Few people nowadays give more than a second thought to their clocks: practical, sometimes beautiful, devices that form the background noise of our daily lives. But from their introduction in the thirteenth century onwards, clocks have held a variety of philosophical and social meanings. This talk explores the visual and literary uses of the clock, the varied meanings it could hold throughout the ages: as an ominous symbol of oncoming death, but also as a metaphor for the soul, for capitalism, and for the good use of time.

Dr Christina Faraday FSA FRHistS is a historian of art and ideas, specialising in Tudor and Stuart Britain and the wider 16th and 17th-century world. She is a Research Fellow in History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, a Trustee of the Walpole Society for British art history, and a BBC New Generation Thinker, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in other popular media. She is an experienced lecturer, and teaches for the History of Art Department at the University of Cambridge, The Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, London, and for the Institute for Continuing Education, Cambridge, where she is Co-Director of the MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture. Her first book, Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England, was published in 2023 by the Paul Mellon Centre and Yale University Press. Her next book, The Story of Tudor Art, will be published in 2025.

2024 - 2028 marks one hundred years since Winnie-the-Pooh was introduced to children of all ages in the four iconic books created by A A Milne and E H Shepard. First seen in When We Were Very Young (1924), Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood had their own adventures in Winnie-The-Pooh (1926), with Now We Are Six (1927) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), giving us more wonderful poems and stories which include the introduction of both Tigger, Kanga-and-Roo and Poohsticks. This lecture tells the story of how these much loved books were created by the genius of Milne and Shepard’s groundbreaking collaboration and why they remain embedded in our national identity.

James Campbell has a BA in History and an MA in the History of Art and a particular interest in the work of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist E H Shepard (1879-1976). He has been lecturing for over twenty years, and has lectured across the UK and overseas to Literary Festivals, Art Societies, military museums, and to private clubs and community groups. He has been a Trustee of the E H Shepard Estate since 2010, as was involved in the ground-breaking Victoria and Albert Museum 2017 Exhibition marking the 90th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh.  His books Shepard’s War and The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 2015 and 2017 respectively. His new joint biography of A A Milne and E H Shepard - The Men Who Created Winne-the-Pooh: The Lives of A A Milne and E H Shepard - commissioned for the centenary of the Winnie-the-Pooh books was published in September 2024 by Michael O'Mara Books. 

One of the most celebrated artists of her time, French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) had an extraordinary gift for painting animals that brought her international fame and recognition. Her works fetched exceptionally high prices on both sides of the Atlantic, and in 1865 she became the first woman to be awarded the légion d’honneur, France’s highest of merit. 

Defying convention, Bonheur obtained official police permission to wear men’s clothing, so that she could study animal anatomy in the male-only spaces of livestock sales. Her most famous work ‘The Horse Fair’ displays such dynamism that when it was exhibited at the 1853 Paris Salon, one critic wrote that he had to suppress the urge to jump out of the way of the galloping horses. Such was its fame, that Queen Victoria requested a private viewing at Buckingham Palace.

Bonheur’s commercial success enabled her to buy the Chateau de By, near Fontainebleau, where she lived with her lifelong companion Nathalie Micas, establishing a studio and menagerie, that included sheep, gazelles, monkeys, and three lions. This lecture offers an in-depth account of her extraordinary life and work.

Dr Lois Oliver is Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, Associate Lecturer at Boston University London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute. She has worked as a Curator at the V&A, the National Gallery, and the Royal Academy. Her recent exhibitions include ‘Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery and ‘Jock McFadyen: Tourist without a Guidebook’ for the Royal Academy. Lois has created audio and multimedia tours for many of the UK’s leading arts institutions and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV. Also a keen violinist, Lois plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra. Lois studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and writing her PhD thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855.

It is now over 150 years ago since Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was unexpectedly born at Blenheim Palace.  This lecture draws upon the private resources of Blenheim and adds new and refreshing insights into this remarkable man. We examine the breadth of talent, achievement and personality of the "Greatest Briton": soldier, politician, statesman, painter, writer, orator, family man - and bricklayer!   

Antonia joined Blenheim Palace in 2008 as a member of the Education Team, later becoming the Palace’s Social Historian and Researcher. Both roles have involved her curating or co-curating a number of Palace exhibitions including A Passion for Fashion – 300 Years of Blenheim Style upon which her recent book is based. Antonia’s latest project has been to produce a series of podcasts - Behind the Scenes at Blenheim Palace - available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/18RwCp7lJVGaweiLYbG8m8 

An experienced public speaker, both virtually and in person, Antonia has delivered a ‘Conversation’ at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, been ‘In Conversation’ with fashion editor Caroline Issa, designers Stephen Jones and Zandra Rhodes and TV and radio presenter, Sue Perkins.

Antonia has participated in both the Oxford Literary Festival where she presented her children’s book and more recently at Cheltenham where she chaired a discussion between authors Emma Soames and Rachel Trethewey on their respective Churchill related books. Antonia has been a guest on Radio 4’s Saturday Live with the Reverend Richard Coles and has made various TV appearances including Channel 5’s The Cotswolds with Pam Ayres and Blenheim Palace - Behind the Grandeur.    

In her spare time, Antonia enjoys the company of her family and her dogs – particularly Percy, a wire-haired Dachshund, who inspired her to write and illustrate her first children’s book – Percy at the Palace - A Dog’s Eye View of Blenheim.  She is currently researching her next book on Blenheim Palace and World War II.

There was a national need for memorials in the wake of the First World War, and the designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement rose to the challenge, creating crosses, memorials, halls and much more. Arts and Crafts designers wrote extensively about the right kinds of memorial - and didn't always agree with each other! This talk explores the ways that Arts and Crafts designers chose to interpret their commissions to commemorate the war, and looks at a rich array of memorials from church and town alike, crosses to stained glass to water troughs – and at the attendant local politics in erecting them!

Kirsty Hartsiotis was the curator of the decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham from 2008 to 2023. She is currently a curator at Swindon Museums, where she also worked prior to 2008.  At Cheltenham she looked after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection, which includes the important private press archive, the Emery Walker Library. She’s curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts and Private Press Movements, including Crafting Change and Ernest Gimson: Observation, Imagination & Making.  Her most recent exhibition is A Very British Art Revolution at Swindon, and she's currently working on a touring exhibition about British studio pottery. Passionate about sharing her deep love for and knowledge of the arts, she’s also a freelance researcher, currently researching Arts and Crafts war memorials and the work of Arts and Crafts designers in churches in the South West. She’s also been an oral storyteller for over 20 years, and has published a number of collections of stories. She is a regular columnist for Cotswold Life, writes for diverse other publications on art history and folklore, and was the newsletter editor for the Society of Decorative Art Collections.

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

Helen Ritchie is Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Applied Arts at The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Her research interests include contemporary crafts, European design post-1850, British Studio Pottery and Artist/Designer metalwork and jewellery.

Helen was the sole curator of the exhibition Designers and Jewellery 1850-1940: Jewellery and Metalwork from The Fitzwilliam Museum (2018) and author of the accompanying catalogue. She was the organising curator of exhibitions, Magdalene Odundo in Cambridge (2021-22), Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery, in partnership with Yale Center for British Art (2018) and Flux: Parian Ware at The Fitzwilliam Museum, in partnership with artist Matt Smith (2018). She has worked with a number of contemporary artists, including Jennifer Lee OBE, Elspeth Owen, Magdalene Odundo DBE and Matt Smith. 

She is also a part-time doctoral student in the Department of History of Art at the University of Cambridge, researching the studio ceramics of Norah Braden (1901-2001) and other interwar women potters. 

Before joining the Fitzwilliam in 2016, Helen worked with a broad range of applied arts at the Royal Collection Trust, Christie’s, Harrogate Museums and the British Museum. She studied at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge and the University of the Arts London.

Helen is a Trustee of the North West Essex Collection Trust (on display at the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden).

Frith was one of the greatest painters of his age. No other artist captured life in the Victorian period so comprehensively. Through costume, pose and physiognomy, Frith's painting depict all stratas of society and define the age. This lecture examines his great social panoramas including Derby Day and The Railway Station as well as his Hogarthian series Road to Ruin illustrating how the artist became the greatest painter of crowds and of painterly story telling.

Mark studied at the Slade School of Art and at the universities of Birmingham and Manchester. He was Curator at the Watts Gallery and Curator of the Gainsborough Museum, and lectures regularly at the Tate, Russell-Cotes Gallery, Museum of London, Guildhall Art Gallery, Bristol University and Mercer Art Gallery. He has also presented talks in New York and Finland. His publications include George Frederic Watts: Victorian Visionary (2008), The Art of Satire: London in Caricature (2006) and William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age (2006).

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.

Dr Graham Jones started his professional life as a musician in the British Army and over a glittering career spanning nearly forty years he retired as the Senior Director of Music, Household Division and Director of Music, Coldstream Guards a position unequalled throughout military music in Great Britain. During his illustrious career he has recorded over 40 albums and been responsible for the largest commissioning programme of wind band music in recent history commissioning over 30 new works for wind band. He pioneered a music education programme with the University of Salford for military musicians resulting in a new Master of Music in performance degree. Graham was made a Member of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace for outstanding service to military music in 1993. Having retired, at the start of 2012, from military service Graham is enjoying a second career as a guest conductor, adjudicator, guest speaker, lecturer, clinician, recording consultant and educator. He is also the Artist Director of London International Band Week, music consultant to Henley Music Festival, resident conductor of the British Imperial Orchestra, visiting conductor in residence at Troy University, Alabama, USA and guest lecturer on cruise ships.  Graham’s charitable work includes event planning in support of the Royal British Legion and sitting on the London fundraising committee of the Army Benevolent Fund - the Soldiers Charity. 

This lecture explores the way TS Eliot was indebted to, and himself inspired - whether as subject or as poet - by some of the 20th Century's greatest artists.

As a pioneer of literary modernism, TS Eliot inevitably influenced his counterparts in the visual arts. He was friends with several artists. Edward McKnight Kauffer and David Jones illustrated his work; Patrick Heron and Wyndham Lewis painted him; Jacob Epstein sculpted him. There are paintings and compositions inspired by his poems. And the reverse is also true; The Waste Land famously employs techniques borrowed from modern art. 

This lecture will explore some of those connections, looking at Eliot's life and poetry through a new lens, while also taking the chance to display some of Eliot’s own artistic creations: the jokey little sketches he included in letters to children.

Toby Faber is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press. Toby has written three narrative histories: Stradivarius – Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius; Faberge’s Eggs; and Faber & Faber – The Untold Story, as well as a novel, Close to the Edge. Of these, only the obvious one is published by the family firm.

Joseph William Mallord Turner, Britain’s great romantic landscape painter, painted nature to become a supreme master of the sublime. The ‘sublime’ can be defined as that sensation of delightful terror elicited by the awesome power of nature and man’s helplessness in the face of that power. Suitable vehicles for Turner’s imagination were shipwrecks, storms, avalanches, fires, rising winds and tempestuous seas. Turner retained a lifelong passion for the sea, which he painted over and over again throughout his long career.

Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes is an experienced guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern and lectures at various art societies and institutions. She has a special interest in British and European art of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th century. Having gained an MA in film and television practice, Jennifer had a career spanning fifteen years as a television producer/director making documentaries and factual programmes for the BBC, (including Tomorrow's World), ITV and Channel 4. She was also a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College and Birkbeck, University of London and a senior lecturer at Southampton Solent University in the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society.

The source of the stuff of dreams, the poppy is a beautiful, fragile flower with immense power. Opium (from the greek ‘opion’ – poppy juice) is a hypnotic bringer of sleep, delightful lethargy and relief from pain. It is also highly addictive. Greed led to the introduction of this hugely desirable substance first to China, and then to Europe. The beguiling seduction of its effects led to its use to quieten troubled minds and calm agitated children and babies. Its use – often by those with troubled minds – led to the creation of great works of art in music, art and literature. Social and art history meet as this lecture unfolds.

Amanda Herries read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge. From 1978-1988 she was Curator at Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1718 to present day, exhibitions, lectures, booklets and broadcasts. From 1988-1995 she moved with her family to Japan, lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. In 1995 she returned to UK, fundraising for arts companies, writing, lecturing and guiding tours to Japan. Her most recent publications are on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West.

How and why did European artists move from flat medieval symbolism to the in-depth imagery of realistic representation?

With fascinating illustrations, Gabriel finds ‘missing links’ revealing the emergence of artists’ ground-breaking treatments of light and space. The driving force was not just technical factors like oil paint and perspective but the urge to produce ever greater impact and meaning. He shows first how the roots of observation lay dormant in medieval imagery, and then how increasingly ambitious content drove the inward expansion of pictorial space, which in turn demanded innovations in the depiction of light.

Netherlands painters such as Van Eyck, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden pursued increasing precision in exploring how light behaves in indoor spaces, while Italian painters like Giotto, Crivelli and Tintoretto found ingenious ways to integrate holy light into naturalistic settings. Painters of the Reformation then dispensed with holy light and established norms of realism which would last until the ‘rebellion’ of modernism in the early 20th century.

Gabriel Chanan took up lecturing on art history in 2015, building on his lifelong interest in the arts during a career as a social researcher and policy analyst. He was the founding Chair of Windsor Community Arts Centre (now The Old Court). His study of the visual arts focuses mainly on realist painting, especially on points of transition between different periods and styles. Following publication of his book on Shakespeare and Democracy (2015) he also ran a small theatre company performing at arts centres and festivals till 2020. He was awarded an MBE for services to community development in 2009. 

When men were prepared to murder and be martyred for their religious faith and the Elizabethan security services were zealously gathering intelligence against a militant enemy a Golden Age of Theatre emerged in England. Assassinated at the age of 29 Christopher Marlowe was very much a man of his times.

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

When we walk into any gallery, why do we see so many depictions of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, but not Viking ones? This lecture explores how Norse myths and legends have been portrayed in the decorative and fine arts over more than 1,300 years and reveals quite how few depictions we have (although some are superb) and how varied they can be. In order to explain key themes in the artworks, the talk begins with a brief overview of the pantheon of deities, the Norse creation story and Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods.

James Vaux is a researcher and lecturer specialising in Nordic arts, culture, design and history. He has presented extensively on diverse topics throughout his career to demanding audiences across the globe, including CEOs and government ministers. His talks now focus on understanding artistic achievements through their historic, cultural and political context.  James aims to question the underlying narratives behind artists, designers and movements, to explore the 'why' and the 'how' instead of the conventional 'who', 'what' and 'when' . 

James took a law degree at Oxford with First Class Honours and qualified as a solicitor before switching career. As a managing director of the international bank Rothschild, he advised governments and corporates worldwide. He set up and ran the bank’s Nordic operations, living and working in Scandinavia and immersing himself in the countries’ arts, culture and history. James then gained an MA (Distinction) at UCL in Language, Culture and History (Scandinavian Studies). His dissertation was on Swedish design, and he specialised in landscapes, the Viking Age, politics and literature. 

He has also studied interior design and art history at the Inchbald School, Mid-Century Modern at Sotheby’s Institute and electronic music at Point Blank.

 
Viking Gods and Valkyries: The Art of Norse Mythology
James Vaux
Additional Resources
Featured major artists
UK
Henry Fuseli (1741-1825)
William Blake (1757-1827)
Denmark
Nicolai Abildgaard (1743-1809)
C.W. Eckersberg (1783-1853)
H.E. Freund (1786-1840)
Lorenz Frølich (1820-1908)
Sweden
B.E. Fogelberg (1786-1854)
Nils Blommér (1816-1853)
Mårten Eskil Winge (1825-1896)
Carl Larsson (1853-1919)
Bengt Lindström (1925-2008)
Norway
Peter Nicolai Arbo (1831-1892)
Germany
Emil Döpler (1855-1922)
Anselm Kiefer (1945-)
Where to see
Scandinavia
Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), Copenhagen
National Museum, Stockholm
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo
(These display mainly the 19th century history paintings / sculptures)
Germany
Neues Museum, Berlin, Vaterland Hall
(Restored frescoes depicting the Eddas)
United Kingdom
Nearer to home, the Royal Academy occasionally shows Fuseli’s Thor (currently not on
display). Birmingham Museum holds Edward Burne-Jones’s studies for stained glass windows
of Odin, Thor and Frey for the Vinland mansion in Newport, Rhode Island (the original
windows are now lost). A copy of the Gosforth Cross is in the V&A sculpture hall. A copy
of the Thorwald Cross (showing Odin devoured by Fenrir the wolf at Ragnarök) is in the
Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man. Anselm Kiefer often exhibits at the White Cube,
Bermondsey.
Pam Glew’s series of Norse goddesses, ‘Dark Tales’, can be seen online here:
https://www.pamglew.co.uk/p-dark-tales.
Further Reading
There are only three books I have found dealing specifically with the art of Scandinavian
Mythology. All are out of print; one is in Icelandic and one in Danish! However, you can
purchase the English one (accompanying an exhibition in York and Nottingham in the late
1990s) second hand, e.g. from Abe Books.
Wilson, David M, 1997. Vikings and Gods in European Art. Aarhus: Moesgaard Museum
BUT…this excellent book does include many reproductions of the artwork shown:
Larrington, Carolyne, 2023. The Norse Myths That Shape the Way We Think. London:
Thames & Hudson
For the art of the Viking Age more generally, this is a good primer:
Graham-Campbell, 2021. Viking Art. London: Thames & Hudson
For Norse Mythology generally, the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda are both available in
Penguin, but I suggest starting with a modern introduction such as:
Gaiman, Neil, 2017. Norse Mythology. London: Bloomsbury
Larrington, Carolyne, 2017. The Norse Myths – A Guide to the Gods and Heroes
London: Thames & Hudson
If you like YouTube, Old Norse educator Dr Jackson Crawford @jacksoncrawford posts
fascinating, academically accurate and readily understandable short videos on Norse
mythology and literature.
In addition to Larrington’s 2023 publication above, these books cover the cultural reception
of the Norse myths over the ages:
O’Donaghue, Heather, 2008. From Asgard to Valhalla. London and New York: I.B.
Taurus
Arnold, Martin, 2011. Thor: Myth to Marvel. London and New York: Continuum
Lindow, John, 2021. Old Norse Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press
Helgason, Jón Karl, 2017. Echoes of Valhalla. London: Reaktion Books

Sorolla (1863-1923) was a highly successful artist of international renown in his lifetime, but outside Spain and the United States he is largely forgotten today.  One of the city’s ‘hidden secrets’. While Sorolla admired the great Spanish traditions of Velázquez and Goya, his delightful paintings of fishermen and children at the seaside, landscapes and the great series depicting his Vision of Spain, in the Hispanic Society in New York, are full of sunlight and optimism. His former home and studio is now one of Madrid’s most popular small museums. For those who do not know him, his paintings are a real treat.

Gail Turner is an historian, art historian, and painter. She is passionate about Spain and Spanish topics. She has been a long-time lecturer for The Arts Society, and before Covid she taught on courses at the V&A, and for Art Pursuits, the National Gallery and the Art Fund. She has lectured on Cambridge University Summer Schools, the Courtauld Institute Summer Courses, Inscape, and for many arts organisations in Europe. In the past she led tours to Spain for The Arts Society and Martin Randall Travel. Gail lectured in the Prado and Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid in the 1980s, and was Deputy Curator of Keats Shelley Memorial House, Rome, before that. She was also once a Christie’s consultant in Illuminated Manuscripts. In 2015 Gail was awarded the Encomienda de Isabel la Católica (the equivalent of the CBE) by the King of Spain for promoting Spanish culture among British audiences. She is President of The Arts Society Colchester. 

From the earliest days of photography, women have used their cameras to challenge the boundaries of beauty. This lecture begins with the portraits and idylls created by Cameron and Clementina Hawarden. It then considers the images of protest made by Olive Edis and Christina Broom during the  'Votes for Women' campaigns. Finally Suzanne Fagence Cooper explores the career of Lee Miller, from her role as a fashion model, through her Surrealist work, to her uncompromising reportage as a War Correspondent. This lecture shows us the birth of the Modern in art through a new and refreshing lens.

Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper is an art historian working on 19th and 20th Century British art. She was a curator and Research Fellow at the V&A Museum, and is currently Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of York. She has curated a major exhibition on John Ruskin and J.M.W.Turner, and she is planning a new exhibition project on William Morris and his family for 2025. Suzanne is the author of 'To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters', 'Effie Gray' and 'Pre-Raphaelite Art in the V&A Museum'. She is a trustee of the Burne-Jones catalogue raisonné and has worked as a consultant for TV and film projects, including 'The Invisible Woman' with Ralph Fiennes. She leads art history tours in England, France and Switzerland, and is an invited speaker for Cunard. Her latest book is 'How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris'.

Having had access to the jewels designated Heirlooms of the Crown and with a spectacular collection of her own, the Queen Mother had so much jewellery to choose from over the course of her long life that it would be almost impossible to describe it all. In this talk Jeremy chronicles her passion for jewels by concentrating on a selection of items which are of particular gemmological and historic interest ..… and have an intriguing story attached.

Jeremy Mainwaring-Burton

On leaving Durham University with a degree in geology I decided to join the Army. I then spent five years in the Irish Guards, the last two and a half of which were on secondment to Clarence House as the Queen Mother’s equerry. Being a geologist I couldn’t help but notice the magnificent gemstones in the Queen Mother’s jewellery. Indeed if I admired a piece she would sometimes take it off and give it to me to have a closer look. This inspired me to study gemmology and on leaving the Army I qualified as a Fellow of the Gemmological Association. Then, in addition to working as an exploration geologist in South Africa and a gold miner in California, I spent several years as a jewellery and precious stone dealer in London’s Hatton Garden. When the Queen Mother died in 2002 I helped open the Castle of Mey to the public and what was supposed to be a six-week appointment turned into six years. As a result I spent more time at the Castle of Mey than its royal owner ever did, and developed it as one of northern Scotland’s most popular tourist attractions.

A talk which examines the journey of the musical, from its almost accidental beginnings of The Black Crook of 150 years ago through to the modern phenomenon which is Hamilton. This illustrated lecture will highlight the great musical productions which have graced London’s West End and Broadway and focuses upon the game changing moments of both composers and productions. From Jerome Kern to Lin-Manuel Miranda, every great musical has its own story; from page to stage. Enjoy the great music, the great stories and the dynamic theatricality of their finest moments.

After training at RADA Jamie Hayes 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.

A wealthy Venetian shopping in the Rialto area had access to goods from far and wide. Luxury goods were entering Venice both from the Islamic East and Northern Europe. This lecture vividly  evokes a day on the Rialto, its surrounding buildings and its merchants. We will examine the wares that were on offer and how Venetians displayed them after purchase.

Dr Antonia Gatward Cevizli is an independent art historian specialising in both Italian Renaissance art and Ottoman art. She gained her PhD from the University of Warwick. Her publications focus on cultural and diplomatic exchange between the Italian city-states and the Ottomans. Antonia has lectured for a number of institutions including Sabancı University, Istanbul; Sotheby’s Institute of Art; the National Gallery; the V&A Academy and The Courtauld summer school. Her interests are wide-ranging and she also worked across the collections of both Tate Modern and Tate Britain as a professional guide. She has lived in Siena, Venice and Istanbul.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in America, explore 25 iconic works including Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic,’ Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother,’ Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks,’ of American art. Trace the history of America through paintings, sculptures, land art, and photography that exemplify vital moments in American history like the Gold Rush, the Civil War, Civil Rights movement, and so forth; key styles/movements like the Hudson River School, Regionalism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art; and showcase ground-breaking artists from the indigenous Native American peoples through to virtuoso portrait painter John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Warhol, Kara Walker and many more.

Marie-Anne trained as an artist before gaining a PhD in Art and Critical Theory from the University of Sussex. She has lectured in art history for the City Lit, Tate Modern, the Course, Art in London, London Art Salon, Dulwich Picture Gallery and HENI films. She also runs art history study tours abroad and is a Director of InFems art collective for whom she curates exhibitions and writes.

The avant-gardes in Latin America that developed during the 1920s delved into the paradox of pursuing an artistic language that addressed universal concerns whilst striving to realise a national artistic identity. Despite their paradoxical aim, this tension allowed artists to explore a new spectrum of styles, mediums and languages that separated them from the European avant-garde that most of them had previously studied. This lecture will focus on four nodes of their investigation, looking at Mexican, Argentinean, Uruguayan and Brazilian artists such as David Alfaro Siqueiros, Frida Kahlo, Joaquin Torres Garcia, Anita Malfatti & Tarsila do Amaral.

Daniela Galan is a Colombian artist and art historian from Goldsmiths University. She is also a former lawyer and philosopher of Los Andes University, with an extensive background in education and Latin American art history. 

Daniela is the founding Director of AMALGAMA, the first cultural programme and digital platform in the UK devoted to exhibiting, promoting, and publishing female artists' work with Spanish, Portuguese, Central and South American heritage: Ibero-American. With the project, she has curated several exhibitions in London, displaying over 20 Latin American artists in the UK, and published the book AMALGAMA, Women, Identity and Diaspora. Her work and articles have been featured in Revista Diners, Revista Alternativa, El Ojo de La Cultura and LAR Magazine. She has an ongoing collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes London to promote Latin American artists in the UK.  

This lecture covers almost 2000 years of London's history illustrated through its stained glass windows - encompassing 19th century, 20th century and contemporary glass makers.

Anna Warrillow 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. She established her own guiding company Canvas and Stone Tours in 2018 (www.canvasandstonetours.co.uk)

Her background and passion is Art & History. She studied a BA in History of Art & Italian at the University of Sussex and achieved an 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. 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 as well as providing training courses and Continual Professional Development courses for students and guide members of the Institute of Tourist Guides.

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

...................................................................................................................................................................................................

Simon is a (recovering) actor, lecturer, presenter, Alexander Technique and voice teacher and award winning London Blue Badge guide.

He has worked as a guide lecturer in house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public and private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and also lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts and English literature.

Simon’s specialisms and passions are theatre, literature, fashion and art history but whatever the subject, Simon will weave a wonderful story from it.

The RSN’s royal connections began from the outset when Princess Helena became its President and in 1875 Queen Victoria became its Patron. This lecture tells the story of the RSN’s  royal connections and especially focuses on the RSN’s role in all the British coronations of the 20th century, but first beginning with making the funeral pall for Queen Victoria herself in the tightest of timescales.

Coming all the way up to date with the association with the Royal family today, including work for HM The Queen and about introducing our new Patron the Duchess of Cornwall to stitch.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Susan is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in recognition of her work on the history of dyes. Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Canada, China, Japan and Taiwan as well as for the V&A and across the UK.

Art Deco has the reputation of being the most glamorous and popular style of the 20th century which was prevalent during the 1920s and 1930s. We will review the development of the style within the context of its social and economic environment and look at specific examples of objets d’arts, including silver, jewellery, furniture, ceramics, clocks and architecture.  The range of designers, craftsmen and artists that we will contemplate will include, but not limited to, E-J Ruhlmann, René Lalique, Tamara de Lempicka, Jean Dupas, Georgia O’Keeffe, Eileen Gray, Romain de Tirtoff (Erté), René Vincent and English ceramicist, Clarice Cliff.In addition to some examples of domestic and civic Art Deco buildings in the UK, we will also touch on certain architectural buildings in New York, Miami, Mumbai, and Napier, thus confirming Art Deco’s full global reach and appeal.

..................................................................................................................................................................................................

Pamela has an MA Hons in Art History from St Andrew's University. She has over 30 years lecturing experience to undergraduates, adult groups and Friends and Patrons of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the Adult Education Department's programme of events. She has also conducted numerous guided tours and focused gallery talks on individual works of art. She specialises in British Domestic Architecture and Modern British Art and has over 12 years' experience at the Royal Academy. She is now a freelance art consultant and lecturer and recently curated a collection for the Lansdowne Club.

Blue and white tin-glazed earthenware has long been admired and collected for its attractive appearance, but this lecture goes further by examining English delftware with a pharmaceutical purpose. Drawing on examples from collections at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, this talk will provide a beginner's guide to these beautiful yet practical vessels. By placing them in their wider historical context, Briony will also demonstrate that delftware drug jars have an undervalued role to play in understanding medical practices in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

Briony studied History at Cambridge University, and Museums Studies at Leicester University. Having worked at museums as diverse as Hereford Cider Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Wakefield Museum, she moved into medical history in 2002 as Keeper of the Museum Collections at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, then Director of Museums at the Royal College of Surgeons in England, and has worked as an independent curator for a wide range of medical museums and royal colleges. Her publications include books on liquorice, English delftware drug jars, popular historical medicines, and the histories of UCL, Cardiff and Sunderland schools of pharmacy. She is a Past President of the Social History Curators Group, of the London Museums of Health and Medicine network, of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy, and of the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Society of Apothecaries. She currently works part-time as Director of Amersham Museum.

The remarkable untold story of Carry On actor Peter Butterworth, and his wife, Britain’s first female tv impressionist Janet Brown, best known for her impression of Mrs Thatcher. 

Using classic film and tv clips, personal mementos, and rare photographs and letters from his family’s unseen collection, Tyler reveals the private story behind his parents’ public lives.

Drawing on his own experiences as both a child and adult actor, Tyler reveals the pains and the pleasures of a career in the theatre, and takes us through the various intricate processes of putting on a play from the actor’s perspective, from the casting session to the curtain call, and all stops in between.

On the way, he reveals how props can let you down at crucial moments, how actors survive when out of work, and how to deal with stage nudity.

Tyler Butterworth grew up in a theatrical family and spent twenty five years as an actor working extensively in film, television, theatre and radio. He then worked as a development producer in television documentaries and was closely involved with NASA on a landmark commemorative tv series. Now, he works as a voice actor, recording audiobooks, documentaries and voiceovers, and he produces walking audio guides to cities across Europe for private clients on whatever subject he’s commissioned to do. They’re just like the audio guides you get in art galleries and museums but they’re out on the street. He lives in Sussex where he walks on the South Downs and the South Coast.

In the year 2000, having been a Curator  in the Greek And Roman Department of the British Museum  for 13 years, Louise decided to escape. Given a  trowel with a diamond and silver casing in the handle as a leaving present, she set off on a series of extraordinary archaeological adventures. In this richly illustrated talk she will take you with her to a  mysterious and atmospheric ancient city on the coast of southern Albania, to the banks of the two great rivers of Mesopotamia -  the Euphrates and the Tigris  - and then to the wild and wonderful mountains of northern Ethiopia.

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

William ‘Billy’ Burges was short, fat and bad-tempered. He was also a genius who created some of the most extraordinary buildings of the Nineteenth Century. Completely immersed in the world of the Middle Ages, he designed Churches, castles, bridges, interiors, furniture, textiles, metalwork and jewellery for his few, equally individual clients. Loved by pop stars and poets alike, Burges’s eccentric world and many of his creations are illustrated in this fascinating and fun lecture. 

Matthew Williams holds degrees from the Universities of Nottingham and Manchester and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. A recognised expert on the work of the Victorian designer William Burges, Matthew was Curator of Cardiff Castle for nearly 30 years. His most recent  publication is a major book Cardiff Castle and the Marquesses of Bute, published in 2019. A long-standing member of The Arts Society, Matthew has been a programme secretary and a chairman before becoming an accredited lecturer in 2001.

In 2023 the RA will host the first ever UK exhibition on Marina Abramovic and she will become a hotly debated artist. Many only know a little of this incredible woman and so this lecture is an amazing opportunity to learn more. Abramović is the pioneer of performance art and Helen will discuss her 50 year career from its dramatic beginnings to how the artist, now in her 70’s, has developed her work to reflect her changing perceptions of the world. Helen will look at the question of whether performance art can outlive the performance itself; are the photos, videos and re-performances of younger artists just as valid? Abramović has a superbly powerful presence and creates a very intense relationship between the performer and the viewer, more so than is achieved in the theatre.

Helen Oakden is the Head of the History of Art Department at St Mary’s School Ascot. She studied at Manchester University and achieved her Masters’ Degree in architectural history from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Based in London she has previously worked for the Royal Academy and National Gallery, as well as leading specialised art history courses across Italy. 

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family. Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles. And yet without them we wouldn’t have Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello’s “David” or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici chapel. The Platonic Academy wouldn’t have been founded and the doors for the Baptistry would never have been cast.

This lecture looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family. The triumphs and tragedies, the intrigues and plots; the assassination attempts, the years of exile and their perpetual desire to glorify the family name in works of art, which was to result in some of the greatest achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

Douglas Skeggs read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980. In that time he has given over 8000 lectures to universities, colleges and art societies. He was the director of  The New Academy of Art Studies for three years and is presently a regular lecturer at The Study Center, Christie's course 'The History of Art Studies' and other London courses. Among his more improbable venues for lectures are the bar on the QE2, MI5 headquarters, the Captain's Room at Lloyds, and an aircraft hanger in a German NATO base. Overseas he has lectured in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain, and has taken numerous tours around Europe.

He has written and presented various TV documentaries, notably the Omnibus programme on Whistler and the exhibition video on William Morris. Three one-man exhibitions of his paintings have been held in England and Switzerland. He has published five novels, which have been translated into 8 foreign languages, and his book on Monet, River of Light, has sold 30,000 copies in England, America and France.

A  journey through one of the most remarkable years of Pablo Picasso’s extraordinary career. Picasso turned 50 in the autumn of 1931 and in the summer of 1932 he had his first major retrospective. He had achieved fame and success and was already an international celebrity but he was determined to prove he could still be daring and innovative. Highlighting key works throughout that year, Cindy Polemis explores the man and artist in all his complexity.

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. Before that she spent many years as a radio producer and presenter for the BBC World Service working in news and current affairs. Since 2016 Cindy has worked as 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. She is particularly keen to draw parallels with art and social history and her lectures are accessible and engaging, drawing out the stories of art and artists which are steeped in human emotions and experiences which we all share.

Calcutta was the second city of the British Empire and a hub of cultural and artistic production throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This lecture provides an overview of the arts (poetry, theatre, literature, song) and architecture of this extraordinary city, which was India’s capital until 1911. At the epicentre of the ‘Bengal renaissance’, Calcutta played a central role in shaping the arts and culture of modern India, as a huge variety of artists sought to interpret India’s classical heritage in new ways, and to combine this heritage with Western cultural forms. This lecture examines how Calcutta’s arts and architecture were affected by British rule, and explores the fascinating ways in which Indian artists viewed the British in India.

Dr John Stevens is a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, and a member of academic staff at the SOAS South Asia Institute. His PhD in History is from University College London. He teaches British Imperial history, Indian history and Bengali language, and is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh. He publishes widely in the fields of British and Indian history. 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 appears regularly in the Indian media, and was a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.

We will look at the rich art, architecture and history of Sicily - the largest island of the ancient Mediterranean and, in the ancient world, the wealthiest.

First we see the Carthaginians, the first major invaders of Sicily and their distinctive, enigmatic culture, still visible on the small island of Motya.   Afterwards come the Greeks, with beautiful cities such as Agrigento, and Syracuse and Segesta, filled with theatres and temples to the gods.

Then we see Roman Sicily, peaceful and prosperous, with cities such as Syracuse and Taormina, and the sumptuous ‘mosaic villa’ of Piazza Armerina. After Rome, and the new Rome of Constantinople, comes the invasion of the Arabs with their revolution in society and agriculture, and then Norman Sicily - an extraordinary artistic flourishing, culminating in the mosaics of the magnificent  Norman basilicas.

Dr Paul Roberts is Head of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford University. 

Paul has been a lecturer with the Arts Society/NADFAS for over twenty years, has travelled extensively to societies across the UK, and has also lectured on numerous cruises in and around the Mediterranean. Like all of us, he enjoys the immediate contact of face to face meetings, but is happy to provide online lectures if desired. 

He studied Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Classical Archaeology at the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford.  He then lived in Italy for several years, teaching and researching.  He has travelled throughout the former lands of the Roman Empire, from Britain to Syria, and has excavated in Britain, Greece, Libya, Turkey and in particular Italy, where he is currently working on a Roman Villa in the Molise region of the Central Apennines. His research focuses on the daily life of ordinary people in the Greek and Roman worlds, and he has written books and articles on Greek and Roman daily life, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Sicily, Roman Emperors, mummy portraits, and Greek and Roman ceramics and glass. He is now writing a guide to the monuments and Emperors of ancient Rome.  

From 1994 to 2015 he was Senior Roman Curator in the Greek and Roman Department at the British Museum, where he curated the exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum (2013). Arriving in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 2015, he co-curated Storms, War and Shipwrecks: Sicily and the Sea (2016) telling the history of Sicily through shipwreck finds. Most recently (2019/20) at the Ashmolean he curated Last Supper in Pompeii, a tribute to the Roman love affair with food and wine.

During the Renaissance, Venice held an important political and artistic position in the Eastern Mediterranean. Through the production of fine glass for the royal courts and aristocracy of Europe, Venice exerted its wide-reaching control and influence. As seen in this well-illustrated lecture, Venetian glass of the Renaissance incorporates forms, styles and techniques which were inspired by the Romans and which surprisingly anticipate modern design. Its decline in later years is widely charted. Drawing on examples from museums around the world, the history of Venetian glass from its grand beginnings on the island of Murano in the 12th century, through the extraordinary creation of Cristallo in the 15th century to the later developments of Dr. Antonio Salviati of the Anglo-Murano Glass Company in the late 19th century, this lecture provides a clear view of a material which is held in high regard around the world. Colourful, elaborate and often breathtakingly beautiful, Venetian glass has been an inspiration for glassmakers around the globe. Nonetheless, until the late 16th century the generations of glassmaking families living on the island of Murano were kept virtually imprisoned in order to protect the secrets of their skills. Fortunately today their work has become a legacy and through this lecture their secrets exposed.

Simon Cottle is a leading international specialist, author and lecturer in British and European Glass. Currently an independent Fine Art consultant. Formerly Managing Director (Bonhams Europe) and Director of European Ceramics and Glass at Bonhams Auctioneers, London (2007-2021). Formerly Head of European Ceramics and Glass at Sotheby's, where he was also a Director and auctioneer (1990 to 2007). Following studies for a degree in History at Cardiff, Washington and Manchester universities, he started his career as a senior curator of ceramics, glass and silver at museums in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Glasgow (1979-1990). He is Hon. President of the Glass Circle, Fellow of the Guild of Glass Engravers and a Fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York.

Using examples from illuminated manuscripts, readings from literature and contemporary accounts, and the haunting songs, carols and lively dance tunes of medieval England, Sarah brings alive the spirit of a Medieval Christmas- a time of joy and celebration for some, but hardship and suffering for others. With extracts from literature and manorial household accounts, she pieces together life in a medieval manor house at Yuletide. In addition to her reproduction medieval harps, she adds plucked psaltery, hurdy-gurdy, hammered dulcimer and gemshorn to the musical mix, performing carols, music and readings for an atmospheric and musical seasonal celebration.

Sarah Deere-Jones is a graduate and prize-winner from the Royal Academy of Music and in 2015 was elected an Associate. She performs, writes and lectures about the harp regularly in America, Australia, Europe and UK.

At a time when women were frowned upon for being out in public without a guardian, when they weren’t allowed into the bars and cafes that male artists could frequent, and when serious art was still seen as ‘men’s work’, this lecture looks at the daring women who braved social stigma and fought against the odds to become some of the most important and sensitive of the Impressionist painters. From Berthe Morisot – one of the founding members of the Impressionist movement – and the American painter Mary Cassatt to the lesser-known Marie Bracquemond and Eva Gonzalès – we explore how these women artists made Impressionism their own. How did their subject-matter, painting styles and attitudes differ from their male counterparts? And why – despite many of them being hugely successful and critically admired during their lifetimes – were they until so recently written out of the history books?

Jacky Klein is an art historian, publisher, writer and broadcaster, specialising in modern and contemporary art. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, she worked as a curator at a number of leading galleries: Tate, the Barbican, the Courtauld and the Hayward. In 2008, she moved sideways into the world of art publishing; she is an author herself of a bestselling book on British artist Grayson Perry (Thames & Hudson, 3rd edition 2020).

Jacky has presented and contributed to a range of television programmes for the BBC, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's arts review programme, Front Row. She has taught at a number of arts institutions including University College London, Christie’s Education, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts. She is also a Trustee of the UK Association for Art History, and is currently Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute on their Masters programme, 'Curating the Art Museum'.

Image:Berthe Morisot, The Sisters, 1869 (National Gallery of Art, Washington) 

No English king is as well-known to us as Henry VIII. He is famous for six marriages, breaking with the Pope, dissolving the monasteries and creating the Church of England; and for his ruthless elimination of those who stood in his way.  But he was also an enthusiastic patron of the arts whose palaces, tapestries and paintings enriched the Tudor court and began the Royal Collection. The forces that influenced Henry’s life can be seen in the works he commissioned, by artists such as Pietro Torrigiano, Hans Holbein and Giralomo da Treviso. They tell us much about his kingship and (unintentionally) his insecurities. Ultimately, each of the works contained some aspect of one central story: the glorification of Henry and his England.

Siobhan Clarke BA has worked for Historic Royal Palaces for 20 years delivering tours and lectures on Hampton Court, Kensington, the Tower of London and the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace. Her experience includes education sessions and tours for schools, universities, corporate and private clients.  

She has lectured for the British Museum, National Trust, U3A, Arts Society and Smithsonian and featured on BBC Radio Women's Hour and Television's Secrets of Henry VIII's Palace. Her published work includes: A Tudor Christmas, in collaboration with Alison Weir, (2018), The Tudors: The Crown, The Dynasty, The Golden Age with Linda Collins (2019), King and Collector: Henry VIII and the Art of Kingship (2021) and she is currently working on Gloriana: Elizabeth I and the Art of Queenship.

John Singer Sargent's reputation as the leading international society portraitist left him open to attack from jealous rivals and critics with their own modernist agenda. We will explore the extraordinary inventiveness, modernity, and psychological insight in Sargent's work as well as his technical brilliance across a range of media and subjects. These will include many personal themes and preoccupations in landscape, seascape, light and tone and intimate portrait studies. Also less well known projects and experiments in sculpture. Caricatures, letters and diaries will be used to bring the personalities to life and to shed light on the life and interests of John Singer Sargent - a charismatic, unconventional and complex artist who was equally at home in England, Europe and the USA.

Mary has thirty years experience as a lecturer, with a BA in History and History of Art and a MA with distinction in History of Art from University College London. Experience includes public lectures in museums, tutoring for the Open University, visiting lecturer at Christie's Education in London, museum curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of Costume, Manchester. Now a freelance lecturer to various arts, heritage and antiquarian societies. She also worked in Pentagram design consultancy in London and New York, organising conferences and special events. As an author of various articles on design and visual awareness issues, her background combines an unusual blend of academic and visual communications skills. She lectured for ADFAS Australia and New Zealand in 2011, 2013 and 2016. Mary is an enthusiastic member and President of The Arts Society Glaven Valley.

The flamboyant Duc de Berry (1340-1416), brother of the king of France, was the most famous art patron of the late Middle Ages. His great Book of Hours, the Très Riches Heures, is one of the finest of all medieval works of art. The lecture asks who the Duc was and why and how he was forming his vast collections. It includes visits to his palaces and castles in France, now mostly ruins, and it uses the Duc’s medieval inventories to conjure their displays of jewels, goldwork, relics, exotic animals and (above all) breath-taking illuminated manuscripts.

“Immerse yourself in the medieval world of Christopher de Hamel” (Sir David Attenborough’s advice on life, quoted in The Evening Standard on his 90th birthday). Christopher de Hamel, FSA, is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge. He was a director of Sotheby’s for 25 years, responsible for illuminated manuscripts, and then librarian of the Parker Library in Cambridge for 17 years. His very many books on medieval manuscripts include the best-selling Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, which won the Wolfson History Prize. He is widely known as a lecturer across six continents. 

This sumptuously illustrated lecture traces the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West through both its art and one of its most intriguing heroines. At the centre of a perfect storm of Goths, Vandals, Huns and contesting Romans, stood an orphan girl of ‘nobility, beauty and chaste purity’ called Galla Placidia. This half-sister of Roman Emperors and the hostage wife of a Gothic King became one of the world’s most powerful women. Not only did she leave her mark on the history of Rome, but she was also the driving force behind some of its most impressive art and architecture.

As a Classics Tutor for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Professor of History of Art for the European Studies Program of Rhodes College and The University of the South, Stephen has spent much of the last 30 years travelling extensively in the world of the Greeks and Romans both physically and intellectually. He has published A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (Robinson, 2007) and A Brief Guide to Classical Civilization (Robinson, 2010). He is currently working on A Brief Guide to the Roman Empire.

In this talk Andrew shows how the Great Depression and the Second World War had such an extraordinary impact on fashion and jewellery design with the rise of cinema and Hollywood. From the likes of Marlene Dietrich to Grace Kelly, he guides you through the various screen goddesses, how they were portrayed and what they gave to such dazzling effect. He explains how the development of advertising, labour saving devices and leisure time gave people more opportunities to enjoy themselves and spend money on the finer things in life. He also shows how the Belle Epoque and Art Deco styles did not end at the outbreak of the Second World War, but combined, to flower again with Christian Dior’s 'New Look'.

In 1980, when Andrew was nine, his mother took him to the Princely Magnificence exhibition at the V&A, exhibiting Renaissance jewels dating from 1500 to 1630. Dazzled by the splendour and opulence of the jewels on show, Andrew decided then and there that he wanted to devote his life to creating jewellery. At 16 Andrew started work in London’s Bond Street, working for The Antiques Roadshow expert Ian Harris. He then joined the renowned contemporary jeweller Elizabeth Gage working on the design and production side. Private commissions turned into a flood, as celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Shirley Bassey were seen wearing Andrew's creations. In 2002, the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the resplendent Tiaras, Past and Present exhibition which became one of their most popular exhibits. This led to Andrew's jewellery appearing in film; jewellery collections were commissioned for Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judy Dench, The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson, and the third series of Downton Abbey.  

The sinuous, characteristically whiplash forms that provide the blueprint for Art Nouveau are seen time and time again in the fine and decorative art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, until wiped away by the First World War. A truly international movement, the varied incarnations of the style in different countries is examined in a lecture that celebrates fluidity and movement. 

Viv is an art historian, curator, author and journalist with over 25 years’ experience in the art market. For a decade she was an art market journalist, working at The Art Newspaper and Antiques Trade Gazette. She has been published in many journals, newspapers, catalogues, handbooks and websites. Currently she is working on a book about contemporary Filipino artist Andres Barrioquinto (b.1975).

Viv has worked as Senior UK Consultant to Singapore-based Larasati Auctioneers and Gallery One East Asia since 2011, introducing the emerging art markets of Southeast Asia to the international audience and recently became Head of Education for LACA (London Asian and African Contemporary Art).

Viv also teaches at several Higher Education institutions in London and sits on the Education Committee of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, aimed at increasing accessibility and diversity within the arts.

Cubism can be confusing. Never truly popular, the most influential art movement of the 20th Century can sometimes appear difficult and strange. Is this because there is something inherently ‘unlovable’ about Cubism? Not at all! Cubism needs simply to be explained for its beauty to be appreciated. This lecture sets out clearly and succinctly the theory behind Cubism, its various phases and the different types of Cubist painting, collage and sculpture in the years c.1907-25. This is an accessible introduction to the subject, illustrated with artworks by the most famous Cubist artists - Picasso, Braque and Léger - and those lesser-known including some working in Britain.

 Steven gained a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Liverpool School of Art and an MA in History of Art at Birkbeck College, London. He has been a Lecturer at the National Gallery since 2004 and has lectured on the history of European art and architecture at Somerset House. He has taught courses on art and architecture at The City Literary Institute and Bishopsgate Institute, London and is a regular gallery and museum guide for U3A. Steven is also a talented painter.

Elaine will show a brief PowerPoint about her time on The Great Pottery Throwdown as she is sure you all like Portrait artist of the year and Landscape Artist of the Year etc and wonder what goes on behind the scenes.

She will also show a brief PowerPoint about Clay College in Stoke which is an intensive Studio Potters Course bringing on the next generation of Potters.  She will then talk about using clay found locally and demonstrate some throwing on her Pottery Wheel from her studio.

 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................

I consider myself more of a Craftsperson rather than an Artist.  I have had the privilege of being encouraged by my parents to explore many different genres from a very early age, making Christmas decorations, knitting, crotchet, bricklaying, welding, dressmaking etc.  Most of the time it was with recycled elements as money was limited. 

Working this way has fed into my Ceramics, I don’t draw or plan in detail any of my pieces I let the clay develop on the wheel in a more relaxed style even allowing a series of pots to develop made from the same weight of clay, but they will all have a slight variation when finished.  I try to minimise my use of tools and concentrate on leaving the marks my hands make as I throw.  I fire my work using either an electric or gas kiln and enjoy exploring the use of found materials such as wood ash, local clay or beach shale within the clay and glazes.

Mainly self-taught, after 25 years of throwing on a potter’s wheel at home I had the privilege of completing a two-year full-time Diploma at Clay College in Stoke on Trent, graduating in 2019.  This newly formed course allowed me to go from producing a sterile pot to the work I am producing today.  I am now a Trustee of Clay College, helping the next generation of Studio Potters.

Although the Russian jeweller Carl Fabergé is best known for his magnificent Imperial Easter Eggs, these represent only one aspect of his firm’s great creativity. This lecture examines the exquisite jewellery, vivid enamelled boxes and trinkets, intricate hard-stone figures and naturalistic flower studies that were the mainstay of his success, and which delighted his customers throughout Europe. Although quintessentially a Russian story, Fabergé’s London branch – where Christmas was the busiest time rather than Easter – allows us to explore other patrons and the links between St Petersburg and London. The lecture will be a visual feast, in which we escape into the most privileged realms of Edwardian Christmas shopping.

 Clare is a Curator specialising in the history of jewellery, based in the Department of Metalwork, Silver and Jewellery at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Author of Jewellery from Antiquity to the Present (Thames & Hudson, 1996) and Jewels and Jewellery (V&A, 2000). Contributor to Art Nouveau 1890-1914 (V&A, 2000), Art Deco (V&A, 2003) and International Arts and Crafts (V&A 2005). Curator of Bejewelled by Tiffany (Gilbert Collection, 2006). MA in the History of Design from the Royal College of Art, 1989.

Image: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The bequest of Sir William Seeds, K.C.M.G., HM Ambassador to Moscow, 1939-40, through Art Fund  

William Morris led a revolution against the products of the machine age. The first of our ‘passionate potters’, William de Morgan, was a friend of Morris who rediscovered the secrets of Near Eastern lustre glazes. The eccentric and argumentative Martin Brothers created a range of elaborate salt glazed pots unparalleled in their imaginative breadth. Sir Edmund Elton, the ‘potter baronet’, made pots which combine startling glazes with exotic forms. And finally, Bernard Leach, the father of English studio pottery, not only married the arts of Japan and England but created a legacy that is still alive today. This lecture explores the lives of these truly passionate potters and celebrates their extraordinary and beautiful creations.

Julian studied archaeology at Reading University and has since worked as a professional archaeologist, in commercial archaeology, for English Heritage, for the BBC and as an independent. Elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992 he has been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education to groups and societies and to special interest tour companies. A career in broadcasting involved researching and presenting Meet the Ancestors and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. He is the author of a number of English Heritage publications on Stonehenge, including the previous and current guide books to the monument and landscape. Guest curator of Wish You Were Here, an exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' is currently on display at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.

This lecture aims to give an impression of the nature, breadth and sheer exuberance of Royal patronage of silver and silver-gilt, and to show a representative selection of the silver in the Royal Collection. It explains how the modern Royal Collection came about, evolved and changed in character from the holdings of previous monarchs, and explains its significance within the wider context of Royal patronage.

The lecture looks at the commissioning of silver from Henry VIII to the modern period and focuses in detail on some of the pre-eminent pieces in the collection in order to examine the particular significance of individual members of the Royal Family (not just the monarch) in the history of building one of the most important collections of silver in the world.

Christopher Garibaldi MA (Oxon), MBA, is an independent researcher and scholar. He recently completed an MPhil in the History of Art and Architecture at St John’s College, Cambridge and is preparing to undertake his doctorate from autumn 2020 on aspects of the history of royal patronage.

From 2010 to 2019 he was Director of Palace House, Newmarket (the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art:  www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk

From 2008 to 2010 he was Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections and in 2014 was Director of the Royal Collection Studies Course run in conjunction with the Attingham Trust. From 1998 to 2003 he was Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum where he co-curated a major touring exhibition programme. From 1994 to 1997 he catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

For many people, Kashmir conjures up a beautiful valley surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, for others it is a land of conflict. But what is less well known is that it has been of historic artistic importance for nearly 2000 years. This lecture introduces the astonishing diversity of arts and crafts produced in this tiny area, influenced by Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic cultures. It explores Buddhist sculptures, Hindu temples, great Islamic gardens, paintings, calligraphy, Moghul carpets and Kashmir shawls. Despite its troubled history, Kashmir has fostered a unique environment of artistic diversity and religious co-existence.

Zara is an art consultant and exhibition curator specialising in the art and culture of Tibet, the Himalayan areas and Mongolia. Initially based at the V&A, but has also worked with the Central Asian Department of Bonn University, the Orient Foundation, the Royal Academy, Tibet House, the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside and Asia House. In addition to lecturing for The Arts Society, she lectures for museums, universities, Asian art societies, and private associations. She has been guest lecturer and tour guide on numerous trips to the Himalayas, edited Masterpieces of Mongolian Art: Vol 1 and has published many articles in the field of Buddhist art and culture.

In this lecture Dominic tells the story of fine bindings in Britain over the last hundred years. The journey begins with William Morris and the Kelmscott Chaucer, possibly the last great book of the printed age. He will then show some of the amazing bindings from Sangorski and Sutcliffe, the finest bookbinders in the twentieth century, as well as work from their contemporaries. Dominic will then discuss the new world of Design Binding which emerged after the second world war, as modern design entered this ancient craft, and finish with examples from some of the best artistic bookbinders working today. 

A bookbinder, artist and teacher, he first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine Monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco, and spends part of the year teaching across the USA.

He is Vice President of the Society of Bookbinders and was elected a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. His binding work is mostly the restoration of antiquarian books and Design Bindings. He has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition, including both first prizes and the Mansfield Silver Medal in 2007. His bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library and the John Rylands Library in Manchester. In 2010 he bound a special copy of the winner of the Booker Prize which was presented to the author. In June 2013 he won first prize in the prestigious Sir Paul Getty International Bookbinding Competition. His winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Peter Medhurst writes: Leonard Bernstein once observed "what makes Beethoven great is his perfect sense of form-his ability to realise what the next note always had to be. Up to a point I think Bernstein is correct in his assessment, since Beethoven does project a wonderful sense of self-assuredness in his music, giving the impression that the end product was inevitable and that all he had to do was bother to put the dots down on the page. However, as Beethoven himself said, "i carry my thoughts around with me for a long time.....I change things, discard and try again until I am satisfied" suggesting that, like a craftsman, Beethoven often had to hone his ideas into shape until the right solution presented itself. Beginning with the Pathetique Sonata and charting a course through the symphonies, the string quartets and the choral music, I explore Beethoven's musical style in order to find what it is that gives Beethoven's music its unique sound.

Peter Medhurst   GRSM  ARCM (TCHRIS)  MISM

Peter appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. You can learn more about his activities on his website   petermedhurst.com

We have changed to this lecture on Peter's recommendation because he thinks it lends itself better to the Zoom format. He will be playing live as part of his presentation.

Gaudi is well known and much loved. His work will be explored in detail showing how he engaged with nature and worked with extraordinary ceramicists, iron workers and decorative artists. This lecture will also aim to uncover the other architects working in Barcelona over the turn of the twentieth century; Domenech y Muntaner and Puig y Cadafalch. Attention will be paid to several significant and ravishing buildings in Barcelona, and some less well known.

Jacqueline Cockburn is a linguist and art historian, with first degrees in French and Spanish and Art History, an MA in Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Art History and Spanish. She is now Managing Director of an art tour company. She is currently publishing a book called A Taste of Art.

Bandstands are a distinctive feature of public parks and seaside promenades all over Britain. But what do we actually know about them? Why did they appear in our earliest parks? When were they erected, and who built them? This lecture explores these questions, showing how the bandstand evolved from the buildings and ‘orchestras’ of the early Pleasure Gardens of the eighteenth century and how they appeared in nearly every public park and seaside promenade of the time. The lecture describes how bandstand design was influenced by the great landscape designers, and importantly, how a very small number of Scottish foundries cornered the market across the world, from Bradford to Brazil and Aberdeen to Australia. From parks, seaside resorts and civic spaces, bandstands have appeared and disappeared - but are once again re-appearing, being restored and enjoying a new lease of life.

Paul Rabbitts graduated at Sheffield with a BA Honours in Geography followed by a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh. He is a qualified landscape architect and park manager and has worked for several local authorities across the UK. He is a passionate advocate for public parks and in particular the Victorian and Edwardian bandstand and is a prolific author on the subject. His first of 14 books were published in 2011 on the iconic bandstand and was followed rapidly by books on the Royal Parks, our Great British Parks and most recently on ‘Parkitecture’. He is now working on a biography of Sir Christopher Wren. Now a UK leading expert on bandstands he has been asked to assist in localised restoration projects nationwide.

Henri Matisse began painting relatively late in life, having been destined for a career in law. His first sombre attempts at painting aged 21, soon blossomed into an art of exceptional richness of colour which was the foundation of Fauvism, the first modern art movement in the 20th century. His consecutive paintings of odalisques, still lifes, and decorative interiors as well as his paper cut-outs, were marked by a similar love of colour and beauty of design. We follow one of the greatest masters of colour in the 20th century in his quest for an art “as easy as an armchair after a day’s work”

Lydia was born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award), and an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, London (19th-20th century art - Distinction for thesis on Matisse's Illustrations to Poetry). She has lectured to diverse adult audiences, notably in London's National Gallery and MFA Boston USA. Her book on Great Themes in Art is being considered for publication by Merrell Books for worldwide distribution.

There have been pictorial representations of The Magi from as early as at least the 6th century.  However, these depictions over this vast period of time have been anything but consistent.  In this lecture, I will seek to unravel the myth and the iconography behind the proliferation of the story of the adoration of the magi from its Eastern and pagan roots to its current Christian interpretation.  To aid my examination of this story, and to trace the changes in iconography and depictions of the kings themselves, I will be illustrating it with a variety beautiful works of art, images made across many centuries that will illuminate this fascination as never before.  The lecture will begin by looking at the etymology behind the term ‘magi’ and how it has come down to us and what is now means in contemporary society. 

 For information:  If you would like a reading list provided by Leslie, please ask the Programme Secretary.

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

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 16thcentury and encompasses a huge range of beautiful patterns created both by anonymous hands and by some of the best-known designers of the 19th and 20th centuries. This lecture explores the history and development of this product from earliest times up to the present day. It includes a discussion of the changing ways in which wallpaper was made and a survey of designs from the first black and white patterns, the creation of elegant flock hangings, the fashion for Chinese hand-painted papers, the introduction of machine-printing, the designs of Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement, and the taste for Modernist and Contemporary designs in the 20th century. It also includes a discussion of the ways that wallpapers were used within grand and more ordinary homes and hopes to justify the claim that they were indeed a truly Decorative Art.

Jo Banham is a freelance curator, lecturer and writer. From 2006-2016 she was Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and before that Head of Learning and Access at the National Portrait Gallery, and Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain. She has also been Curator of Leighton House and Assistant Keeper at the Whitworth Art Gallery. She has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration and interiors. She is currently curating an exhibition on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement for the Juan March Fundacion in Madrid and the Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya in Barcelona. She is also Director of the Victorian Society Summer School.

2020 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael. The monumental figures and clarity of form of his art epitomises the grandeur of the High Renaissance while his masterful drawings, in a variety of media, reflect his creative processes. His early death at the age of 37 belies the scope of his work and future influence. In this lecture, we will study his art and architecture, from his early work in Urbino and Florence to its full maturity in Rome.

Shirley graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first class honours degree in the History of Art, specialising in the Italian and Northern Renaissance. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a part-time lecturer for the University of East Anglia and for the Department of Continuing Education of the University of Cambridge. Has run study days and certificate courses as well as residential weekend courses. Also lectures to the Art Fund and individual clubs and societies. She is particularly keen to set the art and architecture of the period in the context of the society for which it was produced.

to be Zoomed on 2 July 8.00pm 

Cinematic images are modern art forms. In the ‘golden age’ of cinema – before the development of CGI technology – film-makers had to construct sets to represent landscapes, townscapes, and interiors. Sometimes they used paintings and photographs, sometimes they built scale models, sometimes they constructed full-size replicas. In each case, they created an art installation they then captured in celluloid images.

Drawing on new insights from the archaeology of cinema, this lecture will use the films of renowned British director David Lean to explore the art of cinema. How do the ‘artists’ – in this case formed of large collaborative teams – choose locations, construct sets, dress actors, and, more generally, ‘imagine’ the world they seek to represent? How much is authentic, and how much preconception and prejudice? What are the influences on the way the cinema depicts the world?

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

CANCELLED

William Morris led a revolution against the products of the machine age. The first of our ‘passionate potters’, William de Morgan, was a friend of Morris who rediscovered the secrets of Near Eastern lustre glazes. In contrast, the eccentric and argumentative Martin Brothers created a range of elaborate salt glazed pots unparalleled in their imaginative breadth. Sir Edmund Elton, the ‘potter baronet’, made pots which combine startling glazes with exotic forms. And finally, Bernard Leach, the father of English studio pottery, not only married the arts of Japan and England but created a legacy that is still alive today. This lecture explores the lives of these truly passionate potters and celebrates their extraordinary and beautiful creations.

Julian studied archaeology at Reading University and has since worked as a professional archaeologist, in commercial archaeology, for English Heritage, for the BBC and as an independent. Elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992. Has been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education, to groups and societies and to special interest tour companies. A career in broadcasting involved researching and presenting Meet the Ancestors  and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. Author of a number of English Heritage publications on Stonehenge, including the previous and current guide books to the monument and landscape. Guest curator of Wish you were here, an exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' which is currently on display at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.

CANCELLED

Gaudi is well known and much loved. His work will be explored in detail. It will be shown how he engaged with nature and worked with extraordinary ceramicists, iron workers and decorative artists. However, it will be the aim of this lecture to uncover the other architects working in Barcelona over the turn of the twentieth century; Domenech y Muntaner and Puig y Cadafalch. Attention will be paid to several significant and ravishing buildings and some less well known buildings in Barcelona.

Jacqueline Cockburn is a linguist and art historian, with first degrees in French and Spanish and Art History, an MA in Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Art History and Spanish. She is now Managing Director of an art tour company. She is currently publishing a book called A Taste of Art.

CANCELLED

The flamboyant Duc de Berry (1340-1416), brother of the king of France, was the most famous art patron of the late Middle Ages. His great Book of Hours, the Très Riches Heures, is one of the finest of all medieval works of art. The lecture, new to the speaker’s repertoire, asks who the Duc was and why and how he was forming his vast collections. It includes visits to his palaces and castles in France, now mostly ruins, and it uses the Duc’s medieval inventories to conjure their displays of jewels, goldwork, relics, exotic animals and (above all) breathtaking illuminated manuscripts

“Immerse yourself in the medieval world of Christopher de Hamel” (Sir David Attenborough’s advice on life, quoted in The Evening Standard on his 90th birthday). Christopher de Hamel, FSA, is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge. He was a director of Sotheby’s for 25 years, responsible for illuminated manuscripts, and then librarian of the Parker Library in Cambridge for 17 years. His very many books on medieval manuscripts include the best-selling Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, which won the Wolfson History Prize. He is widely known as a lecturer across six continents. 

Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, and the story tells of its origin and appearance in all societies across the Mediterranean and through Europe. There is rich evidence of the role wine has played in these societies and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity. From the kwevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C., the symposia in ancient Greece, the thermopolia of Pompeii, the hospices of Europe, to the dining tables of fine society wine has been ever present. Drawings, paintings, engravings, buildings, pottery and wine labels themselves all contribute to the story.

David Wright has been a wine retailer, importer and distributor for 30 years. In that time, he has publicly presented tastings and talks on wine to trade and private audiences. These have taken the form of wine ‘tastings’ or charity events where a particular subject is presented and wines tasted. He has now developed a talk, A Brief Story of Wine, a great subject, full of rich evidence in the form of paintings, decorated drinking vessels, buildings and literature that contribute to the story.

.................................................................................................

David Wright recommends the following background reading:-

A History of Wine – Hugh Johnson

Ancient Wine – Patrick E McGovern

Wine and the Vine – Tim Unwin

Wine of Ancient Egypt- Dr Maria Rosa Guasch

Last Supper in Pompeii – Ashmolean Museum archive

The Tres Riches Heures du duc de Berry

The lute holds a special place in the history of art: painters of the Italian Renaissance depicted golden-haired angels plucking its delicate strings, evoking celestial harmony; in the sixteenth century, during the rise of humanism, the lute was a becoming pastime of educated courtiers, as depicted by the likes of Holbein and Titian; throughout the seventeenth century, the instrument continued to play a key role in emphasising the intimate, debauched and transient pleasures of interior scenes by Jan Steen and portraits by Frans Hals. This lecture looks at the lute, and other musical instruments, as devices to express various aspects of the human character throughout the ages. 

Several pieces of live lute music will be performed as part of the lecture.

Adam Busiakiewicz is an Art Historian, lutenist and lecturer. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in History at UCL in 2010 he held the position of Head of Historical Interpretation (curator) at Warwick Castle. He left the castle in 2013 after winning a full AHRC studentship to pursue a Master’s Degree in Fine and Decorative Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in Art History at Warwick University after winning a CADRE Postgraduate Scholarship in 2017. 

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

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

A Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and Freeman of the City of London. Jo was originally a trained singer, pianist and orchestra administrator, but is now a decorative artist who gilds antique lace and crochet, often combining with hand printing and painting.  She works to commission, sells through galleries and exhibitions and collaborates with other designers. 

Jo trained in wood graining, marbling, gilding, specialist paint finishes and interior design and was awarded the City & Guilds Silver Medal for Excellence in 2000.  She taught in further education for 8 years on Art & Design National Diploma and Foundation courses then up-skilled at Central St Martin's College of Art & Design developing her own practice. She now divides her time as a designer/maker, lecturer and tutor running workshops for specialist groups.

 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 20’s with similar reputations in military prowess, sport and 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. 

How was it all achieved? 2020 is the 500th Anniversary of this extraordinary event.  

Oliver is himself a painter, trained at the Royal College of Art. He exhibits internationally and has work in collections around the world. He lived in Japan for two years (1998-2001), and China for eight years (2007-2015). Lectured widely in China on contemporary art in Britain and his own work. He is a Lecturer, BA Fine Art Painting, University of Brighton and the Certificate in the History of Art, University of Oxford (Materials and Techniques of Western Painting). He has designed and delivered courses for the Continuing Education Department, University of Oxford and been a Freelance lecturer since 1988.

 What is Chinese painting? What makes it Chinese and why is it different from Western painting? In this lecture we will look at paintings from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and at the ideas that shaped a unique pictorial language. Landscape painting was considered the superior subject for painting, as it was felt it could best express moral and cosmic principles. The Chinese word for landscape painting is sanshui (山水画), meaning mountain-water painting. Landscape painting was to harmonise yin with yang, mountain with water. The paintings are made with the incredibly versatile Chinese brush, the same as is used for their calligraphy, to which painting is closely connected. Daoist and Confucian thought underpin just about every aspect of the paintings.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (published 1865) transformed children’s literature with its fantastic originality and brilliant use of nonsense. Since then it has never been out of print, has been translated into many languages and has spawned not only imitators but also a huge amount of analytical commentary. We start with the origins of the book and its first illustrators – the writer himself and then Sir John Tenniel. So iconic was the book that as soon as it came out of copyright a host of artists produced their own versions – including Arthur Rackham, Mabel Lucie Attwell and Charles Robinson (brother of Thomas Heath Robinson). Throughout the 20th century we see how illustrators reflect different aspects of the book as well as the preoccupations of their own times. We look further at some of the most interesting artistic portrayals including those by Willy Pogany, Mervyn Peake, Jonathan Miller, and Salvador Dali, and will end with one or two current interpretations.

 Elizabeth 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. She has lectured for the Universities of Bristol and Southampton Departments of Continuing Education, Royal Society of Arts, the Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and the Brussels Brontë Societies, and many literary, historical and philosophical societies nationwide. Has also lectured on study tours throughout Europe and the UK, and also Australia and New Zealand.

William Morris founded his Kelmscott Press in 1890 in order to save the fine art of hand printing in Britain. When in 1896 his last book, the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, was published, it was universally hailed as the greatest book of the age. It is a huge book, with illustrations by Burne Jones and decorations by Morris, and was printed at the press in Hammersmith over a four-year period. Fewer than 400 copies were produced. In 2012 Dominic was presented with a copy in a poor binding, with a view to creating a contemporary artistic binding for it. This lecture is the record that process. He will give an overview of Morris and the Kelmscott Press, and then talk about his very demanding commission — from the early designs to the completion of the project four years later. This lecture is a step-by-step look at how fine bindings are made, as well as an insight into an extraordinary artistic journey. The completed binding has been donated to the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert museum, an institution very close to William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

 Dominic is a bookbinder, artist and teacher. He first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine Monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco, and spends part of the year teaching across the USA. He has his bindery in the Lake District, from where he travels across the UK teaching master classes and lecturing. He is Vice President of the Society of Bookbinders and was elected a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. His binding work is mostly the restoration of antiquarian books and Design Bindings. He has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition, including both first prizes and the Mansfield Silver Medal in 2007. His bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library and the John Rylands Library in Manchester. In June 2013 he won first prize in the prestigious Sir Paul Getty International Bookbinding Competition. His winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder were the most successful painters in early 17th century Antwerp. Both deeply committed and masterful, they each ran hugely productive workshops. To further their artistic development, the two artists spent a number of years in Italy, where they also became acquainted with international rules of diplomacy. A special bond developed between the two artists. Rubens served as Brueghel’s secretary by writing his Italian letters and he was godfather to the latter’s children. Few are aware, however that alongside this close friendship, the two men also formed a fruitful working partnership. Each specialising in a chosen field, they joined their artistic forces to create phenomenal paintings together. This partnership is what we will explore in the lecture.

 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 and presently is Area Trainer and a New Societies 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.

This new lecture marks the 50th anniversary of NADFAS by highlighting the astonishing developments in British sculpture over the same half-century. In1968 Henry Moore was the public face of British art yet 50 years later sculpture seems to have reached the point where almost ‘anything goes’. The lecture describes how the supremacy of Moore was eclipsed by the ‘New Generation’ sculptors of the 60s who removed sculpture from the plinth, ‘New British Sculpture’ in the 80s and 90s, much influenced by consumer culture, and more recently the YBAs (Young British Artists) who introduced the public not only to pickled sheep and unmade beds, but to the idea of the artist as media celebrity. It also considers the key role played by art schools, galleries, dealers and collectors in promoting British sculpture.  World renowned today, British sculpture continues to go from strength to strength - just like NADFAS! 

 Mary Yule studied art history at Birkbeck College and the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA in 20th Century British Art). Assistant Director and Director of Grants at the Art Fund until 2006.  Has lectured for the Art Fund and Kingston University, and also at the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and Museums Association conferences and study days.  Publications include; A Place for Living Art: The Whitechapel Art Gallery 1952-68 in Artists and Patrons in Post-War Britain (2001) and articles in Art Fund and museum publications.

Fine art has provided advertisers and their agencies with a great deal of material to use in their creative campaigns.  Tony describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and why the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. From the Renaissance through to the present day fine art continues to provide opportunities to enhance brand imagery with admiration, humour, satire and irony.

Tony uses a wide range of visuals and video to show examples of the original works, the creative process and the (not always entirely successful) advertisements that are the end result. 

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

MacDonald 'Max' Gill, younger brother of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill, was an architect, graphic designer and letterer, best known for his pictorial maps, especially those for the London Underground. He also created painted maps for Arts & Crafts houses including Lindisfarne Castle, magnificent murals for Cunard liners, and eye-catching publicity posters for organisations such as the Empire Marketing Board. An enduring legacy is his alphabet for the Imperial War Graves Commission used on all British military headstones since the First World War. This illustrated talk by Max Gill’s great-niece presents a colourful overview of this versatile artist's personal life and artistic achievements.

 There will be an exhibition of MacDonald Gill’s work at the Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft in Sussex from 20 October 2018 to 28 April 2019.

After embarking on family history research in 2006, Caroline became fascinated in the life and work of her great-uncle MacDonald 'Max' Gill (1884-1947). Although well-known in his time, he was all but forgotten after his death, unlike his brother Eric Gill, the controversial sculptor. Recently there has been a massive resurgence of interest in Max's work - much the result of exhibitions Caroline has co-curated including Out of the Shadows: MacDonald Gill (2011) hosted by the University of Brighton and articles she has written for publications including Country Life, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and the Journal for the International Map Collectors Society. She runs the MacDonald Gill website and is currently writing his biography. 

Starting in 1607 with Monteverdi’s astonishing opera Orfeo, and ending in 1759 with the death of that great “English” composer George Frideric Handel, the Baroque era produced music of great brilliance and emotional depth. In helping to navigate us through its choppy waters, Sandy draws on his experience as broadcaster, conductor and hands-on practical musician. His in-depth exploration of this fascinating period of Classical music draws on hand-picked images, autograph scores and recorded musical illustrations, with a special focus on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.

After studying music 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 music presenters on BBC Radio 3. He enjoys a varied career that embraces broadcasting, conducting, playing double bass and communicating his passion for music. His radio series for Ireland’s RTÉ Lyric FM, Great Moments in Classical Music, recently won silver in the Specialist Music category of the PPI Radio Awards. He regularly leads cultural lecture holidays, and is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music. More information is at www.sandyburnett.com.

In 1917 Norman Wilkinson (1887-1971), a first-rate painter and poster designer, invented Dazzle painting, also known as Dazzle camouflage.  Thousands of British and Allied ships were painted with vivid and violently contrasting patterns of colour to deter U-boat attacks.  Discover the life and work of Wilkinson and his Dazzle scheme that continues to inspire art, design and fashion, that includes the ‘Dazzling’ of the Mersey Ferry Snowdrop by Sir Peter Blake.

James studied at the Universities of St Andrews and Manchester, and is a former curator of paintings, drawings and prints, and co-ordinator of various exhibitions and galleries, at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, also lecturer and ships' historian on board cruise ships. Publications include illustrated histories of Marine Painting (1995) and yachting art Yachts on Canvas (1998), The Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin’s extraordinary adventure aboard FitzRoy’s famous survey ship (2008), Careless Talk Costs Lives: Fougasse and the Art of Public Information (2010) and Your Country Needs You: the Secret History of the Propaganda Poster (2013). Completed his PhD at the University of Sussex in 2015 on the voyager artist William Westall (1781-1850) who sailed with Commander Matthew Flinders aboard HMS 'Investigator' (1801-1803) the first ship to circumnavigate Australia. James can arrange guided tours of the buildings and artworks of the National Maritime Museum for groups.

The 17th & 18th centuries saw the introduction of thousands of plant species from across the world into northern Europe. Many of these plants are now staples of our gardens: magnolias, lilies, pelargoniums & Michaelmas-daises to name a few. Long before Kew Gardens was established, these plants found new homes in the, then great, gardens of London and its environs; places such as, the long-lost garden at Westminster, Hampton Court under the care of George London, Fulham Palace home to Bishop Compton or the two great gardens of Chelsea, one of which survives – the Chelsea Physic Garden

Mark has been fascinated by plants since he was a small boy. Originally a horticulturist, he studied horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and also studied botany and mycology at university, after which he worked as a field botanist for a regional conservation organisation. After 12 years as a senior botany curator at the Natural History Museum, London he is now a consultant forensic botanist, public speaker and occasional radio and TV presenter. He is the honorary curator of Carl Linnaeus’s herbarium at the Linnean Society of London, one of the most significant collections in the history of science. Mark also has a strong interest in the history of botany and botanic gardens, invasive non-native species and the flora of North-West Europe. 

As part of our Society’s celebration of the 50th Anniversary of NADFAS/The Arts Society, Ian Pickford will look at the use of gold in Britain from circa 2500 BC onward.  Dealing in particular with non-jewellery related items.

What was produced, and why so little survives will be examined as will how and why Gold marking evolved.

Such curiosities as the influence of the Gauchos in South America on Gold Standards in Britain will also be looked at.

Ian Pickford, known for his regular appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths' Company, and Freeman of the City of London. A Lecturer at the University of London, University of Surrey, V&A, National Trust, The Art Fund. Broadcasts on both television and radio. Author. Editor  Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks. Visits available to collections of silver throughout the UK - in museums, livery companies, colleges, cathedrals and corporate collections.

The Nazis looted over 20% of Western Art during World War II and the effects of Nazi looting are still evident today. This lecture will cover the following topics: setting the scene in Germany, the Fuhrermuseum, Nazi art repositories, Post War restitution and the Monuments Men, contemporary restitution issues and current international recovery efforts. I will also discuss several important cases involving Nazi loot. These will be tailored to the country in which I’m speaking, but there are landmark international cases that I will discuss in detail, including Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer (pictured) and the stash of looted art found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s flat.

Shauna Isaac studied at Courtauld Institute and Birkbeck College, London and regularly lectures at the Sotheby's Institute of Art. Currently managing an art recovery company she served on the Looted Art Working Group for the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, where she was instrumental in drafting the Terezin Declaration on Nazi looting, which was ratified by 46 countries. Has given talks to the Focus-Abengoa Foundation Symposium in Seville, the Courtauld Institute, the Documentation Centre of World War II Cultural Assets, Sotheby's and Microsoft. Publications include articles for The Art Newspaper, Art & Law Magazine and Art Quarterly.

Tamara de Lempicka dazzled Paris’ artistic circles in the 1920s and 30s and seduced with her stylish portraits. These heady years saw her immortalise the atmosphere of wealth and decadence of Paris. Other painters oscillated between Cubism and Fauvism, but de Lempicka was one of the few to be able to embody the decorative style of Art Deco in her paintings. Stunningly beautiful, she engaged in the world of fashion and photography, as well as presenting herself as the quintessential modern, independent young woman. She was glamorous and notorious, but her extraordinary talent confirmed her reputation as one of the most iconic painters of her generation.

Dr Claire Walsh, MA V&A and RCA; PhD European University Institute, Florence. Having previously worked at the V&A and lectured there and for the University of Warwick, Claire now lectures for the Open University. She has lectured widely in Britain; at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Museum of London amongst others, and to specialist groups including the Art Fund, the Ceramics Society, the Costume Society and the Ancient Monuments Society. She has also lectured in Europe, the USA (including Yale and the Huntington) and Canada and has numerous publications.

Modern graffiti is often seen as transgressive and moronic. However, look closely in the light of a torch at the walls of our historic buildings, trees, caves and rock faces and you will see a world of graffiti left that illuminates the psychology of our ancestors. The study of historic graffiti enables us to hear the lost voices of ordinary individuals through their images of daisywheels, ships sailing across the walls, knights drawing their swords, demons stalking the stonework and every animal imaginable…

 James Wright FSA is an archaeologist and historian based at the University of Nottingham. With over twenty years of professional experience, he has published two books and a string of popular and academic articles concentrating on the British Medieval and Early Modern periods. He is a very proficient public speaker and has spoken to a wide variety of organisations including Historic Royal Palaces, the National Trust, Lowdham Book Festival, the Fortean Society, Gresham College, Shakespeare400 and the Museum of London. 

This new lecture marks the 50th anniversary of NADFAS by highlighting the astonishing developments in British sculpture over the same half-century. In1968 Henry Moore was the public face of British art yet 50 years later sculpture seems to have reached the point where almost ‘anything goes’. The lecture describes how the supremacy of Moore was eclipsed by the ‘New Generation’ sculptors of the 60s who removed sculpture from the plinth, ‘New British Sculpture’ in the 80s and 90s, much influenced by consumer culture, and more recently the YBAs (Young British Artists) who introduced the public not only to pickled sheep and unmade beds, but to the idea of the artist as media celebrity. It also considers the key role played by art schools, galleries, dealers and collectors in promoting British sculpture.  World renowned today, British sculpture continues to go from strength to strength - just like NADFAS! 

Mary Yule

Mary Yule studied art history at Birkbeck College and the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA in 20th Century British Art). Assistant Director and Director of Grants at the Art Fund until 2006.  Has lectured for the Art Fund and Kingston University, and also at the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and Museums Association conferences and study days.  Publications include; A Place for Living Art: The Whitechapel Art Gallery 1952-68 in Artists and Patrons in Post-War Britain (2001) and articles in Art Fund and museum publications.

Tasha Marks discusses her company AVM Curiosities. Bridging the worlds of food, art and history her work ranges from museum-style exhibitions and sculptural installations, to interactive lectures and limited-edition confectionery. With clients including the V&A, The Royal Academy of Arts, The National Gallery and the Barbican, Tasha’s talk will review her unique position in the cultural landscape, touching on each of her distinctive projects and discussing the highlights of each one. As well as a strong emphasis on storytelling and history, the talk will comment on how to introduce the senses into the museum space, the rituals of eating, and why sugar was one of the original artistic mediums.

Tasha Marks is an award-winning food historian and artist, who explores the relationship between food, art and history. Her practice, AVM Curiosities, champions the use of food as an artistic medium, with projects ranging from museum-style exhibitions and sculptural installations, to interactive lectures and limited-edition confectionery. Recent academic achievements include publication in the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, where she authored the entry on Mrs Beeton, one of the Victorian era’s most influential cooks.

Mexico has a vast range of festivals. Visually splendid, many feature lavish processions and masked dances with richly decorated costumes. Although some festivals commemorate national events, most are religious in inspiration. After the Spanish conquest of 1521, priests used theatrical representation as a method of instruction. Traditionally, people display elaborate nativity scenes in their homes.

The Christmas story is acted out in towns and villages: adults and children perform as shepherds and shepherdesses, hermits and devils. Other important celebrations include Saints' Days, All Souls' Day, and Carnival. Chloë Sayer's book 'Fiesta' was published in 2009 by The British Museum Press. 

Biography: Chloë Sayer

Freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. Has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and on cruises. As a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute has carried out fieldwork, curated several exhibitions, and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. Her many publications include Mexican Textiles (British Museum Press, 1990), Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1990), The Incas - The Ancient World (Wayland, 1998) and Textiles from Mexico (British Museum Press, 2002). Is co-author of Skeleton at the Feast; Mexican Day of the Dead (British Museum Press, 1991), Traditional Mexican Architecture (Thames & Hudson, 1993) and Masks Arts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1994). Has also published articles in newspapers, magazines and travel guides.

Recommended Reading

Chloë Sayer recommends the following for background reading:

Coe, Michael D. and Rex Koontz: Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (Thames & Hudson, 2002)

Lechuga, Ruth D. and Chloë Sayer: Mask Arts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1994)

Lucie-Smith, Edward: Latin American Art of the 20th Century (Thames & Hudson, 1992)

Sayer, Chloë: Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames and Hudson, 1990)

Sayer, Chloë: Fiesta: Days of the Dead and other Mexican Festivals (British Museum Press, 2009)

Ellen Terry's home for the last thirty years of her life was Smallhythe Place, a timber-framed, 16th century farmhouse situated just outside Tenterden in Kent. Now a National Trust museum, Smallhythe is a shrine to the life and career of arguably our greatest stage actress yet it is her jewellery which is an absolute revelation. Intimate, passionate and curious, this is not a mass of pretty jewels and baubles purchased for mere vanity or display but is instead a highly personal route map of a tangled and unconventional life spent within the rigid confines of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. John Benjamin's new talk explores the social and chronological backdrop of ‘The Queen of Theatre’ illustrated through her amazing jewellery - surely the hidden gem in the National Trust crown. 

JOHN BENJAMIN

Was with Phillips Auctioneers for 23 years, latterly as International Director of Jewellery. Since 1999 has been an independent Jewellery Consultant. Lectures, writes and broadcasts (including BBC Antiques Roadshow). Admitted to Goldsmiths' Company in 2000. Author of Starting to collect Antique Jewellery and co-author with Paul Atterbury The Jewellery and Silver of H.G. Murphy   

American glass artist Dale Chihuly (born 1941) is the super-star of the glass world. With his passion for glass, his larger-than-life personality, his skills as a natural leader and educator, and his constant exploration of glass's luminous qualities and colour possibilities, he creates glass sculptures which are extravagant, colourful and spectacular. Following two accidents he is no longer able to hold a blowing iron and now employs two glass teams to blow his visions from his spontaneous drawings, themselves works of art. His glass magic has transformed the studio glass movement and altered our visual perceptions of this extraordinary material forever. 

Biography; Charles Hajdamach

Former Director of Broadfield House Glass Museum (1974-2003) and one of the top authorities on glass in the country. Author of 'British Glass 1800-1914' (1991), '20th Century British Glass' (2009) and contributor to numerous books and magazines. Lectures internationally to glass museums and collector's societies. Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology, and a member of the Arts Advisory Board at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland. President of the Glass Association which he was instrumental in founding.

Images of saints and angels are everywhere in medieval and Renaissance art. But what did they actually mean? What messages did these divine images carry? Looking closely at the way warrior saints and armed angels are represented in art, we can learn a great deal about how such supernatural beings were understood- what they meant to people, and what aspects of faith and salvation they were intended to address. Here we explore how warrior saints and angels were a continual source of fascination for painters and sculptors, being the central themes of some of the most glorious creations of many of the greatest late medieval and Renaissance artists, including Dürer, Memling, Uccello, Donatello and Carpaccio. 

Toby is Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and an internationally acknowledged expert on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. His book, Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection (2011) was named Book of the Year by Apollo Magazine in 2012. After fifteen years of research, Toby's latest book Armour of the English Knight: 1400-1450 was published in September 2015; the second part, dealing with the second half of the 15th century, will be released in 2017.

 He appears regularly on television, most recently as presenter and armour advisor on Richard III: The New Evidence (2014), and as the writer and presenter of Metalworks: The Knight's Tale (2012).

​

Peter Ackroyd calls the Thames “the most painted river in the world”. It has also been the favoured river of writers and poets. From its source to the sea it has been variously seen as the sweet river of Spenser’s Prothalamion and the ironically ‘sweet’ river of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land - from flowery arcadian banks to a river of death. This talk will look at the way some of the greatest artists, including Hogarth, Canaletto, Scott, Turner, Constable, Egg, Dore, Whistler, Monet, Derain, Nevinson and others have treated the river and celebrated the poetry and romance as well as the commercial power and mystery of this great waterway.

John Iddon

Lecturer and Guide at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Ran an MA course in Heritage Interpretation at St Mary's University College. Has lectured freelance to numerous art societies, to the National Trust and the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery in Venice. Lectures on art for cruises. In 2012, he wrote the new guidebook to the newly opened Strawberry Hill.

In England, for about 200 years after the Reformation, portraiture was virtually the only subject in art. During this time most major painters working here were foreigners; the most important of these were Holbein and van Dyck. From the 18th century on, outstanding British portrait painters such as Reynolds and Gainsborough came to prominence, and the portrait has continued to intrigue and fascinate right up to the present day, as artists such as Lucian Freud continue to explore and expand the subject.

Valerie Woodgate works as lecturer and guide in Tate Britain and Tate Modern, and for Tate on cruises. She lectures in other major galleries, including the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and, on religious art, in churches and cathedrals. She is a script-writer for Living Paintings Trust (art for the blind and partially-sighted).

Recommended Reading

Valerie Woodgate suggests any of several National Portrait Gallery books would be suitable.  There is a small, inexpensive Visitor Guide and many larger books giving a wider view of the subject.

The Gonzaga family ruled the city of Mantua in northern Italy for nearly 400 years and established one of the most important centres of Renaissance civilization, surrounding themselves with the greatest artists, architects, scholars, poets and musicians of their day. The lecture examines some of their most famous commissions such as the Camera degli Sposi, a tiny room located in the Ducal Palace covered in frescoes by Mantegna, giving us a fascinating account of court life during the 15th C. The high point of Gonzaga power and prestige was during the 16th C when Francesco II and his wife Isabella d'Este created an astonishing collection of painting, sculpture, objets d’art and antiques. Their son Federico, having spent time in Rome at the court of the illustrious Pope Julius II, was keen to emulate the achievements of both his Roman guardian and his parents. His supreme coup was to secure the services of Giulio Romano, Raphael’s greatest pupil, to construct and decorate a building on the outskirts of Mantua called the Palazzo Te. It was designed for Federico to spend his leisure hours, particularly with his mistress, and the decorative fresco cycles inside reflect their passionate relationship. The lecture is illustrated with musical examples as well as slides. 

Siân Walters 

Siân Walters is an art historian and a lecturer at the National Gallery. She also lectures for Surrey University, NADFAS and many other art societies in the UK and Europe, and leads art and architecture tours abroad for many companies and organisations including the Royal Academy, Kirker and NADFAS.  Siân runs her own company, “Art History in Focus” which organises regular lectures, study days and art holidays abroad and was named a Highly Commended finalist in the World’s Best Guide Awards in 2016.

 Her specialist areas are 15th and 16th century Italian Art, Spanish Art and Architecture, and the relationship between Dance and Art (she is an honorary advisor to the Nonsuch Historical Dance Society). She has given many especially commissioned lectures on this topic for the National Gallery, including one in conjunction with the gallery's recent “Leonardo: Painter at the Court of Milan” exhibitions.  Recently she was asked to represent the National Gallery at the international Hay Festival where she gave a number of presentations on the gallery’s recent Titian acquisitions. Siân studied at Cambridge University where she was awarded a choral exhibition and a 1st for her dissertation on the paintings of Arnold Schoenberg. She has lived in France and Italy where she worked for the eminent Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon and for the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice.

Recommended Reading

Siân Walters provides the following reading suggestions:

Barbara Furlotti :The Art of Mantua: Power and Patronage in the Renaissance

Alison Cole: Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure and Power

Clare Colvin: Masque of the Gonzagas (a novel)

Many artworks, showing the last hours of Cleopatra, emphasize her sensuality. Paintings from Cagnacci’s The Suicide of Cleopatra (1659) and Death of Cleopatra (c.1660) to Rixen’s The Death of Cleopatra (1874), which depict her exposed or naked, possess a charged eroticism. More modern representations of Cleopatra on film and television, too, portray her as a femme fatale, a seductive Egyptian queen. But is this an accurate reflection of the real Cleopatra, and  – if not – to what do we owe this characterization of the queen?

David Stuttard took an MA in Classics from St. Andrews University, where he became the first person twice to win the HJ Rose Memorial Prize for essay writing, and where he remained to work on a PhD on  Plutarch’s Symposiaka.

David Stuttard regularly runs workshops on Greek drama throughout the UK. He has taught Greek drama at the University of Cambridge and worked with students at Bradfield College and the Ardingly College Arts Fest.

Recommended reading

David Stuttard recommends for background reading

Stuttard, D. and Moorhead, S., 31BC: Antony, Cleopatra and the Fall of Egypt, London (British Museum Press), 2012

Also well worth reading (especially for anyone interested in art and artefacts) is the lavishly produced

Walker, S. and Higgs, P. (ed), Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth, London (British Museum Press), 2001

Among the many others others:

Goldsworthy, A., Antony and Cleopatra, London (Weidenfeld and Nicolson), 2010
Schiff, S., Cleopatra, a Life, Chippenham (Virgin Books), 2010
Southern, P., Cleopatra, Stroud (Tempus), 1999

George IV was the single greatest Royal collector of art and instigator of architectural projects. He was passionately fond of lavish decoration and display. As Prince of Wales, he refurbished Carlton House in London, and built Brighton Pavilion. As King, he converted Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace, and made huge changes to Windsor Castle. He furnished his palaces magnificently with French furniture, clocks, porcelain and sculpture. He was an avid collector of Dutch and Flemish paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Rubens and van Dyck. He also patronised contemporary artists such as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Lawrence and Stubbs, and sculptors Canova and Chantrey. He assembled the greatest collection of Sèvres porcelain in the world and a huge amount of historic and contemporary silver and gold objects. 

Oliver Everett was educated at Cambridge University, with post graduate work at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, and at the London School of Economics. Following service in the Foreign Office, including postings in India and Spain, he was Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, 1978-80, and then Private Secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales, 1981-3. He was Librarian in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, 1984-2002, and is now Librarian Emeritus following his retirement in 2002. Oliver wrote the official guidebook and audio tour on Windsor Castle, taught a course on its history, and advised on a television programme about it. He wrote articles on the Royal Library and helped with two books on aspects of the Royal Collection. He is advising on a possible history series for television, and lectures widely in Britain and abroad and also on cruise ships.

To mark our 20th anniversary, we are delighted to welcome NADFAS speaker and professional magician, Ian Keable, who will present The Secret World of Charles Dickens: Mirth, Marvels and the Mysterious, a show first premiered at the famous Charles Dickens Museum in London. Charles Dickens was not only one of the world’s greatest writers but also a talented magician, and fascinated by spiritualism and ghosts. In this humorous and mystifying show, Ian Keable reveals this secret side of Dickens, and recreates his favourite tricks and the spooky practices of the Victorian psychics. A review in The Islington Tribune wrote: "The Secret World of Charles Dickens is enlightening, entertaining and engaging. It's a magic show balanced in educational reveals and mind-bending sleight-of-hand mysteries, with a spooky Victorian literary twist." Ian has spoken about Charles Dickens and his conjuring to the Dickens Fellowship and also at prestigious international conferences including the Dickens Online Journal and The Other Dickens. In 2012 he published a paper on 'Dickens, Spiritualism and the Cock Lane Ghost' in Dickens 200 - Text and Beyond. When Ralph Fiennes was directing and starring in The Invisible Woman (a film about Dickens' mistress, Ellen Ternan) it was to Ian Keable he first turned for magical advice about the project.

Ian Keable gained a First Class degree from Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then became a professional magician. A Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, Ian has received The Magic Circle Comedy Award. He has written and presented a Radio 4 documentary on mind readers. Ian collects 18th and 19th century books, posters and prints relating to magic and hoaxes, and has lectured at conferences from London to Los Angeles. In 2014 he published Charles Dickens Magician: Conjuring in Life, Letters & Literature.