Lectures
December 2012 - November 2013
 |
Wednesday January 9, 2013 Gillian White, “The Elizabethan Country House” Elizabethan patrons created great mansions to display their wealth and status, and to catch the eye of the queen. The results have a uniquely English style, mixing medieval gothic traditions and European renaissance motifs. This talk examines one of the most lively and creative periods of English country house building and includes examples such as Hardwick Hall, Kirby Hall and the Earl of Leicester’s theatrical alterations to Kenilworth Castle. Following her fascinating lecture on portraits of Queen Elizabeth I in 2011, we are delighted to welcome back Gillian White. Dr White has a PhD in Renaissance Studies from Warwick University, and an MA in Medieval Studies from York. Previously she worked for the National Trust as Curator & Collections Manager at Hardwick Hall, and gives presentations to various groups, including the Embroideres' Guild and the BAA. Dr White teaches continuing education classes for Oxford, Bristol and Warwick universities and contributes to postgraduate courses at Leicester, as well as weekends at adult residential colleges. Her publications include articles for 'The Journal of Stained Glass', 'The Renaissance Journal' and 'The Royal Oak Newsletter'.
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday February 13, 2013 Paula Nuttall, “The Bruges of van Eyck and Memling” Dr Nuttall has spent many years researching and teaching on Bruges and its artists, and in this lecture she evokes the city during its late-medieval heyday, when it was the richest and most vibrant city in northern Europe. Bruges was a cosmopolitan trading centre, a luxurious hub synonymous with good living. It attracted an international merchant clientele, as well as the Burgundian rulers of the Netherlands with their magnificent court, and great painters such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling. A discussion of their masterpieces, interwoven with sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and the buildings of Bruges itself, conjure up life in this medieval metropolis. Paula Nuttall is known to Cotswold DFAS from her delicious lecture on Botticelli’s Florence in 2010. She is Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Medieval & Renaissance Year Course. Dr Nuttall is author of 'From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500' (Yale, 2004). She also lectures for the Courtauld Institute, Christie's Education, The Art Fund and the National Gallery. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday March 13, 2012 Steven Desmond, “The Odd Couple: the Gardens of Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll” In the spring of 1889 the young architect Edwin Lutyens, later to become the most famous British architect of the 20th century, met the artist-gardener-craftswoman Gertrude Jekyll for the first time. She was a well-known eccentric and a generation older. Though Lutyens always found women difficult, he found in the daunting Miss Jekyll someone who empathised with his big ideas regarding design, detailing and distinctiveness. His ever-ingenious geometry, soft-furnished by her colour-coded herbaceous borders, his superb textures of terrace and pergola lined and hung with her signature paintings, set a standard of excellence which has been admired ever since. Steven Desmond is an independent landscape consultant specialising in the conservation and management of historic parks and gardens. He lectures at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford, and completed a lecture tour of Australia for ADFAS in 2010. He is an experienced leader of specialist tours to gardens, houses and cultural landscapes in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. He broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 and writes for Country Life. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday April 10, 2013 Janet Canetty-Clarke, “ Venice and her Music” For centuries Venice has been a magnet attracting artistic creators: painters, poets, writers and musicians, all drawing nourishment from her beauty and mystery. Music has always played an important role in Venetian life – often centred on the Basilica of St Mark’s where its two galleries and organs made possible the presentation of music in a stereophonic way. In 1520 the first real Maestro di Capella was appointed, followed by his famous pupils – Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli and, in 1613, Claudio Monteverdi. In 1630, plague swept through Venice, to be followed by another fever: opera. But church music continued to flourish in the four Ospedali – the most famous of these charitable institutions being the Pieta – with its composer/teacher Antonio Vivaldi. In 1797, the last Doge accepted Napoleon’s ultimatum – “corrupt, impotent, ruined, Venice had long outlived her days of wealth and glory.” So who restored Venice? It was the creative artists including Turner, Whistler and Monet, Wagner, Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten. Janet Canetty-Clarke is a Lecturer in Music at Sussex University, and also lectures for Cambridge University at Madingley Hall, for London University at Birkbeck College, and for U3A and the WEA. She is Conductor Emeritus of The Sussex Chorus and Guest conductor of Frauen-Kammerorchester von Österreich in Vienna. In 2010 Mrs Canetty-Clarke gave two pre-performance talks at Covent Garden Opera House, London, and at Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday May 8, 2013 Valerie Woodgate, “A Personal Heaven: the paintings of Stanley Spencer” One of the most original British artists of his generation, Spencer’s art was dominated by his personal life and profound religious faith. Cookham, his birthplace, was for him an earthly paradise whose people and surroundings possessed a mystical quality. This was the setting for many of his great religious works and he spoke of “the rich religious significance of the place I live in.” Despite the failure of his two marriages, he continued to believe in the power of love and some of his most important works were inspired by his feelings for the two women whom he married. The paintings inspired by his military service in World War I, concentrating on hope and redemption rather than on suffering, reveal a similar basic optimism. This lecture will examine the eccentric and visionary world of one of the most creative and imaginative British painters of the 20th century. Valerie Woodgate is a lecturer and guide in Tate Britain and Tate Modern, and for Tate on cruises. She also lectures in other major galleries and, on religious art, in churches and cathedrals. Valerie Woodgate is on the teaching team at Dulwich Picture Gallery and is a script-writer for the Living Paintings Trust (art for the blind and partially-sighted). |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday June 12, 2013 John Ericson, “Norman Rockwell: Great American Artist or mere illustrator?” A celebrated and prolific twentieth century American painter and illustrator, Norman Rockwell’s work has probably been seen by a larger audience than any other artist in History! His works enjoy broad popular appeal in America, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of scenes of everyday life which he created for The Saturday Evening Post. So what is it that makes Rockwell’s work so appealing? To begin with, many of his paintings are technically superb; furthermore they draw us in, telling us poignant stories that invariably make us smile. John Ericson has recently retired from the University of Bath where he was Director of Studies in the School of Education. He is now a freelance lecturer drawing upon his eclectic range of interests and enthusiasms. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday September 11, 2013 Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski, “The Age of Elegance: Georgian Furniture” The term Georgian immediately conjures up images of elegant English furniture. This lecture traces the development of elegance through style in relation to the design and construction of furniture during the 18th century. It begins with an appraisal of early 18th century walnut furniture and progresses through the mahogany rococo style of the 1740s to 1760s to the fancy-wood neo-classical styles of the last quarter of the century. Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski retired from a 35-year career in higher education. Whilst studying for his first degree he worked part-time in an antiques shop and eventually became the proprietor. Such was his interest in collecting that he became known as the dealer who bought but never sold. His lectures seek to explain furniture in terms of the skills and materials employed in its design and construction and also its socio-economic significance.
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday October 9, 2013 Susan Kay-Williams, “True Colours? How art influences the way we think about textile colours”
Painters use pigments originally from substances like semi-precious stones and earth ochres. Dyers used plants and insects to create their colours. This lecture illustrates the differences between what colours painters could achieve and what dyers could achieve - and highlights some of the differences that still pertain today. It also reflects how textiles were used in different types of painting, whether foreground or background and the significance of these textiles and colours
Dr Kay-Williams is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, and a Fellow of the RSA and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and is currently researching a book on the history of colour in textiles for Blacks. Dr Kay-Williams has extensive lecturing and speaking experience on a variety of subjects to a range of audiences. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
 |
Wednesday November 13, 2013 Robert Gowland, “The Identification of Oriental Rugs and Carpets” Collectors like to be able to attribute names to their pieces. Making an identification of a rug or carpet by the pattern alone from a reference book can be unsafe. By learning how a rug was constructed and from what materials, the collector will be able to make an objective assessment as to where the rug was made. Also, as the manner of weaving a rug, was handed down from one generation to the next and customs and methods of construction differed from area to area. Thus recognising construction methods is essential to making a proper attribution of the rug’s origins. And finally, it is possible to date rugs by the dyes used. The lecture addresses all of these issues and finishes with a brief journey through the main rug weaving areas of the world showing typical examples from each area. Robert Gowland was director of Phillips’ from 1979-1998, and before that, president of Phillips' in New York. He then served as chairman of Bonham’s North of England. For the past twenty years Mr Gowland has lectured and conducted study days extensively in the UK and USA to corporate events, golf clubs and societies, RICS, ISVA, SOFAA and NADFAS |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
|
|||
| ______________________________________ |
December 2011 - November 2012
Lectures start at 11am
 |
Wednesday 7th December 2011 In the Bleak midwinter: Artists' responses to snow From 15th century peasants drying their clothes, through 17th century frost fairs on the Thames, to 19th century skaters in the Bois de Boulogne, this lecture will trace how artists have responded to the challenges of winter. Over 500 years of instructive shivering! Ann Clements has wide experience lecturing both at home and abroad. Her earlier work includes cataloguing English watercolours and drawings for the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, research for the Paul Mellon Foundation and university lecturing. |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ______________________________________ |
January 11, 2012 This lecture will look exclusively at Leonardo’s fascination with portraits and Madonnas, something he would return to throughout his long life. Indeed we are all aware of, and acquainted with the work and experimentation of Leonardo da Vinci in a wide-ranging field of the arts and beyond. But portraits and the challenge of the compositional grouping of the Madonna and Child held an obsessive fascination for Leonardo from very early on in his career. Beginning with his early life, this lecture will look at Leonardo’s early use of oils and drawing to achieve his results. This lecture will also look at Leonardo’s endless struggle with the Madonna and Child grouping and what that can tell us about our own Madonna of the Rocks and Cartoon. And finally I will look at Leonardo’s association with particular noble families and the interaction between these families and his female portraits. Leslie Primo holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. He also lectures at the City Literary Institute, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute.
|
|||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
February 8, 2012 This lecture examines the portraits and careers of some of history’s most notorious mistresses and courtesans in order to take a generally light-hearted look at changing attitudes to sexual morality down the ages. It also charts the rather complex and ambiguous attitudes of art and society toward the numerous anonymous working girls at the lower end of the scale. Starting in 17th century Britain, the talk takes a look at portraits of some of Charles II’s best-known mistresses before moving in to the 18th century and the era of Hogarth, Reynolds and Gainsborough. From there the discussion moves in to the 19th century and widens into France, where works by Manet and Degas are examined. In the 20th century, radical new artistic techniques were applied to this age-old subject matter by artists like Picasso in the early part of the century; and it continues to appear right up to the present day. The talk is very much a social history: carefully placing the works of art in their proper historical context, which reveals many little nuances and meanings in the well-known works which might not otherwise be immediately apparent to the modern eye. It is, of course, also full of scandalous stories and anecdotes. Linda Smith is a well-qualified art historian with a broad range of knowledge, and a special interest in British art and the art of the twentieth century. She is an experienced guide and lecturer at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Linda also lectures to secondary school audiences and independent arts societies. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
March 14, 2012 The lecture will look at two 20th century artistic giants. Matisse and Picasso both spent their time looking over their shoulders to see what the other one was doing, having ignored one another till about 1905. But there could hardly be a greater contrast than that between Picasso's often coruscating work and Matisse's predominantly happy, on the face of it easy, art. Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was described by Braque as being akin to drinking petrol and spitting fire. Matisse's very slightly earlier Luxe, calme et volupté, on the other hand, reminds one of the artist's aspiration for his work to be like a comfortable arm chair. Nina Levick was a lecturer for the Open University and has taught on summer schools such as the International Summer School organised by Cambridge University. She has led art tours for Inscape in Britain and abroad has led museum visits. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
April 11, 2012 Neil Faulkner, “The Ancient Greek Olympics” What was it like going to the Olympics 2,400 years ago? Would a modern visitor to the ancient Olympics find it all very familiar, or would he (sic: no women allowed in) be thrown by culture shock? In the Olympic Stadium, there were no stands and no shade: you sat on a grassy bank under the searing heat of the midsummer sun. Naked athletes participated in foot-races, the pentathlon, horse and chariot races and in three combat sports – wrestling, boxing and the no-holds-barred pankration, the crowd’s favourite, because there were virtually no rules and it was all blood and pain. Half the Olympic programme was given over to religious ritual –behind a dazzling colonnaded façade sat a gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus, divine master-of-ceremonies – one so huge that had he stood up his head would have gone through the temple roof. We know much more about Olympics – from literature, archaeology and art – than you might expect. Neil Faulkner works as a freelance lecturer, editor, writer, excavator and occasional broadcaster. He has lectured in archaeology, ancient history and classical civilisation at many universities, adult education colleges and local societies, as well as on cultural tours of archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. He is also author of numerous articles, many academic papers and six books and has appeared on several TV appearances programmes. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
May 9, 2012 Dickens’ influence on society is as relevant today, 200 years after his birth, as it was in 1812. The human situations which his characters find themselves in -poverty, injustice, negligence and loneliness - are still with us today. He was, arguably, the most celebrated of the Victorian novelists and his own life story is as colourful and eventful as any of his imagined characters. His stories, from an early age, had a meteoric rise in the public eye, not only in Britain but also in Europe, America and Russia and much of the inevitable public interest led to an intrusion into his private life not dissimilar to the celebrity culture of today. He led his life ‘in the fast land’, not only writing sixteen novels, five Xmas stories, a large number of articles for periodicals and more letters than Queen victoria, but also he was an editor, playwright, actor, director, philanthropist and workaholic. In his private life he was father to ten children, dominant and controlling husband to Catherine, lover to the much younger Ellen and financial supporter to his dependent parents and several of his siblings and their families. Jane Tapley is currently the Special Events organiser at the Theatre Royal Bath and frequently organises book launches and interviews with authors and biographers. She also lectures extensively on Jane Austen and Georgian theatre and food. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
June 13, 2012 The lecture will explore the lure of travel and its impact upon the work of artists from the Renaissance to the 19th century. Just before Van Eyck completed the Ghent Altarpiece in 1432, he was sent by Philip the Good of Burgundy to collect the Duke’s bride, the Infanta of Portugal. Upon his return Van Eyck inserted into his altarpiece the exotic plants and trees he had seen on his travels. In 1551 Bruegel went on a study tour to Italy but what impressed him was not so much Italy as the alpine ranges of mountains, and these stayed with him and were included in so many of his great paintings and prints on his return. In the 17th century Rubens travelled to Spain and Italy and what he produced during his future career was shaped by those journeys. In the 19th century Delacroix, at the beginning, and Gauguin, toward the end, travelled further outside Europe to North Africa and the South Seas respectively. This lecture looks at how their travels transformed their work and introduced new ideas to European painting. For over twenty years Clare Ford Wille has studied and lectured on almost every period of the fine arts, from Charlemagne to the late nineteenth century, and has led art study tours and lectured throughout Great Britain, Europe and the USA. Recent projects have included the writing of a portion of the cd-rom sound guide of the National Gallery’s permanent collection. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
September 12, 2012 This lecture analyses Wren’s life and his career as a scientist, astronomer and architect. It features all his buildings in London, Oxford and Cambridge, before focusing on his City of London churches. In addition to photographs of most of Wren’s buildings, the lecture includes original research into the work of architects in Rome and Paris, which influenced Wren and provided much of Tony Tucker has an MA in Modern History from Oriel College, Oxford, and is Chairman of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association, to which he has given various lectures. He lectures to the Friends of the City Churches, WEA, various historical associations and other adult education groups. Tony leads regular walks for the City of London Corporation, the Friends of the City Churches, and numerous private groups. His many publications include "The Visitor’s Guide to the City of London Churches" (2006) and regular contributions to Cityguide magazine. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
October 10, 2012 Hilary Hope Guise, “The Paul Mellon Foundation – A Passion for British Art” Hilary Hope Guise lectures in the main museums in London for American universities, she has toured widely in the USA and has lectured for the Smithsonian Institution. She has also worked for The Art Fund, taught courses for Cambridge University, and has been a guest speaker on cruises. Hilary trained as a painter at Central St Martin’s. She exhibits abroad, most recently in Berlin and France, and lives in London and in Provence. As it is now, the Paul Mellon Foundation at the Yale Centre for British Art, holds roughly 1,900 paintings and 100 sculptures and more than 20,000 drawings, watercolours and 30,000 prints, spanning the period from Elizabethan miniatures to the 21st century. All these images originally sprung from English Culture here at home, building up a sense of what it meant to be British - an identity seen so much more clearly when matched against the evidence of alien lands and people, through the mirror of art. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
November 14, 2012 Sandra Pollard, “Lady Ottoline Morrell: A Passionate and Eccentric Patroness of the Arts” Lady Ottoline Morrell was a remarkable woman. A flamboyant and eccentric aristocrat, she loved to dress extravagantly and entertain lavishly in London and at her beautiful Jacobean house, Garsington, near Oxford. She was friend (and often mistress) of many artists, including Augustus John, Henry Lamb, Roger Fry and Stanley Spencer, of writers like DH Lawrence, and intellectuals (she had a longstanding affair with Bertrand Russell). By providing places for them to meet each other and new patrons at her ‘salons’ she was able to nurture and promote new talent. Many however enjoyed her hospitality but then abused her generosity and she was much maligned. This lecture is about her fascinating life lived through art. Sandra Pollard has a History Degree from Bristol University, a certificate in Higher Education in Fine Art and an MA in Art History. She has been a lecturer for over 35 years, presently for the Open University and Liverpool University School of Continuing Education. She also freelances to the National Trust, the Art Fund and WEA. Sandra is a trustee of the Bowes Museum. She is a founder member, past chairman and now president of North Yorkshire and South Durham DFAS. |
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
 |
December 12, 2012
|
||
| ______________________________________ | |||
Lectures 2011
 |
|
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 Chloe Sayer Peruvian Textiles - Past and Present |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 10th November 2010 Helen McCabe Houses and Gardens of the Bordeaux Region Helen McCabe shows how the houses and gardens reflect the history and culture of this beautiful part of France. She looks at medieval and Renaissance castles high above the Dordogne, wine chateaux in the Medoc, town houses in Bordeaux and seaside villas at Arcachon. She describes three gardens in the Perigord, famous for their topiary and magnificent setting. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 8th December 2010 James Heard Christmas Lecture commences 10.45am The familiar Christmas card with its snow scene has its roots in Shakespeare's time when he wrote those lines from Love's Labour's Lost. Just before the great dramatist was having his plays performed at the Globe in London, Flemish artists such as Brueghel and Valkenborch and the Dutch Avercamp were developing a new genre - that of frozen landscapes. We shall explore the difficulties of depicting snow as well as exploring the symbolism behind these delightful scenes on the ice. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 12 January 2011 Hugh Cantlie The Lindisfarne Gospels - A Miracle in Anglo-Saxon Art In AD698, the Lindisfarne Gospels were written by the monk Eadfrith on Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland to mark the exhumation of St. Cuthbert’s body for reburial. It is a magnificent and complete example of the art and learning of the period, when the Scriptorium on Lindisfarne was to produce unrivalled manuscripts not only for Northumbria but for the seats of learning in Europe. Removed from Durham Cathedral by Henry VII’s commissioners, it formed the basis for an Anglo-Saxon dictionary which ensured it’s survival. As a Chartered Surveyor for commercial properties, Hugh Cantlie spent five years in Germany before becoming involved with conservation. He helped rescue Billingsgate Fish Market for SAVE Britain's Heritage, and as Surveyor to the Monument Trust, several important buildings such as Belford Hall. He served on the Main Committee of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). Lectures in USA, Canada and Australia. Hugh Cantlie’s publications include 'Ancestral Castles of Scotland' and a guide book, 'Near the Motorways'. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 9th February 2011 Sue Rollin Capital Cities of the Mugal Empire Sue Rollin was tutor in Ancient Near Eastern History at University College, London and has also taught courses at the School of Oriental And African Studies, London and at Cambridge University. She has worked as an archaeologist in several countries and has travelled widely. She now lives in London with her family and works as a freelance lecturer, tour guide in the Middle East and India and conference interpreter for various international organisations. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 9th March 2011 Shirley Turner Bruges, the City and its Painters by Shirley Turner This lecture gives an account of the turbulent history of the mediaeval city of Bruges under the Dukes of Burgundy, as seen through its buildings. The Belfry, Cloth Hall, Town Hall, Hospital and churches are described and illustrated with paintings by Jan van Eyck, Memling, Van der Weyden & Petrus Christus. Shirley Turner is a freelance lecturer for the V&A Museum as well as NADFAS. She lived in Paris, Brussels and The Hague and worked for King Leopold of the Belgians and for the Dutch Home and Foreign Ministries. She has a degree from St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and a Diploma in the History of Fine and Decorative Arts. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 13th April, 2011 Peter Lawrence Beneath the City Streets -- London's Unseen History This lecture takes a fresh look at London's history from the Roman period to more recent development. He discusses many topics, including rivers that are now underground, Victorian tunnels, Bazelgette's great sewer system and archaeology. Peter Lawrence is a retired member of Royalty and Diplomatic Protection at Scotland Yard. He is a freelance lecturer and tutor as well as an author and broadcaster on London and Essex history. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday 11th May, 2011 Jane Gardiner From Posset Pots to Pew Groups, Fashion for collecting early English Pottery This lecture looks at the vitality and diversity of early English pottery from the first English delftware of the early 17th century to the development of Staffordshire white salt-glazed stoneware of the middle years of the 18th century. You will discover that English pottery of this date can be naïve and clumsy, and sometimes downright ugly, but it can also be extremely funny, is often fascinating in terms of material and technique, gives us a marvellous insight into English social history and is extraordinarily desirable to modern collectors – often fetching far higher prices than the finest porcelain. The lecture will include curious objects such as posset pots, barbers’ bowls, slipware owl jugs, bell-ladies and pew groups, and will attempt to explain the enormous popularity of these pieces for modern-day collectors. Jane Gardiner trained at the Victoria and Albert Museum and went on to become a Research Assistant and Lecturer in the V&A Education Department. In 1987 she was invited to join Sotheby’s Institute as tutor of 17th and 18th Century Decorative Art, going on to become a Senior Lecturer and a Deputy Director of Sotheby’s U.K. She continues to lecture for both organizations. Her areas of specialization are early European Ceramics and Glass and Eighteenth Century European Design. She has also lectured for the University of London, Michigan State University, the National Trust, the Art Fund, the Wallace Collection, L’Institut d’ Études Supérieures des Arts, Paris; for Crystal Cruise Lines and at antiques fairs and interior design shows in America. She recently completed a four week lecture tour of Australia. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 8th June 2011 Nicholas Bagshawe Joseph Wright of Derby Wright was an out and out Derby man and one of that small celebrated band of painters who made a national reputation outside the capital. His money was made by a successful portrait painting practice, producing highly direct likenesses of an increasingly affluent Midland middle class – very much warts and all. However he is best remembered for his observations of the scientific and technological advances of his day. His “Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery” and his “Experiment on a Bird in an Air-Pump” are quite outstanding – not only for their technological content, but for their highly unusual treatment, being delivered in Wright’s characteristic ‘candle-light style’, heavy with the effects of light and darkness. This lecture will look at all sides of this strikingly individual Midland painter and attempt also to place him in the context of his day – that of the 18th Century Enlightenment. Nicholas Bagshawe trained at Sotheby’s and spent all his working life as an art dealer. Currently he is dealing in 18th, 19th and 20th century pictures from gallery premises in London. He lecturers regularly at Sotheby’s Institute, the V&A, Southampton Institute and Tate Britain. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday 14th September 2011 Gillian White The Queenes Pickture: Portraits of Elizabeth I This lecture examines the portraiture of ‘Good Queen Bess’ and traces the development of an English icon from tentative beginnings to the triumph of royal propaganda. As a young girl, Elizabeth was a minor cog in the machinery of the Tudor dynasty, destined to move from docile and obedient daughter to modest and submissive wife. As queen, Elizabeth and her ministers struggled to find a suitable visual image but with passing years her image grew in confidence until the realm of England became too small a canvas and Elizabeth triumphed as Queen, Empress and Goddess. |
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday, 12th October 2011 Catherine Parry-Wingfield Catherine Parry-Wingfield - Pleasant Sensations: French Rococo Paintings Delicate, playful and often outrageously sensual, the paintings of Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard delighted 18th century Parks, while in the same period Chardin’s quieter and intrinsically more moral art attracted many buyers. Catherine Parry-Wingfield has taught many courses on both the fine and decorative arts, specialising in British and European 18th century painting and sculpture, and in English furniture. She has worked for the Faculty of continuing Education of London University, the Open University, the victoria and Albert Museum and has lectured for many other galleries and organisations such as the national Trust. She has lectured in Europe and Australis, and on Swan Hellenic Minerva. She was the founder-chairman of Richmond (Surrey) Decorative and Fine Arts Society.
|
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
 |
|
Wednesday 9th November 2011 Clare Phillips Decadence and Dreams - jewellery from around 1900 The decades around 1900 witnessed a fascinating variety of styles and produced some of the most elegant pieces of jewellery ever made. Diamonds and pearls - the mainstay of European court jewellery - were arranged in garlands and ribbon bows of incredible delicacy. At the same time this symmetry was challenged by the sinuous lines of Art Nouveau, and the ‘one colour theory’ long practised in European jewellery was undermined by a fascination with unusual gemstones and a more luxuriant sense of colour. The lecture will explore the distinctive styles of great jewellers such as Cartier, Fabergé, Tiffany and Lalique, and examine also the contribution of Britain’s Arts and Crafts Movement with its celebration of pre-industrial craftsmanship, unfaceted stones and hand beaten metals. Clare Phillips is a curator specialising in the history of jewellery, based in the Department of Metalwork, Silver and Jewellery at the V&A. She is the author of 'Jewellery from Antiquity to the Present' (Thames & Hudson, 1996) and 'Jewels and Jewellery' (V&A, 2000). She has also contributed to 'Art Nouveau 1890-1914' (V&A, 2000), 'Art Deco' (V&A, 2003) and 'International Arts and Crafts' (V&A 2005) and was the curator of 'Bejewelled by Tiffany' (Gilbert Collection, 2006).
|
|
| _______________________________________ | |||
|
|
||
| _______________________________________ | |||