This Day of Special Interest will bring together a combined overview of Dutch Golden Age art and Flemish art, looking at the history and growth of these particular strands of European art and examine the changing face of these multifarious forms of art from the late 14th century, through to 16th century Renaissance art.

Special Interest Days are always well attended.  Tickets £35 for three lectures, coffee and a convivial lunch with wine.

Please note that advanced booking is required. There is a limit to the number of participants (the last Special Interest Day was sold out) so book early to avoid disappointment.

Face to face booking will be available at the January, February and March meetings.

For further information you can call Hilary Arnold  on 01483 427183 or email her at  hr9arnold@gmail .com

The Plan for the Day :  the Special Interest 
Day comprises three lectures.

Registration 10.15 for 10.30

  The First Lecture  : 10.30 - 11.30

 Mannerism vs Nature

Mannerism vs Nature will be an exploration of the Low Country painters’ reaction to developments in the latter part of the Italian Renaissance also known as the High Renaissance.

Coffee : 11.30 -12.00
 

The Second Lecture : 12.00 - 1.00

The Dutch Masters of Light: From Utrecht to Rome

In this lecture we will look at the Dutch masters of light from their origins in the Dutch town of Utrecht to their travels abroad to Italy in particular Rome. We will look at their obsession with Italianate landscapes, and their particular attraction to light effects and the work of Caravaggio (1571 – 1610).  This will also lead the lecture into the many other non-Dutch artists that picked up on this fascination both in France and in England.

 Lunch : 1.00 - 2.00

The Third Lecture : 2.00 - 3.00

Tulip Fever – Flower Painting and Landscapes in the Dutch Republic

This lecture will look at the obsession the Dutch had in their love of nature, which in many ways emulated the Italian Renaissance artists similar fascination.  However, this lecture will not only look at this aspect but also look at how this merged into a dominance in landscape painting mirroring the Low Countries unique terrain, which in turn would produce two distinctive types of landscape – Dutch and Flemish.

 Leslie Primo is an art historian, author and broadcaster graduating from Birkbeck University College with an MA in Renaissance Studies. He specialises in early Medieval Art and Architecture, Italian Renaissance art, German art in the age of the Reformation, Medici and Patronage, and mythology in the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Leslie lectured at the National Gallery for 18 years, and has appeared on the BBC speaking in Renaissance : The Blood and the Beauty, and on the Life of Michelangelo, and also presented Turner: Light and Landscape. He was a contributor to the Oxford Companion Guide to Black British History, an art history consultant for the Getty publication Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval Renaissance Art  and was published by the Royal Academy Magazine for the Entangled Pasts exhibition 2023-2024. Leslie's book The Foreign Invention of British Art  was published by Thames and Hudson in 2025.
 

Face to face booking with Hilary at the January, February and March 2026 meetings.

. Enquiries to Hilary Arnold on  01483 427183 or email her at hr9arnold@gmail.com

This study day follows the course of this hard, determined, often brutal dynasty who ruled Russia for over three hundred years, from Peter the Great, the founder of St Petersburg, through his eccentric daughter Elizabeth, to Catherine the Great, the most powerful of all the Empresses of Russia who had no real claim to the throne, and on to the tragic figure of Nicholas II, the last Tsar and one of the most poignant figures in history whose death in a cellar in Ekaterinburg ended the reign of this turbulent and ill-fated family.

Lecture 1 “The Blaspheming Bear.”  The life of Peter the Great

Lecture 2: “The New Byzantium.”   Russia at the time of Catherine the Great

Lecture3: “The Last Romanovs.”  The life and death of Nicholas and Alexandra.

Illustrated: Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra

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 7000 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 Centre 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.

Please note this event is SOLD OUT

This study day looks at the use of colour in gardening and fine art, and proposes that garden borders and contemporary paintings have evolved along parallel lines in the past 150 years.  Along the way these talks look at the relationship between fine art and gardening and science. 

Illustrated: Hadspen Gardens red border

The study day consists of three parts (three lectures) as follows:

1.     Broadening the Palette – The first part covers the creation of gardens from Medieval times to the end of the 19th century.  It includes gardens from Europe, Asia, and America, as well as England.  During this period colour starts to become more important in garden design 

2.     Seeing the Light – The story now looks at the use of colour by humans in everyday life as well as in gardening and art from 30,000 years ago to the present day.

3.     Planting the Picture – The final part picks up the story from part one at the start of the 20th century and examines the process of, and motivation for creating living works of fine art in the garden.

Timothy Walker read Botany at University College Oxford. After graduation he worked as a trainee at Oxford Botanic Garden, the Savill Garden Windsor, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In 1985 he was awarded a Master of Horticulture by the Royal Horticultural Society of London. From 1988 to 2014 he was director (Horti Praefectus) at the Oxford Botanic Garden. Between 1992 & 2000 the OBGHA won 4 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show London. In 2009 the Botanic Garden was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for providing imaginative educational programmes for adults, students, children, and the general public, thereby breathing new life into education for people of all ages and enriching their lives. In 2010 he was elected as a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London. In the same year he presented a 3-part series of films on the history of botany on BBC4. Since 2014 he has been a tutor in Plant Biology at Somerville College, Oxford.  

Tickets:£35pp includes a sandwich lunch with a glass of wine.

Enquiries to Hilary Arnold on  01483 427183 or hr9arnold@gmail.com

The City of London is a remarkable place and has reinvented and rebuilt itself many times during its long history and continues to do so today.  Alexandra Epps will be our guide to Art in the City.

A unique square mile creating a cultural asset that belongs as much to the whole of the country as to Londoners themselves.

The day will comprise three lectures,coffee and a convivial lunch with wine

Lecture 1: Stained Glass in the City

Exploring the fascinating stained glass within the historic churches of the City of London.

Following the devastation of wartime bombing a remarkable generation of architects, artists and craftsmen emerged to recreate the City churches in the spirit of Sir Christopher Wren. Discover unique stories  of people, time and place within its magical post-war stained glass.

Lecture 2: Public Art in the City

Exploring the wealth of modern and contemporary public art in the City of London. Discover the fascinating, and often intriguing, public art to be found on the historic streets and hidden corners of the square mile.The artists and their techniques plus the history of the fascinating places where their work can be found - a veritable ‘gallery on the street’.

Lecture 3 : Art of the River

Exploring artistic inspirations of the River Thames.The River Thames has inspired artists for over three hundred years and continues to do so today. Discover a selection of artists from the historical to the contemporary to experience fascinating views of the river and interpretations of its eventful history and beauty.

ALEXANDRA  EPPS has a background in design having  practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years. She has a BA from St. Martins School of Art and an MA from  London College of Printing. She is an experienced lecturer and guide working with various institutions including Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery. She is also a qualified guide to the City of London and offers lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and individuals. She is co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015).

This Special Interest Day is sold out. Enquiries to Hilary Arnold on  01483 427183 or hr9arnold@gmail.com

A TEXTILE JOURNEY

Wool, silk and cotton each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia.

Unravelling the Silk Road – special interest day by Chris Aslan

Illustrated:Bibi-Khanym mosque Samarkand Uzbekistan

The special interest day comprises three lectures, each exploring a textile and a road. We examine how textiles have changed the course of Central Asian history, politics and a way of life. We also revel in the intoxicating designs, colours, and techniques achieved with these three textiles, from breath-takingly intricate suzani embroidery and robes fit for a Shah, to world-class carpets, cheerful shyrdyk felts and diaphanous cotton, lighter than a spider’s web. Each lecture will also be embroidered with Chris Aslan’s own experience of living and working in the region for 15 years as he attempts to justify a rather bold assertion that everything is about textiles.

The Wool Road

How did tartan-wearing proto-Celts end up in China over 2500 years ago? We explore how nomads traversed the wool road, a vast corridor of grassland that stretched from Central Europe almost to the Pacific. With little fuel or shelter and winters down to minus 60 degrees, it was houses made from wool that gave these nomads the protection they needed. We focus on decorative felts, carpets and the way in which beautiful nomadic textile were perfectly functional as well. 

The Silk Road

In this lecture we explore the birth of the Silk Road and how silk fuelled trade in goods, foods, art, inventions, commodities, religions, fashions and so much more, ushering in the first era of globalisation. 

We explore how silk is woven into beautiful fabrics, such as, atlas, velvet, and adras, and how fabric was a major signifier of wealth and stratifying sedentary society. How did one item of women’s clothing spark a culture war which led to public burnings of silk? We marvel at the dowry embroideries produced in Bukhara and the magical and amuletic protection woven into most clothing. We explore how silk stratified society, through stunning robes and turbans, and Chris gives a brief overview of the silk carpet workshop he founded in Khiva, Uzbekistan. 

The Cotton Road

The Cotton Road is inextricably interwoven with colonial exploitation and environmental catastrophe. We explore how British Rule caused the extinction of the most expensive fabric that had ever been woven, and how cotton became a form of anti-colonial resistance, leading to the overthrow of British rule in India. We explore the darker side of Russian chintz and that thieving Laura Ashley! We also witness how cotton has killed a sea, creating an environmental disaster even more devastating to human health than that better known Soviet disaster: Chernobyl, and the experiences of cotton-pickers today.  

CHRIS ASLAN was born in Turkey and studied at Leicester University.  He is currently based in Cambridge. Textiles have played a great part in his life. After university he moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in the town.  Later he spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. 

He is a lecturer for the Arts Society and author of two books  -  A Carpet Ride to Khiva and most recently Unravelling the Silk Road .  He also takes tours to Central Asia.

This Special Interest Day promises to be very popular-you can book at the December, January and February meetings.

The October 2023 Special Interest Day was oversubscribed and ran to a waiting list - please book early to avoid disappointment.

Enquiries to Hilary Arnold on  01483 427183 or hr9arnold@gmail .com

Poised between Europe and Africa, Sicily has been both a gateway and a crossroads attracting a long line of colonisers from the Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs to the Normans and Spanish. The legacy of so many dominant civilisations produced a cultural mix of great richness and diversity, and included periods of exceptional wealth, intellectual activity and artistic achievement.

The Kingdom in the Sun: Classical & Medieval  Sicily

The day will comprise three lectures:

The First Lecture:  Sicily Greek and Phoenician - will look at the period between 8th century B.C. to 4th century BC, a period that witnessed the settlement of both Greek and Phoenician trading colonies around the shores of the island. This was a period of great wealth and artistic achievement, when Sicily became the most important area of Magna Graecia and a pivotal centre of the Phoenician world.  Whilst the archaeological remains  of the Phoenician /Carthaginian period are sparse, the Greek Doric temples in Segesta, Selinunte, Agrigento and Syracuse, rank amongst the finest anywhere.   

Coffee

The Second Lecture - Roman, Byzantine & Arab Sicily - covers the centuries between the fall of the island to the Romans after the Punic Wars, through the early medieval centuries when the island was held successively by the Byzantines and the Arabs.  Much of the talk will focus on the famous Roman Villa Casale in Piazza Armerina, built circa 300 AD., one of the best preserved large country villas of the Roman period and one of the most outstanding monuments history has bequeathed us.  It is especially famed for the splendid mosaic pavements, decorating nearly all the rooms and showing a kaleidoscope of life, a celebration of hunting and fishing, dancing, massage and love -making. The Arab presence in Sicily (827 –1072) was the stimulus for the tremendous upsurge in both commercial and artistic activity which in turn characterized Norman Sicily, especially during the reign of Roger II. 

Lunch

The Third Lecture –   Norman - Byzantine Sicily - dwells on 12th  century Sicily, a period when for a short while, under the Normans,  Palermo was the most intellectually active and artistically eclectic centre in Europe. The great cathedrals of Cefalu, and Monreale, the Palatine Chapel of the Norman Palace, and the small church of  Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio, witness to a brilliant fusion of  Norman, Arab and Byzantine art and architecture and contain the finest examples of 12th century Byzantine mosaic work. The mosaics covering the walls of the cathedral of Monreale cover 6,000 square metres, presenting a veritable cartoon of the entire Bible story.  In general the arts of this period witness to the astonishing eclecticism of the age, a fusion of Arab, Romanesque and Byzantine styles and ideas that is quite unique to Sicily.

Illustration:  The Valley of the Temples Copyright: Credit: Sergio Monti / Alamy Stock Photos

 Jane Angelini

Jane is a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society and other arts organisations. She runs her own art tours company, specialising in cultural visits. She speaks several foreign languages and has translated a number of works of 19th century Russian literature for Penguin Books and Oxford University Press. She has a BA in Russian Studies and an MA in Byzantine Studies.

This Special Interest Day promises to be very popular-Tickets on sale at the June Meeting, are £35 per person for three lectures and a convivial lunch with wine

Enquiries to Hilary Arnold on  01483 427183 or hr9arnold@gmail .com

Elizabeth I was the most remarkable woman of a remarkable age. Her reign was one of the great creative periods of English history :  in art and architecture, music and literature and in maritime endeavour; there had never been a time quite like it.

The Discovery Day will focus on each of these areas in turn with reference to the personalities involved and their achievements.

 1 ​An overview of Elizabeth’s reign. Elizabethan art: portraits and miniatures.

 2 ​Elizabethan houses and gardens.  Religious and secular music: Tallis, Byrd and the Madrigalists.

 3​ Elizabethan sea power: exploration and the Spanish Armada. ​​Elizabethan drama and poetry: Shakespeare and Marlowe; Spenser and Sidney.

Illustration: procession Portrait of Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth I of England preceded by the Knights of the Garter. Attributed to Robert Peake the Elder ©Sherborne Castle, Dorset

Mark Cottle

Born on the Isles of Scilly and educated at Truro School, Cornwall, and Birmingham University. His career has been spent in education and training at home and abroad. He has lectured at Exeter College on Medieval and Tudor history, St Mark's & St John's University College, Plymouth, and at Bath University on Anglo Saxon and medieval England. Currently runs two small companies providing training and study breaks.

Tickets £35 for three lectures,coffee and a convivial lunch with wine will be on sale at the January, February and March meetings or for further information you can contact Hilary Arnold (Special Interest Day Organiser) on 01483 427183 or email hr9arnold@gmail .com

For three hundred years Venice was the most powerful city-state in the Mediterranean, and much of its wealth was put towards ornamenting itself with works of art. Paintings were frescoed onto the ceilings of churches and the facades of palaces along the Grand Canal; canvases were set into gilded altarpieces and the ornate walls of Council Chambers. Art was the outward proof of status, the symbol of the city’s prestige and influence. These golden years of Venice’s history were to produce the works of Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.

the illustration is: Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) 1730'S On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 620

Then, when the Republic collapsed and the city fell into decay, it became a treasure house for the artistic imagination. Painters from all over Europe came to Venice to paint its quiet back waters, its crumbling plasterwork, shadowed doorways and sunlit reflections, and the city was reborn as a romantic vision.

This Study Day look into the artists who have lived and worked in Venice, their styles, their techniques and how each added his own unique contribution to the artistic legend of the city. 

Lecture 1: “The origins of Venetian art” looks at the dawn of the Venetian style from the gemlike paintings of Carpaccio to the serene altarpieces of the Bellini. From their studio emerged the enigmatic Giorgione, the most poetic of Venetian artists, and then Titian, whose powerful brushwork and vivid imagination had a profound influence on generations of artists after him. 

Lecture 2 “The Golden Age” looks at the high years of Venetian art when Titian’s works were commissioned by every patron in Europe, from the Pope to the Holy Roman Emperor. How his style was then turned and reformed by Tintoretto into turbulent flights of fantasy, the paintings he made for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco flickering with an eerie light. And how the last glories of the republic glow in the ceiling paintings of Tiepolo and the crystal clear cityscapes of Canaletto. 

Lecture 3 “Poets, painters & private lives” looks at the years of decline when the faded beauty of the city was rediscovered by Turner who painted it lost in shimmering light, by James Whistler, Bonnington and John Singer Sargent, by Henry James who set stories of delicate melancholy in Venice, and by John Ruskin who measured every building of the city and published his report in the “Stones of Venice”, one of the most influential books of the 19th century.

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.

This Special Interest Day promises to be very popular- Click Here to book your place. Tickets are £35 per person for three lectures and a convivial lunch with wine

Depicting the great, good, heroic or plain evil, the portrait is one of the most enduring and popular genres in the history of art and has a special status in British art.
For about 200 years after the Reformation, portraiture was virtually the only subject in English 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

Our illustration is Sir Thomas More 1527 Hans, the Younger Holbein

We will also question how the background can be manipulated to place the viewer in an implicitly lowly position, what the sitter expected the portrait to convey beyond mere likeness, why there was such a scandal surrounding a portrait of Myra Hindley, and what is the significance of setting, format, pose, costume and viewpoint.

(1)  Tudor, Jacobean and Stuart portraits: Following the Reformation of 1534, pictorial art in this country became secular rather than religious, and for nearly 200 years subject matter consisted almost entirely of portraits.  The most important single influence on post-Reformation art was a German, Hans Holbein, and many major artists working in this country were foreign.  Here we see the origins and expansion of portrait painting in this country, and works by many great artists including Holbein, Hilliard, van Dyck, Lely and Kneller. 

(2)  The Rise of the Native-born Artist: The 18th century saw the development and expansion of subject-matter in British art, but the portrait was still by far the most popular subject.  This century also saw the foundation of the Royal Academy, the rise in importance of the native-born artist and the genius of Hogarth, Reynolds and Gainsborough.  In the 19thcentury, the opening of the National Portrait Gallery in 1856 demonstrates the continuing fascination withportraits throughout the Victorian era and by the end of the century the subject was enriched by two Americans, Whistler and Sargent.

(3)  Portrait Painting in the Modern World - the New Face of Tradition:                            In the modern world portraits can be traditional or highly experimental, using a variety of media, reflecting new trends in modern art, and depicting a wide range of social classes in a subject which was once the preserve of the ruling classes.

Val Woodgate is a Lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, also at many other London galleries. Former member of the teaching team at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Lecturer and runs courses at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.

Tickets are £35 per person for three lectures and a convivial lunch with wine.

 CLICK HERE To book online for the Special Interest Day or you can book in person at the ticket desk in the Coffee Lounge at the February meeting.

This Study Day traces the development of the Chair in terms of its construction and style from ancient times through to the 19th century.and will surprise you at just how much there is to reveal about such a familiar item. The Day will examine the Chair as a symbol of power and authority in religious and courtly ritual and official settings. We will also look at the Chair as a "status symbol" in a more vernacular and common setting. Have you ever wondered where the phrase "sitting on your money" came from? The Day will tell you! Participants are encouraged to bring along chairs from the Victorian period or earlier for examination and discussion. 

Plan for the day:

10.15 Registration

10.30 -11.30 Lecture 1: Seats of power & symbols of authority

11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break

12.00 -1.00 Lecture 2: Chairs for the common (wo)man

1.00 -2.00 Lunch `

2.00 – c3.30 Lecture 3: The designers come to town Plus: discussion of your chairs

Janusz Karczewski - Slowikowski is a freelance lecturer and researcher in English furniture history and an antique dealer. He is a highly experienced and very popular Arts Society lecturer.

The chairs illustrated are a Medieval Throne Chair, a Victorian Partner’s Desk Chair and Stavanger Cathedral  Bishop’s Chair

Click here to Register for the Study Day - tickets are £30 per person.

The Study Day will now be delivered as a two lecture day on Zoom beginning at 10:30 am (not our usual time of 11am).

This is the story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British Art : J.M.W.Turner and John Constable. As different in background and temperament as their paintings were in style, these two creative geniuses transformed the art of landscape painting. This Study Day sets them head- to -head and examines their differences and their similarities. But who will ultimately be crowned star painter?  As well as providing the answer and an overview of Turner and Constable, the day also provides an enjoyable overview of the British Art World during the 19th century.

Lecture 1 – 50 minutes

Meet the Contenders

The first lecture outlines the biographies of the two artists and traces their life stories from beginning to maturity, including their backgrounds, education and private lives, and touching upon those interesting moments when their paths crossed. We will discuss the important role of the Royal Academy – the arbiter of artistic education and status at the time – and the competitive battleground of the Great Exhibition Room where our two artists pitted their talents directly against one another.

Lecture 2 – 50 minutes

Signature Paints, The Technical Challenge and the Showstoppers

In the second lecture, the ‘Great British Paint-Off’ will set the two artists head-to-head and discuss their ‘signature’ differing approaches to landscape. We will then examine how the two artists solved the ‘technical challenge’ of sketching from nature, before moving on to the final showdown of their respective ‘showstoppers’: The Fighting Temeraire vs The Hay Wain. The session concludes with a light-hearted look at the legacies of Turner and Constable, and the way that their art has been incorporated within notions of British identity.

Nicola Moorby is an independent art historian specialising in British Art of the 19th and early twentieth centuries. Formerly a curator at Tate Britain, Nicola has curated a number of exhibitions and is an acknowledged expert on J M.W.Turner. She is co- editor and author of "How to Paint Like Turner" and co-author of  the Tate catalogue of works by the Camden Town Group.

The works illustrated are:The City of Utrecht, 64, Going to Sea, 1832, by JMW Turner( The Bridgeman Art Library) and The Opening of Waterloo Bridge ('Whitehall Stairs, June 18th, 1817), by John Constable (Tate, London).

Please note this Study Day has been cancelled -it will be rearranged in due course.

This Study Day traces the development of the Chair in terms of its construction and style from ancient times through to the 19th century.and will surprise you at just how much there is to reveal about such a familiar item. The Day will examine the Chair as a symbol of power and authority in religious and courtly ritual and official settings. We will also look at the Chair as a "status symbol" in a more vernacular and common setting. Have you ever wondered where the phrase "sitting on your money" came from? The Day will tell you! Participants are encouraged to bring along chairs from the Victorian period or earlier for examination and discussion. 

Janusz Karczewski - Slowikowski is a freelance lecturer and researcher in English furniture history and an antique dealer. He is a highly experienced and very popular Arts Society lecturer.

The chairs illustrated are a Medieval Throne Chair, a Victorian Partner’s Desk Chair and Stavanger Cathedral  Bishop’s Chair

A Free evening from The Arts Society West Surrey Area
On
Tuesday 25th August 2020
Starting at 5:pm

VELAZQUEZ AND MURILLO
TWO GREAT ARTISTS OF THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE
By Sian Walters
 

Two lectures, about 45 minutes each, presented by Sian Walters, a very popular accredited lecturer for The Arts Society.  There will be a short interval at half time.  The event will be a Live broadcast using Zoom. This event is FREE for all members of The Arts Society.

Murillo (1617 – 1682) - pictured - was born in Seville and stayed there for most of his life.
His paintings are not only a valuable testament to the religious climate of the city after the Counter Reformation, but also are important documents telling us a great deal about society and everyday life at the time.

Velázquez (1599 - 1660) became a court painter to
King Philip IV.
He was recognised internationally for his talent; being able to capture the personality and mood of his subjects.
Many of his paintings are deliberately enigmatic, creating heated discussion, even today.

Siân Walters Studied at Cambridge University. Lecturer at the National Gallery and The Wallace Collection and taught at Surrey University, specialising in 15th and 16th century Italian painting, Spanish art & architecture, and the relationship between dance and art.  Sian has lived in France and Italy, where she worked at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice

SHALFORD VILLAGE HALL, KINGS ROAD, SHALFORD GU4 8BQ

Start 1030 Finish 1500

Please note there is  a WAITING LIST for this lecture.

The illustration is by Conrad Martens

The late 18th century onwards saw a major exploration of the Pacific. Encouraged by Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, intrepid explorers like Captain Cook and Captain Flinders took with them professional artists who provided a unique record of the sights, the fauna and flora and the indigenous peoples they encountered. Artists like William Westall, Ferdinand Bauer, Augustus Earle, Conrad Martens and many more. The voyages were also at the cutting edge of scientific development and discovery, from the use of Harrison's chronometer for navigation and Charles Darwin's ground breaking research for his "Origin of the Species" to the pioneering metereology of Robert Fitzroy, Captain of HMS Beagle. In the course of 3 lectures, James Taylor provides a fascinating and richly illustrated insight into an age when art, science and exploration came together and the relationships between the leading personalities involved, with a flavour of maritime history and stories. 

Dr James Taylor FRSA studied at the Universities of St Andrews and Manchester. He is an experienced Arts Society lecturer and former curator of paintings, drawings and prints at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich. His many publications include "Picturing the Pacific" and "The Voyage of HMS Beagle".

SHALFORD VILLAGE HALL, KINGS ROAD, SHALFORD GU4 8JE

Start 1030 Finish 1500

Attacked, misunderstood, jeered at or just ignored for almost 30 years, Monet lived to see his ideas transform the way in which we see nature. In the course of 3 lectures, Douglas Skeggs follows Monet’s career from his childhood on the Seine Estuary , to the hard times in Paris and Argentuil to the triumphant years at Giverny. He will also look at Monet’s techniques, his battles with officialdom, his private life with friends and family and his extraordinary vision and legacy.

Douglas Skeggs read Fine Art at Cambridge and is a highly experienced lecturer, with over 6000 lectures to Arts Societies , Universities and Colleges. He has written and presented TV documentaries and “The River of Light” on Monet. Those Members who heard Douglas lecture on “Klimt and the Viennese Secession” will appreciate this Study day offers an unmissable treat.

PLease note this Study Day is now fully booked with a waiting list.

SHALFORD VILLAGE HALL, KINGS ROAD, SHALFORD GU4 8JE

Start 1030 Finish 1500

The City of London has been collecting and commissioning art for nearly 350 years and has a rich legacy of treasures. In the course of 3 richly illustrated lectures, Ian Swankie examines the art and architecture of the City.  Ian will examine the Guildhall, the Guildhall Art Gallery, the Livery Companies, public art and the spectacular architecture of this world famous financial centre. An enticing opportunity to learn, to enjoy and to mix with your fellow Members!

Ian Swankie is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture. Ian is an experienced Arts Society lecturer and Members will remember his outstanding lecture on Grayson Perry. He is also an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the Guildhall art Gallery and St Pauls.

Booking opens September Meeting. £30 (including coffee, light lunch and glass of wine.)

For more information or to book your place contact Brian Hawtin on 01483 561306 or email brian.hawtin@yahoo.co.uk

Shalford Village Hall, Kings Road, Shalford GU4 8JE
Start 1030 – Finish 1500

Synopsis
In the course of 3 lectures, William Forrester uses the art and images of the day to bring to life what the Grand Tourist of the 18th Century experienced and saw. The perils and pleasures of the long journey to the destinations of Venice, Naples, Florence and Rome. The art and portraits of Canaletto, Zoffany, Panini, Piranesi, Mengs, Batoni and many more. The encounters with the artists, sculptors, tour guides, swindlers, dealers and hoteliers. And the effect of the Tour on the British Town and Country House. The day offers an enticing blend of art, sculpture, social history and time travel.

William Forrester has an MA from Oxford University and Diploma in Art History. William is an experienced Lecturer for the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, British Museum and National Trust, as well as The Arts Society.

Booking Opens January Meeting; £30 (including coffee, lunch & glass of wine.)

For More Information or to Book Your Place.
Contact Brian Hawtin on 01483 561306 or e mail: brian.hawtin@yahoo.co.uk

In the course of three lectures, Linda Smith takes a generally light-hearted look at changing attitudes to sexual morality from the 17th to the 20th centuries by examining the portraits and careers of some of history's most notorious mistresses and courtesans.  She also charts the complex and ambiguous attitudes of art and society towards the numerous anonymous working girls at the lower end of the social scale by investigating how they have been represented in art at different times and places.  The day offers an enticing mixture of art, social history and scandalous anecdote.

Linda Smith has two first class degrees in Art History, with a special interest in British Art and Art of the 20th century.  She is an established NADFAS lecturer and experienced guide and lecturer at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Booking begins at the September 2017 Lecture meeting.

A different perspective from our normal focus on European art and heritage.  The morning session will look at the historical context, the buildings produced by earlier civilisations, including the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, the Spanish and the exuberant architecture of the 19th century expansion westwards.  The session ends with a look at Frank Lloyd Wright and the "success of excess" in Las Vegas.  The afternoon session focuses on how landscape painters and photographers portrayed the wilderness of the West.  Artists we will look at include Frederick Remington, Charles Russell and Thomas Moran "The Turner of the American West".

The day will be run by Roger Mitchell MA.  He studied history at Oxford and Fine Arts at Leeds.  Roger was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel and study in the USA.  He is an experienced NADFAS lecturer who also lectures for Liverpool University and runs country house and study tours.

Booking will open at the December 2016 Lecture meeting