Programme of Lectures 2019-2020
NEXT LECTURE18th September 2019
Lecturer: Caroline Shenton
Barry’s War:
rebuilding Parliament after its destruction by fire.
The Houses of Parliament is one of the most
celebrated buildings in the world. The site had been the
centre of power and government in England from the earliest
times. It was a masterpiece of Victorian architecture and a
spectacular feat of civil engineering; but a battleground
for its architect, Charles Barry. He had to fend off the
interference of MPs, royalty and a host of crackpot
inventors and busybodies, while sustaining the allegiance of
his partner Pugin. The project came in three times over
budget and twenty-four years behind schedule.
PROGRAMME for 2019-20
18 September 2019
Lecturer: Caroline Shenton
MR BARRY’S WAR: REBUILDING THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
The Houses of Parliament is one of the most celebrated buildings in
the world. The site had been the centre of power and government in
England from the earliest times. It was a masterpiece of Victorian
architecture and a spectacular feat of civil engineering; but a
battleground for its architect, Charles Barry. He had to fend off
the interference of MPs, royalty and a host of crackpot inventors
and busybodies, while sustaining the allegiance of his partner
Pugin. The project came in three times over budget and twenty-four
years behind schedule.
16 October 2019
Lecturer: Dr Paul Roberts
LAST SUPPER IN POMPEI
The Romans had a love affair with food and drink. We’ll go with them
on a journey from fields and vineyards to markets and shops, from
tables to toilets and the tomb. We glimpse fertile Vesuvius, the
source of their feasts. Then in a house in the bustling city we
enjoy exotic food and fine wine, surrounded by the Greek-style
luxuries of silverware, mosaics and frescoes. Should we enter the
kitchen, the toilet ... ? Let’s escape to Roman Britain to meet the
first brewer, cooper, and even pub landlord – and to see monuments
of the dead feasting on into the afterlife.
20 November 2019
Lecturer: Ian Gledhill
THE MAGIC OF PANTOMIME
We look at the history of this enduring and peculiarly British
institution, from its origins in 16th century Italian commedia
dell’arte through the influence of 19th century music hall, to the
family shows that are still loved today. On the way we examine the
origins of some of the stories used in pantomime as well as such
traditions as the (female) principal boy and the (male) pantomime
dame. The talk is interspersed with personal anecdotes from the
speaker’s years of working (and appearing) professionally in
pantomime.
15 January 2020
Lecturer: Timothy Walker
HISTORY OF GARDEN DESIGN THROUGH THE LENS OF THE OXFORD
BOTANIC GARDENS
The history of English garden design can be told in different ways,
but rarely "through the lens" of one garden. The
Oxford Botanic Garden was founded at the start of the 17th century
and bears all the hallmarks of the period. Through the next 400
years successive Horti Praefecti (head gardeners) altered its
features to reflect new styles or the changing science of botany. We
look at how the art of gardening has changed, or perhaps has not, in
four centuries, and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects
garden design at the beginning of the 21st century.
19 February 2020
Lecturer: Dr Angela Smith
ELEANOR COADE AND HER STONE
Coade is an artificial stone that was invented in the 18th century.
It was widely used for freestanding statuary and monuments,
architectural detailing and even garden furniture. Hundreds of
examples can be seen across Britain. The stone was named after
Eleanor Coade, who ran a successful manufactory in south London for
many years. This lecture tells the story of Mrs Coade and the stone
that made her one of the most successful businesswomen in the late
1700s.
18 March 2020
Lecturer: Janet Gough
CATHEDRALS: SAFE PLACES TO DO RISKY THINGS?
This talk provides an overview of the Church of England's
magnificent 42 cathedrals, jewels in the crown of England's built
heritage, some recognised as World Heritage Sites. It looks at the
history, stories, treasures and evolving architecture of these
places of worship, and is beautifully illustrated by Country
Life photographer Paul Barker. It considers the role of cathedrals
over the centuries and specifically their role today and their
possible future.
15 April 2020
Lecturer: Lucy Hughes-Hallett
CLEOPATRA: THE MOST WOMANLY OF WOMEN AND THE MOST QUEENLY OF
QUEENS
Cleopatra, for whom Antony is imagined to have given up the chance
to rule the Roman world, has been inspiring painters, poets and
film-makers for over two millennia. Their voluptuous depictions of
her show the changing concepts of beauty, and the racial and sexual
assumptions underlying them. Images range from Roman to Renaissance
to 20th century film stars such as Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor
and the Carry On team’s Amanda Barry. Cleopatra became a screen onto
which artists have projected their exotic and erotic fantasies.
20 May 2020
Lecturer: Barry Venning
“WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS”: THE BEATLES AND
THEIR ARTISTS
Let’s follow the Beatles through the 60s in music and images, from
the Hamburg Reeperbahn in 1960 to Abbey Road in 1969. The band
valued the visual arts and quickly learned the promotional potential
of artists and designers. Their rise to global fame was aided and
recorded by an impressive roster of photographers, including Astrid
Kirchherr and Linda McCartney, while the innovative covers for
releases such as Rubber Soul (Bob Freeman) and Sgt Pepper (Peter
Blake & Jann Haworth) turned album design into an art form.
17 June 2020
Lecturer: Alexandra Epps
PEGGY GUGGENHIEM
She was the ‘poor little rich girl' who changed the face of
twentieth century art. Peggy Guggenheim helped define modern art
through a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. In
collecting not only art but the artists themselves, her life was as
radical as her collection. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, in her
beautiful former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice, is among
the most important museums in Italy for European and American art of
the first half of the 20th century.
15th July 2020
AGM at 7.45 followed by
Lecturer: Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe
FIRST CATCH A SQUIRREL: HISTORICAL MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
OF PAINTING IN THE 15TH – 18TH CENTURIES
The 14th century artist Cennino Cennini recommended using “the
chicken bones that you will find under the dining table” for making
charcoaled bone black to paint with. His treatise, The Artists’
handbook, describes some of the surprising materials artists had to
master, such as the tail of a squirrel to make paintbrushes. These
difficult materials influenced the appearance of paintings long
before industrial processes changed the artist’s world. This lecture
will explain why 15th and 16th century paintings may seem odd to our
modern eyes. .
16 September 2020
Lecturer: John Vigar
A CHIP OFF QUEEN VICTORIA’S BLOCK? PRINCE VICTOR GLEICHEN
AND HIS ARTIST CHILDREN
Victoria`s mother, the Duchess of Kent, had already been married and
widowed before her wedding to a son of George III. Her daughter
Feodora by her first husband came to London when her mother
remarried, and at Kensington Palace married the Prince of
Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Their son, Queen Victoria`s nephew, was Prince
Victor Gleichen. After distinguished service in the British Navy he
took up sculpture, quickly becoming the Victorian sculptor of
choice. His work may be found throughout Britain, most prominently
in the Royal Collection.
