Programme of Lectures 2009-2010
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NEXT LECTURE
- 17th March 2010
ENCOUNTERS WITH CHOPIN AND PARISIAN ARTISTIC LIFE
Lecturer: Jeremy Barlow
Fanny Erskine, great-great-grandmother of Jeremy Barlow kept a diary of her time in Paris in 1847. She met Chopin and other leading figures in Parisian artistic and musical society. The lecture includes many slides of Parisian Life and Art as well as music by Chopin and his contemporaries.
PROGRAMME for 2009-10
- 16th September 2009
Lecturer: Paul Roberts
ATHENS AND ROME: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Athens, the home of democracy, the cradle of the arts and Rome the eternal city, the capital of the world. Paul Roberts allows us to wonder at their monuments from Parthenon to Pantheon and admire the products of their artisans from the bronzes and marbles of the Greeks, to the fine paintings and mosaics of the Romans. - 21st October 2009
Lecturer: Ann Gore
THE GRAND TOUR AND THE ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE
In the C18th fashionable young men of good family undertook the Grand Tour of the continent. Starting in Paris, they proceeded to Florence, Naples, Venice, acquiring works of art en route. Many important C18th houses in Britain were enhanced by these wonderful possessions and some even redesigned to display them. - 18th November 2009
Lecturer: Ann Clements
ARTISTS AND THEIR RESPONSES TO SNOW
Ann Clements guides us through winter landscapes beginning with an illuminated manuscript and the Dutch C17th paintings through to the more familiar snow scenes of the Impressionists. There are also some surprising images by artists not normally associated with winter subjects. - 20th January 2010
Lecturer: John Ericson
ART INSPIRED BY WINE
“Life without Art is like dinner without wine. Why bother?” John Ericson examines paintings of wine being made and consumed in celebration since the time of Noah as well as more cotemporary artwork on wine labels and in catalogues by artists such as Chagall and the cartoonist Ronald Searle. - 17th February 2010
Lecturer: Andrew Davies
ENGLISH CARICATURE FROM HOGARTH TO PUNCH
Exuberant, topical, lively – and just a little rude- English caricature has always shown human beings as they were rather than as they would like to be. We will explore the fascinating world depicted by caricaturists from Hogarth to David Low who in the 1930s despite attempts to censor him mercilessly ridiculed Hitler and Mussolini. - 17th March 2010
Lecturer: Jeremy Barlow
ENCOUNTERS WITH CHOPIN AND PARISIAN ARTISTIC LIFE
Fanny Erskine, great-great-grandmother of Jeremy Barlow kept a diary of her time in Paris in 1847. She met Chopin and other leading figures in Parisian artistic and musical society. The lecture includes many slides of Parisian Life and Art as well as music by Chopin and his contemporaries. - 21st April 2010
Lecturer: James Taylor
CHARLES DARWIN AND THE VOYAGE OF HMS BEAGLE
Darwin was appointed as the naturalist on board the Beagle by its commander, Captain Robert Fitzroy. We are introduced to their families and the influences upon them. Fitzroy paid for Auguste Earle and Conrad Martens to paint the people and places encountered and these images underpin a series of sensational stories. - 12th May 2010
Lecturer: John Benjamin
AT THE SIGN OF THE FALCON: HARRY MURPHY GOLDSMITH, UNIQUE ENGLISHMAN
Harry Murphy worked from premises in London known as the Falcon Studio where he designed and created some truly startling gold, silver and enamel jewellery inspired by nature, architecture, the Ballet Russes and the vibrancy of the Jazz Age. We are told the story of Britain’s most neglected goldsmith. - 16th June 2010
Lecturer: Professor Michael Wheeler
ART AND THE ENGLISH BIBLE FROM 1611-2011
2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible or “Authorised Version”. It has inspired artists and illustrators as diverse as Turner whose paintings influenced Cecil B. De Mille and the Pre-Raphaelites including Holman Hunt. It remains a continuing source of inspiration. - 7th July 2010
7.45pm AGM
8.15pm WINSTON CHURCHILL AND CHARTWELL
Lecturer: William Forrester
William Forrester reminds us briefly about Winston Churchill’s forebears and the great palace of Blenheim where he was born and where he became engaged. Then we consider Chartwell and its contents relating them to the story of Churchill’s life returning to Blenheim or more specifically to Bladon churchyard to end the story. - 15th September 2010
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY LECTURE: SILVER AND SOCIAL CUSTOM
Lecturer: Ian Pickford who was our inaugural lecturer
Why were such extraordinary objects as Clock Salts produced in the Tudor period and what was mustard served in before 1760? To appreciate any pieces it is essential to examine them in the context of the social customs of the periods in which they were made. All will be revealed during this talk.
2010
