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December 2021
The Journey of the Magi: Origins, Myth and Reality – the true story of the three kings. a lecture by Leslie Primo
There have been pictorial representations of The Magi from as early as at least the 6th century, such as depictions in Byzantine ivories with origins in places such as Constantinople. Indeed, a vast array of artists, such as Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516)Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (active 1550/1; died 1569), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Masaccio (1401-1428/9?), and Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) to name but a few, have been clearly fascinated by story and its possibilities when it comes to visual…
Find out more »January 2022
Arts and Crafts of Mexico, Past and Present – a lecture by Chloe Sayer
Arts and crafts remain an essential part of Mexican life. After the Spanish conquest of 1521, the raw materials, techniques and art styles of Europe merged with those of the New World. Drawing on skills inherited from Aztec, Maya and Spanish predecessors, makers bring a modern vision to ancient traditions. Exquisite textiles, silver jewellery, wooden dance-masks, imaginative toys and fine pottery are still used in many regions. Chloë Sayer has made collections for the British Museum. She also owns an…
Find out more »February 2022
Threads of History: The World of the Bayeux Tapestry – a lecture by Rupert Willoughby
Commissioned by the Bishop of Bayeux who fought at Hastings, executed by skilled English craftsmen, the Bayeux Tapestry is the last survivor of a vanished art form. Rupert Willoughby presents a lively introduction to the tapestry – so much more than the story of Hastings – in which he unravels some of its mysteries, places it in the context of its age and firmly establishes it as a landmark in the history of Western art. With its lively illustrations of…
Find out more »March 2022
Impressionism in Art and Music – a lecture by Peter Medhurst
As the word ‘impressionism’ was first used in painting as a term of abuse, so the first recorded use of the word in connection with music – in 1887 regarding Debussy’s Printemps – was derogatory as well. However, by 1905, the term was applied frequently to musical compositions and it was Debussy himself who maintained that music was able to put impressionist’s theories into practice more fully than painting was able to do, since music could represent the play of…
Find out more »April 2022
The Antiques Roadshow- Behind the Scenes and Great Discoveries – a lecture by Marc Allum
AGM at 10.30 followed by the lecture A first hand insight behind the nation's most popular programme by Marc Allum a specialist on the show for over 20 years
Find out more »May 2022
The Art and Culture of Fin-de-Siecle Vienna a lecture by Gavin Plumley
At the turn of the last century, Vienna was the capital of a vast empire and one of the most exciting artistic laboratories in the world. It produced painters such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, architects like Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Looking at these and others figures in the context of the society in which they worked, this talk asks how…
Find out more »June 2022
8 Buildings for 8 Faiths in London – a lecture by Charlie Forman
Appreciate the astonishing range of signature buildings of faith communities settling in London. New arrivals leave their imprint on a city – nowhere more so than in London where Jews, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Hindus, Methodists, Sikhs, Buddhists and Orthodox Greeks have each added their own layer. Not least, they have all left a remarkable signature. Here are eight faith communities which can each point to a special place they built, not on first arrival, but when numbers and self-confidence had…
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