A fascinating lecture of how opera began, developed and spread worldwide; from 1600 to the present day. Illustrated with musical examples and excerpts of opera productions from around the world. This illustrated lecture looks at the development of opera from its baroque beginnings right up to the modern-day Hamilton. Highlighting the major changes and game-changers through each century, the movers and the shakers, focusing upon the greatest operas by the greatest composers. This lecture is suitable for the operatic novice; or expert.  

Was Napoleon killed by his green wallpaper? 

This story begins in 1775 with a German chemist and his experiments with arsenic. The resulting powerful green reached its height of popularity when worn by "Queen of Fashion", Empress Eugénie. It was printed on wallpaper by Morris & Co. and was a favourite of plein-air artists, such as Monet, Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh, keen to capture the freshness of nature. But a century later, it was rebranded as rat-poison.

In 1856 a chemistry student took home a school project to make synthetic quinine. He failed his home-work, but accidentally invented a vibrant purple dye. Queen Victoria and Empress Eugénie wore dresses in the season’s must-have shade. Punch magazine dubbed the craze: “the mauve measles”!

Scheele’s Green and Perkins’ Mauveine were forerunners of hundreds of synthetic dyes and pigments. You will hear fascinating stories – of serendipitous discoveries, industrial enterprise, and some very sinister secrets.

The great Venetian artist Canaletto spent ten years living in London producing wonderful landscapes of the city and its surrounds. In this lecture, we explore his time in the capital and look at how his style changed during his long visit.  We look at some of the work he produced and explore how the views he captured have changed over the centuries. 

This lecture introduces some of Japan’s most famous gardens and provides a context for understanding the principles of Japanese garden design as it has evolved through the ages. The Japanese love of nature and the changing seasons has manifested itself in the subject matter of paintings and in the intimate and grand-scale gardens surrounding aristocratic palaces and Buddhist temples as well as Zen-inspired dry landscape gardens with their strikingly symbolic content. Nature and artifice are intriguingly combined in such examples to capture the very essence of the landscape. Historical developments and religious and philosophical influences have informed the Japanese approach to the visual arts.

This lecture will also draw upon wider examples to illustrate the distinctive qualities that the Japanese have brought to garden design, an approach that has been successfully adapted to modern domestic settings and to Japanese gardens abroad.   

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. 

 

Food and Art Through the Ages is a whistle-stop tour of the history of food as artistic medium; starting with 16th century sugar sculpture and venturing all the way up to 3D dessert printing and beyond. Hosted by food Historian Tasha Marks, this lecture is a treat for those with a sweet tooth, as Tasha feels the subject of food and art through the ages is most exciting in the realms of the dessert. Topics covered include; the origins of dessert, the crossover between sugar and art, architecture and dessert (including Renaissance banqueting houses), sugar and spectacle, food as artistic medium, and the future of food.

Almost everyone has played Monopoly at some time in their life.  It is one of the world’s most popular and enduring board games.  But, how well do you really know it? This talk starts with the original Landlord’s Game of 1903 and its evolution into the game as we know it today.  Based on the classic 1936 London version we then take a photographic journey around the locations on that Monopoly board.   Expect some surprises as we explore the relationships between the various properties, look at the ones that don’t actually exist and uncover the story behind the game we all know so well - or do we?

Portmeirion is an extraordinary surprise; a colourful and delightful Italian fantasy village on the coast of north Wales.  The creation of one man, the remarkable architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis from the 1920s, Portmeirion is his personal statement of defiance against modernism and what he saw as the increasing ugliness and despoilment of Britain.  Sir Clough opened the hotel there in 1926, and by the 1950s it had become the playground of artists, aristocrats, intellectuals, the fashionable and the merely rich.  Regular visitors included H G Wells, Bertrand Russell and Noel Coward, (who wrote Blithe Spirt at Portmeirion).  Sir Clough's daughter Susan created Portmeirion Pottery which during the 1960s and 70s was synonymous with cutting-edge ceramic style.  This lecture looks at the place, its architecture and associations as well as Portmeirion Pottery. 

Matthew draws upon some very personal memories (his uncle was Resident Director of Portmeirion for nearly 30 years) to make this a fascinating subject.   

This lecture celebrates the 400th Anniversary of Charles I’s accession to the throne in 1625. Charles I’s obsession for collecting works of art began when as a 22-year-old prince he travelled to Spain and saw the magnificent collection of the Spanish king, Philip IV.  On becoming King in 1625 Charles purchased the fabulous collection of the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua which included works by Titian, Raphael and Andrea Mantegna’s astonishing series of paintings “The Triumphs of Caesar”.

Women have worked as artists for hundreds of years, often struggling against societal expectations and institutional barriers. An exhibition to be held at Tate Britain from 16 May to 13 October 2024 showcases the work of women artists in Britain from the sixteenth century to the First World War, and follow them on their journeys to becoming professionals. Determined to succeed and refusing to be boxed in, they daringly painted what were usually thought to be subjects for male artists: history pieces, battle scenes and the nude.

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

When social historian Tessa Boase told the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds she wanted to write their early story, they refused to let her visit their archives. To a former investigative journalist, this was a challenge she could not resist . . . This lecture shines a light on the intriguing story of women’s love affair with plumage ­ – and of the brave eco feminists who fought back on behalf of the birds. Moving from a polite Victorian tea party to an egret hunt in a Florida swamp; from a suffragette ‘monster rally’ to a milliner’s dusty workshop, you’ll be taken back in time to a world where every woman, of every class wore a hat. 

Mankind has exploited the medicinal properties of plants for thousands of years, yet the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people. This talk attempts to put the record straight and to show that plant products are used every day by all of us to relieve pain and suffering, to heal wounds and cure diseases. This is a talk with a very wide appeal and relevance.

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. Egypt was the cradle of magic. Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions for the edification of worship and to hold power over the people. Where there was power there was magic. Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’.

Much information and misinformation have forever linked Freemasonry with the Knights Templar whose headquarters were the Temple Church in London as well as the eccentric Rosslyn Chapel a few miles away from Edinburgh. While there are some genuine connections amongst the three institutions, they do stand on their own.   

The Lindisfarne Gospels, made in Northumbria in the early 8th century, is one of the world's most famous and most beautiful books. It marks the transition from the world of Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages and, through the esperanto of art, forms a skilful blend of the various cultural ingredientrs available in early Medieval Britain and Ireland. This illustrated lecture explores this remarkable book and the world that produced it.

The history of Britain is intricately woven with the history of textiles. Following World War II there was a desire for change, colour, and inspiration in the home. This energy and innovation was led by female textile designers destined to revolutionise design internationally from the 1950s to the 1970s. This lecture celebrates their vision, their influences and their determination that successfully brought modern and contemporary art into the home through their designs and thereby democratising modern art for the first time by making it literally a part of the furniture. 

The Bauhaus was the most innovative and influential school of design in the 20th century, combining avant-garde ideas about abstract art with a thoroughly conscientious approach to social reform and domestic living. Employing some of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, the school combined an interest in nature with a belief in the transformative potential of industrial design that continues to shape art education.

Christmas spectacles, slapstick, and beanstalks have been drawing crowds to Covent Garden since 1737. John Rich, the first manager of what is now the Royal Opera House, was a fine dancer, mime, and special effects man and he (and his successors) developed all the well known features of the  London Christmas season. Even now principal boys, fairies, and Harlequin are alive and well on  the ROH stage. This lecture pulls together the whole performing tradition and brings it up to date with the latest Christmas offerings at the Royal Opera House.

Making his debut reciting a poem as a 7 year old sitting on a pub table, little Charles Dickens developed a lifelong passion for the theatre. As a young man he attended the theatre every night for 3 years, he created over 2000 intensely theatrical characters, and produced, directed, and starred in lavish productions staged in purpose built theatre spaces in the family home. First night audiences included Queen Victoria and The Duke of Wellington!

Towards the end of his life, he embarked on thrilling reading tours where he made audiences in turn cry with laughter at the comic misadventures of Mr Pickwick and recoil in horror at the brutal death of Nancy in Oliver Twist. It was ultimately this addiction to his audience that contributed to his early death at 58. Dickens that perhaps you never knew existed….

From the moment they bonded over bad accommodation at Oxford, William Morris and Ned Jones were firm friends. They came from very different backgrounds – Morris had never wanted for anything, but Jones’ family was poor – but their shared love of medieval literature and art bound them together. Over the more than 40 years of their friendship they weathered personal storms, tragedies and political disagreements to create beautiful art and craft, collaborating on book design, stained glass and many other decorative projects. This talk charts the peaks and troughs of Topsy and Ned’s long and fruitful friendship. 

Just north of Piccadilly, in the city of Westminster, is the historic district of Mayfair, now one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the world. In this armchair tour, we’ll discover the humble early roots of this area and later its aristocratic appeal. We’ll visit famous gardens such as Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square, see posh shops, private members’ clubs, beautiful buildings including stately Georgian townhouses, plenty of public art and many hidden corners. As we duck in and out of alleyways and mews, we’ll discover some of the secrets behind the silk curtains and gilded shutters. 

Ealing Studios is often hailed as the most quintessentially English of all film studios. Run by Sir Michael Balcon for decades, the studio reached its zenith in 1949, its annus mirabilis, releasing Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore!, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Now most celebrated for these and the similarly magnificent comedies that followed, Ealing's films have a reputation for cosiness, whimsicality, and an ever-so gentle subversiveness. This talk revisits these films and reads them again, this time in the light of the post-war new waves that were beginning to emerge across Europe. Ealing films – like the masterpieces of Italian neo-realism – are films set amongst the ruins, documenting the lives of citizens in bombed cities. Viewed as comedies of rubble, they take on a far more serious set of meanings than their whimsical reputation suggests.

Years of working as an artist within the Criminal Justice System in England and Germany have given Angela unique insights into the destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of the process of creating art of any discipline, there are vital opportunities for offenders to confront their crimes and develop the key life skills so essential in leading a positive and productive life. A frequent response to this talk has been “I had no idea!” and indeed it casts light onto areas of our society where the Arts not only are visual, decorative or commercial, but absolutely vital, hugely relevant and potentially life-changing.

This talk is moving, informative and very original. Interspersed with personal accounts of humorous or slightly horrifying situations, these talks have kept audiences across the country engrossed. 

The long British tradition of political satire is coming to the fore again as a General Election approaches - sometime in 2024. At the root of that tradition is William Hogarth's Election Entertainment series of prints from the 1750s. His ruthless exposure of electoral corruption and hypocrisy sets the stage for later generations of satirists - including James Gillray, Private Eye and today's digital artist Cold War Steve. We will look closely at the Election series, explain Hogarth's many jokes and references and reveal some themes with surprisingly topical relevance, from voter identification to the politics of immigration.

The Borghese Gallery houses what is arguably one of the greatest collections of art in the world. In the early 1600s Cardinal Scipio Borghese, the newphew of Pope Paul V, amassed a great collection of ancient sculptures and Renaissance art, including works by Titian, Botticello and Raphael. Scipio added to this by commissioning statues by Bernini and buying up works by Caravaggio, Domenichino and other contemporary artists of the day.

The collection also houses later artworks acquired over the centuries by the Borghese family,all in a magnificent building designed for Cardinal Scipio especially to house his collection. The Borghese Gallery is set in the Villa Borghese gardens, until a century ago the private gardens of the Borghese family, and today one of the most beautiful public parks in Rome.

In 1770 at the age of ten William Thomas Beckford inherited a vast fortune from his father making him, in the words of one commentator ‘England’s richest commoner. A traveller, author and poet, Beckford is perhaps best remembered for his architectural endeavours. In 1796, at the height of popularity for the Neo-Classical style, Beckford chose to create a vast Gothic mansion, Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire, to be his home. His vision for this building pushed the boundaries of what was architecturally possible and was of huge popular interest. The story of Fonthill Abbey is one of drama, intrigue and ultimate collapse, as Beckford's fortune became irrevocably absorbed in his fantastical architectural vision.

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

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art. Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas both sacred and profane.But in Bruegel's hands, the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus. Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, this lecture explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within a shifting cosmos.

Darling's daring rescue of steamship passengers off the Northumberland coast in 1838 brought her international fame. Discover more about her bravery and short life (died aged 26) living in the Brownsman and Longstone lighthouses and influence, alongside the artistic contribution that has helped to keep her in the public eye. Grace became the "poster girl" of the RNLI and was the first woman awarded their medal for gallantry. This talk also includes references to life-saving inventions by Henry Greathead, Captain Manby and John Dennett and Sir William Hillary, the founder of the RNLI. The countdown for the bicentenary celebrations of the founding of the RNLI (established in 1824) start at the end of 2023.

Mankind has exploited the healing properties of plants for thousands of years, yet the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people. This talk attempts to put the record straight and to show that plant products are used every day by all of us to relieve pain and suffering, to heal wounds and cure diseases. 

Micromosaics are made up of thousands of tiny pieces of glass, invisible to the naked eye. Inspired by the discovery in Hadrian's villa in 1735 in what was then thought the finest mosaic ever made in ancient Rome, the mosaic artists of 18th Century Rome invented a method of making tiny mosaics in glass, instead of stone. This lecture traces the develoment of these astonishing feats of ingenuity, none more than 7 cm in length, from their neo-classical beginnings to the romantic landscapes and naturalistic objects of the 19th Century. Stunning slides taken under high magnification demonstrate the technical virtuosity and kaleidoscope of colours that never fade. These micromosaics were highly prized in their day and btought back by visitors to Italy as treasured mementoes and as portable miniature versions of large scale mosaics or paintings.

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.

Water features have been a key ingredient of garden layouts since the earliest records. Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli features two canals of immense size, bristling with symbolism in addition to their visual impact. The jardin de plaisir of medieval queens was typically focused on a gurgling fountain dividing the little space up into four regions of paradise, just like the courtyard gardens of Moorish Spain with their brimming pools of silent, reflective refreshment. The 17th century was fascinated by technology, turning water into elaborate jets and surprise mechanisms, even generating music. The English landscape garden of the 18th century favoured serpentine lakes below the windows of the house, serenely mirror-like, held in place by ingenious earthworks. Enthusiasts for the Picturesque at the start of the 19th century preferred the thrill of foaming cascades and rattling streams. Victorian industrial progress revived Baroque design ideas, but now magnificently powered by great coal-fired engines in subterranean chambers. Designers continue to devise clever (or disastrous) schemes to make use of the visual and aural qualities of water in the garden: though beset with practical difficulties, the ideal of glittering movement is powerfully appealing to the human mind. This lecture reviews the progress of water through the historic garden in Britain and continental Europe.

A jam-packed hour of information and entertainment. Take a trip with Margaret as she delves into the 5000 year history, development,design, music and lore of this fascinating instrument.

Boasting over 1400 working parts, you will learn how the complex pedal mechanism was introduced and perfected into the instrument played today together with slides of the extraordinary designs as the instrument developed over the centuries.

Indulge in the lavishly decorated Rococo harps made for Queen Marie Antoinette, the fashion statement that became associated with the instrument - and listen as Margaret plays her harp for you on this unique musical journey.

It’s often said Birmingham has more canals than Venice and today the city’s waterways are a fascinating mixture of traditional and contemporary design, architecture and engineering. The lecture looks at the distinctive features of Birmingham’s canals and, with archival maps and images, also tells the 250-year old story of their unique industrial heritage – wharves, warehouses, locks, bridges, tunnels and, of course, boats.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was the domination of shipping routes to and from America that was the golden prize.

Here is the fascinating story of how each company positioned itself in the size of liners, the luxurious environments with posters, art, ephemera and the offerings across the Atlantic Ocean either side of the Great War. We look at the breathtaking interiors as portrayed in the Shipbuilder special supplements of the day and the Sales Brochures. What were the reasons for the tragedy of both the Lusitania and Titanic? What art was lost on Titanic? Was it just plain sailing on the Atlantic?

Howard Smith’s lectures have a reputation for stunning graphics - this lecture is no exception and also has vintage film of RMS Olympic with the building and launch as well as a glimpse of the First Class dining experience - these were floating luxury hotels for the seriously rich and below decks a cramped one-way ticket for the 12 million immigrants to the States.

...the big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh...

This lecture looks at the explosion of modern dance that took place during the 20th century after Isadora Duncan introduced a new free flowing form of dance at the turn of the century.Modern dance pioneers included Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman and these in turn were were succeeded by post WW2 choreographers such as Merce Cunningham who broke the rules paving the way for post-modern dance from the 1960s, We’ll also take aa look at hiphop, street dancing, jazz and some extraordinary site specific works that take us up to the present time.

In this lecture, we’ll take an exciting and colourful look at the different forms of dance bringing it alive with video clips and music as well as stills.

The Luttrell Psalter offers a fascinating insight into life in England in the turbulent 14th century. Made in Norwich and Lincs for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Lord of the Manor of Irnham (Lincs.) in the 1330s, its margins contain a riot of imaginative images peopled not only by saints and grotesques, but by the family and the ordinary folk who worked their land. Their successes and scandals are explored in coded images. For this was an age when kings were deposed by their adulterous queens, heiresses eloped with clerks and the property-merger marriages of barons risked incest. The Black Death was about to decimate Europe, the Scots and French were hostile and the peasants were getting restless, stalking the margins of society and of the pages. Meanwhile, a  hard-hitting Dominican friar sought to get Sir Geoffrey and his people to heaven and painted his spiritual teachings for them, illuminating the age-old cry 'de profundis' of the Psalms.

This lecture explores the decoration of furniture intended as part of the marriage dowry - often illustrated with improving or historical images for the benefit of the newly married couple.

This talk is on how magicians have appeared in art throughout the centuries, whether in paintings, satirical prints or cartoons. Early artists used the magician to symbolise the mysterious and the unknown, associating them with astrology and tarot cards. In the 16th century, Pieter Bruegel and Hieronymus Bosch produced two of the most famous and striking pictures of the conjurer performing the Cups and Balls trick. The 18th and 19th century saw a proliferation in engravings and lithographs showing the magician both indoors and on the streets. Cartoonists and satirists delighted in linking politicians with skulduggery with images of them featuring the Three-Card Trick, Vanishing illusions or pulling a Rabbit out of the Hat.

Historic buildings specialists often meet folk who are eager to talk about their properties and their enthusiasm is genuinely infectious. We can learn so much of value about a society by what it builds. However, romanticised and elaborated stories often grow up around certain mysterious features in medieval buildings – houses built of ship timbers, crusader graffiti, swordsmen fighting on spiral staircases, leper squints and secret passages – it is surprising how often these get repeated all across the country in so many different structures In this lecture ten of the most common misconceptions are outlined, the origins of the myths are explained and the underlying truth behind each myth is revealed. Hopefully the talk will help to give a broader and deeper understanding of historic buildings that will bring us just that little bit closer to their former occupants.

In 1936 Dame Laura Knight became the first woman to be elected as a full member of the Royal Academy in London, 168 years after its establishment. In her extraordinary career she painted landscapes, portraits and seascapes, as well as scenes from the circus, the ballet and the theatre. She was the only woman to be given War Commissions in both the First and Second World Wars and the only British artist to cover the Nuremberg Trials of 1946. This lecture provides an overview of her fascinating career and some of the remarkable achievements of her long life. 

Eighteenth century jewellery is largely misunderstood and is sadly neglected today.  In a world wholly focused on fabulous gems, jewellery which fetch millions at international auction and diamonds bought for investment rather than their innate beauty there seems to be little time and even less interest in Regency shoe buckles, dainty Posy Rings and intimate lockets conveying messages of love.  John Benjamin’s new talk examines the jewellery of what, in reality, was an innovative and fascinating period of jewellery design and explores many of the key themes, inspirations and gems used in this most elegant of eras – from the soft twinkling diamonds of Queen Anne to the sumptuous Parures typifying the stylish exuberance of William IV.

This is a narrative approach to the revival of 15th century carpets in Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan. Illuminations on vellum – containing the only surviving representations of textiles from this era – flourished, despite the Islamic prohibition on representative art – and are all we had left of Timurid Carpets until Chris Alexander’s workshop began to weave them to life again.  The lecture will examine the traditional role of carpet weaving and embroidery in the social lives of Central Asian women and how social and political influences led to the decline of textile production. How do the constraints of gender-inequality, corruption and the sourcing of natural dyes from neighbouring Afghanistan continue to challenge attempts at reviving the rich textile heritage of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand?

The Wall Street Crash in 1929 led to a questioning of the success of the American dream. President Roosevelt stepped in with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the New Deal. The government initiative meant employment for over eight million largely unskilled Americans and importantly 5,300 artists. Murals, painting, photography, graphic design all flourished. In this lecture we will explore some of the key artists of this era. The abstract painters Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning will be evaluated along with the social realism of Dorothea Lange and Ben Shahn. The soundtrack of the era is provided by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie R

Two hundred and fifty years after Antonio Stradivari’s death, his violins and cellos remain the most highly prized instruments in the world. Loved by great musicians and capable of fetching fabulous sums when sold, their tone and beauty are legendary. Every subsequent violin-maker has tried to match them. Not one has succeeded. How can that be? This lecture explores that central mystery by following some of Stradivari’s instruments from his workshop to the present day. It is a story that travels from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, and from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings. Toby Faber’s book Stradivarius: Five violins, one cello and a genius, was described in The New York Times as ‘more enthralling, earthy and illuminating than any fiction could be.’ The lecture is illustrated with pictures of violins and of key individuals and locations, as well as with some short musical recordings. 

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

The invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 711AD by the Umayyad Caliphate quickly overthrew the Christian Visigothic kingdom and began the nearly 800-year occupation that ended only in 1492AD, when the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, completed the reconquest of the Kingdom of Granada – the same year that those two visionary monarchs also sent Christopher Columbus off to discover the New World. During the intervening centuries, the mixture of Islamic, Christian and Jewish influences produced a unique hybrid culture.

This lecture tells the story of the Moorish invasion and the Christian reconquest, through an introduction to the surviving architecture and other areas of the material culture, such as silk textiles, carved ivory caskets, bronze sculptures and refined ceramics.

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. This lecture will examine de Lempicka's background and her output in Paris and will place her work in the context of Art Deco and of painting styles of the period.

Deborah Devonshire, the youngest of the Mitford sisters and wife of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, was hefted by marriage to one of Europe’s greatest treasure houses, Chatsworth.  In the second half of the 20th century, in partnership with her husband, she imbued it with a spirit, elegance and sense of welcome that transformed it from being the worn-out survivor of decades of taxation, war and social change into one of the best-loved, most emulated and popular historic houses, gardens and estates in the country.  With responsibility for Lismore Castle and Bolton Abbey as well, no wonder her passport stated her profession as ‘housewife’.

Along the way, she became a best-selling author and sell-out speaker, champion of the countryside, its skills, traditions, livelihoods and food, trustee and patron of numerous charities, businesses and good causes, and the most famous poultry keeper in the country.She met Hitler and Churchill, was a trusted confidant of the Prince of Wales, played her part as the steady heart of the Mitford sisters’ melodramaand was friends with a dazzling array of some of the brightest and most fascinating of her contemporaries, including President Kennedy, Evelyn Waugh, Oscar de la Renta, John Betjeman, Lucian Freud, Tom Stoppard, Neil MacGregor, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Alan Bennett.

The operas of Gilbert & Sullivan are rich in contemporary satire and witty personal allusions. This lecture tells how each of the 14 operas, on which the partners collaborated, drew inspiration from the world in which they lived by drawing on celebrities, politicians, social mores, manners, artistic taste, as well as the class system. The lecture explains how the then first Lord of the Admiralty, WH Smith, became the model for Sir Joseph Porter KCB in HMS Pinafore, how Oscar Wilde inspired Bunthorne in Patience, and how Gilbert himself may have been the model for the Judge in Trial By Jury.

The Glasgow Boys were a loose knit group of friends who breathed new life into the Scottish Arts Scene from the early 1880s.George Henry and Edward Atkinson Hornel dominated a second wave of the movement, with an emphasis on colour, pattern and design and an interest in both Orientalism and the Celtic Revival. This lecture will introduce the artists and their stunning works and tell the story of their travels in Japan and of the artistic commune which grew up around Hornel's house in Kirkcudbright.

Sarah Cove has been instrumental in the attribution of three significant Constable oils for BBC1’s Fake or Fortune? series, appearing in 2014 and 2017. In 2014 she set up a Facebook page that is hugely successful in raising awareness of her research so that now she is regularly contacted by people that think they have a found a previously unknown Constable!! Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture which gives a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how such decisions are made and will describe some extraordinary successes but also crashing disappointments. Stories will include, at opposite extremes, a hugely publicised oil sketch reputedly worth £250,000 that turned out to be a copy and the chance discovery of a fabulous, almost abstract, oil study of the 1830s that had formerly belonged to an American G.I.

This lecture is being offered to us by the Arts Society Arden

An American artist in London, James Abbott MacNeill Whistler, was a leading proponent of the idea "art for art's sake". He signed his paintings with a stylized monogram of a butterfly with a long stinger for a tail - as much a symbol of his love for Japanese art as his assertive and sometimes combative nature.

Having lived and worked with the Paris avante-garde he settled in London in 1859 having created a distinctive Post Impressionist style at a time when many of his Bristish contempories had yet to come to terms with Impressionism. Whistler's art moved painting towards abstraction, sparked a renaissance in print making and gave us the Peacock Room, a masterpiece of interior design.

Inspired, influential and infuriating, his art was full of subtle delicacy. He had a wide circle of friends and family and yet, if crossed, could be a formidable opponent. He mastered the art of making enemies.

When Howard Carter first peered through a hole into the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 he was asked if he could see anything - "Yes, wonderful things!" was his reply. The tomb itself was poorly decorated but the funerary goods that helped the young pharaoh enjoy the afterlife in truly kingly fashion are some of the most equisite treasures ever discovered. in this lecture you too will discover theirr beauty, hear about their exciting dicovery and the diary entries made by Carter. Learn of the symbolism in their design, the materials used with expert craftmanship and what has become of them.

This lecture is being offered to us by The Arts Society Arden.

Musical instruments are found throughout the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age. Despite this, knowledge of their symbolic meaning, and how they sounded to their original participants, is often lost on modern audiences. The associations of music with love and intimacy, enlivened by the sound quality and tone of the instruments of the period, help unravel their meaning. From Jan Steen’s brothel scenes to the solemn interiors of Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch, this lecture charts the vast meaning and rich significance of music in Dutch art.

Much richer than the Guggenheims, the Rockefellers - even today the richest and most influential family in the USA - not only amassed one of the greatest collections of the 20th Century, including superb Impressionists, but also donated their nine storey town house on Fifth Avenue to found the Museum of Modern Art, MOMA. An incredibly private family, mostly the family avoided scandal, but some time back I worked for a year at one of Harvard University's research institutes, whose director had been married to a Rockefeller, so I learnt some of their secret and shameful stories.

This lecture is being offered to us by The Arts Society Arden.

This lecture is a look at backstage life at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the pressures faced by performers, be they singer, dancer, conductor or musician.  We see how the building copes with the demands of modern productions and examine audience expectations both inside the theatre and out. We also look at some of the highs and try to understand some of the lows that have been the fortune of this world-class performing venue over the years. 

In the depths of the Mexican jungle lies an enchanted valley in which strange ruins tower over waterfalls and pools. It seems like the remains of a lost civilisation, but the arches and stairways were only built in the last century by Edward James, a rich English eccentric and Surrealist. Ranging around the world and across the 20th Century, this lecture tells the colourful story of Edward James and Las Pozas, introducing along the way an array of intriguing characters and exploring the wider theme of the modern artist-gardener.

This lecture is being offered to us by The Arts Society Arden.

Aristocrat, politician, rake and revolutionary: William Cavendish, 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Devonshire, is certainly one of the more colourful of seventeenth-century noblemen. So wicked was he, that an Italian visitor to Restoration England described him as ‘the most dissolute man in London’. Yet Cavendish is also remembered as one of the great saviours of English civil liberties, part of a small group of aristocrats who overthrew James II and brought William of Orange and constitutional monarchy to the throne. In addition, he remodelled his Elizabethan family seat and transformed it into one of our greatest country houses and a monument to his success, Chatsworth in Derbyshire. So this is a lecture about depravity, politics and fine architecture, as we look at Cavendish’s morals, his political redemption and his wonderful house and gardens: truly, ‘a Palace for a Prince’.

This lecture is being offered to us by The Arts Society Arden.

A personal account by the landscape painter and art historian, Lydia Bauman, of her journey through New Mexico in search of the iconic motifs painted by American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).

Hear of the insights and discoveries made about the life and work practice of the legendary painter and see how the desert of New Mexico, Miss O'Keeffe's 'backyard' for over fifty years - inspired a very different artist working today in London.

This is the story of the unfortunate young woman who left Florence to be Queen of France and the unhappy life that followed. She was a brave woman, who suffered every indignity at the French court, but survived all her enemies.

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

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, half-sister of Roman emperors, the hostage wife of a Gothic King, who 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.

This is a brief outline of my lecture on Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. The lecture is based on at least three years of research into why this Baltimore woman, born in 1896 into relative obscurity, was so demonised by the British establishment and wider Commonwealth, accused of being a spy, prostitute or Nazi sympathiser, yet how, after she married the ex-King and became Duchess of Windsor, she turned her exile and hatred into a platform from which to launch herself as one of the world’s best dressed woman who entertained in the most elegant homes fit for a King – or an ex-King.

Was she simply a clothes horse for dress designers and jewellery makers or did she have a heart that has never been fairly understood? I will include many pictures in this lecture of Wallis and the clothes and jewellery she had made especially for her as well as the homes she lived in. But I will also tell the story of how, in the context of the 1930s, this woman with three husbands was unacceptable as Queen of England and of the Empire. I will explore who this woman was and what was the power she had over King Edward Vlll. Seventy five years since the Abdication in 1936, it is now time to reassess That Woman. 

Mario Testino and David Bailey may be household names that spring to mind when we think of the great fashion and portrait photographers of the 20th century. But where does Jorge Lewinski’s reputation lie amongst these significant individuals? Have you heard of him? Jorge Lewinski, born in Lwow, Poland (now Ukraine) in 1921, has an unparalleled reputation for capturing portraits of the iconic British painters and sculptors of the 20th century. Having based his home and career in London from 1942, Lewinski photographed over 300 leading British artists principally between 1962 and 1995. We learn about his prolific career; what made the photographer and how significant are his photographs in revealing the character of each sitter as both a person and as an artist. With an unapologetic focus on 20th century Royal Academicians in particular, although by no means exclusive, this lecture considers Lewinski’s portraits of a selection of great 20th century British artists such as David Hockney, Henry Moore, Antony Gormley, Allen Jones, Michael Craig-Martin and Barbara Hepworth. Through the work of Lewinski, we can also explore the artistic contributions that these painters and sculptors have made/are making to the British art scene.

The history of English garden design can be told in different ways, but rarely can it be told "through the lens" of one garden. The Oxford Botanic Garden was founded at the beginning of the 17th century and its design bears all the hallmarks of 17th century design. Through the next 400 years successive Horti Praefecti (head gardeners) changed the features reflecting the art of gardening, and very occasioanlly, the science of botany. 

This talk looks at how the art of gardening has changed, or perhaps not, in four centuries in Oxfordshire and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects garden design at the beginning of the 21st century.

The careers of John Piper and Graham Sutherland followed surprisingly simialr paths. Born in the same year, 1903, they both attended Epsom College, then commenced different careers before attending art college. Along with other English Neo-Romantics, each was influenced by William Blake and Samuel Palmer. They were also able to embrace European modernism that enabled their work to remain accessible to the general public. Piper and Sutherland worked in a variety of media, producing astinishing bodies of work; each was an Official War Artist in World War Two, and each went on to create inspirational and moving works of religious art.

What was the fate of art after the Nazi rise to power in 1933? ? The Nazis are famous for their opposition to modern art, staging the Degenerate Art Exhibition in 1937 that ridiculed modern art and labelled it a jewish and Bolshevik conspiracy to undermine German identity. Nazi propaganda hinged on creating a potent myth about the German nation and art was a critical weapon in this process. 

\in this talk we will examine the complexities of Nazi art policy and what actually happened to modernist artists during this period. Many modernist artists were forced into exile. Some were tortured and imprisoned, others' sought to reach an accommodation with the authorities whilst some chose "inner immigration", retreating into a private secluded world to avoid persecution.

We will look at the rarely seen work of Nazi artists such as the painters Adolf Ziegler and Werner Peiner, sculptors such as Arno Breker and Josef Thorak and filmmakers such as Leni Riefenstahl and Ftitz Hippler.

Contrasting with this we will look at work made by artists in exile and under Nazi occupation such as Max Beckmann, Karl Schwesig and Felix Nussbaum. and a group of Danish artists who succeeded in creating avante-garde art under the noses of the Nazis in occupied Copenhagen.

This is  Zoom lecture

Why do people look the way they do in portraits in the the past? From the alarmingly lead-whitened cheeks of the Renaissance, to the artificial cheek-plumpers and mouse-hair eyebrows of the 17th and 18th centuries, portraits have been governed by cosmetics, fashions and the ever changing concepts of beauty. Not only women, but men too, were at the mercy of changing trends in hair styles, wigs, smallpox patches and artificial teeth. From the application of rhubarb or boiled pigeon, mercury or lead, powders and poisons have dominated the "look of an age".

This lecture , due to take place on 1st July 2020, has been cancelled

This is a narrative approach to the revival of 15th century carpet designs from illuminated manuscripts in Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan. Illuminations on vellum – containing the only surviving representations of textiles from this era – flourished, despite the Islamic prohibition on representative art.  The lecture will examine the traditional role of carpet weaving and embroidery in the social lives of Central Asian women and how social and political influences led to the decline of textile production. How do the constraints of gender-inequality, corruption and the sourcing of natural dyes from neighbouring Afghanistan continue to challenge attempts at reviving the rich textile heritage of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand?

This really is a fascinating insight into the history of one of our greatest ever institutions - our Great British Public Park. We have all enjoyed them at some time in our lives but what do we really know about them? What are their origins? This talk illustrates their origins from the great Royal Parks to the Pleasure Gardens of the eighteenth century, to their Victorian heyday. It discusses what makes a great park, it’s ‘parkitecture’ with examples of lodges, lakes, bandstands, fountains, lidos, palm houses and to their wonderful floral displays, to their great decline in the sixties, seventies and eighties. However, the subsequent revival has led to a major shift in interest in our parks and once again we are very much in love with them. This is a highly illustrative lecture accompanied by slides with examples of parks from across the UK and their designs and architecture and can be shaped to the locality of the lecture.

For the series and film “Downton Abbey”, Andrew was commissioned to make many jewels for the main characters and this inspired him to create a talk based on this unique period.

Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case.

In his talk, Andrew guides you through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great Couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence.

Along with this, he illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

In this neglected era (1930s), set against a back drop of the Wall Street crash and a questioning of the success of the American dream the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the New Deal was created. The Roosevelt government initiative meant employment for over eight million largely unskilled Americans and importantly 5,300 artists. Murals, painting, photography, graphic design all flourished. In this lecture we will explore some of the key artists at this time. The abstract painters Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning will be evaluated along with the social realism of Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Ben Shahn. The soundtrack of the era was provided by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rogers.

Titian’s Venus of Urbino is just one of a number of Renaissance masterpieces that celebrate the beauty of the female form. But who were the women who modelled for such paintings? In an age where the church demanded celibacy but turned a blind eye to chastity, and where rich high class men married late to virginal women they were not expected to be faithful to, where did all that male desire go? The answer, in cities like Rome and Venice, was the birth of courtesan culture: women as cultured, clever and fashionable as they were lovely.

This lecture names names and tells stories, with wonderful images to match.

Big Ben is one of the most iconic buildings in the world – it identifies the UK and democracy in the Western world. But there is a lot more to this tower than the beautiful external gothic architecture; and Tim will prove this to you. Using stunning images, he will take you on a virtual tour of the interior, saving you the effort of climbing 334 spiral stairs. He will explain the historical background and discuss the friction between the often controversial personalities involved in the building and designing of the tower. Tim will then take you behind those magnificent clock faces; show and explain the workings of the enormous clock mechanism; before finally taking you into the belfry and presenting before you – Big Ben, the most famous bell in the world!  After all that excitement Tim will ensure you safely descend the stairs ready for your well-earned cup of tea!

What caused American painting to take off as it did in the mid-20th century? The painter Willem de Kooning attributed its initial success to the work of his friend Jackson Pollock whom he credited with ‘breaking the ice’.  My talk looks at the career of the famous action painter and assesses how his contribution to painting (including his infamous drip technique) contributed to Abstract Expressionism becoming an artistic phenomenon worldwide.  Pollock’s path left a particularly significant legacy in terms of future developments.

Born in Sussex in 1921 , Joan Eardley showed artistic  talent from a young age, and after post-war studies at Glasgow School of Art, made Scotland her home until her death in 1963, aged just 42.  Joan's work is known from her twin passions - the country and town: the country, where she braved the elements to paint the wild forces of nature on the North Sea coast of Aberdeenshire, and the town, where she was drawn to the equally wild elements of the Glasgow slums.  She left a legacy of completely individual artworks; a raw experience of nature combined with a painfully moving expressiveness.  This is her story.

As adults we carry in our heads huge numbers of images from childhood, and some of those most deeply etched come from illustrations in books that we read as children. Images of ‘Tigger’ and ‘Toad’ or even ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ will probably remain with us for ever! In addition to a wide range of examples John will examine how illustrations contribute to the development of understanding and how the interaction of image and narrative creates such powerful memories.

Steven Desmond is an independent landscape consultant specialising in historic gardens and architecture since 1985; freelance lecturer, including Universities of Bristol and Oxford; specialist tour leader and lecturer in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. ADFAS lecture tour of Australia in 2010. Writer and broadcaster on historic gardens and related topics. Steven Desmond's book Gardens of the Italian Lakes, with photography by Marianne Majerus, is published by Frances Lincoln

Viv Lawes is a lecturer, curator, author and journalist, with over twenty years’ experience in the art market. She works at several prestigious Higher Education institutions in London, leading the Modern and Contemporary unit of the Asian Art & Its Markets semester course at Sotheby’s Institute and the History of Decorative Style (c.1400-1970) course at the City & Guilds of London Art School. She also lectures for the University of the Arts and IESA (Institut d’Etudes Supérieures des Arts), London.  As Senior UK Consultant to Singapore gallery One East Asia since 2011, she has co-curated many exhibitions of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art in London and Singapore. Her current project is a book on themes in equine sculpture, commissioned by the Sladmore Gallery, London.