Today the Colosseum is an icon of Rome - many travel brochures will use it as a symbol of the city. It was certainly a brilliantly constructed building, going beyond what had ever been seen in the Roman world before, but it has a dark side which is often overlooked, since its events showcased human brutality towards man and beast. This talk will look at the dramatic political events which caused the construction of the ‘Flavian Amphitheatre’, how it was constructed, and what it has to say about the nature of Roman culture and imperial power. 

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

When Diaghilev created ballet in the west in the early twentieth century, he brought extraordinary revolutionary energy from Russia. By bringing together talented artists of different disciplines; choreographers, dancers, musicians, designers and painters; Fokine, Nijinsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Picasso and Coco Chanel to name but a few, Diaghilev fused the latest in art, music and dance in spectacles that dazzled and astonished audiences around the world. The dream Diaghilev created of dance, joining hands with the other creative disciplines to create a total work of art, changed the course of ballet forever. Using stills and video clips we take an exciting look at the Ballets Russes that dominated the ballet stages of the world from its explosion in Paris in 1909 until Diaghilev’s death in 1929. 

Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes is an experienced guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern and she lectures at various art societies and institutions. She has a special interest in British art of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th century.

After gaining an MA in film and television practice, Jennifer had a long-standing career spanning fifteen years as a television producer/director making documentaries and factual programmes for the BBC including ‘Tomorrow’s World’, ITV and Channel 4.

She was also a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College and Birkbeck: University of London and a senior lecturer at Southampton Solent University in the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society.

This lecture is for anyone who feels baffled or simply fascinated by the fact that a work of art that doesn't exist in any tangible way can make mega-bucks on the art market. How did we get here? How can something be a work of art when it only exists in cyber-space?

The history of high-risk speculation on the art market is a relatively recent phenomenon, driven by the potential profits to be made from investment in contemporary art. Speculation has a long history in the evolution of culture and in the concept of social status, and art as a luxury good has always loomed large in this history. To understand why anyone would want to buy an NFT (non-fungible token) we need to delve into the art market, its actors, institutions and sectors, and how they all play together in the formation of taste, perceived value and consumption.

As Oscar Wilde said cryptically, “All art is quite useless” – so why is it so valuable?  

Viv Lawes

I am an art historian, curator, author and journalist with over 25 years’ experience in the art market. I teach at several Higher Education institutions, including the University of the Arts London, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, the City & Guilds of London Art School, SOAS (University of London) and Imperial College. In January 2021 I received the Geoffrey Bond Bursary for Art, an annual prize awarded by the Worshipful Company of Educators to an “outstanding educator” nominated by their institution. My articles, essays and reports have been published in numerous specialist journals, newspapers, catalogues, handbooks and websites, aimed at both the academic and general readership in print and online. The title of my current book project is The Bronze Horse: Themes in Equine Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present Day; in Spring 2021 I will embark on a critique and biography of contemporary Filipino artist Andres Barrioquinto.

Since 2011 I have been Senior UK Consultant to Singapore gallery One East Asia and have co-curated many exhibitions of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art in London and Singapore. I am also Head of Education for the London Asian and African Contemporary Art Fair (founded 2020). When time allows I lecture as an on-board art historian for cruise lines.

Do you remember your visits to the local swimming baths? Those of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods are rich with decoration and, in the 1920s and 30s, the Art Deco and Modernist lidos became the urban beaches of the day.

Simon Inglis
Writer and historian Simon Inglis specialises in the architecture and heritage of sport and recreation. From 2004-22 he edited the 'Played in Britain' series for English Heritage. Although sport and recreation might seem an unlikely subject for The Arts Society, non-sporty types need have no fear: Simon’s themes are architecture, design, heritage and popular culture.

After a history degree at University College London, he freelanced for various publications, including the Guardian, Observer and Radio Times. He has curated exhibitions for the Building Centre and the British Council, been a regular contributor to radio and television, has travelled and lectured extensively, and written a number of books. Two were shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, while another, on British football grounds, was chosen by journalist Frank Keating as the best sports book of the 20th century.

One highpoint in his work for English Heritage was the listing of a 1970s skatepark in Essex, a world first that made the 10 o'clock news.

Unravelling the Silk Road by Chris Aslan

The role of sculpture in cities and parks covering Henry Moore, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and others.

The lecture will trace the exciting trajectory of British sculpture during the first half of the 20th century.  Across a diversity of practice - from controversial commissions for architectural embellishments (Jacob Epstein); the embrace of direct carving (Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth) to the construction of form through welded metal (the ‘Geometry of Fear’ group including Reg Butler and Lyn Chadwick) - the way in which British sculptors of this period played a pioneering role, affecting sculpture throughout the world. 

Anna Moszynska
Anna Moszynska is a London-based lecturer and writer specialising in contemporary art. During the 1990s, she oversaw the development of the subject as the first Master’s Degree at Sotheby’s Institute. Anna has taught at other institutions in London including The City Lit, the Royal Academy and Tate, as well as lecturing in cities ranging from Dubai to New York and Berlin to Sydney. She continues to offer guest lectures on the Sotheby’s Institute MA in Contemporary Art. Apart from the many catalogue essays Anna has written on living artists, her books include Abstract Art (1990, enlarged ed. 2020) and Sculpture Now (2013), both published by Thames & Hudson, and two books on the drawings of Antony Gormley. Anna enjoys introducing art to audiences in a lively and approachable way to make modern and contemporary art both accessible and interesting.

List of sculptures from lecture

Paul Nash and C.R.W. Nevinson were two of the most significant artists to paint the soldiers and battlefields of World War One. Walter Sickert described Nevinson’s painting La Mitrailleuse (‘The Machine-Gun’, 1916, Tate Britain) as probably ‘the most authoritative and concentrated utterance on war in the history of painting’. Another contemporary wrote that Nash’s shattered landscapes seemed to have been ‘torn from the sulphurous rim of the inferno itself.’ This lecture explores the artistic development of both men, and their distinct but related responses to representing an extraordinary, horrific and very modern war in paint.   

Our lecturer - David Boyd Haycock (born 1968 in Banbury, Oxfordshire) is a British writer, curator and lecturer. He read 'Modern History' at St John's College Oxford and has an MA in the History of Art from the University of Sussex and a PhD in History from Birkbeck College, London.

He is the author of a number of books, including: Paul Nash (2002, 2nd edition 2016) and A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War (2009), a group biography of the artists Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington and CRW Nevinson, all of whom were students together at the Slade School of Art in London.

A Crisis of Brilliance was nominated in the "Best Non-Fiction Book" category at the 2010 Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards. (Wikipedia)

The thriving metropolis of Venice was a cosmopolitan city of trade and diversity unlike any other Italian republic. It prospered because it was open to all and traded in all manner of commodities including people. This lecture will look at some of the greatest artists of Venetian Renaissance Venice and how they depicted the complexity of La Serenissima in all its colours from Carpaccio’s black gondoliers to the depiction of people of colour by Bellini, Mantegna, and Titian. Who were these black people in Venice captured by these great artists in the multifarious positions they held across Venetian society and beyond from at least the 1490s, and what lives did they lead, were they free or were they slaves? The lecture charts the impact of slavery in Venice upon its population, its institutions and the wider Italian society reflected across many works of art by many great Italian Renaissance artists and European artists into the 17th century. It concludes with an exploration of the aforementioned European ideas around the inventory of race and an exploration of Pesaro funerary monument in the Basilica of Santa Maria Glorioso dei Frari in Venice.

Art historian, lecturer and broadcaster, Leslie Primo graduated from Birkbeck, University College, London with a BA in Art History, and an Art History MA in Renaissance Studies. He specialised in early Medieval Art and Architecture, Italian Renaissance art, German art in the age of Reformation, Medici & Patronage, and mythology in the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Leslie worked as a lecturer at the National Gallery, London for 18 years and he is currently at the National Portrait Gallery.

This lecture explores gender in modern British sculpture through the lives and times of Barbara Hepworth and Elisabeth Frink. Hepworth is often overshadowed by Henry Moore and other male artists, which does a disservice to her work, where she took abstract sculpture to new levels of expressiveness and lyricism. These days her sculptures have a timeless quality to them, where form – and sometimes colour – take centre stage. Born a generation later, Frink ranks alongside Hepworth as a great British sculptor of the 20th century. The subjects for her work were usually birds, horses and men.

Raymond Warburton

Ray has had a life-long love of art. However, in his twenties, Ray studied social sciences at the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies. These studies led to a career in health and social care, with art being an evening and weekend passion. But all that changed in 2011, when Ray became a guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Then from 2014 to 2017, he studied art history at the Open University, and then at the University of Buckingham, from where he gained an MA in the History of Art. And to cap it all, Ray became an Arts Society lecturer in 2017. 

The Music of Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral

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.

John Snelson

John Snelson has been fascinated by musicals all his life and is a leading expert in British musical theatre (the subject of his PhD). His publications include Reviewing the Situation: The British Musical from Noël Coward to Lionel Bart (Bloomsbury), How to Enjoy Opera (Oberon/Bloomsbury), 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.

John 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 twenty years he worked for the Royal Opera House. He currently lectures at Goldsmiths, University of London.

When the new process of photography was formally introduced and demonstrated to a joint meeting of the Académie des Science and Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris in January 1839, the history painter Delaroche is reported to have exclaimed “from today painting is dead!”. Far from sounding the death knell of painting, photography in fact gave rise to a fascinating dialogue between both art forms.

This lecture charts and outlines the birth of photography in the early nineteenth century and how its invention transformed and influenced the use, purpose and aesthetic of painting.

Aliki Braine

Born in Paris in 1976, Aliki studied at The Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, The Slade School of Fine Art, London and The Courtauld Institute where she was awarded a distinction for her masters in 17th century painting. After working for National Gallery for 20 years, she now teaches for Christie’s Education and the Wallace Collection, and is an Associate Lecturer for the Camberwell College of Art, University of the Arts London. Aliki is also a practising artist who regularly exhibits her photographic work internationally.

'Amazing architecture' is a lecture that introduces the audience to some of the most extraordinary architectural constructions ever created, both historically and in the modern era. This lecture includes moments when technological advances allowed sudden leaps forward in what was physically possible as well as examples of architects making a dramatic change from the prevailing style. It also examines examples of novelty architecture where buildings are deliberately constructed to resemble other objects. This lecture provides an enjoyable introduction to architecture as a subject and presents a number of styles and building types to the audience.

Sarah Pearson
Sarah holds a First Class BA in Art History from Reading University, an MA in World Art Studies from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Architectural History, also from Reading. She lectured for 10 years at Reading and at the University of East Anglia, and now works as a freelance lecturer and teaches at the University of Cambridge (Madingley Hall) in person and for online courses. Sarah has published articles and a book chapter on the architect Francesco di Giorgio and maintains active research interests in the subject of architecture and ideology. 

This unique genre was first fully explored as an individual subject in the Low Countries. The Dutch had a particular relationship with their land, reclaiming it from the sea and becoming independent as a republic. We will discuss its beginnings, its development, and its influences on later artists in other countries.

Mariska Beekenkamp

Mariska read Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam and was tempted to do a PhD in Decision Making Behaviour. In the end she turned to her true love - the Arts.

​Whilst having her three children, she completed her BA and MA in Art History, majoring in The Dutch Baroque Arts from the 17th century at the Courtauld Institute of Arts. She started as a College Lecturer, but soon after started her own company - Art Historical London offering art historical lectures, museum visits, courses, tours, travel and events from Amsterdam, London and New York, and since 2020 online.

A fully accredited PTLLS lecturer, she also teaches on the public program of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, for the New York Adventure Club in the States, and can provide live, online and recorded lectures for groups or individuals.

One of the most promising artists of his generation, Richard Dadd was forgotten to the world for the last 40 years of his life. In 1843, at the age of 26, he stabbed his father to death, convinced that he was the Devil incarnate.

Convicted as a “criminal lunatic”, Dadd spent his remaining years secluded in Bethlem Hospital and Broadmoor, where he continued to draw and paint, exploring over and again images from the world he had left behind. He developed the fantasy and fairy pictures with which he is now so associated and were to influence later creations from Arthur Rackham to Freddie Mercury!

Nicole Mezey

Nicole studied Art History at the Universities of Sussex, York and Paris and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Higher Education Academy. 

The lecture will cover almost 2000 years of history illustrated by London's stained glass windows, including 19th and 20th century and contemporary glass makers.

Anna Warrilow 

Anne studied BA in History of Art. As well as guiding she is an adjunct lecturer at Richmond The American International University in London where she teaches undergraduates The History of London. She graduated as a Blue Badge Guide early in 2013 and lectures regularly for art, history and academic societies.

We will trace the story of Banksy's humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world. We will examine the reasons behind his incredible rise, looking at some of his famous stunts, discuss what his influence has been on the art market today and look at what his legacy, if any, might be. 

Pepe Martinez qualified as a London blue badge tourist guide in 2011, graduating at the top of his class.

2024 marks the bicentenary of the founding of the National Gallery. This lecture tells the story of the establishment of the NG collection beginning in 1824 when Lord Liverpool’s government purchased 38 paintings for £57,000 from the collection of businessman and philanthropist John Julius Angerstein. The paintings were initially displayed at 100 Pall Mall, Angerstein’s townhouse and by 1838, it was decided that a purpose built building was required, giving us the William Wilkins designed building we know and love on Trafalgar Square. During the course of the lecture we examine some of the high (and low) points of the early years of the gallery including suffragette sabotage, bombs and theft. We also take a close up look at some of the original "Angerstein 38” paintings.

Simon Whitehouse

Simon is an actor, lecturer, presenter, Alexander Technique and voice teacher and award winning London Blue Badge guide. He has worked as a guide lecturer in house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public and private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and also lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts and English literature. Simon’s specialisms and passions are theatre, literature, fashion and art history but, whatever the subject, Simon will weave a wonderful story from it.

Following the turbulent political times and the collapse of the Russian and European monarchies, countless art and jewel collections were dispersed.

Fortunately, this coincided with the growing wealth and power of American industrial millionaires who were intent on creating sumptuous palaces of their own, filled with the greatest oeuvres, and adorning their wives and daughters with the finest royal jewels.

These fabulously wealthy heiresses then married into the British aristocracy, bringing many treasures with them. With the decline of aristocratic power and the British Empire, these legendary jewels can now to be seen in the world's great museums.

Andrew Prince

Andrew Prince has had a passion for jewellery since he was a small child. In 1980, when he was nine, his mother took him to the Princely Magnificence exhibition at the V&A, exhibiting Renaissance jewels dating from 1500 to 1630. It proved a revelation. Dazzled by the splendour and opulence of the jewels on show, Andrew decided then and there that creating jewellery was what he wanted to devote his life to. His passion for jewellery grew when,

in 1984 on his first ever visit to Bond Street, Andrew viewed an exhibition by Castellani and Giulianoe at Wartski & Co’s. While there, he was allowed to handle beautiful 18th century gold boxes and magnificent imperial Russian pieces by Fabergé. In 1987, just before leaving school, he took time off to visit Geneva to view the astonishing Sotheby’s auction of the Duchess of Windsor's jewellery collection. Here, for the first time, he held pieces created by some of the world's greatest jewellers, fashioned from only the finest of stones and set in designs of outstanding quality. For the young Andrew, it was a life-changing experience.

In August of that year, two weeks after his 16th birthday, Andrew started work in London’s Bond Street, working for The Antiques Roadshow expert, Ian Harris. Under his guidance, Andrew developed an appreciation for jewels that were valued for their quality of design and craftsmanship, rather than for how much the stones in the piece were worth. He then joined the renowned contemporary jeweller Elizabeth Gage and worked with her on the design and production side. Through her, Andrew was able to see and handle rare and extraordinary stones with names such as Sphene, Andalusite, Spinel and Dioptase, many of which are far rarer than diamonds. Elizabeth Gage was to have an enormous influence on Andrew's sense of what was possible within the realm of jewellery design. Andrew's taste for fine 'costume jewellery' can be traced back to an antique market, where he came across a late Victorian brooch set with what he initially thought were emeralds and diamonds. They were, in fact, crystal and green glass set in silver and gold. He realised that beautiful jewellery didn't require expensive stones, and that it was the elegance of the design and the quality of the workmanship that truly mattered.

Private commissions then started to trickle in. The trickle turned into a flood, as celebrities such as Michael Jackson (a large crystal and pearl shoulder jewel) and Shirley Bassey (necklaces) were seen wearing Andrew's creations. In 2002, the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the resplendent Tiaras, Past and Present exhibition which became one of their most popular exhibits. The exposure gained by the show then led to Andrew's jewellery appearing in film. In 2005, he was asked to make tiaras and jewellery for Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judy Dench. In 2009, pieces were commissioned for The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson. In 2012, he was chosen by the creators of Downton Abbey to supply a large collection of jewellery for the third series. The characters played by Maggie Smith, Shirley Maclaine, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery were all adorned with elegant tiaras, combs, earrings and necklaces designed and created by Andrew Prince.

Rodin is one of the heroic figures of 19th century art history and internationally celebrated during his lifetime. His reputation slipped after his death relating to his use of the female image. David reassesses that view and how Rodin has taken sculpture on a revolutionary path equivalent to that of the Realists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

David Worthington

David Worthington graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied fine art in London, Barcelona and New York.  He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors, and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan. His work is in the museum the Creative Cities Collection, Beijing, China. He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. He has had solo shows at the Lefevre Gallery, Horatio’s Garden, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and at the Lightbox Gallery Museum, Woking.

Experience an overview of the most rapidly developing, popular and recently revealed areas in mid–century modern European glass. Makers include Mdina glass, Wedgwood glass and significant Czech glass factories. Key designers and designs, and the influences behind them, are examined. 

Mark Hill

Mark studied History of Art & Architecture (BA Hons) and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby's where he was a specialist in the Collectors' Department. He later became director of a new internet company running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions. He was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17 and founded his own publishing company in 2005, publishing over 15 books on emerging specialist subjects in the decorative arts.

In television, he has been a miscellaneous expert on the BBC 'Antiques Roadshow' since 2007 and an expert on the BBC's 'Antiques Roadtrip', has also co-presented five primetime TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2.

He is member of the British Antiques Dealers' Association, Senior Vice President at a company offering digital solutions to the antiques industry. He has lectured across the world, including at the V&A, and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. Lastly he is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

The largely unknown Lewinski photographed over 300 artists between 1962-1995. His portraits reveal the character of artists such as Hockney, Moore, Gormley and Hepworth; we will explore the contributions these artists have made to the British art scene.

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 20 th century. But where does Jorge Lewinski’s reputation lie amongst these significant individuals? Have you heard of him? 

Jorge Lewinski, born in Lwow, Poland (now Ukraine) in 1921, has an unparalleled reputation for capturing portraits of the iconic British painters and sculptors of the 20th century. Having based his home and career in London from 1942, Lewinski photographed over 300 leading British artists principally between 1962 and 1995. We learn about his prolific career; what made the photographer and how significant are his photographs in revealing the character of each sitter as both a person and as an artist.

With an unapologetic focus on 20th century Royal Academicians in particular, although by no means exclusive, this lecture considers Lewinski’s portraits of a selection of great 20th century British artists such as David Hockney, Henry Moore, Antony Gormley. Allen Jones, Michael Craig-Martin and Barbara Hepworth. Through the work of Lewinski, we can also explore the artistic contributions that these painters and sculptors have made/are making to the British art scene.

Pamela Campbell-Johnson

The world’s first underground railway has a unique heritage of architecture and ingenious design. Learn about the early development of the Underground and the legacy of Frank Pick and Charles Holden. Celebrate the award-winning architecture of the modern Tube in the Jubilee Line Extension and the new Elizabeth Line, designed by some of the world’s top architects. 

Ian Swankie

From the birth of opera in Renaissance Italy we move to Louis XIV’s Versailles, Handel’s London, Mozart’s Vienna, Verdi’s Italy and Wagner’s Germany, Gilded Age America and the worldwide spread of opera in the 20th century. We explore patronage of the arts, the changing nature of audiences, theatrical architecture and stage design and the impact of new technologies such as electric lighting, recording, photography and film.

The subtle science and exact art of colour in English garden design; why gardening can rank as fine art

In 1882 Gertrude Jekyll urged readers of The Garden to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”.  As an accomplished watercolour artist, she was familiar with the principles of using colours, but felt that in gardens these “had been greatly neglected”. We look at how contemporary artists - Turner, Monet, Rothko, Pollack - evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like. 

Few countries offer such a rich and varied cultural heritage as Mexico. We will explore the work of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and folk-artists of today, who create splendid weavings, beadwork and dance-masks for religious festivals.

The lecture will explore the artistic response to the political and social upheavals of the 20th century and how recent decades have seen a questioning of the nature and language of art. 

In 1856, William Henry Perkin, an 18 year old chemistry student accidentally discovered the first commercial synthetic dye: the colour explosion followed. This lecture, featuring fashion and fabrics, is sure to make you look at colours in a new way.

The story of the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel’s appearance to the Virgin Mary as told in St Luke’s gospel, has inspired some of the most beautiful images in Western Art. The earliest is thought to date back to the 2nd century AD. Since then, the narrative has been reimagined by numerous artists.

This lecture will take you on a journey and explore the ways in which artists have captured this pivotal moment of the Christian story. 

[Domenico Veneziano (c1410-1461), The Annunciation, 1445
tempera on panel, 27 x 54 cm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge]

Medieval and Tudor monarchs understood that the visual beauty and rarity of precious gemstones, including luminous sapphires, rubies and spinels, alongside lustrous pearls, expressed and enhanced their regal power and status.

Tracing the sources of the stones in distant lands, the lecture follows a journey from the gemstone mines of Asia, the pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf, to the merchants of Venice and Bruges, and on to the goldsmiths of Paris and London.

Special Interest Day

Waldringfield Village Hall

Discover how Mary searched the Jurassic rocks of England's south coast to unearth what were believed to be sea dragons and we now call marine reptiles.  

We will explore the social history and influences of Mary and the 19th century scientists she would have worked with. 

Our journey will take us into a distant past, from south-west England to southern Germany, where shallow seas were inhabited by fish lizards, marine crocodiles and floating islands of tree trunks with ancient starfish-like animals attached to them.

The Stirling Prize has celebrated the very best contemporary buildings since 1996. Some winners, such as Norman Foster’s Gherkin, of 2004, have become enormously successful and appreciated by the wider public. Others have proved harder to love.

This entertaining lecture looks at some of the hits, some of the misses, and several buildings that arguably should have won, but didn’t.

Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the leading figures in the fight for the unification of Italy in the 19th century. He was a romantic and heroic figure who captured the imagination of Italians and the British. Here he prompted a fashion for Staffordshire figurines, biscuits and blouses. He visited Britain in 1864 and over 500,000 Londoners turned out to see him. This lecture looks at the life of Garibaldi and uses paintings, documents and newspaper accounts to trace his popularity.

Fine art has provided advertisers and their agencies with a great deal of material to use in their creative campaigns.

Tony describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and why the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. From the Renaissance through to the present-day, fine art continues to provide opportunities to enhance brand imagery with admiration, humour, satire and irony.

L.S. Lowry is one of Britain’s most popular artists - yet his familiarity has hindered a proper understanding of his extraordinary life and work. He painted not only the mill towns and cities of the industrial north-west but also many soulful landscapes and masterly seascapes which are, perhaps, his most powerful works.

He is one of the great painters of the human condition, and his work parallels the achievement of T.S. Eliot and Van Gogh.

Virginia Woolf never painted or drew,  but her writing was influenced by artists of her day, in particular
her sister, Vanessa Bell. 

In her novel To The Lighthouse Woolf vividly describes the thoughts and feelings of a young artist at work. She enjoyed walking in London. According to her heroine Mrs Dalloway “It’s better than walking in
the country!”

The lecture features paintings by Vanessa Bell, Walter Sickert, Spencer Gore, Robert Bevan and others of the Camden Group of artists.

The discovery of the grave of King Richard III in Leicester raised many fascinating questions. The severe scoliosis exhibited by the skeleton revealed that the twisted physique was based in fact. How could a diminutive person, suffering from a significant spinal condition, have become a skilled practitioner of knightly fighting?

We will encounter armour as an expressive art-form, designed to radiate messages, proof of the wearer’s right to rule as a king.

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

Hear about her own adventures and misadventures, insights gained into the legendary painter's life and work and see how New Mexico's magnificent landscape inspired new directions in her own mixed media paintings which led to a major exhibition at the Mall Galleries in 2019.

The pictures on gallery walls look so well-behaved, but there can be Bedlam behind the scenes. Based on real experiences, we relive the highs and lows of curatorial life. We find out what’s involved in a gallery make-over, dine (disastrously) with a Duke, discover a masterpiece - and are questioned by Chelsea CID as suspects in a massive art fraud.

What are the big issues that art curators face, and where should the whole business be going? 

The bleak midwinter held little appeal to the artist for many centuries until Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow in the 16th century. From pristine backdrop to the tempestuous snow storms of Turner; to the capturing of ‘snow effect’ by the Impressionists - the ability of artists to convey snow as a symbol of peace and of grandeur and terror is compelling.

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

J. M. W. Turner was arguably the greatest practitioner in watercolour the world has ever seen but he left very few written records of his processes. This lecture examines Turner’s watercolour practice in detail, unlocking the mysteries behind his exceptional effects. In addition to showcasing the diversity and richness of his achievements in the medium, we will look at his experimental approach to techniques and some of his tools and materials.

Nordic nature. Its vastness, wilderness, and remoteness are some of the reasons it is so fascinating. Let’s not forget the exceptional light conditions, such as the midnight sun and auroras. This importance is reflected in the history of art by the significant place held by landscape painting.We will explore various ways in which nature has been represented by Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish painters from 1840 to 1910.

In his lifetime, Sorolla was considered the most famous artist to come from Spain.

More Spanish than the Alhambra, more passionate than Flamenco, more sunny than a holiday in Marbella, he captured in his paintings all the exuberance of his native country. So why don’t we know more about him?

This talk will explore the so-called Spanish ‘Master of Light’; from his paintings of sunlit beaches and gardens to scenes of fishermen and rural life, as well as portraits of the love of his life, his wife Clotilde.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is the most isolated piece of permanently inhabited land on the planet, yet it produced a most extraordinary Stone Age culture: hundreds of sophisticated coastal stone platforms, more than a thousand enormous stone statues, the richest rock art in the Pacific, and a unique writing system.This talk will provide an introduction to the history of the discovery of this culture; to its principal features; and to how the evidence has taught us about the island’s cultural rise and decline.

London’s Royal Parks are among its most beautiful and beloved spaces. Since being opened to the public during the 18th century , they have hosted some of London’s great events, including the Great Exhibition and innumerable jubilees and celebrations. This lecture tells the story of all 8 parks from the point where they were acquired by the monarchy until the present day, including major historic moments and events with which they are associated.

This lecture, by the Music Administrator for the Royal Ballet, takes a look at life backstage at London’s Royal Opera House. We will hear of the tribulations and the triumphsmof working with the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies.We will also explore the way that artistic inspirations, the people involved and the very special Victorian building, all function together to create world-class opera and ballet in a unique environment.

Why were foreign painters preferred to English painters by the London aristocracy? Why did foreigners come in the first place and what was their impact in London on  English art and art practice? This lecture looks at the various formats and uses of art, tracing foreign artists from the Tudor period to the Renaissance and Baroque.  It will examine the contribution of individual artists, how they influenced the British School of painting and assess their legacy.

Dr Newton is an experienced lecturer who has contributed much to television and radio. He is a director of the study centre at Sutton Hoo and a Time Team historian. He will explore the history and legend of Edmund, king and martyr, using the “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” as his primary source but also enlivening his lecture with the later legend of St Edmund. 

The AGM will be held at 10a.m. before this lecture

Wool, cotton and silk have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing for the nomadic cultures, silk was more valuable than gold, and cotton was the cause of Russian Colonisation. The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of this fascinating part of the world, a meeting place between Mohammed and Marx.

This lecture provides an overview of the British Studio Pottery movement, exploring handmade pottery in Britain from the last decades of the nineteenth century to the present day, including the work of the Martin Brothers, Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, Alison Britton and Grayson Perry.

This lecture discusses the common problems associated with the ageing and deterioration of, and damage to, easel paintings. These can be on canvas, panel, board or paper in a range of mediums: oil, acrylic, egg tempera, or mixed media. Problems can involve natural deterioration and neglect, accidental damage, vandalism and even war. Modern ‘museum standard’ approaches to conservation and restoration will be illustrated with detailed slides, and hints and advice on the general care of paintings in homes are given in liberal doses throughout!

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

This lecture looks at the art and society of Roman North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. It examines how Rome gradually conquered a range of very different North African countries and why. Roman influence spread through these provinces in buildings, art and language. However it was not all one-way. With imported products from these provinces came people ideas and changes in Roman art, religion and society and some Africans even became Emperors. Lecture via Zoom

Wallpaper is often regarded as the Cinderella of Decorative Arts , the most ephemeral and least precious of home decorations. However, its history is long and fascinating and dates back to the 16th Century. This lecture explores that history and the development of wallpaper up to the present day. It will also examine how wallpaper was made, the range of designs from Chinese handpainted to William Morris and the contemporary, and how wallpaper was used in grand and more ordinary homes.

Edward Lear’s ‘Book of Nonsense’ has never been out of print, but what isn’t often realised is that he made his living  producing topographical watercolours of great delicacy. “A man of original and versatile genius” : ornithologist, diarist, musician, traveller, this warm and delightful human being expressed his simple philosophy through timeless humour. Thisis an illustrated lecture focussing on his biography with quotations from his writings throughout.

Objects have always been present in paintings but the necessary clutter of daily life came to be used by artists as a language of its own, symbolising complex and invisible ideas. This lecture charts the rise in popularity of independent still life paintings from the Renaissance to the present day, paying particular attention to its apotheosis in the 17th Century.

Worshipped by Aesthetes and cultivated by Impressionists the sunflower casts its golden rays across Art and Culture. A personification of the divine and regal, we trace its history from classical myth to twentieth century painting via Van Dyck and Van Gogh, Clytie and Klimt, Monet, Rivera,Wilde and Watts.

Green and gold, human and divine, the adoring and the adored: the Sunflower.

Aunt Sally in Oxfordshire, Toad in the Hole in East Sussex, Daddlums in Kent and Bagatelle in Chester. They sound like relics of a bygone age, and yet the pub games of Britain live on, in all their infinite variety and eccentric splendour. This lecture guides us through the winners and losers of pub games and reveals some of the extraordinary artefacts to be found in the nooks and crannies of Britain’s historic hostelries, with reference to their art, architecture and design and social history.

From the 16th to the 19th century these three strands of cultural borrowing gave rise to a new way of seeing and interpreting the world around us.The Great International exhibitions of the 1850’s and 60’s brought goods and items from colonial outposts into the lives of ordinary people, fermenting a craze for all things “exotic” with mystical connotations stemming from a vague location. These cultural borrowings brought new designs in architecture, painting, prints, textiles, furniture and interiors, glass, ceramics and jewellery. We still see the legacy of these influences today, so how can we distinguish their origins?

The life of Lee Miller is told with reference to those with whom she exchanged creative inspiration: Man Ray, Roland Penrose, Pablo Picasso, David E. Scherman, her father Theodore Miller, and her son,
Antony Penrose.

This presentation is a definitive view by her son and biographer and embraces many different levels of the history of art and photography, social commentary and emotional connection with the subject. (Includes some war-time images which may be disturbing).

The AGM will be held at 10a.m. before this lecture

Like the imperial emblem of the double-headed eagle, Russia’s two capital cities always looked in different directions before 1917: Moscow towards Asia, and St. Petersburg towards Europe. This led
to Russia’s divided soul, its personality split between the Western looking modern metropolis of St. Petersburg and the oriental looking city of Moscow.

This lecture explores the art and architecture of both of these great cities, examining their different characters and ways of life, and looking at how and why they increased and decreased in importance
before and after the 1917 Revolution.

The human body has long been a subject for artists and art historians. Looking at nude imagery from Classical Greece to the present day, this lecture explores the roles of female and male nudes in art. Is the female nude always an object of desire? Are male nudes always symbols of power? Are there artists who challenge the conventional gender roles? These themes will be explored together with how the nude reflects the social attitudes of the time.

London’s Royal Parks are among its most beautiful and beloved spaces. They have a grand history: some were royally owned as far back as the Norman Conquest. Since being opened to the public during the 18th century, they have hosted some of London’s great events, including the Great Exhibition and innumerable jubilees and celebrations.

This lecture tells the story of all 8 parks from the point where they were acquired by the monarchy until the present day, including major historic moments and events with which they are associated.

Why were foreign painters preferred by the London aristocracy to English painters? Why did foreigners come in the first place and what was their impact in London on English art and art practice? This lecture
looks at the various formats and uses of art, tracing foreign artists from the Tudor period to the Renaissance and Baroque. It will examine the contribution of individual artists, how they influenced the British School of painting, and assess their legacy.

This lecture, by the Music Administrator for The Royal Ballet, takes a look at life backstage at London’s Royal Opera House and the tribulations and triumphs of working with The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet companies. It looks at the way artistic inspirations, the people involved, and the very special Victorian building all function together to create world-class opera and ballet in a unique environment.

Raphael died in Rome on Good Friday, 1520, aged only 37. The Pope, his most prestigious patron, was devastated and earth tremors were felt around the city. He was buried in the Pantheon - a fitting tribute to an artist who rivalled the greatness of the Ancients. He was also charming, handsome and polite, which couldn’t be said for all Renaissance polymaths. This lecture looks at his short but astonishing career as painter, architect, administrator and superb draughtsman, and considers his lasting influence on subsequent artists.

There is more to the world of street art than Banksy. This lecture explores the key stages in street art’s growth, examining the different elements and styles that comprise the scene with no rules. It ranges from train writing in New York to interactive technology that brings murals to life. From the international superstars to the local underground heroes, you are guaranteed to leave knowing your Invader from your Aryz and you might even start looking at the world a little differently!

American artist Dale Chihuly (born 1941) is the superstar of the glass world. With his passion for glass, his larger than life personality, his skills as a natural leader and educator, and his constant exploration of the luminous qualities and colour possibilities of glass, he creates sculptures which are extravagant, colourful and spectacular.

From early vessels decorated with native American Indian designs to huge installations around the  world, his magic has transformed the studio glass movement and altered our visual perceptions of this material for eve

Born into a Polish family, Misia was a virtuoso pianist and married three times. She was painted by Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and Vuillard and knew Debussy and Ravel. Her second marriage to a wealthy businessman allowed her to finance Diaghilev’s Russian Ballets. Misia was a member of the circle around Picasso, Stravinsky, Cocteau and Nijinski and became a close friend of Coco Chanel. She was indeed at the very heart of modern art and music in Paris.

In the early 1920’s an intoxicating mix of artists, writers, musicians and international visitors, inspired by a mythological seascape of luminous colours, began to “winter over” on the Cote d’Azur.

This liberating playground of ideas across the visual design artswa s stimulated by impresarios Diaghilev and Poiret. Matisse, Picasso, Dufy, Conteau and Chanel merged the worlds of fashion, theatre and interiors. Cole Porter and Scott Fitzgerald introduced an American perspective. In this lecture we will time travel to meet them.

 AGM at 10 am.

Over a period of 500 years the great medieval cathedrals of England were built. In terms of resources called upon, space covered, design and craftsmanship employed, this period marks the greatest architectural achievement in English history. From Durham to Gloucester the lecture follows the evolution of cathderal building with reference to structural and aesthetic details together with some of the most fascinating figures and events behind them - portraits in stone as rich as a great East Window.

Tracey Emin shot to fame and notoriety with “My Bed” in 1999, twenty years ago. She has since earned fortune and criticism in virtually equal measure. She is frequently accused of being self indulgent because of the autobiographical nature of her work, yet many artists have used their life experiences to inform their work without the criticism of self obsession. This lecture looks at some aspects of what is a wide ranging and varied body of work and seeks to examine some of the reasons behind the antagonism that Emin faces.

George IV was the single greatest collector of art and instigator of architectural projects. He was passionately fond of lavish decoration and display. He furnished his palaces magnificently with French furniture, clocks, porcelain and sculpture. He was an avid collector of Dutch and Flemish paintings and also patronised contemporary artists and sculptors. He assembled the greatest collection of Sèvres porcelain in the world and a huge number of silver and gold objects.

2019 sees the 260th anniversary of the founding of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. After an apprenticeship with his older brother, Josiah Wedgwood’s fascination with glazes and clay resulted in his partnership with Thomas Whieldon, the most talented potter of the period. In addition to creating high quality creamware and jaspers, Wedgwood was also involved in the development of canals and the improvement of roads. His wide interest in learning led him to socialise with contemporaries with a scientific bias.

Jean, Duc de Berry, was the son of the King of France and ruled over one of the most glittering courts of Europe. A great patron, he commissioned some of the most beautiful works of art of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the most renowned being the illuminated manuscript of the Tres Riches Heures by Flemish artists , the Limbourg Brothers. In the context of its period, this lecture will study this beautiful manuscript, its artists and their patron.

Illegitimate by birth, Federico de Montefeltro achieved power in the Renaissance city state of Urbino following the assassination of his legitimate younger brother. Federico moved quickly to establish his position in Urbino and, through a programme of artistic and architectural patronage, worked to secure his place in the Montefeltro dynasty. This lecture examines the artworks and buildings commissioned by Federico and considers them as pieces of renaissance propaganda.

Eric Gill (1882 – 1940), was arguably the most outstanding English artist and craftsman of the twentieth century; a typographer and letter cutter of highly individual talent and creativity, as well as a master sculptor and wood engraver. In central London, major works of his may be seen at The Tate Gallery, Westminster Cathedral, Broadcasting House and Broadway. This lecture, set in a biographical context, discusses his extraordinary life and seeks to evaluate his important contribution to English art history of recent times.

Mr Punch’s anarchic vitality has inspired opera, ballet and punk rock. Appearing in England in 1662, Punch is descended from the Italian clown Pulcinella of the 15th Century Commedia Dell’Arte tradition. 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!”

We trace the fascinating story of the Byzantine Empire, which flourished for over a thousand years, through the art of the period: mosaics, ivory carvings, enamels, holy relics, silverware and icons. The audience will encounter all manner of characters from emperors, empresses, Roman matrons, virgins and whores through a variety of art works from fourthcentury buried treasure to tenth-century ‘porn’, bringing this colourful world back to life.

Little is known in this country about Germany’s complex post-war process of remembrance and the counter memorial movement that started there in the 1980s. Germany’s situation rendered all traditional concepts of monuments and memorials irrelevant and inappropriate. Instead of commemorating their own losses, Germany’s artists looked to creating art forms that would respond to questions of apology and atonement.

This lecture will examine the most creative and imaginative of British artists: William Blake, Samuel Palmer and Stanley Spencer. We will also look at the work of the Neo-Romantics, including Paul Nash, John Piper and Graham Sutherland, who were inspired by Blake and Palmer, and at others who set out to evoke the mystical and spiritual in art.

This lecture demonstrates the distinct contribution the urban palaces of Renaissance Italy made towards the development of the visual arts. Significantly many of the paintings, sculptures and decorative objects from this period were originally intended for the domestic interior. While a number of the great palace façades survive largely intact, their interiors have been lost, or remain at best greatly altered, since the fifteenth century.

The Maya created one of the most sophisticated civilisations in the ancient world. With their achievements in the arts and sciences, along with their complex social, political and economic systems, they were one of the most remarkable culture groups in the pre-Columbian Americas. These people brought us an intricate calendar system, complex hieroglyphic writing, some of the largest pyramids in the world, a form of ballgame that was like no other and most importantly chocolate!

Klimt was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. He is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d’art. In 1900 he painted the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna, which was criticized as pornographic. He achieved new success with his paintings in his ‘Golden phase’ many of which include gold leaf. Klimt’s work was an important influence on Egon Schiele.

The vision and genius of Isambard Kingdom Brunel underpins this global story of hopes and dreams, disasters and triumphs. This talk features a wide range of ships, including Great Britain and Great Western, Lusitania and Mauritania, Olympic and Titanic, and arguably Britain’s most popular liner the Queen Mary. They will be brought to life through historic and contemporary artworks, including striking Art Deco posters. A selection of interior views of the famous liners are featured.

To mark the centenary of women first getting the vote, which falls in 2018, this lecture will explore the story of the suffragettes through portrayals in art and their own artistic productions, and will look at how contemporary artists choose to portray female politicians in our own time, and the controversies surrounding these depictions.

Edward Seago was part of a post-impressionist flowering that included Sickert,Munnings and Augustus John. He won admiration from royalty and his exhibitions sold out on the first day. But you won’t find his paintings in the Tate Britain, nor did his work ever find favour with the art establishment.This lecture compares his work with those masters he most admired, as well as the contemporary trends he chose to ignore.

This story has a plot worthy of Agatha Christie and its cast includes the author herself, along with Walter Gropius and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, refugees from the German Bauhaus, Henry Moore and many intellectuals and civil servants. The setting is The Lawn Road Flats, a startling modernist block of small serviced flats with a restaurant and club, both bohemian and sinister. It was also home to a nest of Soviet spies, including the recruiter and controller of the Cambridge Five.
This is the story of a ground-breaking building, now Grade I listed, and of the rich and complex lives of its residents.

Deborah is formerly Curator of the Schroder Collection, a private art collection.  She studied for her MA in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute and worked for many years as an academic director and lecturer for Christie’s Education. Appears regularly as a furniture specialist on the Antiques Roadshow.

Please note this is a change to the advertised lecture about Noel Coward

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.

When Sir Jacob Epstein died in 1959 he was one of the most famous and respected sculptors in Britain, and had produced some of the most admired monumental works in the country. His career had been dogged by criticism, ridicule and anti-Semitism. This lecture examines his work, in order to explain what he was trying to achieve, and why his pioneering career caused such

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: scorning the traditional idealised interpretation of religious subjects, he took his models from the streets, painting them realistically. Such a revolutionary style was condemned by many as was his equally dramatic personal life and uncontrollable temper which involved him in endless brawls and even murder. This lecture will study the life and works of this enigmatic man and of his influence on later artists.

Jim Thompson arrived in Bangkok as a US army officer in 1945. This lecture tells the story of his achievements: resuscitating the declining ancient craft of Thai Silk, showing the intricate process of silk production and its illustrious heritage including royal robes and temple murals and films featuring his silks. The lecture also reveals his house and its Asian art collection, and reflects on a life that ended with his mysterious disappearance.

The photographer Walker Evans and painter Edward Hopper were part of the generation of American artists who tore themselves away from European ideals at the start of the 20th century. Join Frank Woodgate as he explores these artists who celebrated America without filter focusing on common people in common lives and places. Within those scenes lie a powerful silence in which directness creates a visual anxiety as we wonder what has just happened and what will happen next.
 

The work of women photographers has often been unfairly neglected. This lecture examines 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 influential Americans: Dorothea Lange, who excelled indocumentary images and Annie Leibovitz, who continues to both surprise and delight her audience.

How did a German refugee from Hitler, an internee and a jobbing journalist, become the Grand Old Man of English art history? The answer lies in his extraordinary one-man survey of all the architecturally significant buildings in the country, county by county. This lecture explores the buildings in Suffolk, churches, houses, shops, tower blocks, cinemas – and sets his pronouncements in the context of The Buildings of England as a whole.

In late 19th century Paris, two cousins, from Constantinople, amassed remarkable collections of art. One left his collection to the Louvre the other left his house and one of the most important collections of the 18th century, to the state. This is an extraordinary story of a family dynasty, money, art, social behaviour, obsession and tragedy.

Vivaldi is the one Baroque composer whose music is a direct reflection of the city in which it was composed. We explore the unusual way in which Venice solved its problems with the poor and the homeless,Vivaldi’s health problems and his eccentricities as a man and a priest. This lecture explores the amazing world of Vivaldi’s music that is as intrinsically Venetian as the canvasses of Canaletto.

Christmas, as a time of celebrations, has a very long pedigree. The great midwinter festival, known to the Romans as Saturnalia, is still greeted with feasting and drinking throughout the 12 days of Christmas. Wassail bowls and bobs, boars’ heads stuck with apples, carolling, mumming, riotous games in hall – all presided over by the Lord of Misrule. Twelfth Night signalled an end to the merry anarchy with great pies and rich fruit cakes concealing a bean and a pea. Using contemporary illustrations, this lecture explores the sources and significance of these ancient customs and traditions.

Welcomed with open arms for their luxury skills, the Huguenots’ fortunes fluctuated wildly. The lecture will be about their early 18th century houses that still stand, how they were decorated and lived in and the fashionable patterned silk dresses—who designed and made them. And how, finally, the trade died out with some weavers literally dying in poverty at their looms

From the early 17th century many aristocratic landowners began developing their London estates, laying out elegant squares and terraces creating a new fashionable West End. Convent Garden Piazza and the first ‘square’ at Bloomsbury set the standard followed by St James’s in the 1660’s. In the 18th century, the Grosvenor, Harley-Cavendish and Portman estates; by the end of the century, London had reached what is now Marylebone Road. The talk will look at the character and development of these estates, as well as the ordinary terrace house and the craftsmen who built them.

On Ernest Shackleton’s third Antarctic expedition in 1914, his ship, the Endurance, was trapped and eventually crushed in the pack ice. The drama is captured by Frank Hurley, one of the great photographers of the 20th century, and the expedition’s official photographer. Hurley’s achievement depicts the Antarctic in the first flush of human contact when it was still essentially terra incognita.

In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament. Caroline Shenton tells the story of this terrible forgotten disaster, based on depictions of the fire by Turner, William Heath and other artists, which changed the face of London and of Westminster forever.

Orpheus could charm the birds out of the trees with his music - yet he failed to bring his beloved Eurydice safely out of the Underworld. Artists and musicians have responded to this tragic story of love and loss, we explore paintings and musical examples from Monteverdi, Gluck, and Offenbach, even taking in the Can-Can!

2016 will mark the 200th anniversary of the purchase of the so-called "Elgin Marbles" from Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, by the British Parliament. This lecture will explore the aesthetics, the back-story and the heated debates surrounding these fascinating and controversial works of ancient Greek art: what do we mean by "the Elgin Marbles"? Why are they so highly regarded? How and why were they originally created? What happened to them between their creation and Elgin’s time? How did he acquire them? Why are they now in the British Museum? Why are there such passionately held views both for and against their repatriation to Greece?

Surprisingly today’s playing cards date back to 1377. Decks from 1475 still survive. Cards were used as a medium of communication, propaganda or education: the 1678 Titus Oates plot is illustrated on a 52 card deck and known as The Horrid Popish Plot. Francis Barlow illustrated the Marlborough's Victories in 1707. Modern cards follow in these old traditions with some wonderful collectors’ decks of today.

Ravilious has been described as the greatest English watercolourist of the 20th century and his images of the landscape and of everyday objects attract passionate devotees. A prolific painter, printmaker and designer, he became an Official War Artist in 1939 and was killed in 1942 but his legacy is a body of work reflecting deep delight in the world in which he lived. This talk looks at his work and that of some of his contemporaries working on the Home Front in the Second World War.

Until the 17th century, armour was one of the great human art-forms. The regalia discovered in the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo introduces us to an ancient story of the warrior’s panoply: war-gear that was both functional and decorative, robust protection in battle and sumptuous as male jewellery. Later, in the Middle Ages almost all the richest, most powerful noblemen in Europe could be counted as dedicated patrons of the armourer’s art. By the golden age of the artist-armourer, in the 16th century, armour had developed into an intensely personal art, both expressive and decorative. The essence of the armourer’s art was the creation of a living sculpture.

Copiously illustrated with slides and musical examples, the lecture portrays not only the high art of court masques, music-making and dancing among the gentry and nobility, but also the broadside ballads, country dances and theatrical jigs of popular culture. The concluding section examines Shakespeare's use of music in his plays.

Annual CHRISTMAS  LUNCH

12.45 -1.0pm following the lecture at the Riverside Theatre

 £19.00 per PERSON

 includes a glass of wine/soft drink

 Roast turkey with all the trimmings/Roast loin of cod, bacon, shallots, salsify

Christmas pudding with brandy sauce/Dark chocolate tart with red wine poached pear and crème fraiche

Charles I created a court where patrons vied to create great art collections. Apart from the King's collection, the two greatest were created by courtiers utterly different in every respect: Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Both men were deeply involved in all the great artistic adventures of the day. All three owned fabulous works of art and as a result of the Civil War, all three collections were scattered to the four winds - an amazing story!

Goya designed tapestries, produced hundreds of etchings and political works but, in his powerful and original portraits, he turns his critical eye directly on to his contemporaries. Goya's sitters came from many walks of life: politicians, architects, aristocrats, actresses, bankers, bullfighters, friends and relations, and the extraordinarily unattractive members of the Spanish Royal Family. Today we marvel at how daringly unflattering he could be, and how he managed to get away with such provocative work.

You are invited to attend the AGM which precedes this lecture at 10 am

Self assured, affected and irreverent, Whistler scandalised London society during the 1870’s. American by birth, he trained as an artist in Paris where his bohemian lifestyle made him one of the personalities of the city. The lecture explores the paradox of this man whose flamboyant and eccentric ways made him both admired and detested in equal measure and yet whose quiet, meditative paintings ultimately assured him a place as a leader of the Aesthetic

Jennie Jerome, American born, sought to make a great marriage and achieve something in the world. After a disastrous young marriage to Lord Randolph Churchill, she threw all her energies into her son Winston. She wrote plays and founded magazines without success, though at the end of her life she became a successful interior designer. Jennie Churchill has been treated unfairly in history as a woman who took 200 lovers. However, more than 90 years since her tragically premature death, and sixty years since Winston’s, surely it’s time to re-evaluate her legacy.

The story of dyeing textiles is broad, ranging across time periods and continents; with Europe at its centre, stretching from India to Mexico and Peru. The lecture references not only how textile colours, which we refer to as natural dyes, were discovered and made from prehistory to 1856; but also their significance including political, clerical and financial meanings and how these changed over time. The textile trade is of historical importance and its story of colour is bound up with power, war, money, exploration, adventure, science, serendipity and even sex.

The 17th Century English garden was a highly formal creation based on contemporary French fashions and spiced with Dutch plantsmanship, influenced by William of Orange. The 18th Century garden saw a complete reaction in favour of naturalism. The Arcadian landscapes of William Kent, transformed into an Elysian vision under Capability Brown. The gods and nymphs of Kent's gardens were chased away by swains and shepherdesses. By the end of the century even they were gone, replaced by Picturesque ruggedness and Gothic horror.

The Greeks used art to express key elements of their collective identity. 'Civilised' Greek men were contrasted with various others - barbarians, women, non-citizens, mythical monsters - to create a distinct cultural identity. With a particular focus on the content and social context of relief sculpture and vase painting, this lecture will review representations of the citizen man in ancient Greek art.