THE SCOTTISH COLOURISTS

The work of S.J. Peploe and J.D. Fergusson was seen in Edinburgh and London in the decade leading up to World War 1, but Hunter and Cadell were less well known. All were bold pioneers in the field of rich colour and exuberant brushwork. The strong light and bright colour they discovered in France was easily harnessed to their favourite places in Scotland. People, places, interiors, still life were among their favourite subjects.

ALICE FOSTER - ​Biography:

Alice has lectured for Oxford University Department of Continuing Education since 1998. She lectures regularly at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Her busy freelance career includes organising History of Art study days with colleagues, and regular weekly classes in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. In 2004 Alice joined The Arts Society and has lectured in Britain and in Europe. In 2025 she undertakes tours of Australia and New Zealand. Since 2003 Alice has been a tutor on study holidays in Italy. Currently, Alice is a residential tutor at the Argyll Hotel on the Isle of Iona, specialising in Scottish art. In 2010 she was elected President of Banbury Fine Arts Society.

POTS AND FROCKS – THE WORLD OF SIR GRAYSON PERRY

FROM ESSEX PUNK POTTER TO SUPERSTAER NATIONAL TREASURE

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

IAN SWANKIE - Biography

A Londoner with a contagious enthusiasm for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral. He is also a freelance London tour guide. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is an Accredited Lecturer of The Arts Society and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

RENAISSANCE ON THE LOIRE

A haven from the English in the 15th century, in the 16th, the Loire valley became the cradle of the Renaissance. A series of French monarchs became intoxicated by the new art of Italy and imported art and artists, including Leonardo, to build and enhance pleasure palaces such as Chenonceau and Chambord - residences soon surrounded by the projects of their courtiers, less extensive but, like Azay-le-Rideau, enchanting.

We examine the century of flamboyance and intrigue through architecture and its extraordinary personalities – the extravagant and charismatic Francois I, the alleged poisoner and necromancer, Queen Catherine de Medici and her husband’s mistress, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers.

NICOLE MEZEY - ​Biography

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. She was Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast until 2009, working primarily with adults, managing and teaching on both the Part-Time degree and Extra-Mural programmes and conducting annual, international study-tours. She also established and was first Director of the Department of Art History, the first in the north of Ireland. Nicole now lives in central London and is a freelance lecturer, working for organisations such as national museums, universities, the National Trust and private companies. She has been lecturing for the Arts Society since 2011, including two tours of societies in Australia and New Zealand.

THE THREE GAME CHANGERS OF 19TH CENTURY OPERA:  VERDI, WAGNER & PUCCINI

The world of opera is full of remarkable contributors, great game changers who leave the stage in a completely different place from the one they found. In the 19th century three such men revolutionised the art form; in three very different ways; Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. From the romantic heart-breakers of La Traviata and Rigoletto via the mystery and magic of the The Ring Cycle to the breath-taking melodramatic tear jerkers of Tosca and La Bohème. Enjoy their remarkable journeys and innovative, dynamic and thrilling theatricality which highlights so much of their work. This illustrated lecture will highlight the great opera productions which have graced the worlds opera houses.

JAMIE HAYES - ​Biography

After training at RADA Jamie graduated as a Stage Manager and subsequently worked for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Bristol Old Vic and the BBC. He became an Assistant Director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Kent Opera and English National Opera and soon began directing productions of his own. He has directed many new opera productions in the UK whilst other new opera productions overseas include Reykjavik, Malta and Melbourne. Jamie was Associate Director on the original production of the hit musical Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway. He has directed productions in all the major UK conservatoires and was Director of Productions for British Youth Opera for over a decade, a company devoted to promoting the talents of our finest young opera singers in the UK. Jamie is a regular enrichment programme lecturer for various leading cruise ship companies. He is married to the mezzo-soprano Jean Rigby and they have three sons. 

MAKING SPORT: JANE AUSTEN AND THE ART OF SATIRE

For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?     Pride and Prejudice    Jane Austen was a gifted social satirist.  Despite the fact that her novels are best known today as love stories, throughout her work she takes delight in lampooning human folly and vanity.  We know that Austen was inspired by satirical writings of the 18th century, but to what extent may she have been influenced by the satirical art of her day?  This lecture will explore links between the visual image and the written word; it will draw on a range of satirical prints.

ANNALIE TALENT - ​Biography

Following a career in teaching, Annalie spent several years working on education programmes at museums and literary houses across the UK, including the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere; Wordsworth House in Cockermouth; Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire; and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. At Jane Austen’s House, Annalie won the Sandford Award for Excellence in Heritage Education; she also worked with the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and Chawton House Library in promoting Austen’s work to young people.  Annalie’s lectures focus on aspects of Romantic and Victorian literature. She uses her knowledge and personal experience of literary houses - and their collections - to offer a unique perspective on writers and their works. 

THE MEN WHO MADE MENSWEAR

This lecture tells the story of men's tailoring over the past 200 years, told through the lives of the men who commissioned and created and wore it. Tailors, shirtmakers, hatters and other craftspeople in London’s west end, especially around Savile Row & Jermyn Street have shaped the way men dress since the Regency. How did men such as Beau Brummell, The Duke of Windsor, Tommy Nutter, Montague Burton, Alexander McQueen and John Stephen create their signature looks which influenced the mens fashion? This lecture also looks at the wider cultural shifts since the early 19th century to the present day and how they affected the way that men present themselves.

RUSSELL NASH - ​Biography

Russell trained and worked as an actor, puppeteer and theatre maker for 15 years. He also spent time as a journalist, jewellery business owner and writer. In 2015 he qualified a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Around this time he rekindled his love of art and art history. He now regularly guides the major art galleries and museums in London including the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tates Modern & Britain and the British Museum. He has delivered lectures for institutes and museums, as well as numerous U3A groups and other societies.

ZOOM LECTURE - This is an additional lecture to the normal programme, price £10.

Rembrandt is considered by many to be Holland’s greatest artist and the equal of Mozart, Shakespeare and Michelangelo. Unlike van Gogh, the other great Dutch artist, Rembrandt has not left much written material explaining his views on art, but what he has left is a unique visual autobiography in his self-portraits which he did from the age of 20 to 63, the year of his death. This lecture will use the self-portraits as a thread through his life and with his other masterpieces explore the man and what, why, and how he painted. Was he indeed a businessman or bohemian, rebel or romantic?

JANE CHOY-THURLOW - Biography

Jane E. Choy-Thurlow is a docent and enjoys giving lectures and tours at the Mauritshuis, Prince William V gallery and Huygens Museum Hofwijck in The Hague, The Netherlands. A few of the many exhibits in the Mauritshuis she has been part of are: the legendary Johannes Vermeer exhibit, Rembrandt by Himself and Holbein, Portraitist of the Renaissance. An active member of The Arts Society, she is a founding member of DFAS of The Hague and has fulfilled committee positions including chairman and Mainland Europe Area Chairman, Area Trainer and New Societies/Support committee member. She received her BSc from Salem State University, USA, her MEd from Trinity College Dublin and continued art history studies at Leiden University. In 2018 she was given the honour of Knight in the Order of Oranje Nassau by the Dutch King Willem Alexander of Orange for her knowledge and work in the field of the Arts especially 15th to 17th century Dutch and Flemish art.

This lecture tells the Christmas story through a selection of well-loved paintings and illuminated manuscripts by Italian and Flemish artists, including Botticelli, Fra Angelico and Jan van Eyck, together with many less well-known images. From the Annunciation to the Nativity, the Journey of the Kings and the Flight into Egypt, it explores the rich symbolism of Christmas imagery, highlights the ways in which spiritual ideas and devotional practice shaped the depiction of the narrative, and introduces some less familiar aspects of the story, such as the Midwives and Joseph’s stockings.

Paula Nuttall - Biography

Specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably ‘From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale 2004). Has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent 2020).

Before retiring in 2023 Paula was Director of the V&A Medieval anad Renaissance Year Course, and has taught at – amongst others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence. She now focuses on the Arts Society, her own online courses and research.

The invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711AD by the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus, aided by Berber tribesmen, quickly overthrew the ruling Christian Visigothic kingdom and began the nearly 800-year Islamic occupation. This lecture tells the epic story of the creation of the kingdom of al-Andalus, and the development of its spectacular architecture, beginning with the Great Mosque of Cordoba, as well as introducing other areas of the kingdom’s rich material culture, such as exquisite silk textiles, elaborate carved ivory caskets and rare bronze sculptures. It ends however with the highly symbolic Christian reconquest of the old Visigothic capital of Toledo in 1085.

Ian Cockburn - Biography

Art historian with a BA(Birkbeck College) in art history and an MA (Courtauld Institute of Art) in medieval Spanish art history. Specialist in the nearly 800 years of Moorish occupation and Christian reconquest of medieval Iberia. Founder and director of an art tours company, specialising in guided cultural tours in Spain and other areas in Europe, and lectures for The Arts Society, plus occasional lectures at institutions such as the V&A, SOAS, Christies Education, and the London Art history Society. Formerly a Chartered Accountant and senior manager in multi-national IT companies, with extensive public-speaking experience.

Whether drawing duchesses or portraying princes, John Singer Sargent – who was born in 1856 and died a hundred years ago, in 1925, was high society’s leading portraitist. Flaunting a consummate technique, his luxurious canvases mirrored his subjects’ wealth. Yet beneath the high fashions and dazzling veneer of works such as Madame X, the Daughters of Edward Darley Bolt and Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, lurks a much rawer world. Sargent scandalised Parisian society and the city’s Salon with his frank depictions of human sexuality, but he was even more modern than they might have feared. This talk charts the artists’s life and his prolific output, showing that, like the era he came to represent, Sargent was always on the cusp of seismic change.

GAVIN PLUMLEY - Biography

A writer and broadcaster. Appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, The National Trust, The National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A.

Lee Miller is thought to be the only woman combat photographer with the allied infantry in Europe during WW11. This lecture presents her war photojournalism from shortly after D Day in Normandy to the flames leaping from Hitler’s Berghof near Berchtesgaden that signalled the end of the war, and also the post war traumas of Austria and Hungary. The story is told through extensive use of Lee Miller’s own words set to her photographs.

Antony Penrose - Biography

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

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

Andy McConnell - Biography:

Has dealt in antiques since adolescence, but served an apprenticeship in journalism. After working in music, film and television, he returned to writing in 2004 as the author of the acclaimed tome The Decanter, An Illustrated History of Glass From 1650. He followed this in 2006 with Miller's' 20th Century Glass. He writes regularly for journals as diverse as The Times and Glass Circle News and runs Britain's largest antique and vintage glass gallery in Rye, Sussex. He is best known as the distinctly humorous glass specialist on BBC's evergreen Antiques Roadshow.

Deborah (‘Debo’) Devonshire, the youngest of the Mitford sisters and wife of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, was hefted by marriage to one of Europe’s great treasure houses, Chatsworth. In the second half of the 20th century, in partnership with her husband, she imbued it with a spirit, elegance and sense of welcome that transformed it from being the worn-out survivor of decades of taxation, war and social change into one of the best-loved, most-emulated and heavily-visited historic houses, gardens and estates in the country. With responsibility for Lismore Castle and Bolton Abbey as well, no wonder her passport stated her profession as ‘housewife’. Debo had a lasting impact not just on Chatsworth but on everything she touched and everyone she met; Simon Seligman was lucky enough to work with her over more than 20 years and in this lecture he pays tribute to an astonishing life.

Having grown up wanting to be an architect, Simon studied art and architectural history at Warwick University, which included a compulsory term living in Venice, an experience of cultural immersion from which he is still recovering! For 19 years until 2010, he worked at the great treasure house of Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, in a variety of roles, starting with a summer job cleaning lavatories and car parking, and ending as Head of Communications. In that time he lectured extensively about Chatsworth, the Devonshire Collection and associated topics, throughout the UK and on several US tours, and he continues to lecture on a growing range of cultural topics. Since then he has fulfilled another passion by training as a Life Coach, working with people one-to-one to support their life and career choices, and he also works part time for John Ruskin’s educational charity the Guild of St George. For more than 30 years he has lived with his family in the heart of Derbyshire's beautiful Peak District.

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

Anna studied for her BA in History of Art & Italian at the University of Sussex and did her MA in Renaissance Decorative Arts & Design at the Royal College of Art.  She worked for 6 years as a curator in the Sculpture Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as in smaller collections such as the Henry Moore Family Trust. 

She graduated as a Blue Badge Guide early in 2013 and since then has been conducting bespoke private tours for discerning visitors to London. She established her own guiding company Canvas and Stone Tours in 2018 (www.canvasandstonetours.co.uk) Her background and passion is Art & History.  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 lectures regularly for art, history and academic societies.

Overshadowed by the likes of Salvador Dali, René Magritte and Max Ernst, there was a host of intriguing Surrealist female artists including Frida Kahlo, Meret Oppenheim and Leonora Carrington, who embraced surrealist ideas and created extraordinary and haunting works with a unique and distinguished conceptual energy.

Cindy Polemis is an art historian, independent lecturer and art guide. She has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and as a mature student she went back to university to study first for a BA and then for a Masters in History of Art at Birkbeck College, London University. Since 2016 Cindy has worked as a lecturer and an official art guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She has also been a trustee at the Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum. Cindy has accumulated a wide range of art historical knowledge ranging from 18th European and British art to the contemporary international art scene. She has been an official guide for both Frieze Masters and Frieze Art Fairs in London.

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

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

Piero della Francesca (c.1420–1492) had two passions: art and geometry.  He was one of the greatest early practitioners of linear perspective, and even wrote a book on the subject, although this was not published in his lifetime. According to Martin Kemp,

"The evidence of his paintings suggests that he did exercise an . . . extraordinary degree of meticulous, time-consuming, geometrical care over the perspectival projection of architectural forms. . ."

Can a love of mathematics produce beauty and give a deeper symbolism to a painting? In this lecture, Julia Musgrave will discuss the life and work of the artist, analysing some of his key works and his legacy in both in art and mathematics.

Julia Musgrave got her first degree in Chemical Engineering and went on to become a Chartered Information Systems Engineer and IT project manager. In 2008 she decided that life was too short for just one career and decided to become an art historian. She now has a Graduate Diploma in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and an MLitt in ‘Art, Style and Design: Renaissance to Modernism, c.1450 – c.1930’ from the University of Glasgow. She gained her PhD at the University of York for her research into the involvement of Roger Fry and the Bloomsbury Group and the social networks of the British art world in the development of the Contemporary Art Society from 1910 to 1939. She teaches Art History at the City Literary Institute (City Lit) and is Co-Director of The London Art Salon.

This lecture explores how Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig. Starting with an overview of Bach's life and achievement, Sandy moves on to an exploration of this magnificent work.

Sandy Burnett’s close relationship with Bach’s music stretches back for decades; between 1997 and 2010 he directed a complete cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas in West London. In this illustrated talk he explores how Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Weihnachtsoratorium or Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig. Starting with an overview of Bach’s life and achievement, Sandy moves on to an examination of this magnificent work which draws on various forms ranging from recitative, arioso, aria, chorale, and instrumental sinfonia through to full-blown choruses which harness the power of music and deploy it in the service of God.

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

Before the British arrived in India, the Indian subcontinent was ruled by the Mughal Emperors. The stunning buildings and gardens they constructed from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century have left an indelible stamp on India’s architectural and cultural landscape. Mughal architecture fused elements from Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural traditions, and gave rise to some of the most beautiful and iconic buildings in the world.

Dr John Stevens gained his PhD in History from UCL, before going on to teach British Imperial History, Indian History and Bengali Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). His biography of the Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen – Keshab: Bengal’s Forgotten Prophet - was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2018. He is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh and has lectured at numerous Indian universities. He also works as a consultant on Indian affairs and teaches the Bengali language to private students. He has appeared many times in the Indian media, and was a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore. 

This lecture offers a fresh angle on some of the greatest masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, from the viewpoint of the fierce and often bitter rivalries that existed between the artistic Titans of the day. Set against the backdrop of Florence, Venice and Rome, with Michelangelo as its protagonist and Leonardo, Raphael and Titian in supporting roles, it draws on contemporary anecdote to evoke personalities and tell the stories behind many of the most iconic works of the High Renaissance, providing an entertaining yet illuminating glimpse into the creation of some of the most iconic paintings in western art.   

Paul Nuttall is a specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004). Has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent, 2020). Former Director of the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Year course, and lecturer at – among others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence.

Sarah is regularly contacted by people who think they have found a previously unknown Constable. Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture which gives a behind the scenes look at how such decisions are made. See more details here.

This is one of the quirkiest lectures you will ever hear. Bertie Pearce takes his audience on a whistle stop tour of art which fools, surprises and amuses the viewer. Beginning and ending with the Belgian Surrealist, Rene Magritte, it encompasses Trompe L’Oeil, Banksy and Bridget Riley to name just a few.

Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz. He will also be bringing events right up to date by drawing cartoons on the day
 

The music, architecture and manuscript illumination of medieval England are among the greatest achievements of the period. This lecture looks at its religious and secular music, its cathedrals and its rich span of manuscript illumination, both sacred and profane.
 

The source of the stuff of dreams; the poppy is a beautiful, fragile flower with immense power. Opium. Greed led to the introduction of this highly desirable substance first to China and then to Europe. Its use - often by those with troubled minds - led to the creation of great works of art in music, art and literature.

This lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980’s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world.
 

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art.
 

A lighter hearted look at some of the more peculiar images from the Orthodox Christian world and the ideas behind the iconography, many of which intersect with the antique classical world and supplant pagan practice. Maybe not so odd after all ?
 

This lecture examines the life and times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his days as a student at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity.
 

Wallpaper is often regarded as the Cinderella of the Decorative Arts - the most ephemeral and least precious of the decorations produced for the home. Yet, the history of wallpaper is a long and fascinating subject that dates back to the 16th century and encompasses a huge range of beautiful patterns.
 

Second Empire Paris was the most fashionable capital in Europe, and this talk focuses on how the new artists of modernity, Baudelaire’s Painters of Modern Life, interpreted their rebuilt city
 

The mysterious but enchanting Johannes Vermeer fascinates everyone. The poetry of Vermeer’s paintings is immediate and recognisable, yet almost impossible to describe and explain.

What is it that holds the viewer before a beautiful young girl in an exotic turban, a woman replying to a discarded letter or a couple at an intimate music lesson ?

It is not the narrative, for there is hardly any, but something more universal. In Vermeer’s hands, the stillness of a quiet street scene, a woman’s concentration on lacemaking or the soft light that gently illuminates a scholar in his study become at once heightened and familiar, reminding us of fleeting moments in our own lives.

Through his sensitivity to light, colour and composition, Vermeer transforms such ordinary subjects into expressions of perfect balance and harmony.

Jane is a docent and enjoys giving lectures and tours at the Mauritshuis, Prince William V gallery and Huygens Museum Hofwijck in the Hague.

She received her BSc from Salem State University, USA , her MEd from Trinity College Dublin and continued art history studies at Leiden University.

In 2018, she was given the Order of Knight i the Order of Orange Nassau by the Dutch King Willem Alexander of Orange for her knowledge and work in the field of the Arts especially 15th to 17th Dutch and Flemish art.

The development of the British Seaside and how the entertainments there evolved. 

Pierrot troupes and concert parties were ubiquitous throughout the seaside resorts of Britain, but what is a pierrot troupe ? Where did they come from ? How do they impact us today ?

Find out in this lively and intriguing talk - featuring unique archive materials from Tony’s vast personal collection.

Tony has been a showman, researcher and teacher for over 35 years: he has run theatre venues, companies, festivals and events for and with a wide range of diverse communities.

He specialises in historical popular entertainment forms and their application to contemporary contexts and in 2017 he was awarded a doctorate by Exeter University (where he is now a lecturer) for his research into itinerant British performance forms.

He regularly broadcasts for both radio and television - most recently for Lee Mack’s episode of Who do you think you are ? However , he is best known by families throughout the country as ‘Uncle Tacko’, ringmaster of his extroadinary flea circus and founder of ‘The Pierrotters’, Britain’s last professional seaside pierrot troupe.

Sicily is the crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Prior to the Norman invasion, Sicily had been conquered by Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Visigoths and Islamic tribes from North Africa.  This lecture looks at the different cultural strands that these various civilisations brought to the island, which were woven together by the Normans, during their remarkably enlightened rule, which saw Palermo become one of the most important cities in Europe.

Richard’s fascination with Sicily began in 2014 with a commission to paint the history of the Normans in southern Italy and the realisation of the island’s central importance in European Culture.

He  became a professional artist in 1990 and has exhibited widely in Britain and Ireland.

Trip to Sicily 10th May 2024

Please look at the Visit's Page for details of our trip to Sicily in May 2024

Please contact Bridget Adler tasm.membership@gmail.com if you would like more information

From Holbein to the arrival of photography, the English have always kept a special place in their affections for the miniature.

The aim of this lecture is to provide a tour through three centuries of wonderful portraiture and the changing ages they represent: a tour of English history seen through the eyes of its miniaturists.

Mark was born on the Isles of Scilly and went to Birmingham University, His career has been spent in education and training at home and abroad. He has lectured at Exeter College on Medieval and Tudor History, at Plymouth and at Bath Universities and currently runs two companies providing training and study breaks.

This lecture covers almost 2000 years of London’s history illustrated through its stained glass windows - these cover 19th Century,20th Century and contemporary glass makers.

Anna graduated as a Blue Badge Guide early in 2013 and won an award for the best new guide at Westminster Abbey. Since then , she has been conducting bespoke private tours for discerning visitors to London.

Her background and passion is Art and History. She studied for her BA in History of Art and Italian at the University o fSussex and did her MA in Renaissance Decorative Arts and Design at the Royal College of Art.

Anna worked for six years as a curator in the Sculpture Department at the V & A as well as in smaller collections such as the Henry Moore Family Trust.

As well as guiding, she is a lecturer at the American International University where she teaches undergraduate The History of London.

Anna lectures regularly for art, history and academic societies as well as providing  training courses for students and guide members of the Institute of Tourist Guides.

What is it that conductors do that makes an orchestras respond in so many different ways ? Is it a good baton technique ? A strong personality ? The way they look ? And why are there relatively few women found on the podium ? And why are the conductors paid so much more than anyone else on the concert platform ?

Drawing on history ad his own musical experiences from well over six thousand performances and recordings, Nigel seeks out some answers. 

This lecture contains some rare video footage of conductors in rehearsal and performance.

Nigel Bates has been a performer for more the forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist with the orchestra and eight years as the Musical Administrator of the Royal Ballet.

He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC’s ‘Maestro at the Opera’ and Pappano’s ‘Classical Voices’ documentary series. He is a regular contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH.

Nigel has given lectures for over thirty years, including many arts societies and conservatoires in the UK and across Australia.

The Impressionist Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries produced some of the finest snow paintings in the history of art.

Although the 17th century Dutch masters had painted snow, it was not a common subject amongst landscape painters until its rediscovery by the Impressionists. 

Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley all painted snow, often standing for hours in the open air to capture the subtletiesof light and colour produced by a recent snowfall. 

They were helped by a series of cold winters in Europe in 1879, 1880 and 1890-91, but they were no means the only Impressionists who painted snow and ice.

The Norwegian artist Frits Thaulow, a close friend of the French Impressionists, was a master of depicting snow, while it can be argued that the most impressive snow paintings were actually done by the American Impressionists. Vast in scale and concept, the snow scenes of artists such as Willard Metcalf, Chide Hassam and John Twachtman are a revelation to British audiences who often know little about the achievements of the American Impressionists. They capture the silence, beauty and grandeur of an American winter.

Julian Halsby studied History of Art at Cambridge.Formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art. He has published many books on different painters, and interviews artists for the Artist Magazine.

He is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and the Critics Circle and is also a practising artist himself.In 1994, Julian was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists and in 2010, appointed Keeper.

In this lively lecture, author Mark Fisher will introduce the principles of arts criticism and show you how to put them

into practice. You’ll journey from the present day into the past, learning lessons form history about how to think about the arts. 

He’ll ask questions about the place of the artist, the role of the critic and the ways in which all of us can discuss the art we enjoy in a productive and creative way. 

Mark Fisher is a freelance theatre critic and feature writer based in Edinburgh and has written about theatre since the late 1980’s. He is a theatre critic for the Guardian, a

former editor of The List magazine and a contributor to publications all over the world. He has run criticism workshops at schools, universities and theatres all over the UK

as well as giving sessions as far afield as Malta, Chile and Brazil. His online workshops have attracted participants from South Africa, Canada, Singapore, the USA, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the UK.

He is the co- editor of the play anthology Made in Scotland ( 1995) and the author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide ( 2012) and How to Write about Theatre ( 2015) - all bloomsbury Methuen Drama.

He is also editor of the XTC Bumper Book of fun for Boys and Girls ( 2017) and What do you call that Noise ? an XTC Discovery book ( 2019), both Mark Fisher Ltd.

In his heyday, the animal artist Edwin Landseer is hugely celebrated and loved for his dogs and Highland stags; later on, for his lions in Trafalgar Square. He was a child prodigy; aged 5 years old he made a detailed study of a foxhound which astounded everybody; later he becomes known for his vivid and varied textures of animal skin, hair and fur, which he achieves with special brushes, keeping their design a secret. He is a party man, with party tricks; with his left hand he can draw a horse’s head and with his right a stag’s head complete with horns – at the same time!

Caravaggio - a man of proverbial rebelliousness, painting in a style which he knew would drop a bomb on the art world he grew up with. This lecture considers the unlikely alliance of artist and patrons, considering why the establishment was prepared to accept him and examining why his art is so powerful for us today.
 

In 1874, aged 20, American-born Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill. When this ended in disaster she threw all her energies into her son Winston. She had no income in an age when women were not expected to earn a living so indulged in various loss making projects until becoming an interior designer before the term was invented.

Anne Sebba is an author of eleven books and lectures widely. A former Reuters foreign correspondent, Anne is now a broadcaster who has presented documentaries for the Radio and appears regularly on television talking about her books, mostly biographies.

This lecture shines a light on the intriguing story of women’s love affair with plumage - and of the brave eco feminists who fought back on behalf of the birds. You’ll be taken back in time to a world where every woman, of every class wore a hat
 

The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of this part of the world.
 

A persuasive introduction to buying antiques and integrating and using them in today’s homes.
 

Timothy was director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014. His lecture investigates the thought that gardens are a place where science and art meet on equal terms.
 

A lighthearted and informative talk looking at the invention of many of the traditions we take for granted at Christmas time.
 

The High Renaissance saw the seamless integration of art and
architecture. This lecture tells the fascinating story of how and when
art and architecture went their separate ways.
 

This lecture examines the way Picasso’s emotional life influenced
what he painted and how he painted it. His response to each new love
in his life can be seen in the different styles in which his many
women were represented.
 

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 advertisements are created and why the works of Leonardo de Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source of their visuals.

From the Renaissance, through to the present day, fine art has continued to provide opportunities to enhance Brand imagery with humour, satire and irony.

In an amusing, entertaining and informative lecture, a wide range of images and videos are used to show examples of the original works, the creative process and the ( not always entirely successful ) advertisements that are the end result.

Tony Rawlins was educated at Highgate School, starting his career in advertising in 1965 as a mail boy in J. Walter Thompson. He graduated through the training system there to become an account director and subsequently worked in a number of agencies before setting up on his own in 1985. There he handled primarily Guinness advertising in Africa and the Caribbean, where he produced many commercials and print ads for them over a period of 15 years. He remains active as a consultant in the industry, but now concentrates on more philanthropic projects - producing film in the rural villages of Nigeria for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. More recently he has completed a sanitation project in Haiti after it was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

He has been a member of the Arts Society for many years and now lectures to a number of Societies in the UK and Europe.

Not only was Peggy Guggenheim ahead of her time but she was the woman who helped define it. She
discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. Through collecting
not only art but the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.
 

An enlightening lecture from Michael Squire, a classics and art history scholar from Cambridge and
Harvard universities.
 

This talk looks at the culture of German-speaking Europe during the inter-war years.
 

This lecture explores how Norway’s dramatic, rugged and beautiful landscape has inspired and shaped
its music, painting and architecture from the medieval period to the present day.
 

An amusing and informative lecture on the history of Faber and Faber by the grandson of the founder of this important literary publishing house.
 

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known as The Greek, became one of Spain’s most successful Mannerist painters. Born on Crete and starting out as icon painter, he went to Italy and then to Spain where he remained, staunchly Greek and a foreigner, until he died in Toledo aged 73. Despite professional success in his lifetime, he was a poor manager: constantly in debt and a regular participant in law suits. Some have criticised his work, wondering if he was actually insane or even if he had an eye disorder. Others have been unable to resist the intense spirituality of line, his towering, flame-like figures and jewel colours. Although he trained with and was influenced by Renaissance greats such as Titian and Tintoretto, he developed his own distinctive style that makes his work instantly recognisable, although many are surprised to learn that he lived in the sixteenth/seventeenth centuries and not more modern times.

The Sistine Chapel is rightly considered one of the modern Wonders of the World. It is a sacred building where mysterious elections take place infrequently whilst for the rest of the time thousands visit it on a daily basis. This lecture will look at the decoration of the ceiling by Michelangelo and concentrate on some of the more unusual inclusions in the Old Testament scheme. It is a mighty piece of painting that demonstrates incredible artistic talent but contains plenty of somewhat subversive elements. Sin and punishment were key themes for much of Michelangelo’s career and it seems that he decided to project these ideas onto the Pope, Conclave and Tourist.

Daniel Evans

Dan is an educationalist with a passion for all things Italian. Dan is a Housemaster at Cheltenham College, a full boarding and co-educational independent school established in 1841 and was formerly Head of History of Art at Wycombe Abbey School. He has been lecturing since 2001, and spent 9 years working as a senior lecturer, tutor and tour guide for Art History Abroad. He was voted the British winner of the World Guide of the Year Awards in 2008 and alongside his lectures and special interest days he also leads educational study trips for groups of friends to a range of destinations in Italy.

With the collapse of the Berlin wall, a flood of newly-discovered works appeared on the western and domestic markets most of which had neither verifiable provenance nor exhibition history. This lecture examines the background of these dubious paintings, universally rejected by museums and the art market, as well as the methods used to ‘create’ authenticity.
 

How does a nation of former persecutors mourn its victims? How do you remember what you would
rather forget? The idea behind counter memorials is to keep the memories and lessons of the past
alive in the individual psyches of the people. The results are extraordinary, brave and inspiring.
 

The current crisis in the Middle East has refocused attention on the remarkable career of Gertrude Bell (1868-1926).  This lecture assesses her character, career and contribution to exploration, archaeology and imperial politics in the context of the tumultuous age through which she lived.

Antiques Roadshow expert, Mark Hill, gives a persuasive introduction to buying antiques and integrating and using them in today’s homes.

The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of central Asia.

Deborah Devonshire, the youngest Mitford sister and wife of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, had a lasting impact not just on Chatsworth but on everything she touched and everyone she met. Our lecturer worked with her for more than 20 years and in this lecture pays tribute to her astonishing life.

This lecture looks at the decoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. It is considered to be one of the modern wonders of the world but contains plenty of somewhat subversive elements.

Before her untimely death in 2016, Dame Zaha Hadid was one of the most distinguished architects in the world. This lecture tells her story and looks at some of her completed works.

This lecture will examine the work of Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei in the context of dissident art in China, Europe and South America, and examine some of his sources of inspiration.

This lecture looks at the characters and personalities of the people responsible for introducing our Christmas traditions.

Mince pies will be served with coffee before the lecture

In the final decades of Tsarist Russia the artistic movement, ‘The Wanderers’, broke away from the Imperial Academy of Arts. They took their travelling exhibitions all over Russia celebrating the qualities of their own native land and exposing its many injustices.

This lecture looks at life backstage at London’s Royal Opera House and the trials and tribulations of working with The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet companies.

Frank Hurley’s award-winning photographs provide a visual narrative of an epic journey and capture with great artistry the new and amazing landscapes within which a remarkable human drama played out during Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 Antarctic expedition.

This talk combines the lives and family history of the Astors, the Sackville Wests and the Rothschilds with the story of the gardens they have all created, despite their very different backgrounds, here in the English countryside.

This lecture discusses the Wallace Collection in London and the Frick Collection in New York and reveals the fascinating way in which an amazing person links both collections to the Sackville family of Knole in Kent.

This talk considers how and why Vienna, the City of Dreams, became a cultural hotbed around 1900.

As well as being Stravinsky’s piano teacher, Leokadiya Kashperova was a brilliant pianist and respected composer in her own right. This presentation offers narrative, images and musical performance at the piano illustrating what it takes to recover the life and works of a composer who has been completely forgotten – until now.  

This lecture is a change from the published programme.

On 16 October 1834 a great fire destroyed Parliament’s glorious old buildings and their contents. Contemporary depictions of the disaster by Turner, William Heath and others illustrate this gripping event.

Christmas Day signifies the beginning of twelve festive days of celebrations and music-making. This lecture-recital explores the wealth of Christmas music, traditions and curious legends that are connected with them. Mince pies will be served with coffee before the lecture

This talk explores the politics of church and state in the thirteenth century and their unfolding expression in the arts of some of our great cathedrals.

Subtitled ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, this promises to be an amusing lecture examining the development and production of Victorian furniture.

This lecture, which includes live lute performance, looks at the lute and other musical instruments as devices to express various aspects of the human character within paintings throughout the ages.

Following last July’s lecture on the same subject, this time we look at Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian baptistery and Sant’Apollinare in Classe.
 

Despite her musical talent, Fanny was persuaded by her father to take a back seat in favour of her younger brother, Felix. She continued to compose and to conduct in private and was beginning to receive public acclaim when she died suddenly at the age of 42.
 

The camera has given us some of the most vivid images of modern times.

This lecture examines a series of brilliant photographs and explains what makes these images so special. In particular we look at photographs which explore the depth of human experience in a spirit of optimism and compassion.

The photographers involved range from the pioneers, such as Jacques-Henri Lartigue, to some mid-Century masters, including Bill Brandt, Bert Hardy and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Finally, we look at the work of more recent exponents, such as Martin Parr and Andreas Gursky.

Profile

Brian Stater's chief interests lie in architecture, photography and history and he combines all three in his lecturing career. He has taught architectural history at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London since 1997 and became a NADFAS lecturer in 2003. He is a member of the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography and an exhibition of his own photographs has been staged at UCL. Brian is a lively and engaging speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.

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

This lecture looks at the life and work of Paula Rego, a British artist of Portuguese origin best known for her depictions of folk tales and strikingly unusual images of women. Married to the British artist Victor Willing (1928-88), Rego settled in this country permanently in the 1970s, but her career in Britain had effectively begun in the early 1960s when she exhibited with artists like Frank Auerbach and David Hockney. Over the following 20 years her career and reputation built steadily, and in 1990 she was invited to become the first Associate Artist at the National Gallery. Her well-known series of paintings and prints based on nursery rhymes emerged from this residency, as did another series of large scale paintings which is currently displayed in the National Gallery restaurant. In her early days, Rego experimented with many different styles, including abstraction, and was very much influenced by Surrealism, but her mature style places a strong emphasis on clear draughtsmanship and the human figure. She produces works which suggest complicated narratives full of psychological tension, drama, and emotion. Frequently she depicts women and girls in disturbing or ambiguous situations and poses, which has occasionally caused some controversy, but her insistence on the physicality of her female figures, and her refusal to idealise or revert to cliché, has earned her global recognition and many prestigious awards. She was made a DBE in 2010.

In the two centuries since they were removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin, the meaning and significance of the Elgin Marbles has changed dramatically.

From architectural decoration to disputed cultural objects, this lecture looks at the response to them over their time in Britain, from the original controversy over their purchase to the current debate surrounding the restitution of the marbles to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Profile
Alan Read holds a masters and a first class honours degree in History of Art from Birkbeck College. He is a gallery guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery, and has lectured at the Penlee House in Penzance, Plymouth City Art Gallery, Croydon Clocktower and the Bridewell Institute.

Alan is also a London Blue Badge Guide and City of London Guide and has conducted walking tours for the Twentieth Century Society, the National Trust and Team London Bridge.

An amusing and entertaining festive lecture.  Mince pies will be served with coffee before the lecture.
 

Playing cards, which date back to 1377, were used as a medium of communication, propaganda and education. We will learn how modern cards follow in these old traditions.
 

1204 witnessed the sack and subsequent looting of Constantinople by the Christian armies of the Fourth Crusade. This lecture will explore how treasure from the Byzantine world inspired Western Europe.
 

This lecture brings together Tudor art, geography, history and archaeology to illustrate a few desperate minutes of a naval action which occurred in the Solent almost 500 years ago.
 

The mosaics of Ravenna were created during great polical turmoil. In the fith and sixth centuries, invaders played havoc with the western Roman Empire. In spite of this, artsts and church leaders created churches of astonishing beauty.  This lecture looks at Galla Placidia, San Vitale and the Orthodox Baptistry.

The tracing of European architecture back to the classical Greek period.  The principal ‘orders’ of architecture, and a detailed look at the ancient Greeks’ mastery of optical refinement. (Period 500-100BC)

In this richly illustrated lecture John identifies the earliest manifestations of a distinctly European architectural language, and the explains the different orders of ancient greek architecture - Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.  He goes on to identify the major structures that were erected in ancient Greek cities, and then highlights the ancient Greeks' skill in the art of 'optical refinement'.  He closes with some reflections on how all this influenced later generations, including out own.  At all John's lectures he gives our a timeline of European architectural development to the present day, which can be useful in setting the context of the particular period under discussion.

Queen Victoria and Giuseppe Verdi died a week apart in January 1901. Victoria loved opera, while Verdi cared deeply about the politics of Italian unification. Both achieved early celebrity, later ‘retiring’ from public gaze before becoming national treasures once again in old age.

This lecture examines the shifting iconography of the two ‘V’s’ during their own lifetimes and on through the 20th century as British and Italians alike reassessed their cultural past in the service of an ever-changing present.

When Charles V came to the throne he inherited, through a complex history of diplomatic marriages, a massive empire that included Austria and Hungary, parts of Italy and the Low Countries, as well as Spain with all its extensive and valuable territories in India and the New World. Four hundred years later, when that empire collapsed, its passing triggered the 1St World War.

The lecture charts the course of this remarkable dynasty, with all its intrigues, tragedies and triumphs, through the glittering and eccentric courts of Vienna, Madrid and Budapest, from the Habsburgs’ origins as medieval warlords to their end in the trenches of the Great War.

Born into a Polish family, Misia was a virtuoso pianist taught by Gabriel Fauré, before marrying Thadee Natanson owner of the magazine 'La Revue Blanche'.  She was painted many times by Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, Eduard Vuillard (who was deeply in love with her), and Renoir who wanted to paint her nude.  She knew Debussy and Ravel who dedicated several pieces to her.  She later married a wealthy businessman and was able to finance Diaghilev's extraordinary Russian Ballets becoming an integral part of the circle around Picasso, Stravinsky, Cocteau and Nijinsky.  Her final marriage was to the Spanish muralist José Sert with whom she travelled extensively, becoming Coco Chanel's closest friend and confidante.  Misia was at the very heart of modern art and music in Paris. 

Misia Sert was the subject of a major exhibition in the Musée d'Orsay in 2012.

Some artists painted so exquisitely that it’s hard to credit that their personal lives were a series of lascivious engagements, missed deadlines, accusations of fraud and exasperated patrons, but that is the case with the fifteenth-century Carmelite monk, Fra Filippo Lippi. His work still causes wonder 600 years after he was born. His legacy was not only the many innovations he made in composition and colour, but also that Botticelli was one of his pupils and Filippino Lippi was one of two children he had with the nun, Lucrezia Buti.

Filippo Lippi’s life is very well documented so we are able to follow him through his many adventures and commissions. We can see his style evolve from the monumental forms of Masaccio who was his first great influence, to the graceful elegance of his later work, full of soft shades, delicate moulding and astonishing attention to detail. He was able to make a pearl look like a real pearl. He graduated from stolid groups of holy figures, to scenes that are both ethereal and riotous. His last great works in Spoleto Cathedral must surely have gained him a place in heaven.

Val is a Lecturer and Guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, also at many other London Galleries, for the National Trust and other organisations. She lectures at Pallant House in Chichester and is a Lecturer for Tate on P&O Cruises.

She is a former member of the teaching team at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and script-writer for the Living Paintings Trust, which brings art to the blind and partially-sighted.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is the most isolated piece of permanently inhabited land on the planet, and yet it produces 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 what archaeology, oral traditions and, more recently, palaeobotanical evidence have combined to teach us about the island's cultural rise and decline, its environmental crisis and the lessons all this can teach us about how we look after the Earth as a whole.

Thomas Heatherwick, has won many awards and honours: in 2004 he was the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry; he won a Gold Medal for his British Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010, and in the same year he was designer of the year in Japan.  Sir Terence Conran spotted his talent early on and has described Heatherwick as 'the Leonardo da VInci of our times'. Heatherwick's work received world-wide covereage in 2010 when with his studio team he designed the Olympic Cauldron a  the London Olympics.  The Heatherwick Studio has also designed the new red London bus; the first redesign of such an iconic symbol of London for 50 years. Heatherwick's approach is multi-disciplinary, and with his colleagues he blends architecture, sculpture and engineering to produce elegant results.

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

Tuesday, September 6th

Coffee with the Wittgensteins: 

On our return from the summer break in September, our attention is directed towards an influential Austrian family in ‘Coffee with the Wittgensteins: discover what it was like to be the richest family in Austria, to be patrons of Klimt, Hoffman, Straus, Brahms and the Wiener Werkstätte, and how any of that was going to help the family survive WW2’ by Sarah Lenton.The Wittgenstein family; rich talented and doomed. They lived in style in Vienna, funded the Secession House, enjoyed the friendship of Brahms, Klimt and Prokofiev, yet three committed suicide and the survivors had to cope not only with their Wittgenstein genes but also with the Third Reich.

Sarah Lenton read Theology at King's College London and has spent most of her working life in the theatre. She regularly writes articles for Royal Opera House programmes, lectures at study days, and gives pre-performance talks for both the Royal Opera House and English National Opera. She has written and directed more than 20 shows for the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre, and gives tours at the London Coliseum. She does live commentary for BBC Radio 3 Opera broadcasts and writes scripts for BBC Radio 4. She is also a cartoonist.

The ship is one of the most common images found in medieval churches and manuscripts and not just on the coast, but often far inland as well.  Nations depend on it for nourishment, safety and wealth but, all too often, it brings ruin and death. 

It was ever thus.

In this lecture, the life of the medieval mariner will be brought to life with his hopes, fears and superstitions.  We'll also look at some spectacular shipwrecks, some of which changed the course of history, and see how they fought to save their ships and cargo.  We'll learn how they build ships and think about how they navigated: extraordinary journeys were made in a time when no one was completely confident that they wouldn't simply sail off the edge of the world or into the mouths of dragons. 

No wonder those returning to safe harbour were so full of tales.

The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces: religious architecture of the world

From Chartres cathedral to Angkor Wat, religion has been the inspiration for many of the greatest buildings of the world. Indeed, for much of human history, the story of architecture and the story of faith were synonymous.

This lecture explains the architecture of each of the major faith traditions, revealing how it is shaped by their rituals and beliefs. It briefly covers the sacred architecture of such early societies as Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Americas before focusing on the living faiths: the great continuities embodied in the sacred architecture of Buddhism and Hinduism, and the revolutionary changes brought about in monotheistic Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It thus brings fresh insights into some of the most remarkable buildings on the planet.

The aim is to leave the audience understanding why and how (for example) a mosque is different from a synagogue or a church (and how they interrelate), as well as having a ‘big picture’ overview of what is happening where and when in the sacred buildings of planet earth.

Nothing is known about Jews in England before 1066, when William brought them with him from Normandy, to settle in London, Oxford and York.  They prospered as money lenders and doctors - the only two trades open to them - until a series of anti Semitic attacks that finally led to their expulsion by King Edward 1 in 1290.

They returned in 1655 at the invitation of Cromwell and notwithstanding the struggle and strife, they have not looked back since.

The East End accommodated the immigrant community for many years and within that community the colourful and symbolic traditions of the 'Chosen People' have survived over the centuries to date.

Between 1870 and 1914 hundreds of American heiresses flooded the shores of continental Europe, trading fortunes for titles.  They were known as the Dollar Princesses and included Consuelo Vanderbilt at Blenheim and Mary Curzon at Kedleston.  These marriages - dubbed by some as gilded prostitution - were usually hard-headed matches plotted by parents.  They may have kept many a grand estate from collapsing but few provided lasting happiness when the fairytale was exposed.

This lecture examines the clothes, the portraits, the jewels and the literature of The Dollar Princesses.

Pubs and their signs are a fundamental part of our history and cultural heritage.

In this colourful and entertaining lecture, John shows some of the most interesting and distinctive signs before exploring the fascinating stories behind the origian of some of their peculiar names,

Who could fail to be intrigued by 'The Bucket of Blood', the 'Cow and Snuffers or even the 'Eager Poet' - and who on earth was 'Blind Jack'?

Theodora Clarke is an Art historian and critic who lectures at the V&A, Tate Britain, The Courtauld and the University of Bristol and Cambridge University.

‘Vorx of Hart’: Edward Lear’s Paintings and Watercolours

Edward Lear is probably best known for his Nonsense Verses.  However, he was a prolific artist in watercolour and oil, and an indefatigable traveller.  Despite serious health problems he travelled further and more intensively over a 50 year period than any other of his contemporaries, recording all he saw.

This lecture will explore his remarkable work and delightful character.

Frank Woodgate. Lecturer and Guide at Tates Britain & Modern; lecturer at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Lucian Freud - "The paint is the person"
From his early finely-painted, almost hyper-realist, portraits to his more recent heavily-impastoed expressionistic ones, Lucian Freud has always had the power to disturb and shock.

FRANK WOODGATE - Lecturer in Art History

Guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, lecturer at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, for the National Trust, the Art Fund and other organisations. Lecturer for Tate on P&O Cruises.

Lecturer to NADFAS (the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies) throughout Britain, and to related organisations in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Script-writer for the Living Paintings Trust, which brings art to the blind and partially-sighted.

Louise Schofield co-lead the excavation of Butrint in Albania in 2000 and had a number of adventures in Albania, some of which were archaeological!  Butrint was the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city, a Byzantine administration and other occupations before it was abandoned in the Middle Ages.  You will hear of:

• The report of a ship which sank full of Omo washing powder
• The movement problems caused when tortoises took to using the excavation’s wheelbarrow tracks 
• The complications caused to the excavation by the fact that Butrint had been occupied over and over again, laying down a new stratum of history every time
• The fact that sculptures were made with removable heads
• Some of the aerial photographs were taken by Rocket Man using a jet back-pack
• The fact that the wooden floor covering of the theatre used today was nearly set on fire by candles floating on the water underneath

Louise Schofield was curator of Greek Bronze Age & Geometric Antiquities at the British Museum for 13 years.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing and now houses the Palace Museum.

The complex began in 1406 and consists of 980 buildings, covering 7,800,000 sq ft. Construction lasted 15 years, and required more than a million workers. This lecture looks at the lives and rituals of the Imperial Family from the first Ming Emperors to China's last Emperor in Beijing's former Imperial Palace.

Anne Haworth was a ceramics specialist at Christie's
& Bonhams, then lived for 7yrs in Shanghai and now
lectures at the V&A

As a young reporter working for the Lahore Gazette Kipling took a journey through Rajasthan in 1888 during which he produced some magical and evocative descriptions of the buildings he saw there. Nowadays he is overwhelmingly associated with the world of the Empire and the British Raj in India. But as the son of the Principal of the Bombay Art School and a talented artist himself, Kipling’s ‘seeing eye’ and his love of India provide a wonderful way in to the world of the Moguls and Maharajahs. In his company we explore some of Rajasthan’s magnificent architectural splendours and gain some insights into the rich cultural history of the ‘Land of Kings’

Elizabeth Merry BA, MA, PGCE has over 25 years' experience lecturing on a range of subjects including classical art and architecture, aspects of the visual arts and the links between literature and art. Has lectured for the WEA, the Universities of Bristol and Southampton Departments of Continuing Education, Royal Society of Arts, Dillington House, Jane Austen Society, Thomas Hardy Society, Brussels Brontë Society, Finzi Society, the Art Fund, Dorset County Museum and literary, historical and philosophical societies nationwide. She has also lectured on study tours to Rome, Aachen, Cologne, Brittany and the Dordogne, as well as all over the UK. Elizabeth lectured in Australia and New Zealand in 2011 and is returning to Australia for two further lecture tours.

Federigo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, brought to his remote, hill-town palace some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, including Piero della Francesca. This lecture explores how such a crafty, astute soldier of fortune created not only a breath-taking palace but also an outstanding collection of art.

The Rt. Revd. Christopher Herbert is a Lecturer with a degree in Art History and until recently Bishop of St. Albans

Pauline Chakmakjian. Lecturer with a BA in English Language & Literature.

Rosslyn Chapel, formally known as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, is a 15th-century chapel located at the village of Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland.

Rosslyn Chapel was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Catholic collegiate church (with between four and six ordained canons and two boy choristers) in the mid-15th century. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness of the Scoto-Norman Sinclair family. Rosslyn Chapel is the third Sinclair place of worship at Roslin, the first being in Roslin Castle and the second (whose crumbling buttresses can still be seen today) in what is now Roslin Cemetery.[1]

The purpose of the college was to celebrate the Divine Office throughout the day and night and also to celebrate Holy Mass for all the faithful departed, including the deceased members of the Sinclair family. During this period the rich heritage of plainsong (a single melodic line) or polyphony (vocal harmony) would be used to enrich the singing of the liturgy. An endowment was made that would pay for the upkeep of the priests and choristers in perpetuity and they also had parochial responsibilities.

After the Scottish Reformation (1560), Roman Catholic worship in the chapel was brought to an end, although the Sinclair family continued to be Roman Catholics until the early 18th century. From that time the chapel was closed to public worship until 1861, when it was opened again as a place of worship according to the rites of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Since the late 1980s, the chapel has also featured in speculative theories concerning a connection of Freemasonry, the Knights Templar, and the Holy Grail. It was prominently featured in the 2003 bestseller The Da Vinci Code and its 2006 film adaptation.

10.15am AGM followed by the lecture

Simon Seligman. Degree in Art/Architectural
History, worked at Chatsworth from 1991-2010.

Dr. Sally Dormer. Lecturer for the Early Medieval Year Course at V&A.

Helen McCabe. Lecturer, author and gardener.

Nicole Mezey. Lecturer and study tour leader, with degrees in Art History from the Universities of Sussex, York and Paris.

John Osborne. Lecturer and study tour leader. Cambridge degree in Classics, which he taught at Marlborough College for over 30 years.

Imogen Corrigan. Lecturer in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval History and Art for Kent Federation of History and National Trust.

Linda Smith. Guide and Lecturer at Tate Britain,Tate Modern and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.