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

View London - a city that has dazzled, enchanted, unsettled, appalled.  So how did it motivate the great atists, who have lived and worked there?  Ad how do their paintings enrich our understanding of the city?  This lecture takes a long look.  Picking five periods between 1750 and 1920 and five pairs of artists, it compares and construes their take on the city.  We look at Hogarth and Canaletto, Constable and Turner, Frith and Maddox Brown, Whistler and Monet, Pissarro and the Camden Group.  Love the city or hate it, most of them couldn't ignore it because there was one constant.  If anywhere bought their paintings, London did.

This talk brings together archaeology, volcanology, literary evidence and art to examine what happened to these two towns famously when destroyed in AD79 by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius.  We will look at evidence of Pliny the Younger, who provides history's first eye witness account of a volcanic eruption, as well as the evidence uncovered in the cities themselves.  This talk is ideal for anyone planning a trip to the Bay of Naples to see the sites for themselves.

In the quietness of an enclosed garden filled with symbolic plants, or glimpsed inside a sturdy house, a young woman reads quietly, blissfully unaware that her life is about to change; not just her life but that of the western world and beyond.  Approaching her, as though unwillling to interrupt her thoughts, an angel is poised to break the news, to make a great announcement.  So the Annunciation by Gabriel to Mary, telling her that she was to bear a son, was one of the most popular images of the Middle Ages.  The lecture reveals the key players in the story, dissects the symbolism of Mary and the Annunication and examines the world-changing importance of that particular moment.  It is richly illustrated with gorgeous images from the fourth to sixteenth century.

The Impressionists were an innovative and radical group of artists who took Paris by storm in the 1870s.  Using new colours and techniques, they created paintings of modern life which shocked and horrified the art establishment.  From the start the group included women artists but their contribution to Impressionism has often been overshadowed by their male contemporaries.  Marie Brocquemond, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt all exhibited alongside artists such as Monet, Renoir and Degas.  The lecture will discuss the lives of each of these artists and their work, revealing their skill and originality as well as their willingness to take risks, despite the additional obstacles they faced as women.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) In the Bois de Boulogne, 1879, oil on canvas, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a 19th and early 20th century woman could want - and also one of the toughest.  A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life housekeeper was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour.  Until now, her story has never been told.  Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, we will be told the extraordinary stories behind some of Britain's most prominent households.

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

Learn how one company came to control the world's flow of diamonds into the marketplace for over a century.  The De Beers Diamond Cartel convinced diamond miners and traders to only buy and sell via their single market channel, forming a bond so tight it was impossible to move diamonds without them.  At one time, De Beers held 40,000,000 carats of rough diamonds in a 3 storey basement vault in London - a 20 year supply of gemstones.  De Beers took the jewellery market by storm with the slogan 'A Diamond is Forever', voted the advertising slogan of the century.  Learn how De Beers really did 'Romance the Stone'.

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was a favourite of James I - who addressed him as 'my sweet child and wife' - and subsequently chief minister to Charles I.  Buckingham was a beauty and he surrounded himself with beautiful things.  He enjoyed exquisite clothes and was a superb dancer.

He was a discerning patron.  Inigo Jones renovated his house and John Tradescant was his head gardener.  In his great house on The Strand he put together a collection of art works as fine as King Charles's.  At the age of 35, Buckingham was murdered.  His collection scattered but contemporary inventories allow us to reconstruct it.  

The county of Kent has been irresistibly attractive to artists from the earliest times.  Depictions of Kent have been at the forefront of new artistic movements through the centuries and have been pivotal to the development of English art.  This talk takes a pictorial journey through paintings of the county to uncover what attracted painters to Kent and how they chose to depict its places.

William Frith's On Ramsgate Sands, from the Royal Collection

George IV was a real patron of the arts. Throughout his lifetime he was responsible for amassing splendid collections, and sumptuous residences with embellished interiors and magnificent furniture. Work on the Royal Pavilion started when he was Regent in 1815. On completion in 1823, he had become King with Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to bestow his decorative taste on. The Royal Pavilion is one of the most recognisable buildings in Britain, typifying the Regency period, decadent George IV and a homage to the exotic. The use of George IV's luxurious palace changed dramatically in 1850, when it was sold by his niece, Queen Victoria, to the town commissioners. Fifty-three thousand pounds was paid for the estate, a fraction of its actual cost, which bought an empty Pavilion that had been stripped of the majority of its decorative fixtures and fittings. As a municipal building the Royal Pavilion was used as a show piece for the town, where town commissioners could host dignities or hire the rooms out. The first world war saw the estate converted to a hospital, then in the 1920s once again for just sixpence visitors were allowed to wander around the empty rooms. In the summer of 1946 with Queen Mary as patron, the first Regency Exhibition took place and was received with great acclaim, especially on seeing the rooms furnished. It helped to prove a growing interest in the Royal Pavilion as a historic building, and encouraged the notion of restoring the palace back to its former splendour. I955 saw the return of furniture and other important items from the Royal collection with the permission of the Queen. These objects were returned as permanent loans to adorn the rooms as the work to restore the Royal Pavilion continued. They still form part of the royal loans that are on display throughout the building. 2018 saw the completion of the saloon, the last of the three staterooms to be luxuriously restored. 

Captain Edward Molyneux was born in London of Irish parents. At age 17, he won a design competition held by British couturier Lucile and began sketching for her design house. During his time in the British army from 1914-1917, where he earned the rank of Captain, he was injured and lost sight in one eye. When he returned in 1919, he opened his own couture house in Paris, and in time followed that with branches in Monte Carlo, Cannes, and in London. This talk will explore 1930s fashion and discuss the role of an international fashion designer in dressing royalty and celebrities in the latest styles.

This lecture will introduce the 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning to discover how she searched the Jurassic rocks of England's south coast to unearth what were believed to be sea dragons and what are now called marine reptiles. It will cover the social history and influences of Mary and the 19th century scientists that she would have worked with, looking not only look at the spectacular fossil remains, but also see how palaeontologists have revealed how these ancient extinct animals lived. The lecture will take us into a distant past, from south west England to southern Germany where shallow seas were inhabited by fish lizards, marine crocodiles and floating islands of tree trunks with ancient starfish like animals attached to them. Dr Hunter will finish by looking at the animals that ruled the land for millions of years, the dinosaurs, and how the first palaeontologists discovered, reconstructed and named these amazing creatures from the Jurassic World.

An exploration of the life and work of this highly individual painter, whose paintings and theatre designs combined modernity with the great British landscape tradition.  Born in 1922, John Craxton discovered the visionary works of 19th century artists William Blake and Samuel Palmer while in his teens and their poetic imagining of Britain and her landscape fired his own creativity.  As a young artist he shared studio space with Lucien Freud and was mentioned by artists such as Graham Sutherland, before living and working in Greece and creating a personal, colourful and poetic artistic world.

The image shown is  "Pastoral for P.W."  (Tate Gallery, 1948).

Charles John Huffam Dickens brought into the world a staggering array of wonderful characters with orphans, starving children, misers, murderers and abusive school teachers among them. People such as Mr Micawber, Fagin and Abel Magwitch remain in one’s literary psyche long after the books are put down. Largely self-educated, Dickens possessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age with 15 major novels and countless short stories and articles. In his lecture, Bertie Pearce looks at the life and places of Dickens through his characters. The talk is interspersed with readings of his works. A truly Dickensian experience. 

A bonus lecture for Christmas, only accessible on Zoom

Mary presents her insights into how Shakespeare’s four great tragedies (and other classical masterpieces) lurk just under the surface of this well loved Christmas movie.

We suggest looking at the film again before the lecture.  Zoom joining instructions will be sent to members in the December newsletter.

On Wednesday a party of us visited the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden for a behind the scenes tour. Our enthusiastic guide took us backstage and recounted some of the history behind the theatre.  We were then lucky enough to enter the auditorium where we enjoyed a few minutes of a dress rehearsal of Tosca. We saw beautiful costumes and their storage areas  as well as those for lighting and scenery.  We watched members of the Royal Ballet in class and the restaurant areas including the lovely Paul Hamlyn Bar converted from the Covent Garden fruit and flower market. The tour gave us some insight on how much expertise effort and financial input it takes to put on each performance. 

I think it's fair to say the the tour was enjoyed by all. 

The musical evolved in two great cities: London and New York, so similar and so different in equal measure.  With Soho and Times Square as the ultimate destinations, this lecture explores the metropolitan world from the perspective of the musical theatre stage, taking in ganglands and society haunts, the suburbs and the centers of power. West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd and Oliver! are only a few of the familiar shows that have put London and New York center stage.  So what do metropolitan musicals reveal about the real cities and the people who live in them?  Answers are frequently colourful, often unexpected but always delivered through distinctive characters, striking images and memorable music.

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the ‘Leonardo of Liverpool’ to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbs of his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766 – a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects. This lecture looks at the life and work of this country’s greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British sporting artists of the eighteenth century more generally.

Joan must be one of the best-known figures from the Middle Ages and opinion is divided about her. Love her or loathe her, her story is fascinating and although almost no artefacts remain that were contemporary to her, the last two years of her life are remarkably well documented, not least the transcript of her trial. It’s unlikely that she led an army, but she certainly inspired one to victory and one of the most extraordinary things is that she persuaded the Dauphin to let her try. Encouraged by voices in her head, she appeared fearless and dignified. She was evidently a highly intelligent young woman with a low regard for authority and a single-minded determination to achieve her aim: to get the Dauphin crowned.

Dogs are man’s most loyal friend and are often used in art, as in life, to project our ambitions and anxieties. From the poignancy of Landseer, Queen Victoria’s favourite animal painter, to the dachshunds of Bonnard and Picasso, the whippets of Freud and many more, explore how dogs have provided inspiration, solace and companionship throughout artistic lives.

I have dedicated 20 years to reviving the music and story of Leokadiya. This year, to celebrate Kashperova’s 150th anniversary, the BBC have recorded all her surviving works and invited me to be Donald McLeod’s studio guest in a forthcoming Composer of the Week episode on Radio 3. This will feature her recently discovered Piano Concerto, described at its premiere as "the concerto-find of the century".

This lecture tells the story of men's tailoring over the past 200 years, told through the lives of the men who commissioned, created and wore it. Tailors, shirt makers, hatters and other craftspeople in London’s west end, especially around Savile Row and 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 men's 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.

Take a trip into a horse drawn city just as a revolution was motoring in. Without its horses, London in 1900 would have ground to a halt – no buses, no deliveries, no goods trains. Alongside London’s growing dependence on technology was a vast increase in the demand for horses. This eye opener to a lost city mixes what's still there - the mews, horse hospitals, cab shelters and drinking troughs - with what is less apparent - like the horsepower each bus route needed, and why flogging a dead horse wasn't just a turn of phrase.

In fact, in 1900 the end was nigh – as the internal combustion engine fired up and the Great War loomed. Buildings survive that evidence this extremely abrupt transition – from the factory that built the buses to the Edwardian multistorey car park the housed the taxi fleet. All this is brought alive through painters like Robert Bevan and early photographs.

Frédéric Bazille’s ‘Self Portrait’ of 1865 shows a tall, slim, bearded young artist, paint brush and palette in hand, turning confidently towards the viewer. He has an attitude of defiance and looks ready to challenge the Parisian art establishment of the day, as were his friends Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley.

For a few years, Frédéric Bazille did just that. His paintings of modern subjects, often created outside using vivid colours and capturing the effects of light, would have secured him an important place in the history of Impressionism, had it not been for his untimely death in 1870. This lecture discusses the life and work of Frédéric Bazille, whose sunlit canvases reveal an artist of great talent and originality and beg the inevitable question - if he had lived longer, what more would he have achieved?

Had his older brother Henry not died in 1612, Charles I would never have been King. Had Van Dyck not arrived at the Stuart Court, the stiff body language of Jacobean portraiture may never have been enlivened by the introduction of Renaissance values, giving rise to the splendour of Baroque. Van Dyck transformed the awkward and ungainly Charles; through his portraits, the tiny King (and his even tinier wife) seemed to grow in stature. Van Dyck’s male sitters exuded elegance, and with his depiction of sumptuous satins and shimmering silks, he was hailed as ‘the first that ‘ere put ‘ladies’ dress into a careless romance’.

Nicholas was the Greek Bishop of Myra, a 4th century port in Anatolia. Following his death, his legendary generosity established him as the principle gift-giving saint as well as the patron saint of seafarers. The body of St Nicholas was stolen by Italian sailors to protect their own ports in the Adriatic. Over the centuries, the image of St Nicholas changed constantly until the Dutch re-invented him as Sinterklaas. Taking him to their new colonies in America, he transformed into kindly Santa Claus. Later re-imported into Britain without his Catholic baggage, he gradually emerged as Father Christmas.

In Greek legend, Pandora was created with the express purpose of causing trouble to men which, by opening her box, she achieved. This lecture looks at the original sources for the story, draws parallels with both Eve in Genesis and Galatea in Ovid before showing how ballets, operas and plays from Coppelia to My Fair Lady and The Winter’s Tale to Educating Rita have developed the theme of a creation that runs out of control.

To understand jewellery, we need to read its secret language. In this talk, we will learn how to read the message sent by jewels, both open and hidden.

Medieval lapidary books interpreted gemstones - each stone had a meaning and power. Gemstones in eighteenth and nineteenth century acrostic jewels spelled out secret messages.

Romantic jewels used flowers, hands and hearts to send coded messages of affection and mourning jewels used a visual language of urns, broken pillars and veiled women to send a message of grief.

Political jewels also send a silent message, whether through the colours of the Suffragettes or the hidden imagery of Stuart loyalists.

According to historian Barbara Tuchman, the invention of the ball ranks as highly as the invention of the wheel. Simon Inglis agrees, especially after spending years delving into cubbyholes at pavilions and museums, in workshops and factories, finding out how these apparently simple objects came into being and how their design and manufacture has evolved. He asks, why are marbles glass? Why did the discovery of gutta percha transform golf? Why were games such as lawn tennis and ping pong made possible only in the mid 19th century? Why did some billiard balls explode, and why are rugby balls such an odd shape? In 1853 the ingredients of one manufacturer's cricket balls were listed as cork, worsted, hemp, brown oats, suet, lard, alum, stale ale and dragon's blood. Can this really be true, or is it, perhaps, just a load of old balls?

Note: Simon will bring along examples of old balls for passing round.

In this lecture, Bertie recounts the extraordinary tale of how a small bronze statue, which had sat in his Grandfather’s garden for 40 years, was discovered as a masterpiece and ended up in the Getty Museum, California. Adriaen De Vries (c.1556-1626) was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands. A technical virtuoso, he created spectacular bronzes for the most discerning patrons of his time, including the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II of Prague. He excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and in the manipulation of patina and became the most famous European sculptor of his generation.

William Randolph Hearst had an obsession: in 1935, Forbes Magazine called him, “quantitively the world’s number one collector of Objets d’Art” and when he died The New York Times stated that during the 1920s and 30s, he alone had accounted for 25% of the world’s art market activity. But to where was this king’s ransom headed, and hoarded? Some of you will already know of Hearst Castle in California, but lesser known is his five-storey Gothic castle hidden within a Manhattan apartment block; his weekend home on Long Island that inspired the castle in The Wizard of Oz; his sprawling 12th-century castle in Wales with its own ghosts; and, the Bavarian village he built around his mother’s seven-storey schloss deep in the forests of Northern California. Through the unparalleled extravagance of the places he lived in and loved, we’ll take a dive into the extraordinary life of the man who Orson Welles famously satirized as Citizen Kane – the same man who changed the face of journalism forever and built 'the greatest publicity machine in history' but died owing rent to his creditors.

NB: This is a different lecture to the one originally advertised due to the unavailability of Jane Angelini.

Imperial Russia dragged behind Europe in all things cultural until the 18th century when Peter the Great introduced reforms, bringing in foreign influences which led eventually to a flowering of a distinctive Russian style in the 19th century, reflecting the lives and struggles of ordinary people, their customs and their countryside.

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. Caillebotte celebrated the structure of the new boulevards, while Monet masked their harsh lines with foliage and open air sunshine. But Manet and Degas showed a darker reality beneath the glittering surface; the new Brasseries where casual prostitutes mingled with the unsuspecting bourgeois, and the more blatant Courtesans captured by Manet in Olympia and Dejeuner sur l’herbe. As Baudelaire put it, we are shown ”the thousands of uprooted lives that haunt the underworld of a great city.”

In 17th-century Europe, fan painting rose from a lesser branch of the decorative arts to become a specialized guild-controlled craft with centres of production in France, England and other European nations. Despite the introduction of affordable printed fans in the 18th century, the hand-painted fan remained an essential fashion item for the aristocracy. In the 19th century, fan painting acquired a certain prestige and fine artists such as Gauguin, Degas and Sickert experimented with the arc-shape format, producing accomplished fan paintings partly inspired by Japanese art and design. Drawing together some of The Fan Museum’s finest treasures, Jacob illustrates the evolution of fan painting in Europe from its 17th century roots to the present day.

Often considered a daunting read, the Divine Comedy can also, and more approachably, be studied through its illustrations. Dante’s visions of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven have provided a rich seam of inspiration for over 700 years; with this talk we look at a selection of the many artists who have attempted to portray the Otherworldly. Botticelli, Doré and Blake attempted all three realms, but many others have dipped in and out of the story, each imprinting his own century and beliefs on the finished art.

A vast range of sacred and secular music has been inspired by and created for Christmas and there is surely no other musical circumstance where melodies from the Middle Ages sit happily side by side with modern pop numbers. The lecture takes a most enjoyable look at contributions both old and new to the festive season and examines the work of contributors such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Willcocks and John Rutter. We will also discover how some of our best-loved carols have come into existence almost by accident as well as exploring the creativity that goes into making a lasting Christmas Hit. Fully illustrated with musical examples.

The Emperor Qianlong was arguably the greatest of all Qing Emperors as he guided China through a period of unquestionable political, economic and cultural prosperity which rivalled any comparable period of high achievement in Chinese history. Territorially, Qianlong added more than 30 per cent of landmass to the Empire through successful military campaigns and astute diplomacy. He was passionate about preserving Manchu culture whilst respecting and nurturing other ethnic Chinese cultures. Qianlong travelled his Empire regularly undertaking lavish expeditions to the South and West designed to forge loyalty to his Imperial rule. Despite all these successes as a ruler, it is in the fields of the sciences, arts and culture that Qianlong made the greatest contribution to China’s heritage. Qianlong was a noted scholar who during his lifetime wrote and published over 43,000 poems, painted on virtually a daily basis and was accomplished in the art of calligraphy. It was perhaps as a Collector of Fine Art that Qianlong created his greatest legacy. He amassed a treasure trove of hundreds of thousands of works of art from previous dynasties or which represented the finest current workmanship. His collection spanned all genres of the arts including paintings, porcelain, jade, textiles, enamelling, ivory carvings and snuff bottles. This lecture will provide an insight into Qianlong not only as a successful Emperor of China but also as a scholar and ‘ultimate’ collector of fine art. A wide range of items of the highest quality, produced by the Imperial Workshops, will illustrate this lecture.

There is far more to be discovered about the Bayeux Tapestry than could ever be covered in one lecture. Who made it, where and why are the most frequently asked questions – although they might also be seen as less important beside the information the tapestry itself offers us. It is not just a narrative of the most famous battle in English history, but also of the build-up to it. It is a moral story showing that good cannot come to those who break their word. It is a story of kings, chivalry and ambition. Intriguingly, many crucial events are omitted and we can only speculate as to why. The tapestry itself is woven from only 10 different colours on linen, but remains as vibrant today as it must have been 900 years ago. The lecture looks at many of the scenes in detail and explores what might be learned from this depiction of a turning point in our history.

According to historian Barbara Tuchman, the invention of the ball ranks as highly as the invention of the wheel. Simon Inglis agrees, especially after spending years delving into cubbyholes at pavilions and museums, in workshops and factories, finding out how these apparently simple objects came into being and how their design and manufacture has evolved. He asks, why are marbles glass? Why did the discovery of gutta percha transform golf? Why were games such as lawn tennis and ping pong made possible only in the mid 19th century? Why did some billiard balls explode, and why are rugby balls such an odd shape? In 1853 the ingredients of one manufacturer's cricket balls were listed as cork, worsted, hemp, brown oats, suet, lard, alum, stale ale and dragon's blood. Can this really be true, or is it, perhaps, just a load of old balls?

Note: Simon will bring along examples of old balls for passing round.

This lecture provides a taste of Germanic art. Dürer, Cranach and Holbein represent Renaissance ideas. Romanticism blossomed in Friedrich’s emotive paintings. The last century is characterised by the powerful Expressionism of the Brücke and Blue Rider groups as well as the new ‘Wild Ones’ (Fauves) like Baselitz today. 

In June 1520, Henry VIII and Francis 1 meet to ratify an Anglo-French alliance and celebrate the betrothal of Henry’s daughter Mary to the Dauphin. The two handsome ‘Renaissance Princes’ are in their 20s with similar reputations in military prowess and sport and as patrons of the arts. Both have imperial ambitions and are eager to display themselves as magnificent nobleman and warrior kings. Each brings an entourage of 6,000 to a field south of Calais for 18 days of various events and entertainments staged to display the skill and splendour of each King and country. The logistics of transporting, accommodating, ordering, feeding and watering, protecting and entertaining the English contingent for this spectacular event is staggering and the supply chain, often through the City of London Guilds, is equally fascinating. 3,217 horses shipped across the ‘Narrow Sea’ to Calais; a vast quantity of wood sourced from Flanders and floated along the coast; a huge temporary palace is built on stone foundations with brick and timber-framed walls reaching to 40 feet. Royal palaces were virtually emptied of their silver, gold, tapestries and furniture to decorate the temporary palace, other principal tents and a chapel (with an organ); gold and silver cloth, velvet and sables, jewels and pearls were imported to ‘dress and impress’. How was it all achieved?

The 1700s was a period when the people of England seemed to be especially gullible. They believed a woman could give birth to rabbits; a man could climb inside a two pint bottle and sing inside it; and where a blond-haired European could write a book claiming that he was born in Taiwan. These hoaxes weren't just written about extensively in newspapers and journals but also brilliantly and amusingly depicted by satirical artists such as William Hogarth and James Gillray. In this entertaining talk, Ian demonstrates how 18th century hoaxes are memorable not only for their imaginative nature but also because of the differing motives of the tricksters.

Ethel Rosenberg was just 37 when she was electrocuted by the American Government for conspiracy to commit espionage following a 1951 trial which contained multiple miscarriages of justice. The Government knew they had no conclusive evidence against Ethel who was a loyal wife, devoted mother and, yes, a communist but they thought charging her would make her husband talk. They insisted she was the leader simply because she was older than her husband. Since her death, leaving her two small sons orphaned, there has been an outpouring of literature including novels such as the Story of Daniel by E.L Doctorow, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, plays such as Angels in America and paintings by artists such as Picasso and Warhol, collages by Martha Rosler who used satire to show how women were expected to be nothing more than ideal housewives stuck in their kitchen and even furniture featuring the infamous electric chair and typewriter Ethel was alleged to have used in order to spy. However, in the intervening 70 years since her death she has become an American icon, a symbol of how fear and hysteria can make a government behave shamefully. Sometimes it requires artists to make sense of this catastrophic historical failure of justice and mercy.  

According to historian Barbara Tuchman, the invention of the ball ranks as highly as the invention of the wheel. Simon Inglis agrees, especially after spending years delving into cubbyholes at pavilions and museums, in workshops and factories, finding out how these apparently simple objects came into being and how their design and manufacture has evolved. He asks, why are marbles glass? Why did the discovery of gutta percha transform golf? Why were games such as lawn tennis and ping pong made possible only in the mid-19th century? Why did some billiard balls explode and why are rugby balls such an odd shape? In 1853, the ingredients of one manufacturer's cricket balls were listed as cork, worsted, hemp, brown oats, suet, lard, alum, stale ale and dragon's blood. Can this really be true or is it, perhaps, just a load of old balls?

An extraordinary personal collection of Edwardian couture clothing lies in the vaults of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, once worn by a debutante named Heather Firbank. When Heather’s maid persuaded the museum to accept her former mistress’s entire wardrobe, the V&A’s Fashion and Textile department was born. So who was Heather – and what secrets do her clothes yield up? An intimate portrait of shopping, high society, seduction and ruin in the years leading up to the Great War.

The lecture will be held via Zoom and the link will be sent to all members. If you do not receive the link, please contact our Membership Secretary, Helen Sanders (click here).

The history of this enduring and peculiarly British institution, from its origins in 16th century Italian commedia dell’arte through the influence of 19th century music hall, to the family shows that are still much loved today. On the way we examine the origins of some of the stories used in pantomime as well as such traditions as the (female) principal boy and the (male) pantomime dame. The talk is interspersed with personal anecdotes from the speaker’s years of working (and appearing) professionally in pantomime.

Find out, in this very light-hearted lecture, about the various ceremonial events that take place around Christmas time. Carol services, concerts and even Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace and Windsor all play their part. How do the Chelsea Pensioners prepare and celebrate the festive season? All will be revealed so, come along and feel wrapped in a blanket of Christmas loveliness.

Houses made from wool that warm in the depths of winter, carpets that tell stories, woven bands that appease ancestors, embroideries that ward off evil and kilims that store kitchenware, with everything ready to be packed and carried on yak or camel at a moment’s notice. The little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak are explored in this lecture, along with the rise and fall of nomadism and where nomadism fits within the modern world. Chris also shares from his own experience of working with nomadic yak herders in the High Pamirs for three years.

Among the most important and valuable works of art from Africa, these antique bronze sculptures from the West African kingdom of Benin astounded critics when they were first seen in Europe in the late 1890s. They could hardly believe that such technically accomplished sculptures were created by African artists. The superb workmanship and outstanding aesthetic quality of Benin’s royal sculptures rivals the very best work of the Italian Renaissance.

This lecture reveals the sophisticated production processes, the symbolism and ritual use of the bronzes, as well as investigating the response of avant-garde artists of the early 20th century, such as Picasso and Matisse, who struggled to place them within their category of ‘the primitive’. One of the richest collections of the Benin bronzes is in the British Museum, but many examples are on show in museums across Britain and Europe.

The British seaside holiday started in the 18th century when wealthy people began going to coastal towns like Scarborough and Brighton to partake in the seawater cure. Like spa towns, it was the health benefits that enticed society and sea bathing became popular as well as promenading along seafront or pier to breathe the fresh air. It was the building of the railways and the earlier steam boat excursions that opened up the seaside resorts to the masses and small towns on the coast rapidly expanded to cater for the ever increasing crowds of visitors. Various acts of parliament like the ‘Bank Holiday Act’ and cheap rail fares enabled the working classes to flock to the seaside. This lecture takes a compelling look at how seaside holidays have evolved over the years, helping to shape our lives and memories. Old photographs reveal the fashions and the styles used in seaside architecture which have constantly changed, from elegant Georgian terraces to grand hotels and on to 1930s lidos. Not forgetting the entertainment, pleasure and amusements that have played such an important part of the British Seaside Holiday.

How has art decorated eating places and how have the activities of trading in food, preparation and cooking been made the subject of paintings? How and why are people shown eating?  How does the sheer beauty of some foods become celebrated in painting? Originally presented at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, this is a wide-ranging lecture which encompasses ancient and modern art across many ages and styles: from the symbolic to the decorative, from luxurious to simple. How, for centuries, glorious food has made glorious art.

Discover the eclectic collection and awesome seaside home of Sir Merton and Lady Annie Russell-Cotes situated on the East Cliff of Bournemouth. Funded by their ownership of the Royal Bath Hotel and astute art dealing, they acquired remarkable Victorian and Edwardian artworks partly inspired by their world travels. After their deaths in the 1920s curators acquired Modern British Art, and additional paintings from the 19th century including Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s masterwork Venus, turner of hearts. In fact, the museum features an exceptional range of female subjects that underpin this talk.

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

ONLINE STUDY DAY

Our lecturer is Sue Jackson, a Blue Badge Guide and Freeman of the City of London, who loves to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for London and its history. As a London Blue Badge Guide, Sue leads walks and tours all around London, with a wide variety of themes. As a lecturer, she gives illustrated talks to the National Trust, the City Literary Institute, arts societies and historical societies. Sue is a published author and a Fellow of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain.

Lecture 1 (virtual walk): THE HUGUENOTS OF SPITALFIELDS – from riches to rags

The name Spitalfields is a corruption of hospital fields and refers to the priory hospital that was built there in the middle ages. After its closure in the 16th century, the fields were used for artillery practice, and then became home to a series of immigrants.  Many of the early 18th century houses that line the streets today were built for immigrant Huguenot master silk weavers, their survival the result of a sustained campaign in the 1970s.  As we walk today’s wonderfully vibrant area, we will learn how the houses were built, lived in and adapted in desperate times for industrial use.  We will see how the trade was structured, and Sue will tell the story of its wildly fluctuating fortunes. We will look inside one of these houses, renovated by Dennis Severs in the 1970s, which evokes the ups and downs of one family across the centuries. Like so many, it was derelict when saved by the Spitalfields Trust. 

Lecture 2: HUGUENOT PATTERNED SILKS AND THE AGE OF ELEGANCE

Huguenot craftsmen brought innovations and new techniques as silversmiths, clockmakers and of course silk weaving and design, absorbing influences from far-flung countries and inspiring others. Such was their reputation that everyone who could afford it would endeavour to be dressed in the latest patterned silks and commission the highly expensive silver tea, coffee or chocolate vessels to serve the newly introduced and equally expensive hot drinks.  And of course you would want everyone to be fully aware of this: hence the many ‘conversation pieces’ which typically show a family carefully posed wearing Spitalfields silk and enjoying a tea party laid out on an elegant table!

Without a doubt, Huguenot craftsmen were drivers in what has been called the Age of Elegance and in this second talk, Sue will expand on the silk trade, designs and designers, patrons and rivals.

Timings and booking

Because of the virtual format, the Study Day will be shorter than normal. The timings for the morning will be as follows:

10:30 am       First Lecture
11:15 am       Short Break
11:35 am       Second lecture

The second lecture will end at approximately 12:10 pm after which there will be time for questions.

The cost of the Study Day is £20 per Member. This fee is to cover our costs only and any surplus made will be donated to the Trinity Theatre. 

To book your place, please email Marilyn Glover at studydays.tasrtw@gmail.com. Regarding payment, we would prefer you to make a direct payment to our bank account. If you wish to pay by cheque, please make it payable to "TASRTW" and send it to Marilyn. Our bank account details and Marilyn's address are shown in the email sent to all members on 1st February.

You will be sent the Zoom link to join two days before the Study Day.

Punctuality being the politeness of princes, this lecture examines the reality of manners and etiquette in the later Medieval period. A far cry from the popular image of appalling table manners, Medieval dining was a minefield of dos and don’ts, many of which were recorded in courtesy books (Teach Yourself How To Be A Gentleman texts). A rich vein of artistic evidence also survives, bearing out what is written. The lecture deals with the structure of formal banquets and the food eaten as well as how young gentlemen were trained and more everyday advice to women about how to conduct themselves

Our guide

Join us for a virtual walk around reformation London, led by Ruth Polling who graduated top of her year as the London Blue Badge Tour Guide of the Year 2014. London born and bred, she has been guiding in London for five years and is an International History graduate from the London School of Economics. Before becoming a guide Ruth worked in London politics for eleven years including working in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In addition to tour guiding, Ruth lectures and runs training courses on London history and politics.

The walk

King Henry VIII’s desire for a divorce broke England away from the Roman Catholic Church and plunged London into 30 years of turmoil changing the religious, social, political and economic life of the city forever. From violent religious debates outside St Paul’s Cathedral to Smithfield, where Protestants were burnt at the stake for their faith, to a Tudor Mansion in a former monastery, this virtual walk will take you to the places and tell you the stories at the very centre of England’s religious transformation.

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 1,200 artworks found in possession of the son of a notorious Nazi dealer.

Our speaker, 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.

Our royal families have celebrated Christmas throughout their long history, from William the Conqueror making sure of his claim to the English throne by being crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. Feasting on a spectacular scale characterised medieval Christmases - we read of extraordinary culinary delicacies served to Henry II (crane's flesh, peacocks and herons). Present-giving always marked the season, from the extravagant - the City of London presented Richard II with a camel and a pelican - to the witty - Mrs Thatcher sent the Queen a pair of yellow washing-up gloves having seen Her Majesty doing the dishes without any. This lecture explores these traditions and other delights, many of which we have adopted as a necessary part of our own celebrations.

Sargent was the great society portraitist of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, but he was much more than that. His art was extremely varied and the breadth of his work can still surprise people. As well as his wonderful portraits, the lecture includes examples of his landscape paintings, inspired by the Impressionists, his work as an official War Artist in World War I and his extremely beautiful and delicate watercolours.

Join John Francis  for a talk on my work. Although I was born in Britain I made my name in Hollywood . Find out why I am often referred to as the "Master of Darkness" I made over 50 feature films where we often see innocent people  caught up in circumstances beyond  their control. Mr Francis will discuss my early life and influences on my work and my London based dramas Blackmail(1929) and Dial M for Murder(1954) will be closely analysed.
After I moved to Hollywood  I was credited with creating  several masterpieces  of cinema  including   Vertigo(1958) and Psycho(1960). I am not just a skilled entertainer, the French New Wave critics of the Cahiers du Cinema  have argued that my films should be regarded as artistic masterworks! To find out more about me do visit my website http://www.alfredhitchcock.com
ENJOY THE LECTURE AND PLEASE DON'T HAVE NIGHTMARES!

Join Art Society Lecturer Chantal Brotherton- Ratcliff  on a virtual journey as she delves into the astonishing history of the movement of art works. When standing in a museum  or art gallery  gazing at a sculpture or a painting by say Titian or Caravaggio , we rarely question where it was before or how it came to be here or by what practical means it arrived and who in earlier times gazed at it.  How do you transport a painting that is over 15 feet high?

Mini lecture and discussion