winter festivals. Only in the 4th century AD did the Christian Church start to celebrate the birth of Christ. Since then these different cultures have co-existed, changing as the social and political landscape changed.Music, art and folk customs associated with the season have all evolved, producing a rich tapestry of imagery and events that have appealed to every strata in our society.This lecture explores in words, images and music the various strands, pagan and religious, that have created the one festival in our country that touches everyone.

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 and Chairman of Windsor and Maidenhead Decorative and Fine Arts Society.

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

Biography:

His chief interests lie in photography, architecture and history and he combines all three in his lecturing career. He has taught at University College London, since 1997 and became an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society in 2003. He is a member of the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography and an exhibition of his own photographs has been staged at UCL. In an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the skills of some great photographers of the past, he has begun to work with a pre-War Leica camera, as used by his great hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and many others.

Armour was one of the great Renaissance art-forms. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries most of the richest noblemen in Europe were dedicated patrons of the armourer’s art, a kind of visual language which they used to project their identity and prestige. The armour-making process demanded both fantastic skill in the sculpting of iron and steel and mastery of decorative techniques such as acid-etching and mercury-gilding. This lecture serves as an introduction to the idea of armour as an expressive art-form, where the achievements of virtuoso armourers embodied splendour and richness while also carrying more complex messages about status, aristocratic associations, the social order and divine power.

Biography

Toby is Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London and an internationally-acknowledged authority on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. He is the author of numerous books on the subject of arms and armour, including Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection (2011; Apollo Magazine Book of the Year 2012); The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe 1520-1630, ex. cat. (2012); Armour of the English Knight 1400 – 1450 (2015; Military History Monthly Illustrated Book of the Year 2017); ans most recently Arms and Armour of the Medieval Joust (2018). Toby also appears regularly on television, most recently on A Stitch in Time (2018; BBC4); as presenter and armour advisor on Richard III: The New Evidence (2014; C4), and as the writer and presenter of Metalworks: The Knight’s Tale (2012; BBC4). In 2015 Toby had the unusual honour of serving as one of the two fully armoured horsemen escorting the remains of King Richard III, from the battlefield at Bosworth to their final resting place in Leicester Cathedral.

The nude is still seen in our modern age, and indeed has been seen for quite some time as the pinnacle of creative artistic perfection, but throughout the course of art history the notion of the perfect body and consequently gender has been constantly reshaped and redefined. This lecture will look at the continuing fascination with representation of the body in sculpture and in painting across the ages, with sculpture from the 4th century BC, painting from the Renaissance, and through to the modern age with paintings from the Impressionists. This span of time will encompass iconic works within this lecture by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Bernini, Degas, Renoir and Velázquez, to name but a few. Moreover this lecture will look at the reasons that lay behind the commissioning of such images. What were their purposes, who were the patrons behind these images, and what, if any, hidden riddles; signs and symbols are hidden within these seemingly enigmatic and flawless images of perfection. As this lecture charts the ever changing attitude towards the nude as a subject we will look at the treatment of nudes by collectors and museums in the 19th century, as we set the scene and chart the many and varied approaches to this subject that has become synonymous with the very idea of art itself; indeed finally asking ourselves, ‘if this is art’, how did it become so and why?

Biography

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

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A CHANGE FROM THE LECTURE ADVERTISED IN THE PROGRAMME.

The extraordinary story of a million selling boy’s magazine created by a vicar and an art student in 1950. How the studio worked and the graphic tricks artist Frank Hampson used to create reality

Biography

Graphic Icons of the Twentieth Century —This  is the theme of a series of lectures and Study Days by retired graphic designer Howard Smith. All are possibly in living memory or near living memory. Each lecture lasts an hour and is an in depth fully researched exploration of extraordinary creativity sometimes in unbelievable circumstances. Because subjects are recent there is a wealth of actual information to support the stories, which are both nostalgic and entertaining. All lectures are lavishly illustrated and contain vintage film clips.

Born during the Second World War, Howard was educated in Scotland and gained an MA from Trinity College, Dublin. In the 1960s he worked for UK and International Advertising Agencies before starting his own marketing and print company in Canterbury.

Raffles, whose name is synonymous with a luxury hotel rather than the greatest Buddhist temple in the world, was the enlightened colonial administrator of Java, Indonesia. He discovered the 8th century temple of Borobudur, hidden under volcanic ash, in 1814, acquired wondrous artefacts in Java, such as shadow puppets and textiles, which are now in the British Museum, and founded Singapore, the most important trading port in the East.

This lecture tells the story of a scholar and polymath, reveals the temple and its radiant carvings, examines the art objects Raffles collected, and shows the architectural heritage of Singapore and its revival today as magnificent art galleries and museums.

Biography

Art historian, author, lecturer, photographer and journalist. Worked in Cambodia in the 1990s and has been a scholar of Southeast Asian art ever since. Her books include one on the Buddhist temples of Laos, Ancient Luang Prabang and Laos, also in French, and Cambodian Dance Celebration of the Gods, with a foreword by the daughter of King Sihanouk. Lectures for the Art Fund, the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) on their post graduate Asian Art Course and for Madingley Hall (University of Cambridge); also for organisations such as the British Museum, the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, Asia House, the National Trust, the Royal Geographical Society and has lectured worldwide for universities, museums, colleges, art institutions, literary societies and travel organisations. She writes for many art, literary and travel publications and has appeared on television and radio. She has led cultural tours to Southeast Asia and France for the Royal Academy, the Art Fund, Asia House and many more and lectures on cruise ships. A member of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies in the UK, Asia House and the Royal Geographical Society.

Children’s art has been discovered, only recently, in the history of time, as being of utmost importance in creative, emotional and spiritual development. This impassioned lecture describes how research has discovered that children create, without being taught, forms of expression from which language, numeracy and all those basic skills arise. It is time that the educational system here and everywhere else realise that one should not replace one with another but should be nurtured concurrently………art is not an insignificant ‘ frill ‘ !!!!!!!!!!!

Biography

Richard is a practising artist as well as a teacher and a lecturer. Since leaving Goldsmith’s School of Art in 1965 he has taught children and adults from the ages of two to one hundred an two. He has a missionary zeal to persuade everyone to develop their creative potential in the visual arts, which is evident from an early age, but sadly deterred by subsequent negativity.
( Hence his most popular Day of Discovery entitled, Drawing for the Terrified, is in much demand )
This lecture, ‘ Children as Artists ‘ demonstrates our innate creative potential.

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.

Biography

Sarah studied history at Newnham College, Cambridge from where she went on to become a writer, broadcaster, teacher and critic. She has written twelve novels, four of which have been short listed for awards, and edited two books of essays. She worked for many years for the BBC in radio and television including presenting BBC 2 TV’s arts programme, The Late Show and Radio3’s Nightwaves. . She is currently presenting a monthly history show for Radio 4 “When Greeks flew Kites” available on podcast via BBC Sounds and I player.

She has taught renaissance studies at Washington University, St Louis, and creative writing at University of Oxford Brookes where last year she was awarded an honorary doctorate for her services to higher education and literature.

Her most recent novels, set within the Italian renaissance weave cutting edge historical scholarship into fast moving popular fiction, have become international best sellers, translated into thirty languages.

• In the Name of the Family 2017
• Blood and Beauty 2013
• Sacred Hearts, 2010
• In the Company of the Courtesan 2007
• The Birth of Venus 2004

Antony Gormley’s career spans nearly 40 years, during which time he has made sculpture that explores the relationship of the human body to space, often using his own body as his starting point.  His work has been shown throughout the world, in galleries including the Tate in London and the Hermitage in St Petersburg, but is also often on open display, as public art, such as Another Place at Crosby Beach, near Liverpool. 

As well as works that he is well known for, like the iconic Angel of the North, this lecture will look at some of his earlier and less well-known works, to give an overall view of the development of his work across his whole career, up to the present time.

Biography

BA and MA from Goldsmith’s College, and an MA (distinction) from Birkbeck College. Experienced guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and Greenwich. Lectures at Tate, Dulwich Picture Gallery, to independent art societies and on cruises. Leads art appreciation holidays

Pop art arose simultaneously in the UK and USA. Perhaps Andy Warhol was right when he said everyone was reading the same comics. While British Pop art was heavily influenced by the consumer boom and the films and music of the USA, it had its own identity, which was often ironic and self-reflective. American Pop art had the superstars including Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, who simply used the formats of advertising, mass production, magazines and comics, to play back to the public what the public was already eating, watching or thinking. This lecture will use a collection of Pop art paintings to explain the differences between British and American Pop art, and why some British artists, after trying it, distanced themselves from it. This lecture will be jargon-free with audience engagement, backed by high quality slides.

Has studied art history at the Open University and the University of Buckingham. A guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, who leads public tours of all the permanent displays and also undertakes exhibition tours.  An experienced public speaker who has given presentations and lectures on a range of themes to diverse audiences over many years.