Venice’s unique position brought the city into contact with the different powers of the Eastern Mediterranean including the Byzantine Empire, the Mamluks and the Ottomans. This lecture explores the ways in which these interactions left their mark on the artistic heritage of the city as can be seen in Venetian architecture, painting and the decorative arts.

Antonia Gatward Cevizli

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

'The Night Watch' of 1642 is Rembrandt's greatest painting and the most famous painting in the Netherlands. But why is it so special? It has become an icon of the Golden Age and of the modern Dutch Nation. Why? How was it commissioned and constructed? How did Rembrandt paint it and where has it been hung throughout its life? Who are the characters represented? Why is there a lone woman and what is meant by the dead chicken trussed up in her waistband? What does this all tell us about changing Dutch society? This work redirected how group portraits were conceived. The traditional Dutch 'schutterstuk', a military group or shooting piece, became majestic and grandiose in Rembrandt's hands.

Hilary Williams

Formerly a curator and Print Room Superintendent at the British Museum, now Art History Education Officer in the Department of Learning & National Partnerships at the Museum. Lectures for BM and Wallace Collection. Founding Artistic Director of The Arts Society of North Kent Evening. Specialist in 17th century art and has published on Rembrandt. Hilary has vast

experience of giving gallery talks, of lecturing and of leading art history tours in UK, Europe, New York and Boston. For the Royal Collection Trust, she has guided Special Interest Private Tours of the State Apartments at Buckingham Palace.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the British Empire held sway over approximately one quarter of the total population of the world. British imperial power was projected through a variety of artistic mediums, from fine portraiture and grand imperial buildings to more popular forms of imagery. British artists also produced countless images of people from all over the globe who had become subjects of British rule. Through considering a variety of paintings, buildings and objects from across the Empire, this lecture provides a fascinating insight into the ways in which the British viewed themselves and their subjects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

John Stevens

Dr John Stevens gained his PhD in History from UCL, before going on to teach British Imperial History, Indian History and Bengali Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). His biography of the Indian guru Keshab Chandra Sen – Keshab: Bengal’s Forgotten Prophet - was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2018. He is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh and has lectured at numerous Indian universities. He also works as a consultant on Indian affairs and teaches the Bengali language to private students. He has appeared many times in the Indian media, and was a guest on BBC Radio Four’s In Our Time, discussing the poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.

John Singer Sargent was THE international art star of the Gilded Age. He was most famous for his dramatic and stylish portraits of the elegant and wealthy. He brought his subjects to life, but also used fashion as a powerful tool to depict identity and personality. Cindy Polemis explores how John Singer Sargent 'fashioned' his world.

Cindy Polemis

Cindy Polemis is an art historian, independent lecturer and art guide. She has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and as a mature student she went back to university to study first for a BA and then for a Masters in History of Art at Birkbeck College, London University. Before that she spent many years as a radio producer and presenter for the BBC World Service working in news and current affairs. Since 2016 Cindy has worked as an official art guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She has also been a trustee at the Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum. Cindy has accumulated a wide range of art historical knowledge ranging from 18th European and British art to the contemporary international art scene. She has been an official guide for both Frieze Masters and Frieze Art Fairs in London. She is particularly keen to draw parallels with art and social history and her lectures are accessible and engaging, drawing out the stories of art and artists which are steeped in human emotions and experiences which we all share.

The British Crown Jewels are an unchanging jewelled anchor, whilst all around us changes. Delve into the history & beauty of the Crowns, Sceptre, Orb and other royal jewels used during the coronation ceremony. Diamond industry expert Laurie Wickwire, GIA will take you to the front row of the coronation with details of the diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls used in the newly crafted royal regalia used by Kings & Queens since 1661. Secrets & mystery abound within these priceless jewels, seen by millions, worn by one.

Laurie Wickwire

With over 35 years in the diamond industry, diamond expert Laurie Wickwire represents the industry across all sectors: mining, sorting, grading and brokering some of the world’s key rough stones.

A leader in the industry, Laurie is the On-Air Diamond Expert for the international television shopping channel QVC where her opinion is regularly sought by over a million viewers each week.

Whether presenting diamond shows on national channels the BBC, ITV and QVC, hosting diamond master classes, filming jubilee specials, or creating the historical jewellery range for both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle gift shops, Laurie’s love of the diamond industry is apparent.

A graduate of GIA London, IGI Antwerp, and DeBeers Institute of Diamonds, Laurie is both a certified diamond grader and certified pearl grader. Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Business & Finance, and a Bachelor of Arts in French.

Laurie’s industry knowledge has seen her interviewing celebrities at the Cannes Film Festival, publishing articles on Ocean Mining or the British Coronation, guest on numerous internationally streamed podcasts, enrichment lecturer on luxury cruise lines and creating bespoke commissions for the Royal Family.

Like a Rolling Stone (The Music of the Sixties 1965-69)

In 1965 British music dominated the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and the Beatles were blazing a trail across the world. However, in America, the civil rights and anti-war movements were gaining momentum influencing a new breed of writers and musicians; electric folk was born, and album sales started to increase exponentially. This is the story of the second half of the sixties featuring the music of the Beatles, The Rollings Stones and Bob Dylan. 

The Music of the Sixties is now available as a study day consisting of three 50-minute lectures and a question & answer session. There is also an option to end the day with a light-hearted sixties music quiz.

Steve King

Steve King has spent 35 years working in the radio industry as a Broadcaster, Programmer and Events Director. He has managed some of the biggest radio brands in the UK and has interviewed and worked with many well-known popular music artists. He has also directed over 50 multi-artist events at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, London Palladium and Manchester Arena. His work in the broadcasting industry has been recognised on numerous occasions.    Steve is an engaging public speaker and has produced a series of highly entertaining lectures based on his extensive knowledge of popular music, and his experiences in the radio business. He has lectured at various media conferences, industry events and for several cruise lines.

Why do always see the Greek and Roman deities in museums but never the Viking gods and goddesses? And yet Norse mythology is all around us in popular culture from comics to films. The answers are surprising and sometimes sinister... This talk explores 1,500 years of Norse mythology in fine art, applied arts and literature, including Viking-age artefacts, Icelandic texts, English paintings by Fuseli and Blake, 19th century Scandinavian works of national romanticism and modern interpretations ranging from Hilma af Klint to Anselm Kiefer.  

As it’s the start of the festive season we’ll also look at what contribution the Vikings made to our Christmas traditions: you’ll never look at Santa and mistletoe in the same way again!

James Vaux

James Vaux is a researcher and lecturer specialising in Nordic arts, culture, design and history. He has presented extensively on diverse topics throughout his career to demanding audiences across the globe, including CEOs and government ministers. His talks now focus on understanding artistic achievements through their historic, cultural and political context.  

James aims to question the underlying narratives behind artists, designers and movements, to explore the 'why' and the 'how' instead of the conventional 'who', 'what' and 'when' . A truly gripping Arts Society talk needs a mystery to be solved, not a chronological series of items and events.

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

He has also studied interior design and art history at the Inchbald School, Mid-Century Modern at Sotheby’s Institute and electronic music at Point Blank. He hosted a local radio show for four years. He lectures and provides study days focusing on Scandinavian Modern design, Danish design, Norse mythology, Icelandic literature, Swedish literature, the Modern Breakthrough in Nordic culture and the role of modernism in the Cold War. 

Art Deco: Celebrating the Centenary of the 1925 Paris Expo

In 1925, 16 million visitors witnessed PARIS’S EXPO - The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. What would we have seen in this landmark exhibition, if we had been one of those visitors? What drew the Crowds? And how did this seminal exhibition play a fundamental role in giving rise to a new international and truly GLOBAL style that we have come to know as ART DECO? 

Pamela Campbell- Johnston

MA Hons Art History, St Andrew's University. 
Over 30 years of lecturing experience to undergraduates, adult groups, and to Friends and Patrons of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the RA’s Adult Education Department.
Also conducted numerous guided tours, residential trips and focused gallery talks on individual works of art. Specialises in British Domestic Architecture and Modern British Art - with a particular love for the 1920s and 1930s. A permanent career at Royal Academy of Arts for 12 years.
Work experience also undertaken at Bonhams, Art Loss Register and National Trust. 
Now a freelance art consultant and lecturer. Recently curated a collection for the Lansdowne Club.

Ludwig van Beethoven – Classical Music’s Greatest Revolutionary

Born in Bonn in December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven became one of the greatest and most disruptive figures in the history of classical music. This talk presents an overview of this brilliant, cantankerous, visionary and astonishingly original composer, someone who tore up the rule book of classical music; visual illustrations include a selection of contemporary portraits, while musical examples are drawn from his genre-busting piano sonatas, quartets and symphonies, and from the revolutionary opera Fidelio. It reveals how Beethoven became a true Romantic artist, or as he preferred to describe himself, a “poet in sound.”

Sandy Burnett

Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators, enjoying a career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After studying at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and working as music director for the RSC, National Theatre and in London’s West End, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of presenters on BBC Radio 3. Combining engaging scholarship with hands-on expertise, he devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, is a highly sought after double bassist on the London jazz scene, and was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow for the 2018-19 season.

This talk will start by looking at the emergence of the North in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Room at the Top, A Taste of Honey, This Sporting Life etc.. Second would be a look at Swinging Britain – Julie Christie in Darling, Michael Caine in Alfie, the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night and the James Bond movies. Third would be a look at the last days of Empire as seen in Tony Richardson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, Zulu and, comically, Carry On Up the Khyber. Finally the drastic change in the depiction of sex from Dirk Bogarde in Victim (1961) to Alan Bates and Oliver Reed famously wrestling nude in Women in Love (1969).

Colin Shindler

Colin Shindler has been lecturing on American and British social and cultural history for over 20 years. He was awarded his PhD at Cambridge University and subsequently lectured on film for their History Faculty between 1998 and 2019 exploring its relationship to modern British and American social and cultural history. He also teaches a variety of adult education courses at Madingley and Higham Hall in Cumbria and has lectured on cruises. Between 1975 and 1999 he pursued a wide-ranging career as a writer and producer in television, radio and film. He won a BAFTA award for his production of A Little Princess. His production of Young Charlie Chaplin was nominated for a US Prime Time Emmy. He wrote the screenplay for the feature film Buster and was the producer of various television dramas such as Lovejoy and Wish Me Luck. He has written three novels as well as numerous television Shindler scripts and radio plays but regards his greatest cultural contribution as choosing the title music for the police series Juliet Bravo. His most recent radio play Leni Goes to Hollywood, about the German film director Leni Riefenstahl, was broadcast on Radio 4 in August 2021. Other radio plays for R4 include How To Be An Internee (about P.G. Wodehouse), one on Private Eye & The Profumo Affair (Rumours). Both were selected by the BBC as Drama Podcast of the Week. He is the author of Barbed Wire and Cucumber Sandwiches: The Controversial South Africa Cricket Tour of 1970 and his childhood memoir Manchester United Ruined My Life. 

This lecture examines a series of iconic photographs that are embedded in our collective memory. They range from records of historic events, to fabulous portraits and scenes of emotional release and joy. The talk analyses the power of these images, traces the fascinating stories of how they came to be produced, and places them in the context of our appreciation of art.

Brian Stater

Brian Stater lectured at University College London for 25 years, retiring in 2021 as a Senior Teaching Fellow. His principal academic interest lay in the appreciation of architecture and he has a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He therefore offers lectures to The Arts Society on each of these subjects.He has written on architecture for a wide range of publications and an exhibition of his own photographs was held at UCL. He is a member of the Association of Historical and Fine Art Photography and he works with a pre-War Leica camera, as used by his great hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and many others. Brian is an engaging and amusing speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.

Henry Moore is one of the most popular and important British sculptors of the twentieth century, revolutionising the way people thought about the human figure and sculpture, and making beautiful forms that grew out of his love for the landscape. He was often inspired by the art of the past and of other cultures, but he was also at the forefront of modernism – creating a new language of sculpture, full of abstract shapes, holes and magisterial forms. This talk explores his life and works, as well as the vibrant artistic world of mid-twentieth century Britain. 

Jo Walton

Has combined teaching and lecturing with a career in art bookselling and has been a volunteer guide at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Now a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, the Art Fund, and Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and local art societies.

When the very first Chinese porcelains found their way to Europe, the beauty and fragility of the material led to their being mounted with precious metal and treasured alongside other rare and exotic objects such as ostrich eggs and rock crystal vessels. They were housed in cabinets of curiosities and exchanged as diplomatic gifts between great European rulers. This early and exclusive ownership of Chinese porcelain spread enormously in the 17th century with the opening up of trading routes between Europe and the Far East and led to a widespread fashion for housing and displaying collections of Chinese ‘blue-and-white’; and spawned a whole range of European imitations. This talk will examine the enormous and long-lasting influence that these Chinese porcelains had on European taste and culture and the whole history of interior design. 

Jane Gardiner

MA History of Art, University of London. Trained at the V&A and continues to lecture there. Was Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby's Buckingham University, l'Institut d'Etudes Superieures des Arts in Paris, a private women's college in Saudi Arabia, on cruise ships and at antiques fairs and interior design conferences in America., UK. Has also lectured for the National Trust, the Art Fund, London University,

When we receive a letter or a Christmas card from someone we know, we often recognise the handwriting straight away, and know who it’s from without even opening the envelope. Recognising the hand of an artist can be like that – an instant certainty that the painting must be by Rubens, or El Greco, or Rembrandt. Yet if you try to explain to someone else how you know that your letter is from that person, or what it is in their handwriting that is so distinctive, you would probably struggle to put it into words.

This lecture takes examples of a wide range of artists from the 15th, 16th 17th and 18th centuries, and will put into words what it is that tells us a picture is by Rubens rather than Rembrandt, or even, by Rubens rather than by, say, Van Dyck, who was taught by him and painted so very much like him. My lecture uses photos of small details of paintings greatly enlarged, to demonstrate some of the distinctive quirks and give-away characteristics of artists from Mantegna and Bellini to Canaletto and Gainsborough. I’ll share with you tips and tricks of art-gazing, and show you how to have the enormous satisfaction of looking at an unfamiliar painting and realising that you can instantly recognise the artist.

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe

MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. With 40 years' experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.

Angels, familiar and fantastic, playing major and minor roles, can be seen in centuries of paintings, engravings, illustrations and sculptures. Archangel Gabriel and the Annunciation or Archangel Michael fighting the good fight. Angelic references also abound in Islamic and Jewish traditions, the latter beautifully evoked in Chagall’s Bible Message. Time to contrast the beauty and light of cherubim and seraphim with the dark, fiery abyss of Satan and contemplate the Angel of the North.

Caroline Holmes

Has lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Japan as well as for cruises crossing the Baltic, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In 2017 she returned to The Arts Society in New Zealand. University of Cambridge ICE Academic Tutor and Course Director; lectures for the Royal Horticultural Society, museums and online for The Gardens Trust and organisations worldwide. Author of 12 books including Monet at Giverny, Water Lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac, the genius behind Monet’s water lilies; Impressionists in their Gardens; Follies of Europe: Architectural Extravaganzas; and in 2020 Where the wildness pleases – the English Garden celebrated. 2017 recipient of the Herb Society of America ‘Elizabeth Crisp Rea Award’. Consultant designer specialising in evoking historic, artistic and symbolic references. Contributions to Viking TV include Monet’s Garden at Giverny https://viking.tv/live/monday/explore-claude-monets-life-in-giverny-with-guest-lecturer-caroline-holmes ; and at home https://viking.tv/live/monday/get-a-glimpse-into-english-country-life-with-guest-lecturer-caroline-holmes

NB This is a change to our published programme due to unavoidable circumstances.

Having never left the Russian nor Soviet empires in his lifetime, this Kiev-based artist can only have heard about the new tendencies in Western Art through magazines or publications. Nonetheless, Bohomazov managed to create masterpieces no less exceptional or ground-breaking than those of his European contemporaries.

A difficult, at times tragic life, shaped by a passionate love story on a background of major historical upheaval – Oleksander Bohomazov is an artist of revolutionary ideas and unique style. James Butterwick examines the legacy of the genius who many consider to be the national artist of the Ukraine and how his work is finally moving into the light.

James Butterwick

James Butterwick began collecting and selling Russian and Ukrainian Art in 1985 and has established himself as one of the world’s leading experts. He moved to Moscow in 1994, becoming the only foreign member of the Russian Society of Private Collectors and began forming collections, taking part in museum exhibitions and lecturing on Russian Art, including at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow in 2013 and the Museum of Russian Impressionism the following year. In 2008 James became the only foreign member of International Confederation of Antique and Art Dealers of Russia and the CIS and in 2013 joined the Society of London Art Dealers. 

In 2013, James began to travel to Ukraine, making over 50 trips there, both the Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. His focus changed in 2014 to Ukrainian Modernism and, since this date James has put on three exhibitions of the leading Ukrainian Futurist, Oleksandr Bohomazov (1880-1930) as well as other exhibitions devoted to the subject. James acts as a source of museum quality paintings with flawless provenance of both the Russian, Ukrainian and European School and has access to all the leading experts, private collections and museums in any area of the arts. He travels regularly to Ukraine and Kazakhstan where, in October 2013, he opened an exhibition of leading Impressionist paintings. 

In 2015 James became the first gallery dealing in early 20th century Ukrainian and Russian Art to be invited to exhibit at TEFAF, Maastricht – selling four works to the Kröller-Müller Museum. The following year saw a much-heralded personal exhibition of Alexander Bogomazov (1880-1930) with further sales to both Kröller-Müller and subsequently to the Arkansas Art Centre. James also exhibited at the first TEFAF New York fair in 2017.

His private gallery is in London. He speaks fluent Russian.

In sixteenth-century Venice, Tintoretto, helped by his studio assistants, produced work so quickly that he was nicknamed ‘Il Furioso’ (“The Furious”) by his contemporaries. He had received almost no formal training. Without the benefit of an apprenticeship in the studio of a major artist he had to find work the hard way: by under-cutting prices and delivering faster than his competitors (who included Titian and Veronese). The scourge of the Venetian art market, Tintoretto would obtain commissions by either working for no fee or charging only for the cost of materials.

His work, characterised by muscular figures, dramatic gestures and movement takes the art of the Mannerist period into the excitement of the Baroque. By the end of his life, he was working for the wealthiest in Venice and for international patrons. Yet he never forgot his roots and the poorer churches and scuole which had supported him in his early days. What might have driven his ambition, and why might he have given so much of his work away?

Julia Musgrave

Julia Musgrave got her first degree in Chemical Engineering and went on to become a Chartered Information Systems Engineer and IT project manager. In 2008 she decided that life was too short for just one career and decided to become an art historian.

She now has a Graduate Diploma in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and an MLitt in ‘Art, Style and Design: Renaissance to Modernism, c.1450 – c.1930’ from the University of Glasgow. She gained her PhD at the University of York for her research into the involvement of Roger Fry and the Bloomsbury Group and the social networks of the British art world in the development of the Contemporary Art Society from 1910 to 1939. She teaches Art History at the City Literary Institute (City Lit) and is Co-Director of The London Art Salon.

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.

Gavin Plumley

A writer and broadcaster, appearing on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributing to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent talks include the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is published in June 2022. 

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the ‘Leonardo of Liverpool’ to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbs of his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766 – a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects. This lecture looks at the life and work of this country’s greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British sporting artists of the eighteenth century more generally. It focusses on his depiction of equestrian subjects such as the National Gallery’s Whistlejacket but also looks at the broader themes he addressed.

Christopher Garibaldi

Independent Researcher. 2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket 2008–2010, Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. He catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

Worshipped by Aesthetes and cultivated by Impressionists the sunflower casts its golden rays across art and culture. A personification of the divine and the regal, we trace its history from classical myth to twentieth century painting via Van Dyck and Van Gogh, Clytie and Klimt, Monet, Rivera, Wilde and Watts. Green and gold, human and divine, the adoring and the adored, the Sunflower.

Twigs Way

Twigs Way is a professional researcher and writer fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her work explores themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature...and she enjoys following lesser known paths in garden history towards the unexpected. Her original work was on the history of women in the garden and she retains an active research interest in this topic. Recent publications include the art and culture of specific flowers including the carnation and the daffodil and her book on the Chrysanthemum in Art and Culture was published October 2020 by Reaktion Press, and she is currently working on the Daffodil in art and culture.

In the last few years the top end of the art market has flourished, and collectors have been prepared to pay astonishing amounts to own a modern masterpiece. This lecture is about the works that have sold for over $100 million and is an excuse to examine some beautiful and varied art. These works would not achieve such sky-high prices if they were no good. So, we’ll see some wonderful paintings including those by Picasso, Cézanne, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Modigliani, Klimt, Bacon and Pollock, all held together by the common thread of their extraordinary commercial value. But we will also look at the buyers and sellers, the stories behind the works, the reasons for changing hands and I will try to answer the question “Are they really worth hundreds of millions of pounds?”

Ian Swankie

A Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

So many of our historical references for musical instruments can be found in works of art. Not only can these windows into the past show us what the instruments looked like but also the social context in which they would have been played. Music and different instruments also play a strong role within symbolism in art. Sophie explores the instruments in selected works and then gives live demonstrations on replicas of the instruments depicted.

Sophie Matthews

Sophie is a musician well-known for her prowess on the English border bagpipes and has become one of the foremost players of the instrument in the UK. She also plays a variety of early woodwind instruments such as shawm, rauschpfeife, crumhorm and recorder. She’s also one of a handful of British players of the baroque musette, an 18th century French bagpipe similar to the Northumbrian smallpipes. When not touring with GreenMatthews, Sophie also makes instruments (she made her own baroque oboe) and works with respected luthier Tony Millyard on his flutes. Sophie is self-taught on all of her instruments.

Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century was a cultural powerhouse. The novelists (Tolstoy, Dostoevsky...) and composers (Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky...) are well known. The painters are not. But the period saw a new realist school of art, the “Itinerants”, which broke violently with the earlier academicism and, in the run up to the revolutionary twentieth century, ruthlessly depicted and criticised Tsarist Russia with all its flaws. Tony Brenton takes a tour through itinerant art and its interactions with the vast, repressed and unruly Russia that it both loved and detested.

Sir Tony Brenton

Sir Tony Brenton is a distinguished British diplomat and commentator on public affairs issues. He served for over thirty years with the British Foreign Service, including postings in the Middle East, the European Union, Washington DC, and Russia. He was in charge of the British Embassy in Washington through the Iraq War, and was British Ambassador to Russia through a particularly tense time in UK/Russia relations. He has been a lead UK negotiator on such problems as global climate change and international energy and human rights issues. He has written a well-received book, The Greening of Machiavelli, on international environmental politics. On retirement from the Foreign Service he has settled in Cambridge, where he is a Fellow of Wolfson College and a Senior Fellow at the International studies Department. His book Historically Inevitable? on the Russian revolution was published in June 2016. He is also a regular commentator on international affairs on the BBC and in the press.

By 1960 interest in rock ‘n’ roll had started to fade, its biggest star was moving on and a new generation of teenagers were seeking something different. It came in the form of the Beatles, who broke all the rules and all the records. This is the story of the first five years of the 1960s, one of the most creative and innovative periods in the history of music, featuring all the major artists, important songs and principle musical genres.

Steve King

Steve King has spent 35 years working in the radio industry as a Broadcaster, Programmer and Events Director. He has managed some of the biggest radio brands in the UK and has interviewed and worked with many well-known popular music artists. He has also directed over 50 multi-artist events at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, London Palladium and Manchester Arena. His work in the broadcasting industry has been recognised on numerous occasions. Steve is an engaging public speaker and has recently produced a series of highly entertaining lectures based on his extensive knowledge of popular music, and his experiences in the radio business. He has lectured at various media conferences, industry events and for several cruise lines.

Western European painting is not lacking in celebrated women artists; from Marcia in antiquity to Eva Gonzalès in the nineteenth century, from Sofonisba Anguissola in the Renaissance to Michaelina Wautier in the seventeenth century, artists who managed to break the norm of western European society by making a name and a living for themselves in a world of men. Yet, despite achieving fame and recognition in their own time and being celebrated for their talent and skill, they were subsequently erased from the mainstream narrative of art history. This lecture will reintroduce these artists, asking why and how their own paintings and self-portraits were already - in their own time - engaged with this fundamental problem of recognition.

Aliki Braine

Born in Paris in 1976, Aliki studied at The Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, The Slade School of Fine Art, London and The Courtauld Institute where she was awarded a distinction for her masters in 17th century painting. After working for National Gallery for 20 years, she now teaches for Christie’s Education and the Wallace Collection, and is an Associate Lecturer for the Camberwell College of Art, University of the Arts London. Aliki is also a practicing artist who regularly exhibits her photographic work internationally.

Houses made from wool that warm in the depths of winter, carpets that tell stories, woven bands that appease ancestors, embroideries that ward off evil, and kilims that store kitchenware, with everything ready to be packed and carried on yak, or camel at a moment’s notice; the little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak are explored in this lecture, along with the rise and fall of nomadism and where nomadism fits within the modern world. Chris also shares from his own experience of working with nomadic yak herders in the High Pamirs for three years.

Chris Aslan

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey (hence the name Aslan) and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. He then 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 town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge, and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent three years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came two years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford, and is now based in Cambridge. He is currently working on a new book on the Silk Road that marries travel and textiles, and lectures for The Art Society. He also leads tours to Central Asia, returning whenever he can having left a large chunk of his heart out there. 

In this lecture Bertie recounts the extraordinary tale of how a small bronze statue, which had sat in his Grandfather’s garden for 40 years, was discovered as a master piece and ended up in the Getty Museum, California. Adriaen De Vries (c.1556-1626) was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands. A technical virtuoso, he created spectacular bronzes for the most discerning patrons of his time, including the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II of Prague. He excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and in the manipulation of patina and became the most famous European sculptor of his generation.

Bertie Pearce

Bertie has a BA (Hons) in Drama from Manchester University, and a Diploma Internationale from the École Internationale du Théatre, Jacques Lecoq. A member of the Inner Magic Circle, with Gold Star. His past experience includes lecturing and performing on cruise ships, and to U3A, historical societies, festivals, schools and colleges. In addition, he has toured the world with a magic cabaret show and a one man show entitled All Aboard and has written articles for newspapers and magazines on entertainment and theatre.

Opera in England is a popular art form. It is mostly European opera – but European in our own peculiar way. We sang Verdi in English, Wagner in Italian, and completely rewrote the plot of the Mozarts – but we did it brilliantly. All of the great theatre innovations happened in England – ghost traps, coloured lighting, dazzling spots … And, in spite of our waywardness, some really serious work was done. This is a lecture about the exuberant native tradition of opera in this country.

Sarah Lenton

Sarah Lenton has spent her working life in the theatre, principally at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne and English National Opera. She writes programme articles and websites, she gives lectures on the operas and ballets in the rep. and does live opera broadcasts and podcasts for BBC Radios 3 and 4. She has written and directed many shows, including more than 20 for the Royal Opera House Linbury Studio Theatre and for Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She is also a cartoonist.

The lecture looks at the contributions made by artists of African, Caribbean or Asian origin to British art since the SS Empire Windrush arrived in Tilbury from the West Indies in 1948. It considers, among others, the work of Sir Frank Bowling, Francis Newton Souza, Eddie Chambers, Yinka Shonibare, Sonia Boyce, Rasheed Araeen, Lubaina Himid and the Singh Twins, all of whom have achieved international recognition and respect, their works collected by museums world-wide. They may not all be household names but their work is eye-catching and thought-provoking, and they have set much of the agenda for British art of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Barry Venning

An historian of British art with a particular interest in the work of JMW Turner, on whom he has published widely, including the volume on Turner in Phaidon's Art & Ideas series. He was the BBC's script consultant on Turner's Fighting Temeraire and has recently taken part (2013) in a BBC documentary called The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution. His interests and his teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. He is currently Associate Lecturer with the Open University and lecturing on a freelance basis for The Arts Society and Christie's Education.

Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. Since the brutal murder of the last tsar and his family in a Siberian basement, these eggs have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: both supreme examples of the jeweller’s art and the vulgar playthings of a decadent court. After going missing in the Revolution, most of the eggs re-emerged in the store-rooms of the Kremlin, where they were immediately identified as a source of much-needed foreign exchange. Their subsequent history holds up a mirror to the twentieth century and encompasses Bolsheviks and entrepreneurs, tycoons and heiresses, con-men and queens. Eggs have been sold and smuggled, stolen and forged. Now, as they return to Russia, their history – like that of Russia itself - seems to have come full circle. Then there are the eight eggs which remain missing. What prospect is there that they will ever emerge, and if they do, will anyone believe that they are genuine?  The lecture is illustrated with pictures of the eggs today and their owners, and with archival material showing some of the missing eggs.

Toby Faber

Toby is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press.

Toby Faber wrote Fabergé’s Eggs: One Man’s Masterpieces and the End of an Empire, described by P.D. James as a ‘fascinating story which combines unique decorative art, contemporary culture, history and the murder of the Romanovs with the excitement of a crime novel’. He has also written three narrative histories: Stradivarius – Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius; Faberge’s Eggs; and Faber & Faber – The Untold Story, as well as a novel, Close to the Edge. Of these, only the obvious one is published by the family firm.

In 'The Art Of The Cartoonist' Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Harry will be drawing live. Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the eskimo brothers said in The Funniest Joke Ever (possibly).

Harry Venning

Harry has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist Of The Year in 2016 for his Guardian strip Clare In The Community. Harry is also a Sony Award winning writer of radio comedy, including the shows Coach Karen’s Half Time Team Talk and Clare in the Community starring Sally Phillips, currently recording its twelfth series on Radio 4.

The Impressionists were an innovative and radical group of artists who took Paris by storm in the 1870s. Using new colours and techniques, they created paintings of modern life which shocked and horrified the art establishment. From the start the group included women artists but their contribution to Impressionism has often been overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Marie Bracquemond, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt all exhibited regularly at the Impressionist exhibitions. In 1894 they were given the title “Les Trois Grandes Dames d’Impressionisme” by the art critic Gustave Geffroy. This lecture will discuss their lives and work, revealing their skill and originality as well as their willingness to take risks, despite the additional obstacles they faced as women.

Sarah Burles

Sarah Burles studied History of Art at Cambridge University before doing a master’s degree at University College London. She went on to have a career in museum and gallery education, establishing new services in three different museums before working at the Fitzwilliam Museum for many years. Sarah is the founder of Cambridge Art Tours, which runs tours and courses in and around East Anglia. She is also a Tour Director for a travel company and has led tours to Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and America.

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

David Wright

I have been a wine retailer, importer and distributor for 30 years. In that time, I have publicly presented tastings and talks on wine to trade and private audiences. These have taken the form of wine ‘tastings’ or charity events where a particular subject is presented and wines tasted. I have developed a talk, A Brief Story of Wine, a great subject, and full of rich evidence, going back 7,000 years, in the form of paintings, decorated drinking vessels, buildings and literature that contribute to the story.

This lecture describes the great age of British landscape painting, from its origins in the Arcadian views and picturesque scenes of 18th-century painters Richard Wilson and Thomas Gainsborough, through John Constable’s sparklingly fresh observations of nature, to dramatic paintings by J.M.W. Turner and intensely detailed paintings by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Susan Owens

Dr Susan Owens is an art historian, writer and curator. She studied English literature at Oxford University and European art at the Courtauld Institute, then wrote a doctoral thesis on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s play Salome at University College London. She was a curator at the Royal Collection before becoming Curator of Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her recent books include The Ghost: A Cultural History (2017) and Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art (2018). Spirit of Place: Artists, Writers and the British Landscape (Thames & Hudson) came out in 2020; it was shortlisted for the Apollo Book of the Year Award and is a Times art book of the year.

The UK’s Royal Collection contains over a million objects – paintings and works on paper, tapestries, furniture and jewels, photographs and decorative arts, carriages, weapons and armour, clocks and musical instruments, manuscripts and books. This talk reveals the dramatic histories, plots and intrigue of some of the most unexpected and spectacular objects that make up one of the world’s most important art collections.

Jacky Klein

Jacky Klein is an art historian, publisher, writer and broadcaster, specialising in modern and contemporary art. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, she worked as a curator at a number of leading galleries: Tate, the Barbican, the Courtauld and the Hayward. She is author of a bestselling book on British artist Grayson Perry (Thames & Hudson, 3rd edition 2020) and co-author of a number of other titles. Jacky has presented and contributed to a range of television programmes for the BBC, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's arts review programme, 'Front Row'. She has appeared on Channel 5, the Travel Channel and Bloomberg TV, and has written and presented a number of online films and livestreams for Tate, Christie's and the Art Fund.

Mad Men and Artists

Fine art has provided advertisers and their agencies with a great deal of material to use in their creative campaigns. Tony describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and why the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. From the Renaissance through to the present day fine art continues to provide opportunities to enhance Brand imagery with admiration, humour, satire and irony. In an entertaining and informative lecture Tony uses a wide range of visuals and video to show examples of the original works, the creative process and the (not always entirely successful) advertisements that are the end result.

Lecturer - Tony Rawlins

Tony started his career in advertising in 1965 as a mail boy in J.Walter Thompson. He graduated through the training system there to become an account director and subsequently worked in a number of agencies before setting up on his own in 1985. There he handled primarily Guinness advertising in Africa and the Caribbean over a period of 15 years. He remains active as a consultant in the industry, but now concentrates on more philanthropic projects e.g. he completed a sanitation project in Haiti after it was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. He has been a member of The Arts Society for many years and lectures in the UK and Europe.

La Serenissima: Exploring Venice in the UK’s Public Art Collections

Venice is synonymous with art: the great Venetian painters Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto, Lotto Veronese and Canaletto all lived there. The UK’s public art collections hold hundreds of paintings relating to Venice ranging from Old Masters to works by Turner, Monet, Sickert and even Winston Churchill. This lecture looks at some of these works and reveals the stories behind them.

Mary Rose Rivett-Carnac gained an MA in Victorian Art at Royal Holloway. Since 2007 she has worked for the Public Catalogue Foundation (now Art UK). She is a volunteer guide at both J.M.W. Turner’s house and Dorich House Museum.

William Hogarth 1697-1764

Hogarth is mostly thought of as a talented satirist, but there is much more to him than that. This lecture tracks his career from copper-plate engraver to successful painter, showing a wide variety of images which demonstrate his originality and inventiveness. Above all it is his unparalleled eye for absurdity and human weakness which tells us so much about his time and gives us food for thought about our own.

Linda Smith has two degrees in Art History and a broad knowledge of art historical subjects. She specialises in British Art and 20th century art. An experienced lecturer and guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Linda lectures to a wide variety of audiences in different venues.

It is Valentine’s Day 1895, and sitting in your seat at the elegant St James Theatre in the heart of London’s West End, you are about witness one of the most important opening nights in theatrical history: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde; one of the most famous and brilliant plays ever written. 

Described as  ‘A Trivial Comedy for Serious People’, it was of its time and yet ahead of its time.

In this lecture, we imagine what it was like to attend that opening night. We explore the social & cultural context of the play & some of the hidden elements which the audience then (and perhaps now) were not aware of. We discover that for the author, this glittering triumph heralded the beginning of his own fateful, final act…  In conclusion, we examine subsequent stage & film versions of the play and why it still continues to delight audiences all over the world.

Simon Whitehouse is a (recovering) actor, lecturer, presenter, Alexander Technique & voice teacher and award winning London Blue Badge guide. He has worked as a guide lecturer in-house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public & private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and also lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts & English literature. As a Blue Badge Guide, he regularly guides The Arts Society’s groups on their visits programmes.

PLEASE NOTE - this is a change from our published programme due to the untimely death of Neil Faulkner.

From Venice to Sheffield: John Ruskin’s passion for Art, Craft and Social Justice

This lecture celebrates the extraordinary life of this visionary Victorian. John Ruskin(1819-1900) was perhaps the most complete polymath of the 19th century. Famous today as a champion of Turner and admirer of Venice, his ideas inspired the Arts and Crafts Movement and the founding of the National Trust. His philanthropic work led to the Foundation of the Guild of St George and the collection cared for by Museums.

Simon Seligman studied Art and Architectural History at Warwick University before going on to work at Chatsworth in a variety of roles, finishing as Director of Communications. He has lectured on Chatsworth and the Devonshire Collection in the UK and in the US. Alongside his lecturing he has worked part-time for John Ruskin’s charity The Guild of St George and is a trustee for 3 Arts Festivals.

Please note due to current levels of Covid cases locally, this lecture will be taking place via Zoom webinar. Members will be sent the link automatically the day before the lecture. Any visitors wishing to join this online lecture, please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com  to arrange payment and to receive the link, by Wednesday 9th February.

Selfies, Self-Expression, Celebrity and the Victorian Carte de Visite.

From the late 1850s to the mid-1870s a new craze gripped the world. Photography allowed nearly everyone to be able to afford a portrait of themselves to share with others. These small photographic portraits were mounted on card and handed out like business cards. These Carte de Visite were the selfies of their day and this lecture looks at what they can tell us about the people and the period.

Mark Hill studied History of Art and Architecture then went on to work at Bonham’s and Sotheby’s. He has published 12 books on specialist subjects in 20th century design and decorative arts and since 2007 has appeared regularly on the Antiques Roadshow. An expert in collectables he has lectured across the world and contributed to newspapers, magazines, radio and television programmes.

Please note due to rising Covid cases locally, this lecture will be taking place via Zoom webinar. Members will be sent the link automatically the day before the lecture. Any visitors wishing to join this online lecture please email info@theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk , to arrange payment and to receive the link, by Wednesday 12th January.

In the Kingdom of the Sweets

Based on the current Royal Ballet production by Sir Peter Wright, of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker this lecture takes a close look at how this well-loved ballet now takes its rightful place on stage. A failure at its initial performances the lecture shows how the music of Tchaikovsky along with storytelling, design, dance and a little bit of stage ingenuity all come together to make a magical escape for young and old alike.

Nigel Bates has been a performer for more than 40 years in and out of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He has been a Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra and the Music Administrator for the Royal Ballet. He has given lectures for over thirty years to arts societies and conservatoires both in the UK and Australia.

The Subtle Science and Exact Art of Garden Design

In 1888 Gertrude Jekyll urged her readers to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”. Miss Jekyll was an accomplished watercolour artist and was familiar with the principles of using colours. This lecture looks at the application of these principles in designing a border and also at the ways that a border is different from a painting. Going further it looks at how works of Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollack and Hockney evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like.

Timothy Walker was director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014. Since then he has been a lecturer and tutor at Somerville College Oxford. Gardens are often thought of as places where science and art meet. Timothy’s lectures investigate this relationship utilising both humour and his enthusiasm for the subject.

Woodblock Printing techniques were introduced to Japan from China as early as the 8th century. They were used to create multiple Buddhist texts. By the 16th century woodblock printed books of secular stories with illustrations began to appear and in the 17th century single sheet images were made and they were known as Ukiyo-e, literally pictures of the floating world. This lecture gives an overview of this fascinating subject.

Dr Meri Arichi studied Art History in London and Florence, and worked at Christie’s in Kings Street, London, from 1989 to 1993. She returned to university to study Asian Art at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in 1993, and completed a Post-graduate Diploma in Asian Art (1994), MA (1996) in History of East Asian Art, and PhD (2003) for her thesis on Shinto-Buddhist syncretic Art. She has been teaching History of Japanese Art in the Department of History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS as a Teaching Fellow since 2007. 

Gustav Klimt: Imperial Muralist turned Radical Painter.

Klimt was one of the most prominent figures in the Viennese fin de siecle. He created paintings whose sexual themes and bold use of colour and gold shocked an unsuspecting populace. Less is known about his early years as a muralist for the grand municipal buildings and royal and aristocratic palaces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This lecture looks at the changes in Klimt’s life and how that influenced his work.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster, he has appeared on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and contributed to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures at a wide variety of venues including the Royal Opera House, the British Museum, London galleries and many Arts Societies.

Pins and Poking Sticks- Decoding Dress in Shakespeare’s Time

A contemporary of Shakespeare informs us that ‘a ship is sooner rigged by far than a Gentlewoman made ready’. In The Winter’s Tale Autolycus peddles ‘pins and poking sticks of steel’, seductive smocks, perfumed gloves, bugle beads and other irresistible items. What were these objects and what was their role in the ‘art’ of dress?

Jacqui Ansell read History of Art and Theory at the University of Essex before going on to gain an MA in History of Dress at the Courtauld Institute. She was an Education Officer at the National Gallery and a tutor and writer for the Open University. Jacqui continues to lecture regularly on the public programmes of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery as well as being a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education.

First Catch a Squirrel: Historical Materials and Techniques of Painting 15th to 18th Century

Artists of this period used some surprising materials which any artist had to master before they could begin to paint. This included using the tail of a squirrel to make paintbrushes. Many of the materials were difficult to use and have an effect on the finished look of the paintings, which may seem odd to our modern eyes. The lecture explains the techniques and the reasons for some of the features of the paintings.

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an MA in History of Art from Edinburgh and a PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. She has taught at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989. Having trained as a paintings’ conservator, she brings an understanding of both the making and physical painting to her lectures.

Cathedrals: Safe places to do Risky Things

This talk, beautifully illustrated by Country Life photographer Paul Barker, provides an overview of the Church of England’s 42 cathedrals. These jewels in the crown of England’s built heritage are considered in the light of their history, stories, evolving architecture and treasures.

A Cambridge graduate in History and History of Art, Janet Gough worked at Sotheby’s for nine years, was a trustee at the Churches Conservation Trust , the Museum of Fulham Palace and the Friends of the V and A. She has guided and lectured at the V and A as well as holding the posts of Director of Church Buildings and Secretary of the Church Buildings Council and Cathedrals Fabric Commission.

Packing up the Nation

As Hitler’s forces gathered on the other side of the Channel, men and women from London’s museums, galleries and archives forged extraordinary plans to evacuate their collections to safety. During the summer of 1939 a dedicated team of unlikely heroes packed up their greatest treasures and dispatched them throughout the country on a series of wartime adventures.

Dr Caroline Shenton is an archivist and historian. She was formerly Director of the Parliamentary Archives and before that was senior archivist at the National Archives. She has written well received books including ‘The Day Parliament Burned Down’ and its sequel ‘Mr Barry’s War’.

Raphael of Urbino: Artist and Architect

The monumental figures and clarity of form of Raphael’s work epitomises the grandeur of the High Renaissance while his drawings reflect his creative processes. This lecture will study his art and architecture from his early work in Urbino and Florence to its full maturity in Rome.

Shirley Smith graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in History of Art. She specialised in the Italian and Northern Renaissance. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and lectures at the University of East Anglia and the Department of Continuing Education of the University of Cambridge.

The Artists of Montmartre- ‘The Pilgrims of Babylon’

There is no name more evocative of Bohemian Life; of high spirits, decadence, poverty and revolutionary art in Paris than Montmartre, home to some of France’s greatest artists. Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas and Picasso would paint canvases that would shake the foundations of Western art.

Douglas Skeggs is no stranger to the society (Prague-The City of the Winter Queen). He is a Writer, Artist and TV Presenter as well as managing to find time to lecture.

Sculpture has the power to stop us in our tracks. It can be inspiring, thought provoking or fun and amusing. The UK’s national collection of sculpture is arguably the finest in the world. This lecture explores a range of work from across the country and recounts some of the fascinating stories behind them.

Mary Rose Rivett-Carnac gained an MA in Victorian Art and Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2007 she started to work part time for the Public Catalogue Foundation, now called the Art UK. She is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars.

From Garbo to Garland: The Magical Art of Hollywood

Light, Camera , Action!--- Inside stories of the art and artifice of the early decades of Hollywood. This lecture covers the work of stills photographers, costumiers, publicists, actors and actresses and the movie moguls who made it all happen.

Dr Geri Parlby is a former Fleet Street journalist  and film PR. She has a first class honours degree in History and Theology, a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology Doctorate from Roehampton University. She has been lecturing both in the UK and internationally for the past 14 years.

Turner vs Constable- The Great British Paint Off
This is the story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British art, J. M. W. Turner
and John Constable. This lecture sets them head to head and examines their differences,
their similarities, their battles and their shared triumphs. But who will ultimately be
crowned star painter?

Nicola Moorby is an independent art historian specialising in British art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She studied at the University of York and Birkbeck College, London. Formerly a curator at Tate Britain, she has published widely on J. M. W. Turner, including contributions to the forthcoming online catalogue of the Turner Bequest. Nicola has been an Arts Society lecturer for the past eight years.

Pepe Martinez, an award winning London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, shall be giving this special extra lecture on Thursday 13th August, at 2.00 pm.  “The Old East End” is where he was born and has lived his entire life.   This tour is the story of immigration, wave after wave of people coming to London to seek refuge, looking for a better life.  The Story of the Old East End Virtual Tour uses powerful video, google street view and other images to tell this story, from the French Huguenots to the Kindertransports.   There will be time for questions after.

Please note this lecture will start promptly so do ensure you are online in pleanty of time. The Zoom waiting room shall be open to join from 1.30pm and the link will be emailed to members the day before.

Having studied Art and Architecture at Warwick University, Simon worked at Chatsworth from 1991-2010, in a variety of roles, latterly as Head of Communications.  He has lectured about Chatsworth, the Devonshire Collection and associated topics throughout the UK and on several US tours, including for the Metropolitan Museum and the National Gallery of Art.  

Tony started his advertising career as a mail boy at J Walter Thompson, rising to become Account Director.  From 1985 he set up on his own handling the Guinness account for fifteen years.   Still active in the industry, although concentrating on more philanthropic projects - producing film on Nigeria for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and more recently completed a sanitation project in Haiti after the devastation on Hurricane Matthew in 2016. 

He lectures for the Arts Society in the UK and Europe.

Isabella studied Classics at Cambridge and took her doctorate in Late Antiquity at Oxford.  

She writes and teaches, including tutoring within Oxford and lecturing on Late Antiquity/Christianity for the St Alban’s Study Centre.

Andrew has had a passion for jewellery since a small child. 

The V & A Museum commissioned a collection of jewels from him and this exposure led to his making tiaras and jewellery for film and TV including Mrs Henderson Presents, The Young Victoria and for Downton Abbey.

Lucrezia is a Lecturer at the National Gallery and for the Tate Galleries.  Lay Canon for the Visual Arts at St Paul’s Cathedrl 2010-2014.

Christopher is the Donnelly Fellow Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 

He was responsible for the catalogues and sales of illuminated manuscripts at Sotheby’s for 25 years until 2000.  He has doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge, two honorary doctorates and has written over 100 books and major articles on medieval manuscripts translated into numerous languages. 

He is probably the best known expert on medieval manuscripts in the world and has given public lectures in six continents

Tony has written two works of narrative history Stradivarius and Fabergé’s Eggs and given lectures on these subjects at the V & A Museum, the Library of Congress and several literary festivals. 

His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge, and moved through investment banking, management consulting and five years as MD of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, where he remains on the Board.

Art Historian, author, lecturer, photographer and journalist.  

Denise worked in Cambodia and has been scholar of S.E. Asia. 

Lectures for the Art Fund; SOAS, University of London; the British Museum and the National Trust.  

She writes for many art, literary and travel publications and has led cultural tours to the area.

Freelance curator, lecturer and writer.  

From 2006-2016 Joanna was Head of Adult Learning at the V & A Museum and before that Head of Learning and Access at the National Portrait Gallery and Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain.  

She has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration and interiors.

Porcelain, jade, jewels, architecture, gardens and a few surprises are featured in this fascinating talk, which encompasses the wonders and exoticism of the East that held the West enthralled for iover two centuries.  The Meridian Line of the Forbidden City, the pure white marble path, double hip roofs and the importance of the number 9 are all discussed, together with court ritual.  The importance of the beautiful objects that surrounded the Emperors and some gifts that were given by the “Barbarian” westerner in exchange for trade agreements feature to excite the eye and hopefully stimulate a passion for these wonderful wares

Peter has degrees in Decorative Arts & Historic Interiors and Fine Art Valuation; he also holds a DPhil in Art History. Has forty years’ lecturing experience, including to the Art Fund in Jersey and Guernsey, the Ringwood Antiques Club Hampshire, the Jersey College for Adult Education, and various after-dinner engagements. Has given talks on local radio, and held antique road shows for various organisations. Interest include 18th century fine & decorative art, the Grand Tour, Oriental decorative arts, and silver and jewellery. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

There are many illustrious gardens on the shores of Lakes Como and Maggiore in the mountainous far north of Italy.  Those in this lecture include a 16th century parterre and water staircase; a baroque garden in the middle of a lake; two gardens made by rival Napoleonic grandees and a garden created by two Edwardian romantics as a theatre for sharing their love of art and nature.  These  and others are set in a climate ideal for garden making among some of the noblest scenery, where Wordsworth, Liszt and Bellini found inspiration achievements

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.

Music lovers generally regard JS Bach as the greatest of early 18th century composers.  In fact he is so important in the history of music that we close down the Baroque period with his death in 1750.  However, Bach is also one of the most challenging of composers and rarely reveals the subtleties of his music on first or even second hearing, causing some of his listeners to feel distanced from many of the finer moments in his output.  This lecture goes beneath the surface of Bach’s music to decode some of his musical symbolism, to reveal some of his working methods and to highlight some of his aesthetic goals.

Nowadays many are familiar with Mackintosh’s striking and innovative designs: his high backed chairs and white painted furniture.  Yet, in his day, at the turn of the 20th century only a handful of British clients recognised the outstanding talent of this Scottish architect and designer.  On the continent however, and particularly in Austria and Germany, progressive designers marvelled at his work and considered him a hero.

This lecture traces Mackintosh’s career, looking at his major architectural commissions and interiors such as those for the Glasgow School of Art and the Hill House at Helensburgh.  We will also look at his less well known but exquisite water colour paintings, painted throughout his career but especially when he and his wife Margaret were resident in France towards the end of his life. Finally we will consider the consequences of the tragic fire at the Glasgow School of Art and how restoration is being addressed.

Freelance lecturer in ceramic, glass and the history of interior decoration in Europe, North and South America. Lectures at the Inchbald School of Design, the Interior Design School and for American University Groups, National Trust and Antiques Societies and Christie’s Education. Guides groups through museum collections and country houses. Collects ceramic and glass. Diploma with distinction in the Fine and Decorative Arts, Inchbald School of Design

Dame Zaha Hadid died March 31st 2016 at age 65.  Architectural historians of the future will surely recognise her as one of the most important Architects of the early 21st century.  Born in Iraq, with a global reputation she made Britain her home.  This lecture tells the story of her career from the visionary projects of the 1980s, through years of frustration when her designs were considered unbuildable to the prolific crop of successful projects built all over the world in the last decade of her life.

Colin Davies is Prof of Architectural Theory.  Former editor Architects Journal and contributor to magazines worldwide. 

Books:

Thinking About Architecture,

Key Houses of the Twentieth Century,

The Prefab Home,

High Tech Architecture and monographs on the work of Foster, Hopkins, Grimshaw

London's Tite Street was one of the most influential artistic quarters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  A staggering amount of talent thrived in just this one street in Chelsea including James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent.  Throughout its dynamic and turbulent history Tite St mirrored the world around. From the aesthetic movement through the struggles of women's suffrage to the bombs in the Blitz in the 1940s it remained home to innumerable artists and writers.  The lecture ties together the private and professional lives of its inhabitants to form a colourful tapestry of art and intrigue.

Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes is an experienced guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern and lectures at various art societies and institutions. She has a special interest in British Art of the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries.

Having gained an MA in film and television practice, Jennifer had a career spanning 20 years as a TV producer/director making documentaries and factual programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

She was a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College and Birkbeck College University of London and a senior lecturer at Southampton Solent University in the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society

Hampton Court is best known as the main surviving palace of Henry VIII but how much of Hampton Court did he really create?  The King had lost the principal medieval royal seat of Westminster to a fire in 1512 and in 1528 he adopted Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court which had been planned new in 1515.

The talk explains the European cultural background to Wolsey's magnificent creation, presents reconstructions of lost interiors and shows how much of the credit for Hampton Court was due to the ambitious cardinal before his reputation was shattered and his achievements defaced by the infamous King he had served.

Dr Jonathan Foyle was Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain for 8 years, and a Curator of Historic Buildings at Hampton Court for as long, during which time he wrote his 2002 PhD on reconstructing Wolsey’s palace.

He is a frequent feature writer for the Financial Times on issues of architecture, history and craft and is approaching his fourth published cathedral monograph: Canterbury, Lincoln, Lichfield and now Peterborough.

A presenter of numerous TV series including BBC4’s Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? and BBC2’s Climbing Great Buildings, he lectures frequently on a range of art-historical topics.

Former Course Director for the University of Cambridge Summer Schools and is an Honorary Professor in Conservation at the University of Lincoln.

Prague reduced to a near ruin under the communists has now been restored to its former glory, a unique blend of Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau . The lecture looks at the rich fabric of Prague's past, its legends and its history, as well as the artists, composers, statesmen and rogues that have illuminated this fairy tale city. 

Douglas Skeggs has a Cambridge Fine Arts degree.  He is a Writer, Artist, TV Presenter.  Lecturer to many London Art Courses, Director of the New Academy of Arts and author of 6 novels. 

Jacqueline is a linguist and art historian.  

She took her first degree in French and Spanish then her Masters in Applied Linguistics in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Her B.A and PhD in Art History were taken at Birkbeck College, University of London where she also lectured on Western European Art for twenty years.  Her doctoral thesis was on ‘The Drawings of Garcia Lorca as Gifts’. She has published The Spanish Song Companion and contributed to various academic publications on art historical subjects. 

She was also Head of Department of Art History at Westminster School before launching her new career as a free-lance lecturer in London and abroad.

She is Managing Director of Art and Culture Travel Ltd.

'Early Spanish Still Lifes by artists such as Sanchez Cotán will be shown in order to discuss the many ways Still Life painting can give insights into the world and society in which the artist lived. This will be explored in the lecture as well as the development on this genre during the later centuries including the work of Goya. Particular attention will be paid to objects which can go unnoticed such as a fly on a grape or a fish bone strewn across the table.'

Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. He was born in London, educated at Cambridge and Cornell, and at 24 was a Lecturer at the University of Sussex. For many years, he worked at the BBC where he was responsible for a wide variety of radio series on cultural and historical topics. Since 2004, Daniel has held a Senior Research Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London) for whom he has given lectures, organised and chaired both academic and public Seminars and recorded a succession of interviews with leading fellow historians. 

A long-time member of the London Philharmonic Choir (1967-2015), he has always had a strong and informed interest in music and musicians, his books on the Amadeus Quartet and Plácido Domingo combining close-up portraiture of the artists concerned with the broader brush of the social historian.

Recent books include a study of the cultural impact of the ‘Hitler Emigrés’, a collection of critical essays on the life and work of today's leading historians and a brief biography of Verdi. Daniel's 2009 book The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera has been published throughout the English-speaking world and is now available in Italian, Spanish and Chinese and is currently planned to appear in a number of other languages.

Daniel Snowman is a frequent lecturer for a variety ofacademic groups, arts festivals, cultural organisations, luncheon clubs etc. He has also lectured on cruise liners, and between 2001 and 2014 Daniel led over 50 music tours (for companies such as Cox & Kings, Martin Randall and ACE) to major international venues, including Aix-en-Provence, Barcelona., Berlin, Bregenz, Budapest, Cracow, Dresden, Halle, Leipzig, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Naples, New York, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, Salzburg, Savonlinna, Seville/Andalucia, Stockholm, Torre del Lago, Turin, Valencia, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw.

The Gilded Stage is a comprehensive tour of the world of opera. From its origins in the courts of northern Italy, to its internationally recognised position in modern culture, Snowman explores the social history of opera houses and impresarios, composers and patrons, artists and audiences.

Even the most flamboyant composers could scarcely have imagined the global reach of opera in our own times. More opera is performed, financed, seen, heard, filmed and broadcast than ever before, and the world's leading performers are worshipped and paid like pop stars. Yet the art form is widely derided as 'elitist' and parts of the classical recording business appear close to bankruptcy.  Pinpointing the scandals, forgotten history and key revolutions in the form with light erudition and a brilliant anecdotal eye, Daniel Snowman reveals that the world of opera has always known crisis and uncertainty - and the resulting struggles have often proved every bit as dramatic as those portrayed onstage.

Studied at Magdalen College, Oxford before training as a teacher and working in Lambeth, Hackney and Islington.

Moved to Kosova in 2006 and there worked with the Ethnological Museum in Prishtina and co0founded The Ideas Partnership, a charity working on education and cultural heritage projects.

Speaks fluent Albanian and has translated two books:-

1. The unauthorized biography of Yugoslavia's longest held political prisioner, Adem demaci.

2. The memoirs of one of the leaders of the 1912 uprising.

Also author of three books about Kosova:-

1. Travels in Blood and Honey ( becoming a beekeeper in Kosova 2011)

2. Edith and I ( on the trail of an Edwardian traveller in Kosova 2013)

3. The Rubbish - Picker's Wife (an unlikely friendship in Kosova 2015)

Has appeared on Radio 4 (Saturday Live, Excess Baggage, From Our Own Correspondent) and on the BBC World News.

'The silver thread; filigree jewellery - an ancient craft which spread across the former Ottoman Empire.  Still practised by men and women who turn into dragons as they puff fire, sprinkle silver dust, and magic thick silver rods into fine wire and this into lacy jewellery, adornment and religious artefacts.'

Mary Alexander trained as an art historian and graduated with a B.A. Hons in History and History of Art, and an M.A. in History of Art with Distinction from University College London. Her background includes lecturing to various arts organisations, working with design professionals on special events and publications, and writing on various aspects of the history of art and design.

Mary is an experienced public speaker and regularly contributes articles to magazines, newspapers and professional journals. After completing her first degree, she seized on a rare opportunity to work, researching and organising exhibitions at Platt Hall, Manchester which houses an internationally renowned collection of historic clothing. This led to a life-long fascination with the language and codes of dress, and its place within the social and cultural history of art and design. For ten years she was a Visiting Lecturer and External Examiner in the History of Art and Dress at Christie's Education in London.

Another life-long passion for contemporary design led to working for Pentagram Design in London and New York, working on publications and conferences/special events.

Mary Alexander has lectured in the history of art at the Open University, Manchester University (extra mural department), Leeds University, Christie's Education in London, and various arts, heritage and antiquarian societies, including National Trust Associations and NADFAS.
Since moving to Norfolk in 2000, Mary is now a free-lance lecturer and travels widely in the UK, Europe and further afield.

www.maryalexander.org.uk

'Since the C19 English high society had regularly 'wintered over' on the Côte d'Azur, promenading by the sea and leaving by April. In the early 1920's, however, an intoxicating mix of artists, writers, musicians and international visitors, inspired by a mythological seascape of luminous colours, create a new summer season.  Sun tans and sportswear soon became 'de rigueur' in the chic new coastal resorts, villas and hotels. In the words of Matisse writing in 1918 ... "It seems like a paradise which one does not have the right to analyse".

In this experimental Riviera playground of ideas, a vibrant synergy pulsated across the visual design arts.  

Traditional boundaries were torn down. Matisse, Picasso, Dufy, Cocteau, and Chanel merged the worlds of fashion, theatre and interiors. The impresarios Serge Diaghilev and Paul Poiret generate an exciting fusion in the creative arts. Cole Porter, Scott Fitzgerald, and the intriguing Gerald and Sara Murphy who become lifestyle icons, introduce an American perspective and attract an influential new set of discerning patrons and collectors. 

We will 'time travel' (at a more leisurely pace in the Special Interest Day version!) recreating the romance of rail travel on the iconic Train Bleu or motor in a dashing Hispano Suiza.  We will meet the personalities, call in on Matisse's studio in Nice, share a morning cocktail with the Murphy's on their secluded beach, marvel at Dufy's magical murals at Antibes, check out the latest fashionable interior designs at the Palais de la Mediterranée, buy a pair of Perugia shoes, and take a spin up to Monte Carlo to play the tables and attend an opening night featuring Cocteau's designs for the latest Ballets Russes production.'

Christopher Rogers read Geography at Oxford and taught Geography.  Formerly Head of Geography at Downe House School, Newbury.  He became interested in Country House architecture whilst at Oxford and has lectured on the subject ever since.  Runs regular 5 day Summer School courses for Marlborough College Summer School.  Lectures for The National Trust.

'Best remembered today as a collector and connoisseur, Soane was a leading architect at the beginning of the 19th century. He built a series of lovely ‘Greek Revival’ villas, such as Pitzhanger, but his fame rested on a series of great public works in London. He rebuilt the Bank of England, of which only the outer screen wall survives. His plans for Kensington included a Triumphal Arch and a processional way to a series of grand new buildings at Whitehall, including new Law Courts and a new royal entrance to the House of Lords. Some were built, but were destroyed within a decade in the great fire which destroyed the Palace of Westminster  in 1834, while his buildings at the Royal Hospital Chelsea were lost in World War Two. Sadly, the only one of Soane’s great buildings to survive intact is the much loved Dulwich Picture  Gallery. This lecture reviews his work and explores some of his masterpieces.'   

Brian is a Senior Teaching Fellow at University College London, where he has lectured since 1997, and is also a very popular speaker with The Arts Society (formerly Nadfas).

He offers two strands of lectures. The first explains photography in the context of art, while the second series of talks is on the appreciation of Architecture.

An exhibition of Brian’s own photographs has been staged at UCL and he has written on architecture for a wide range of publications.

He is an engaging and amusing speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.

Brian.stater@mac.com

www.brianstater.org.uk

Christopher Herbert is married to Jan and they have two children and four grandchildren.

Christopher Herbert was born in Lydney in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire in 1944.  His father helped run the family road haulage business but was also very proud of his roots as a foundryman and moulder in a local iron works.

He was educated at Monmouth School for Boys and went on to read Biblical Studies and Philosophy at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He graduated in 1965 and went to Wells Theological College and at the same time, obtained a Postgraduate Certificate of Education at the University of Bristol.

He was ordained in 1967 and served as assistant curate at St Paul’s, Tupsley, Hereford.  During this time he taught Religious Education and Social Studies at the Bishop of Herford’s Bluecoat School and was a youth leader. In 1971 he became RE Adviser for the Diocese of Hereford and then, in 1976, Diocesan Director of Education, where he was responsible for developing a residential education centre.  He served on both the Shropshire County Education Committee and the Hereford and Worcester County Education Committee and created some new church schools.  He was made a Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral in 1977.

From 1981-1990 he was Vicar of The Bourne, Farnham, Surrey.  In addition, he was appointed Director of Post-Ordination Training for the Diocese of Guildford and was made a Canon of Guildford Cathedral, before becoming Archdeacon of Dorking in 1990. He became Bishop of St Albans in 1995.  During his tenure as a diocesan bishop, he also served as Chairman of the Hospital Chaplaincies Council, Chairman of General Synod, National Chairman of the Council of Christians and Jews, and Chairman of the East of England Churches Network. He entered the House of Lords in 1999 and established himself as a speaker in the areas of health and medical ethics. He was a member of the House of Lords Select Committee which was asked to scrutinise and explore proposals relating to changing the law on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Bishop Christopher Herbert has an interest in and love for all forms of literature. He is a prolific author in his own right. Much of his writing is based on the themes of prayer and spirituality, for both children and adults. Among his best-known books are Ways into Prayer (Church House Publishing, 1987) and Pocket Prayers (Church House Publishing, 1993). In 2002 he completed a major piece of research into 'The Image of the Resurrection of Jesus in 15th Century Northern European Art', for which he was awarded an MPhil by the University of Leicester in 2002.  He was awarded a Ph.D by the University of Leicester in 2008, for his ground-breaking research on 'The Origins of the Easter Sepulchre in Pre-Reformation England'. He has been a guest lecturer at the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey and the Courtauld Institute, the Salisbury International Arts Festival and at Cathedrals and churches across the UK

In November 2003 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Hertfordshire and was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of Bedfordshire in 2008 for his contribution to community life.

In 2008 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Fano, Italy for his work in building inter-church and community relationships between Fano and St Albans.

He retired as Bishop of St Albans in 2009, having served 13 years in that position. He and Jan now live in Surrey.

On retirement he was appointed as a voluntary Non-Executive director of the Abbeyfield Society.

He serves as an honorary assistant bishop in the dioceses of Guildford, Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester.

www.threeabbeys.org.uk

'The mosaics of Ravenna were created during great political turmoil.  In the fifth and sixth centuries, invaders played havoc with the western Roman Empire.  In spite of this, artists and church leaders created churches of astonishing beauty.'

​

Leslie Primo is a graduate with a degree in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck, University College, London. During his studies he specialised in early Medieval and Renaissance studies, including, Italian Renaissance Drawing, Art and Architecture in Europe 1250-1400 Art and Architecture in Europe 1400-1500, Medici and Patronage, Narrative Painting in the Age of Giotto, the work of Peter Paul Rubens focusing on his paintings of the Judgement of Paris, and Greek Myth in paintings.

Leslie Primo has worked at the National Gallery, London since 2000, The Arts Society since 2009, and has also taught outreach courses at the Courtauld Institute. Also in this period Leslie Primo also taught a variety of art history courses as a visiting lecturer at Reading University in 2005 and 2007.

Leslie Primo currently lectures at the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and teaches a variety of art history courses at Imperial College, London – South Kensington campus, the City Literary, Covent Garden, London and Bishopsgate Institute, Liverpool Street, London, including: An art history survey course called Styles in Art (spanning art from Byzantium to Victorian painting), The Mirror of Nature (looking at 17th Century art and culture), The Renaissance and Beyond, Introduction to the National Galley and Introduction to the National Portrait Gallery, Introduction to Western European Art and many more.

'Why were foreigner painters preferred by the aristocracy in London to native-born English painters, why did foreigners come in the first place, what was their motivation, and what was the impact of foreigners in London on English art and art practice?'

Having been Curator of Greek Bronze Age and Geometric Antiquities for The British Museum for thirteen years, Louise now works on international archaeological projects, principally in Turkey and Albania.

She has been working in Ethiopia since 2006, directing archaeological, conservation and development projects in that extraordinary country. Her current archaeological site – in Tigray province, northeastern Ethiopia – is a temple, probably dedicated to a moon god and dating to the 5th century BC – a time when this area of Ethiopia formed part of the kingdom of Sheba.  Excavations undertaken there in 2015 and 2016  have uncovered a rich cemetery which includes an extraordinary burial of a 2000 year old Ethiopian 'Sleeping Beauty'.   

She lectures for a number of universities and institutions, including Florida State University, Christie's Education and cruise companies.

'The fame of the Queen of Sheba has lasted across the many intervening centuries since she made her epic journey from her distant land to the court of King Solomon.  A passage in the Bible’s Book of Kings has immortalised this Queen and the journey that she made, her camel caravan laden with gold and incense as gifts for the king of Jerusalem. In this talk Louise looks at how the Queen of Sheba has captured the imagination of great artists, inspired epic films and has led archaeologists to go in search of her land –  a search that has led to discoveries of great temples, tombs and treasures in both the Yemen and Ethiopia.' 

The passion in Renaissance Europe for the art and culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans defined the age. The influence of the Classical World is obvious in architecture, design, literature, humanist thought, and in the subject matter explored all over Europe by painters and sculptors. At the same time, the war-like culture of both the real Bronze Age and the semi-mythical ‘Age of Heroes’ appealed on many levels to Renaissance knights, who often saw themselves as the successors, even the familial descendants of Alexander, of Achilles, and of Hector. The perceived links between the Renaissance and Ancient warrior classes, and the desire of European knights to emulate their Classical and mythic forbears, led to a new military fashion- armour ‘all antica- the antique or ‘heroic’ style, which fused ancient and modern design principles to bring the champions of a mythic past back to life.

Toby Capwell is Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and an internationally-acknowledged expert on Medieval and Renaissance weapons. His book, Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection (2011) was named Book of the Year by Apollo Magazine in 2012. Dr. Capwell appears regularly on television, most recently as presenter and armour advisor on Richard III: The New Evidence (2014), and as the writer and presenter of Metalworks: The Knight's Tale (2012). Recent publications include The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe 1520-1630, ex. cat. (2012) and ‘The Arming of an English Man-at-Arms, c. 1415’, appendix, in Sir Ranulph Fiennes new book Agincourt: My Family, The Battle, and the Fight for France (2014). Most recently, after fifteen years of research, Dr. Capwell’s book Armour of the English Knight 1400-50 was published in September 2015.

We can mostly trust experts like the ones on the Antiques Road Show. We explore what’s involved in that kind of expertise, taking Wedgwood Jasperware as a case-study. But connoisseurship has a deplorable record when attributions to major artists are at stake, with Van Gogh expertise, for example, in chaos. We review some hilarious episodes, but end up sympathising with the scrupulous scholars of the Rembrandt Research Project. They’ve wrestled for decades to settle once and for all which Rembrandtesque paintings were actually painted by Rembrandt. Faced with a baffling masterpiece like the haunting Polish Rider in the Frick Collection, their efforts have become as much a fascinating study of the difficulties of attribution as of Rembrandt. Modern art practices add layers of complication: there’s been a blazing dispute (with millions of dollars at stake) about what is authentic, and what is not, in the work of Andy Warhol. Next we sneak a look at cases where experts may not have been acting in good faith – or are just plain bent. Finally we move on to ask, who is to say that Picasso is a greater artist than Edward Seago? We consider the issues, and then speculate about the contemporary scene, with a critical look at critics, and the recent competition featured in the TV series School of Saatchi.

David Phillips was a curator of art and exhibitions in Nottingham Castle Museum from 1968 to 1981 and then until 1998 a lecturer on a graduate course in the Art History Department in Manchester University for students aiming at careers in museums. Since then he has been a researcher into visual perception and aesthetics, and for the last ten years has also been a Nadfas lecturer.

The moving image has been a powerful source for imagination from the first moment a magic lantern flickered into life in the 17th century. In this lecture we will be looking at how the Motion Pictures industry first developed throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. How it then went on to change the face of entertainment and inspire the imaginations of some of the greatest artists of the early 20th century.

Geri is a former Fleet Street journalist and film PR. She has a first class honours degree in History and Theology, a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology doctorate from Roehampton University in London. She has been lecturing for the past ten years both in the UK and internationally and now heads up the Visual Arts distance learning programme for Exeter University. She is also principal lecturer on the NADFAS South West Area’s History of Art course and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Roehampton University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. www.gparlby.co.uk

An interest in the classics was revived in the mid 18th century by the Grand Tour, archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and later by events such as the Greek fight for independence and controversy over the Elgin Marbles. This PowerPoint presentation traces neoclassicism through architecture, sculpture and the decorative arts. It touches on leading craftsmen of the day such as Hepplewhite, Storr and Wedgwood and looks at how items were designed and made. Discover why so much silver was commissioned in Regency times, what Lady Hamilton was up to with her tableaux vivants and how Robert Adam earned his soubriquet ‘Bob the Roman’!

Naomi Motley has a degree in History and a post graduate diploma in the Fine and Decorative Arts. She has been involved in the art world for some 30 years in varied roles from working in an auction house to cataloguing for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments. She has lectured for Birmingham and Bristol Universities’ extra mural departments and taken a sabbatical in the United States with the University of New Hampshire.

The history, techniques and uses of veneering, inlay, parquetry and marquetry in decorating furniture between the period 1675 – 1730

I have retired from a 35 year-long career in Higher education. Whilst studying for my first degree, I worked part time in an antiques shop, which I came to take over as proprietor. Such was my interest in collecting that I became known as the dealer who bought but never sold. My lectures seek to explain furniture in terms of the skills and materials employed in its design and construction and also its socio-economic significance. I have lectured on antique furniture since 1975 and have been in the NADFAS Directory since 1982. I have lectured to over 300 NADFAS societies including those in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, The Hague and Spain. www.Januszspeaking.com

The Art of Piero della Francesca: The Light of the North Meets the Logic of the South 2016/17 will be the 600th anniversary of the birth of Piero della Francesca so the perfect opportunity to revisit the work of this enigmatic painter. His grave, solid figures set in a timeless landscape and lit by a clear light, encapsulate the harmony of man and his world that was at the heart of Italian Renaissance thought. But they are, in fact, a perfect fusion of the influences of North and South, of light and logic, which reflect his native countryside while yet conveying a spirituality that reaches out over time and boundaries. Whether working in the service of the church or of his patron, Federigo da Montefeltro, his paintings radiate a serenity and timelessness which will take us far beyond this anniversary.

Suggested Reading: • Piero della Francesca – Anna Maria Maetzke – Silvana Press 2012 • Piero della Francesca: the Legend of the True Cross in the Church of S. Francesco in Arezzo – Carlo Bertelli (editor) – Skira Editore 2002 • The Piero della Francesca Trail – John Pope-Hennessey & Aldous Huxley – Little Bookroom, US 2002

Shirley Smith graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first class honours degree in the History of Art, specialising in Italian and Northern Renaissance Art and Architecture. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, has lectured at the University of East Anglia and is a tutor for the Board of Continuing Education of Cambridge University for whom she runs weekend and study day courses. She also lectures to The Art Fund, the National Society of Decorative and Fine Arts and various other Arts Societies Her latest essay on ‘The Fresco Decoration in the Sistine Chapel: Biblical Authority and the Church of Rome’ appears in ‘The Bible and the Arts’ published by Edinburgh University Press.

I’m a historian, cook, lecturer, broadcaster, writer and consultant. I specialise in the history of food and dining in Britain from around 1600 to the present day, and I research this both in libraries and in my own (and other’s) kitchens. Food is a brilliant way to get under the skin of past societies: everyone eats, and the choices we make reflect who we are and what we believe – and that’s as true for the Georgians as it is for us today. By exploring what was eaten, and by whom, how it was cooked and how it was consumed, we can explore a wide range of beliefs and behaviours, shedding light on everything from malnutrition among the poor, to the innermost workings of the country house. Not only that, but I firmly believe that the recipes and techniques of the past are as exciting and relevant now as they have ever been. Put simply – the history is fascinating, and the food delicious. What’s not to like?! www.anniegray.co.uk

An overview of Britain’s ‘Big Four’ postwar glass companies, comprising 1. Whitefriars 2. King’s Lynn (Wedgwood) 3. Caithness 4. Dartington. As well as company and designer histories, special slides examine, compare and contrast ‘Good, Better, Best’ examples from each company. The emergence of these factories is put into context and major influences behind them are discussed. The current glut of Whitefriars fakes are covered, including tips on how to spot them. www.markhill.net

Twigs is a professional garden historian and currently divides her portfolio of work between research and consultancy, lectures and talks, and writing books: (as well as juggling a private life as an avid gardener and small rabbit sanctuary!) The one thing she is NOT very good at is keeping up her website blog!! Current and Recent Projects: In 2016 Twigs will be concentrating on extensive touring and lecturing on Lancelot ‘capability’ Brown: Landscape, Art and Dame Nature - for the CB300 tercentenary celebrations of Brown’s birth. Twigs is an accredited and popular speaker for NADFAS. In addition 2016 will see the publication of ‘The Social and Cultural History of the Carnation’ for the prestigious Botanic Series for Reaktion Books, alongside Twigs is also currently undertaking private consultancy work on the systematic beds of the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, as well as the walled garden at Holkham Hall, Norfolk and a Parkland management Plan for Gorhambury . She will also be presenting a series of lectures and talks for the University of Cambridge Botanic Gardens (and having the odd tea break - Rose Puchong preferred!!!). In 2014 Twigs published a short book on Tudor Gardens, and continued to research on the 18th century diaries of Jemima, Marchioness Grey and her daughter Amabel (Countess de Grey) at Wrest Park. Further in the Past . . . Twigs came into Garden History following a career in landscape archaeology. Initially completing a BSc (1st Class Hons.) and MA in Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL London) followed by several years working as an archaeologist in England, Europe and South America. In 1990 Twigs commenced a PhD at Cambridge studying the impact of park creation on landscapes in Cambridgeshire. This led her to focus on the social, cultural and status dimensions of landscapes and to further work on park-related crime. Subsequently, Twigs completed the Gazetteer of Parks and Gardens in the county. In 2001 Twigs designed and implemented a new Certificate Programme in garden history for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education based at Madingley Hall, subsequently developing a Diploma programme as well. Since 2004 Twigs has undertaken consultancy work and research for private clients and for public bodies such as English Heritage. She has compiled a number of histories of private gardens, worked on conservation and management plans for historic parks and gardens, and assisted with the preparation of funding and planning applications. She has also co-ordinated research projects for Essex Gardens Trust. In the media, Twigs has appeared in television programmes for BBC, Channel 4, BBC East Anglia and on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Kent. During Winter 2008/09 she appeared in a BBC Gardeners' World special on women in the garden and has appeared with other members of the Gardeners World Team for other specials - including Rachel de Thame on Topiary . She has also appeared on ‘Making Britain’ and ‘The 1950s House’. Her first publication, on the history of women in the garden – ‘Virgins Weeders and Queens’ – came out in 2006 and is now joined by ‘A Nation of Gardeners’ (2010), 'The Wartime Garden' for Sabrestorm (2010). She has also written a series of books for Shire publications including a biography of Gertrude Jekyll, a history of Cottage Gardens, a history of Garden Gnomes, and a social history of the allotment movement. www.twigsway.com

Dominic Riley is a bookbinder, artist, teacher, writer and lecturer. He specializes in the restoration of antiquarian books and the creation of contemporary fine bindings. He teaches bookbinding both in the UK and USA and his prize-winning bindings are in collections world-wide, including the British Library, the Rylands Library in Manchester, the National Library of Wales and the Grolier Club in New York. In 2013 he was awarded first prize in the International Bookbinding competition, the Sir Paul Getty Award. His winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Dominic is a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders and serves as Vice President of the Society of Bookbinders.

Barbara graduated with an honours degree in History and taught History for 15 years before qualifying as a City of London Guide in 1987 and as a London Blue Badge Guide in 1988. She is a Lecturer, Course Director and Examiner on Blue Badge Guide Training Courses and City of London Guide Training Courses. Barbara is a Freeman of the City of London and regularly conducts groups on walking tours in the City. www.windsorheritagetalksandtours.com

Dr Sally Hoban is an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Birmingham and has lectured extensively on art, design and antiques throughout the UK. Sally has broadcast on BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC Radio 4, presents regular history programmes and her publications include Miller’s Collecting Modern Design. She has an Honours certificate in public speaking from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and is a freelance arts journalist for local, national and international media. www.sallyhoban.com

Linda Smith is a well-qualified art historian with a broad range of knowledge. She has a special interest in British art and the art of the twentieth century. Linda can offer slide talks and study days on a variety of topics and has taken on various types of assignment at a wide range of venues, including public galleries, secondary schools, cruise liners and private arts societies. She is also an experienced gallery guide at a number of venues including the National Gallery and Dulwich Picture Gallery; but especially at the Tate, where she regularly gives slide lectures and special interest guided tours.

Peter Medhurst’s work as singer, pianist and lecturer-recitalist has taken him all over the world and in the last few years he has toured New Zealand, Australia (twice) and South Africa (four times) and made frequent tours in Europe, giving performances in Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris and Spain. Closer to home, he has presented events at the Barbican, St John’s Smith Square, and the Royal Festival Hall on Beethoven String Quartets, Mozart Operas, Vermeer’s Music Lesson, The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Golden Age of Vienna, and 18th Century Venetian Art and Music. He has also directed presentations at the Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A, linking the visual arts with the world of 17th & 18th century music making. He is a familiar face to audiences of music societies, regional theatres and British festivals (Henley, Isle of Man, Rye, Amersham, Stevenage, Chichester, Leith Hill, The Three Choirs etc) as well as to those of arts based organisations such as The Art Fund, The National Trust and NADFAS. On the radio, his appearances include Classic FM’s Susanna Simons’ Show, Radio 3’s In Tune, Radio 4’s Arts Programme, and Midweek with Libby Purves. His recordings number For Two to Play, Schubert Songs, Handel and His Satellites and a recently released CD of 16th and 17th century keyboard music entitled Tyme at the Virginalls. A recording of 19th and 20th century English songs is scheduled for release in Winter 2013, as well as a new Christmas CD. Peter Medhurst was born of German and English parents and did his musical training at the Royal College of Music where he studied singing with Redvers Llewellyn and Edgar Evans, organ with Richard Popplewell, composition with Justin Connolly and music history with Else Mayer-Lismann, Christopher Grier and Joseph Horowitz. In 1978, a scholarship from the Austrian government gave him the opportunity to have coaching with the accompanist Erik Werba at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. On his return to England he took harpsichord lessons with Ruth Dyson, who became his accompanist and fellow keyboard duettist in a professional partnership that lasted until her death nearly 20 years later. Over the years Peter Medhurst has lectured for the universities of Kent and Surrey, directed a wide range of choirs, vocal ensembles and instrumental groups, and adjudicated and given master classes for the British Federation of Music Festivals. He is director of The Classical Music Company an organisation promotes that special musical events, creates films about the arts, produces recordings and organises specialist music tours to unusual locations both at home and abroad. Peter Medhurst is based in London. www.petermedhurst.com

Brian Stater’s chief interests lie in architecture, photography and history and he combines all three in his lecturing career. He has taught architectural history at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, since 1997 and became a lecturer with the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (NADFAS) in 2003. He is a member of the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography and an exhibition of his own photographs has been staged at UCL. In an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the skills of some great photographers of the past he has begun to work with a pre-War Leica camera as used by, among many others, his great hero Henri Cartier-Bresson. www.brianstater.org.uk

Dr Caroline Shenton is an archivist, historian and writer. She was formerly Director of the Parliamentary Archives and a senior archivist at the National Archives and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Historical Society. Her book The Day Parliament Burned Down was published to rave reviews in 2012 and won top prize at the inaugural Political Book Awards in 2013. www.carolineshenton.co.uk twitter@dustshoveller.

Elizabeth Merry has over 25 years experience lecturing on a range of subjects including:- 1. Classical art and architecture 2. Aspects of the visual arts 3. The links between literature and art. She has lectured for:- 1. The WEA 2. Universities of Bristol and Southampton 3. Departments of Continuing Education 4. Royal Society of Arts 5. Dillington House 6. Jane Austen Society 7. Thomas Hardy Society 8. Brussels Brontë Society. 9. Finzi Society 10. The Art Fund 11. Dorset County Museum 12. Literary, Historical and Philosophical Societies all over the UK. She has been a co - lecturer on study tours to Rome, Aachen, Cologne, Brittany and the Dordogne as well as in many parts of Great Britain. A NADFAS lecturer since 2009. Elizabeth has lectured for NADFAS branches all over Britain as well as in Europe including Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Southern Spain. Liz lectured for ADFAS in Australia and New Zealand in 2011 and returned to Australia in autumn 2014 and spring 2015 for two further lecture tours. www.elizabethmerry.co.uk

Leslie Primo is a graduate with a degree in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck, University College, London. During his studies he specialised in early Medieval and Renaissance studies, including, Italian Renaissance Drawing, Art and Architecture in Europe 1250-1400 Art and Architecture in Europe 1400-1500, Medici and Patronage, Narrative Painting in the Age of Giotto, the work of Peter Paul Rubens focusing on his paintings of the Judgement of Paris and Greek Myth in paintings. He has worked at the National Gallery in London for 15 years and has also taught a variety of art history course at Reading University, including: Medieval to Renaissance (a survey course), Reading Pictures – The Hidden Stories in Art (a course on iconography) and Masters of the Renaissance - Leonardo and Michelangelo. He currently lectures at the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and teaches a variety of art history courses at Imperial College, London - South Kensington campus, the City Literary, Covent Garden, London and Bishopsgate Institute, Liverpool Street, London, including: An art history survey course called Styles in Art (spanning art from Byzantium to Victorian painting), The Mirror of Nature (looking at 17th Century art and culture), The Renaissance and Beyond, Introduction to the National Galley and Introduction to the National Portrait Gallery, Introduction to Western European Art and many more. www.primoartdiscoverytours.co.uk

Please note that due to the General Election taking place on May 7th we have had to change the date to May 14th . As Brian Stater could not make this date the lecture has also had to be changed. Brian will give his lecture on photography at a later date.

The Nazis looted over 20% of Western Art during World War II and the effects of Nazi looting are still evident today. This lecture will cover the following topics: 1. Setting the scene in Germany 2. The Fuhrermuseum 3. Nazi art repositories 4. Post War restitution and the Monuments Men 5. Contemporary restitution issues and current international recovery efforts. I will also discuss several important cases involving Nazi loot. These will be tailored to the country in which I’m speaking, but there are landmark international cases that I will discuss in detail, including Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer and the stash of looted art found in Cornelius Gurlitt’s flat.

Janet Canetty-Clarke was educated in Folkestone, Kent, she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where she obtained her B. Music before she was twenty one. After her marriage and a move to Sussex, she soon became involved in the musical life of South-East England. Appointed Conductor and Musical Director of Ditchling Choral Society (now called Sussex Chorus) for over thirty-seven years, together they have performed most of the major choral works with prestigious soloists and orchestras. A highlight was their performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra, with Josephine Barstow soprano and Anthony Rolfe-Johnson tenor. Janet has been made Conductor Emeritus of the Choir; and hopes to join them to celebrate their 90th season next July in the Dome, Brighton. Janet lectures throughout the year for the Continuing Education Department and the University of Sussex, and the WEA, she presents individual lectures for London University (Birkbeck College), Cambridge University (Madingley Hall), She also lectures for the U3A in Sussex and Surrey. In 1984 Janet was appointed Guest Conductor of the First All Women Chamber Orchestra of Austria, giving concerts in Vienna. She continues links with the orchestra today, especially through her role as Deputy Secretary General of “Femme Maestros” an organization to promote women conductors, based in Brussels. In June last year Janet gave two pre-performance talks on Mozart’s opera. “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and in October a pre-performance talk on Rossini’s opera “La Ceneretola” for Glyndebourne Touring Opera. Janet been lecturing for NADFAS since 1984, visiting societies throughout the UK and Europe, and has undertaken lecture tours in Australia and South Africa. www.janetcanetty-clarke.co.uk

Christopher Herbert is married to Jan and they have two children and four grandchildren. Christopher Herbert was born in Lydney in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire in 1944. His father helped run the family road haulage business, but was also very proud of his roots as a foundryman and moulder in a local iron works. He was educated at Monmouth School for Boys and went on to read Biblical Studies and Philosophy at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He graduated in 1965 and went to Wells Theological College and at the same time, obtained a Postgraduate Certificate of Education at the University of Bristol. He was ordained in 1967 and served as assistant curate at St Paul’s, Tupsley, Hereford. During this time he taught Religious Education and Social Studies at the Bishop of Herford’s Bluecoat School and was a youth leader. In 1971 he became RE Adviser for the Diocese of Hereford and then, in 1976, Diocesan Director of Education, where he was responsible for developing a residential education centre. He served on both the Shropshire County Education Committee and the Hereford and Worcester County Education Committee and created some new church schools. He was made a Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral in 1977. From 1981-1990 he was Vicar of The Bourne, Farnham, Surrey. In addition, he was appointed Director of Post-Ordination Training for the Diocese of Guildford and was made a Canon of Guildford Cathedral, before becoming Archdeacon of Dorking in 1990. He became Bishop of St Albans in 1995. During his tenure as a diocesan bishop, he also served as Chairman of the Hospital Chaplaincies Council, Chairman of General Synod, National Chairman of the Council of Christians and Jews, and Chairman of the East of England Churches Network. He entered the House of Lords in 1999 and established himself as a speaker in the areas of health and medical ethics. He was a member of the House of Lords Select Committee which was asked to scrutinise and explore proposals relating to changing the law on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Bishop Christopher Herbert has an interest in and love for all forms of literature. He is a prolific author in his own right. Much of his writing is based on the themes of prayer and spirituality, for both children and adults. Among his best-known books are Ways into Prayer (Church House Publishing, 1987) and Pocket Prayers (Church House Publishing, 1993). In 2002 he completed a major piece of research into 'The Image of the Resurrection of Jesus in 15th Century Northern European Art', for which he was awarded an MPhil by the University of Leicester in 2002. He was awarded a Ph.D by the University of Leicester in 2008, for his ground-breaking research on 'The Origins of the Easter Sepulchre in Pre-Reformation England'. He has been a guest lecturer at the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey and the Courtauld Institute, the Salisbury International Arts Festival and at Cathedrals and churches across the UK In November 2003 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Hertfordshire and was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of Bedfordshire in 2008 for his contribution to community life. In 2008 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Fano, Italy for his work in building inter-church and community relationships between Fano and St Albans. He retired as Bishop of St Albans in 2009, having served 13 years in that position. He and Jan now live in Surrey. On retirement he was appointed as a voluntary Non-Executive director of the Abbeyfield Society. He serves as an honorary assistant bishop in the dioceses of Guildford, Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester. www.threeabbeys.org.uk

James Russell is the author of Edward Seago, the definitive account of the artist’s life and work, which was published by Lund Humphries in 2014, with a Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. James studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, but was galvanized into writing about art by a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A passionate advocate of 20th century British painting and design, James writes and lectures widely. His books include the four-volume series Ravilious in Pictures, about British watercolourist and designer Eric Ravilious (1903-42), which was described by Country Life as ‘a vivid portrait of the artist’ www.jamesrussellontheweb.blogspot.com

Barbara Askew grew up in Eton with Windsor Castle as part of her daily view. She graduated with an honours degree in History and taught History for 15 years before qualifying as a Blue Badge Guide. She is a lecturer, examiner and course director on Blue Badge Training Courses and an acknowledged expert on Windsor Castle, for which she has been the Blue Badge Guides’ Site Liaison Representative since 1990. Barbara is a rota guide at the British Museum, the Houses of Parliament and the Albert Memorial, and conducts historically-themed walking tours in Windsor for the Windsor Festival and Further Education groups. www.windsorheritagetoursandtalks.com

Theodora Clarke is an art historian, critic and lecturer specialising in Russian art and European modernism. She studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Newcastle University. She lectures widely on twentieth century avant-garde painting and sculpture to audiences across the UK, including at the V&A, Tate Britain, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the University of Bristol and Cambridge University. She has taught adult art history courses at the Royal West of England Academy and previously worked both at Christie's and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Harvard University awarded her a dissertation grant in 2011 and she is currently studying for her PhD at the University of Bristol. She edits the online magazine 'Russian Art and Culture' and founded 'Russian Art Week' in London. www.theodoraclarke.co.uk

Mary Alexander trained as an art historian and graduated with a B.A. Hons in History and History of Art, and an M.A. in History of Art with Distinction from University College London. Her background includes lecturing to various arts organisations, working with design professionals on special events and publications, and writing on various aspects of the history of art and design. Mary is an experienced public speaker and regularly contributes articles to magazines, newspapers and professional journals. After completing her first degree, she seized on a rare opportunity to work, researching and organising exhibitions at Platt Hall, Manchester which houses an internationally renowned collection of historic clothing. This led to a life-long fascination with the language and codes of dress, and its place within the social and cultural history of art and design. For ten years she was a Visiting Lecturer and External Examiner in the History of Art and Dress at Christie's Education in London. Another life-long passion for contemporary design led to working for Pentagram Design in London and New York, working on publications and conferences/special events. Mary Alexander has lectured in the history of art at the Open University, Manchester University (extra mural department), Leeds University, Christie's Education in London, and various arts, heritage and antiquarian societies, including National Trust Associations and NADFAS. Since moving to Norfolk in 2000, Mary is now a free-lance lecturer and travels widely in the UK, Europe and further afield. www.maryalexander.org.uk

Dr Colin Lattimore OBE has had two distinguished careers: 1) in Public Health Medicine 2) in the decorative and applied fine arts. His special interest is in the field of clocks and watches. In 1999 he was Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and in the same year he was President of the British Horological Institute and was appointed Honorary Keeper of Clocks and Watches at the Fitzwilliam. He has a number of publications to his name and is a long-serving NADFAS lecturer.

James Taylor MA (Hons) FRSA was formerly Victorian Paintings Specialist at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers, London and a curator of paintings, drawings and prints, exhibition organiser and corporate membership manager of the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich. Since 1999, he has been a freelance art consultant, author and also lecturer for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS). His publications include: 1. Marine Painting (Studio Editions, 1995) 2. Yachts on Canvas (Conway, 1998) 3. The Voyage of the Beagle (Conway and Naval Institute Press, 2008) 4. Careless Talk Costs Lives – Fougasse and the Art of Public Information (Conway, 2010) 5. Your Country Needs You - The Secret History of the Propaganda Poster (Saraband, 2013) James Taylor is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Sussex on the ‘Landscape and Figure Draughtsman’ William Westall (1781–1850), who was the first professional landscape artist to circumnavigate Australia on Captain Matthew Flinders’ voyage in HMS Investigator, 1801– 1803. To this end he was appointed a Sir James Caird Fellow at the NMM from October to December 2012.

Susie Harries is a writer specialising in culture, history and the arts. Born in 1951 in London, where she now lives with her husband Meirion and their two sons, she read classics and classical philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge, and St Anne's College, Oxford. She has co-authored seven books with her husband, including major works on twentieth-century arts: 1. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (1981) 2. The War Artists (1983) 3. A Pilgrim Soul: A Life of Elisabeth Lutyens (1989). She has also written for the Independent and reviewed books on the arts for the Times Literary Supplement. Her most recent book, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life, was awarded the 2011 Wolfson History Prize www.pevsner.info

Susan Kay-Williams is the Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court and University of Birmingham alumna. Susan is constantly in demand as a speaker, especially for NADFAS in the UK and internationally in the US and Japan. She is a fellow of the RSA. She has a long-term interest in textiles and was introduced to dyeing on a one-day workshop in the 1980s. She writes Non-Fiction, Visual Arts, Crafts, Design and Fashion. She is author of 'The Story of Colour in Textiles'

Born in Cumbria, David Cross has been an independent art historian since 1989. Educated at Denstone and University College, Durham, he read Psychology and Anthropology. Following this initial training in social science, he has gradually accumulated experience and qualifications in literature and the visual arts. After ten years teaching English in London, Cairo and Norfolk, he read for an M.A. in Renaissance Iconography at Lancaster University. Appointed Head of Drama at Worksop College, Nottinghamshire, he directed Shakespeare productions and taught to Oxbridge Entrance level, until 1987. For more than twenty years, he has been writing and lecturing from a base in Cumbria. He has completed his first novel, published poetry and written for the Sunday Times. Since 1995 he has contributed to the National Trust centenary catalogue; written on William Gilpin for the Grove Dictionary of Art (O.U.P., 1996); on Sawrey Gilpin, the equestrian artist (Armitt, 1998); a biography of George Romney (Ashgate, 2000); on Romney’s psychology in Those Delightful Regions of Imagination (Yale, 2002); on the drawings of Joseph Bouet (Durham County Local History Society, 2005) and on the illustrated letters of Percy Kelly to Norman Nicholson (Fell Foot Press, 2007). Having contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of Biography, in 1999 he founded Cumbrian Lives, to identify and research the lives of prominent Cumbrians. This organization is about to be launched to a wider audience. At present he is preparing an edition of letters from Kelly to the museum director Mary Burkett in tandem with his research into the monuments and sculptures of Cumbria and North Lancashire for a book in the national series published by Liverpool University Press. Having now given more than four hundred and fifty lectures all over the U.K. to undergraduate, post-graduate and extra-mural audiences, David has also lectured in France and Germany and was for ten years an art history tutor for the Open College of the Arts. Specialising in the artists of Cumbria, he has lectured at the National Portrait Galleries in both London and Edinburgh, for museums in the North West and to the Lake District National Park and the National Trust. At Lancaster University he has contributed to the activities of the Ruskin Seminar and courses for the Lake District Studies Diploma. Since 1991 he has spoken to N.A.D.F.A.S. audiences, he has contributed to the training of Church Recorders and he is a Past President of Cumbria D.F.A.S. A Vice-President of the Romney Society, for several years he edited their Transactions and his Romney archive is now deposited at Kendal Record Office. He was awarded his PhD for his Romney research in 2002. From 2000 to 2003, he held fellowships at University and Collingwood Colleges, Durham University, where he catalogued inter alia the paintings in Durham Castle. In recognition of his work at Durham he was appointed an Honorary Research Fellow. Having given papers at international conferences in Lancaster, Durham and Newcastle, more recently he has lectured to members of the Art Fund and since 2005, he has given lectures on cruises in both the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Widely travelled in Europe, the Middle East and the U.S.A., in addition to an academic background in literature and art history, David will develop material to match any given itinerary.

Melissa Gallimore is an Independent Curatorial Consultant and has worked with country house collections for over ten years, specialising in eighteenth and nineteenth century interiors, furniture and ceramics. Whilst working as Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at Harewood House, she project-managed the restoration of the East Bedroom including the conservation of the eighteenth century Chinese wallpaper. She also curated the accompanying exhibition entitled Chinoiserie at Harewood. Melissa received a BA (Hons) and MA from the University of York in the History of Art. She became an Associate of the Museums Association in 2005. Melissa has regularly done talks for a variety of arts organisations and has recently started lecturing on a Country House Studies Course run by Hull University.

Dr. Steve Kershaw (B.A. (Hons.); Ph.D.) has had a special interest in the world of the Ancient Greeks and Romans ever since being introduced to Homer’s Iliad by an inspirational teacher at his primary school. He developed his interests in the Classics at Heath Grammar School in Halifax, before studying at Bristol University. Having achieved a degree in Classics, Steve stayed on to write his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Richard Buxton, arguably the leading scholar on Greek myth in the world. Since graduation Steve has taught Classics in a number of establishments and now operates principally for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. He authored and teaches Oxford’s on-line Greek Mythology course, but he has also spent a great deal of time in the world of Classical Civilisation, both intellectually and physically: as a guest speaker for Swan Hellenic Cruises and Royal Hebridean Cruises he has travelled extensively throughout the Mediterranean, and, as Professor of History of Art, he currently runs the European Studies Classical Tour for Rhodes College and the University of the South. Former students include the Princess of Jordan, and he translated Matthew Pinsent’s 4th Olympic Gold Medal for him after his victory in Athens. In 1990 he edited Pierre Grimal’s Concise Dictionary of Classical Mythology, later converted to The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology, and in 2007, partly as a result of a course on Greek Mythology that he taught at Oxford University, he published A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (Constable & Robinson), described by Paul Cartledge the Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University as ‘eminently sane, highly informative, and reasonably priced’. His Brief Guide to Classical Civilization was published in 2010, followed by his A Brief History of the Roman Empire in 2013

John Benjamin F.G.A., D.G.A. began his career in 1972 at Cameo Corner, the celebrated Bloomsbury jewellers, well-known for its unrivalled stock of ancient, Renaissance, 18th and 19th century jewellery. After qualifying as a Fellow of the Gemmological Association, he gained the Association’s diamond diploma with distinction and joined Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers as a cataloguer and valuer. He remained at Phillips for 23 years ultimately becoming International Director of Jewellery with responsibility for the sale programme in London and Geneva. In 1999 he established his own independent jewellery consultancy, John C Benjamin Limited. John Benjamin is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company and Freeman of the City of London. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Goldsmiths' Institute of Registered Valuers and lectures on a wide range of jewellery related topics in the UK and overseas. John Benjamin is also a long-standing contributor to BBC Television's ever-popular Antiques Roadshow.

Andrés began his musical studies in Venezuela and was awarded a scholarship by The British Council (the first for a Venezuelan musician) to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Here he specialised in Early Music, where his teachers included Dame Emma Kirkby, before obtaining a Postgraduate Certificate and a Postgraduate Advanced Diploma from Trinity College of Music. He has performed extensively in both the UK and in continental Europe, as well as in South America and the Middle East. Highlight title roles include Handel’s Acis, Purcell’s Aeneas and Milhaud’s Le Pauvre Matelot, and he has also sung leading parts in operas by Monteverdi, Mozart, Delibes, Ravel, Holst and Poulenc, among others. He has appeared extensively with professional opera companies in the UK, including Grange Park Opera and Sounds Lyrical. Andrés regularly performs with baroque harpist Joy Smith and harpsichordist David Wright, and is also in demand as a singing teacher and music history lecturer. You can find more by visiting Andrés’s website at www.ahsmusic.co.uk

Timothy Wilcox held curatorial posts at the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum. He is a regular contributor to the Cambridge International Summer School and was for 10 years an Associate Lecturer at the University of Surrey. A leading authority on British watercolour painting, his interests cover British and French art of the 18th-21st centuries.

Following a Masters degree in Fine Arts at Cambridge University, Douglas Skeggs studied under Kokoschka in Switzerland. He is a writer, artist and TV presenter, and author of suspense novels. He has lectured to many London art courses and is Director of the New Academy of Arts.