2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

Long before cappuccinos and skinny lattes, all the world’s coffee traded through the tiny port of Mokha in Yemen. Popularised in Constantinople, Vienna and Amsterdam, the first English coffee house opened in the 1650’s and by 1700 there were 500 in London alone. Beginning as ‘sobering meeting places’ they were frequented by artists, authors and politicians where the debating of literary and political ideas was encouraged, as seen in early prints and lithographs. The marketing of coffee went through distinctive art nouveau and art deco periods and we see it included in works of the major French Impressionists.

Christopher Bradley is an expert in the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. As a professional tour guide and lecturer he has led groups throughout the Middle East and Asia. He writes extensively on Arabia and is the author of the Insight Guide to the Silk Road and Berlitz Guides to Cairo; Abu Dhabi, Nile Cruising, Libya; the Red Sea; Oman and the Discovery Guide to Yemen. As a photographer he has pictures represented by several photographic libraries. As a film producer and cameraman he made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

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To accompany the Gwen John exhibition currently on show in Cardiff, Stella Lyons will be talking about this often overlooked artist.  Gwen John is renowned for her haunting portraits of solitary women. Yet, contrary to the image of the reclusive artist, this pupil of Whistler, admirer of Cézanne, and lover of Rodin was a forward-thinking artist whose work was ahead of its time.

For many years, she was overshadowed by her flamboyant brother Augustus and her turbulent affair with Rodin. But Gwen forged a unique path in the art world, defying conventions with her luminous portraits and quiet interiors.

This talk unveils the enigmatic brilliance of a Welsh woman who proved that stillness could be revolutionary.

Stella Grace Lyons (website, Facebook, Instagram, Eventbrite) gained her BA in the History of Art from the University of Bristol and her MA in History of Art from the University of Warwick. She spent a year studying Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence and three months studying Venetian art in Venice. In addition, she attended drawing classes at the prestigious Charles H. Cecil studios in Florence, a private atelier that follows a curriculum based on the leading ateliers of nineteenth-century Paris.

Stella is a freelance Art History lecturer, speaker and writer, who has lectured extensively both across the UK and internationally, being a much sought-after lecturer for art societies, travel companies, boutique cruise lines, and private members’ clubs in London—such as the RAC, The Hurlingham Club, and The Travellers' Club. She has also lectured for the University of South Wales.

Aditionally, Stella runs her own online lectures, Stella Talks, which frequently attract listeners from across five continents, from California to Singapore, and has written about art for several publications, including The Arts Society Magazine.

For more information about Stella’s talks and to read a selection of testimonials, please visit www.stellagracelyons.co.uk.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

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

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

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

Lynne Gibson is a freelance lecturer in the History of Art. Originally trained as a fine artist, she has taught painting, drawing and printmaking in higher and adult education. She lectured as an art historian for the universities of Sussex and Bristol where she introduced 'Understanding Art' to the Lifelong Learning programme and residential summer schools. Lynne gives talks, lectures and guided tours to many organisations and institutions including ARCA colleges, the National Trust, Art museums and Art societies. As a professional artist specialising in oil painting and etching, she has exhibited in solo and group shows at the RWA, British Museum and the Barbican. 

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

When Capability Brown refused a fee of £1,000 to work in Ireland because “he had not yet finished England”, it marked the high tide of the English Landscape Movement. His birth in 1716 signalled the end of the Baroque age and his death in 1783 heralded all the excesses of Romanticism. The intervening years witnessed the greatest contribution Britain has made to Art. This is the Augustan age of the Grand Tour and the Whig party, of Lord Burlington, William Kent and Neo-Palladianism, when Britain trembled on the edge of Empire. Brown’s years as head gardener at Stowe, learning from both Cobham and Kent formed the basis of his independent practice in which he surveyed and transformed England from Milton Abbey to Alnwick Castle.

James Bolton set up his garden design business in 1992, following two years as Head Gardener at the Old Rectory, Farnborough. He has designed gardens across southern England as well as Portugal and the United States.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

Contemporaneous with the Art Deco design movement, the Bauhaus revolutionised art school education, despite only running for 14 years in its native Germany. Members of staff escaping Nazi Germany soon established teaching practices in America, and the famous Preliminary course eventually formed the basis of art foundational training in Britain. The Bauhaus was unusual for an art school of the period in that it encouraged students to produce work in the avant-garde modernist style in all fields of art, design and architecture, with an eye to industrial production – all at a time when art schools elsewhere still drew from 19th century plaster casts.

Vivienne Lawes (Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn) is an art historian, curator, author and journalist with over 25 years’ experience in the art market. She teaches at several Higher Education institutions, including the University of the Arts London, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, the City & Guilds of London Art School, SOAS (University of London) and Imperial College. In January 2021 she received the Geoffrey Bond Bursary for Art, an annual prize awarded by the Worshipful Company of Educators to an “outstanding educator”. Vivienne’s articles, essays and reports have been published in numerous specialist journals, newspapers, catalogues, handbooks and websites, aimed at both the academic and general readership. Since 2011 she has co-curated many exhibitios of South East Asian and contemporary art both in London and Singapore. When time allows she lectures as an on-board art historian for cruise lines.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

This lecture, given by the author of Cartier 1900-1939, the catalogue of the British Museum's exhibition shown in 1997, which she also organised, reveals not only the genius behind Cartier's luxurious jewels, but also the firm’s celebrity clientele, from the royal heads of Europe to Indian maharajahs, American heiresses and stars of film and stage. In the course of preparing the exhibition catalogue, the speaker had unparalled access to the Cartier firm's private archive: you will hear about the histories of famous jewels, you will see stunning historic displays with fashions to match, and understand why Cartier is unrivalled in their brilliance of conception and craftsmanship.

Judy Rudoe is an Honorary Research Fellow at the British Museum, where she worked as a Senior Curator for nearly 50 years (1974-2023), specialising in jewellery, and in 19th-20th century decorative arts. Author of Cartier 1900-1939 (BM 1997) and co-author of Jewellery in the Age of Victoria: a mirror to the world, with Charlotte Gere (2010) which was awarded the 2011 William Berger Prize for British Art History. She is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths' Company, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and President of the Society of Jewellery Historians (2024-2026).

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

The Arts and Crafts Movement was one of Britain’s most radical and far-reaching art movements. It was not just about making art and craft, but how and where you lived and how you spent your time. Many makers moved to the countryside to live a Simple Life. Part of their ethos was the revival of forgotten crafts, customs and festivities to build a sense of community where they lived. Arts and Crafts designers sought out wassails, mummers plays, and carolling customs, put on Christmas plays, designed exquisite Christmas cards to send to their friends. We’ll discover how they spent their Christmases, how they told the Christmas story in church art and book illustration, and how they depicted the carols and plays they took part in.

Kirsty Hartsiotis was the curator of decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham from 2008 to 2023. She is currently a curator at Swindon Museums. She has curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts and Private Press Movements. She is currently researching Arts and Crafts war memorials and the work of Arts and Crafts designers in churches in the South West. An oral storyteller for over 20 years, she has published a number of collections of stories. Kirsty is the Editor of the Journal of William Morris Studies and writes for diverse other publications on art history and folklore.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

1685 was an extraordinary year for music. Two of the world’s greatest composers were born 130km and just one month apart. Much of their childhood development mirrored the other – including the tragedy of losing their fathers at the age of ten. Their careers took very different directions, and they never met, despite several near misses. Patrick will reunite these two giants, tracking their lives across six decades, with a special focus on their vocal music, which has inspired his career as both a countertenor and a conductor.

Patrick Craig (Facebook, Twitter/X) is a Vicar Choral at St Paul’s Cathedral. For twenty years he combined this with an international career singing over a thousand concerts with the world-renowned early music consort The Tallis Scholars. He also sings with the award-winning group The Cardinall’s Musick. He founded and conducts this country’s leading all-female professional choir, Aurora Nova.

2.00pm to 3.30pm

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

Joaquin Sorolla hated darkness. Claude Monet once said that painting in general did not have enough light in it. Sorolla agreed. He believed painters could never reproduce sunlight as it really is and could only “approach the truth of it”. Many agree he was the master of light, uniquely capturing scenes of his beloved Mediterranean beaches and the energy of Spanish life. Painting quickly to capture a precise moment, he said "… every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.” This talk looks at Sorolla’s life and art from being almost forgotten to rediscovery in the last few years.

Arantxa Sardina is an official volunteer guide at Tate, covering the permanent collection and some of the temporary exhibitions at both galleries, Modern and Britain. She completed her MA in Art History at the Open University in 2019, where her dissertation focused on fellow Spaniard Joaquin Sorolla, the master painter of Mediterranean light and a friend of John Singer Sargent. She is also an enthusiastic amateur musician, playing the cello and the piano and a lover of opera and ballet. A member of The Arts Society in Bromley, she takes every opportunity to learn about art and to find out more about the stories behind artworks. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and continuously learning from others.

At the start of the 20th century Arthur Evans unearthed an entire civilisation on the island of Crete. Its impressive public buildings, advanced social structures and political institutions, centred on the vast complex which he dubbed the 'Palace of Minos', showed that European civilisation was as ancient and sophisticated as that of Egypt. Illustrated with both slides and video, this talk will examine the culture of the Minoans, including their fabulous frescoes, painted pottery, architecture, social structures and writing, and conclude by assessing the theories relating to their demise – notably the cataclysmic Late Bronze Age volcanic eruption of Santorini.   

Dr. Steve Kershaw 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, The Fall of Rome, and Minoans and Mycenaeans courses, 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, Royal Hebridean Cruises, Voyages to Antiquity, Cox & Kings, Noble Caledonia, and Art Pursuits he has travelled extensively throughout the Mediterranean, and, as Professor of History of Art, he ran the European Studies Classical Tour for Rhodes College and the University of the South for over a decade. Steve also lectures regularly at the Victoria and Albert Museum and at New York 

It is likely that the first architects were the stonemasons who built the temples and cathedrals. So sculptors were the architects. In the ancient world the building was a plinth for a sculpture such as the golden Athena on the Parthenon. Over time sculpture became decoration before being stripped by the less is more credo. However, the two arts remain closely intertwined with both inspired by & observing each other closely. A sculpture has its architecture and good architecture is sculptural. This lecture will trace this inter-relationship showing how in an age of Computer Aided Design an understanding of sculpture is more important than ever for architecture.

David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied fine art in London, Barcelona and New York.  He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors, and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan. His work is in the museum the Creative Cities Collection Beijing China. He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. He has had solo shows at the Lefevre Gallery, Horatio’s Garden, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera,  and at the Lightbox Gallery Museum, Woking. 

The formal ‘paradise gardens’ of Persia (Iran) are noted for their tranquility and the respite they offer from the summer heat of the region, combining architectural and arboreal shade with running water in a long tradition. Adopted by Arab traders and rulers, such garden designs became central to the planning of palaces, mosques and private houses across the Islamic world from Baghdad, Aleppo and Damascus to Granada, Cordoba and Seville in the west, and eastwards to Afghanistan and the Mughal empire in India, of which the Taj Mahal is an unusual but especially beautiful example.  

Justin Reay:  after officer service in the Royal Navy Justin had a long career in business management. He became Chief Executive of a healthcare company and then Director of Studies for a Japanese executive college in Oxford and Washington DC. He was one of the earliest consultants in knowledge management and e-learning until he retired from business in 2000. Justin then studied the History of Art and Architecture at Oxford, and later studied Islamic art at Oxford and classical culture with the university of Athens. He is a published historian. A qualified teacher, he is a tutor in the History of Art and Architecture and classical studies for independent colleges at Oxford and for private graduate students. He is a member of the AI & Arts Interest Group at the Alan Turing Institute, and is currently writing a university preparation course on the history of innovation and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on human creativity. A Fellow of two learned societies, and a member of the Walpole Society and the Arts Society Cheltenham, Justin is a frequent lecturer for The Arts Society with a wide range of talks and study days on art history, painting, sculpture and architecture across cultures from antiquity to the modern era.

The story of stage scenery from Sophocles to Spiderman!  Western style theatre was invented by the Greeks from the 5th century BC onwards, and this talk illustrates the way in which theatre has developed over the last two and a half thousand years, and in particular how stage scenery design has advanced in that time. Ian Gledhill has worked, among other things, as a professional stage designer, and the talk will end with a look at some of his work including a practical demonstration of simple trompe-l’oeil scenic painting.

Ian Gledhill has had a very varied career, from designing underground railways as an engineer for London Transport, to appearing in pantomime with Julian Clary. In between he has worked in travel and tourism, music publishing, television, and especially the theatre, where he has been an actor, director, set designer, stage manager and opera translator. His main interests include architecture, history, transport and classical music, especially opera and operetta.

Whether drawing duchesses or portraying princes, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was high society’s leading portraitist. Flaunting a consummate technique, his luxurious canvases mirrored his subjects’ wealth. Yet beneath the dazzling veneer of works such as Madame X, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit and Lady Agnew of Lochnaw lurks a much rawer world by far. Sargent certainly scandalised Parisian society and the city’s Salon with his frank depictions of human sexuality, yet he was even more modern than they might have feared. This talk charts the artist’s life and his prolific output, showing that, like the era he came to represent, Sargent was always on the cusp of seismic change.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster. He appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Gavin lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is out now.

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.

Dr Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an 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.

Charles Dickens has often been proclaimed as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and indeed on hearing that Dickens had died, a cockney barrow-girl said: “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?”  Dickens revived the Christmas traditions with his warm portrayal of Christmas in the domestic setting; with plum pudding, piping hot turkey, games, dancing  and family cheer by the hearth. Although he celebrated Christmas in numerous works it is his enduring master piece, ‘A Christmas Carol’ published on 19th December 1843 which immortalises the spirit of Christmas Cheer. Dickens was a man of extraordinary energy and talent: literary genius, reformer, public speaker, actor and amateur magician. In his lecture Bertie Pearce reveals a Dickensian Christmas with readings, biographical details and conjuring tricks.

Bertie Pearce 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 experience includes lecturing and performing on cruise ships, and to U3A, historical societies, festivals, schools and colleges. In addition, Bertie has toured the world with a magic cabaret show and a one man show entitled All Aboard. He has written articles for newspapers and magazines on entertainment and theatre.

Harry Venning is a cartoonist, comedy writer and performer based in Brighton.

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! Yes, 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’s cartoons have appeared in publications as diverse as Mathematics Today, Radio Times, Music Teacher and The Stage. For twenty five years he provided The Guardian with the weekly strip cartoon Clare In The Community, about an unaware and empathy free social worker. In 2004 he developed Clare In The Community into a successful BBC Radio 4 sitcom starring Sally Philipps which ran for twelve series.

Founded in 1824, the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square houses one of the world's finest collections of European paintings, including such favourites as Jan Van Eyck's "Arnolfini Marriage", Sandro Botticelli's "Venus and Mars", John Constable's "Cornfield" and Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers. In contrast to its peers, however, this institution did not begin its life as a royal collection: the Gallery was founded by parliament and remains reliant on public funding. This lecture uses highlights from the NG's collection to show how our vision of the "ideal" art collection has evolved over time, along with ideas of the kinds of people the Gallery was supposed to serve.

Dr Jonathan Conlin, Professor of Modern History at the University of Southampton and cultural historian.  His books include "Tales of Two Cities" (2014), a comparative history of Paris and London, and biographies of Adam Smith and the Anglo-Armenian oil baron Calouste Gulbenkian. Born in New York, he studied History and Modern Languages at Oxford, subsequently moving to the Courtauld Institute and Cambridge for his MA and PhD. In 2023 he was commissioned by the National Gallery to write its bicentenary history: "The National Gallery: 200 Years of Art for the Nation" to be published in October 2024. All Jonathan’s talks draw on his own archival research, allowing him to give audiences insights into how historians approach different kinds of evidence, the gaps and dead-ends as well as the surprise discoveries.

Why was the best paper made from the worn out clothes of peasants? Why did leather have to be tanned outside the city walls? Why is gold leaf so thin that it is measured in atoms and cannot be touched with the hands? Why do printers have to do everything upside down and backwards? Why did gold finishers get paid more than other bookbinders despite not washing their hair? And why is the art of bookbinding itself, surely the most complex of all hand crafts, as beguiling and enchanting today as it was when it was invented on the banks of the Nile 2,000 years ago. This lecture is a ‘Through the Round Window’ for grown-ups, and tells the fascinating story of everything that makes a traditional hand bound book. 

On Wednesday June 26th, there will be a coach trip for AS Teme Valley members and friends to Hartlebury Castle, including the famous Hurd Library, described as 'an outstanding survival of the Age of Enlightenment' and 'one of the West Midlands's most delightful and relatively undiscovered historical jewels'. See 'Visits' page for full details.

Dominic Riley

A bookbinder, artist and teacher, Dominic first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine Monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco, and spends part of the year teaching across the USA. He is Vice President of the Society of Bookbinders and was elected a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. He has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition, including both first prizes and the Mansfield Silver Medal in 2007.

This lecture tells Ukraine's story through the shared culture which binds its proud people together. We will explore the sacred art and architecture of Kyiv and its links to Byzantium, as well as the distinctive characters and ethnicities of Odesa and Lviv. Tracing Ukraine's complicated multi-ethnic history also means looking at its rich folk culture traditions. These range from native song and the secret codes embedded in ancient embroidery, which have exerted a surprising impact on modern painting and contemporary haute couture, to Cossack dancing and borshch.  

Rosamund Bartlett
Rosamund a writer, lecturer and translator whose work as a cultural historian ranges across the arts. She completed her doctorate at Oxford and is the author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia. She is currently writing a history of the Russian avant-garde. Her translation of Anna Karenina for Oxford World’s Classics was published to acclaim in 2014. She has written on art, music and literature for publications such as The Daily Telegraph and Apollo, and received commissions from institutions including the Royal Opera House, Tate UK, and the Salzburg Festival. Her lecturing work has taken her from the V&A and the National Theatre in London to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and she contributes regularly to Proms events and opera broadcasts on the BBC.

A little more than four hundred years ago, July 1623 saw the death of the outstanding English composer William Byrd; prolific and successful, he was a favourite at the court of Queen Elizabeth. But Byrd led a complicated existence as a devout Catholic in troubled Tudor times, when to infringe strict religious rules ran the risk of imprisonment or even death. Forced underground, he created some of his most expressive music for fellow Catholics to use in secret worship. This talk celebrates the best of Byrd’s awe-inspiring work and reflects on what it means to create superb art in circumstances of great danger.

Sandy Burnett

Sandy is one of the UK’s most versatile music commentators and returns to Ludlow following his wonderful lecture on Baroque music in 2021. His career 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 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.

By the end of the German occupation of Paris in 1944, the French couture industry lay in tatters, its reputation shredded and its very existence threatened by restrictions, bureaucracy and Germany’s elaborate plan to relocate Haut Couture to Berlin and Vienna. This fascinating lecture will examine how the phoenix of Parisian fashion rose once again from the ashes of war to swiftly and decisively reclaim its long-exalted dominance on the world stage. The talk will explore how Paris’ avant-garde created a post war renaissance that fused theatre, ballet, fashion, modern art and opera into one ingenious production and how it would become a sensationally powerful economic driver that would bring Paris fashion back to a global audience whilst raising over 1million French Francs for War Relief in 1945 alone.

Connie Gray

With a background in fashion and broadcasting, Connie is a specialist in the history of 20th century fashion illustration and its powerful legacy with both the most influential fashion publications internationally and the great couture houses of Paris, London and New York. She is regularly invited to lecture both in the UK and the US and sits on advisory boards at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London and Special Collections at FIT, New York. As a curator and archivist, she works closely with institutions and foundations on acquisitions, conservation and exhibition projects. She has also been invited to curate specialist exhibitions including most recently Legends Only at Claridge’s Hotel, London in 2022 and 100 Years of Fashion Illustration at The Society of Illustrators, New York.

Stained glass tells stories. It has been used to play politics, bribe bishops, recruit soldiers and tell jokes. The most remarkable subjects appear in its panes, from miracles to Mandela, tanks to Tiffany, Burne-Jones's water-closet to Churchill's cigar. It is a powerful way to create atmosphere and send a message - not just in churches, but in airports, sports centres, town halls, banks, libraries and shops. Susie’s  talk will include a look at its stories in our area: our saints and your sinners!

Susie Harris is a writer, editor and lecturer, specialising in 20th century culture and the arts. She has published eight books on subjects including official war art, opera and the composer Elisabeth Lutyens. The most recent is the biography of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, published in August 2011. Susie has lectured to a range of audiences, from the Imperial War Museum and British Museum to the Twentieth Century Society and the RSA, most recently at the Cheltenham and Bridport Literary Festivals and the Victorian Society.

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

Pepe Martinez
Pepe qualified as a London blue badge tourist guide in 2011, graduating at the top of his class. Since qualifying as a guide he has specialised in the graffiti and street art of East London. Prior to this, he was a tour manager for 15 years, travelling extensively, all over the world.  Door

Speed! Technology! Destruction! The battle cry of the Futurists WWI heralded the appearance of the car as a powerful symbol in avant-garde art. Soon the Art Deco masterpieces of the great car builders came to epitomise style, luxury and craftmanship, works of art in their own right. The romance of speed continued to be a major theme in how cars were depicted in art, but, since the 1950s the car has become art, used as a canvas for artists as celebrated as Peter Blake, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.  

This lecture will showcase the beautiful and the bizarre, celebrating the dynamic, creative, and sometimes unsettling relationship between cars and art.

Julian Richards

Julian returns to Ludlow after giving us an entertaining lecture on ‘Passionate Potters’ last year.

He studied archaeology at Reading University and has since worked as a professional archaeologist, in commercial archaeology, for English Heritage, for the BBC and as an independent. Elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992 he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Julian has been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education, to groups and societies and to special interest tour companies. A career in broadcasting involved researching and presenting Meet the Ancestors and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. He is author of a number of English Heritage publications on Stonehenge, including guide books to the monument and landscape. He was Guest Curator of Wish you were here, an exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' displayed at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.

This lecture is a very personal account of how Caravaggio came into the speaker’s life. The journey embraces the story of his life and his paintings, and epitomises the ability of Art to inspire anyone.

There are many intriguing aspects to the painter’s life including:

• The Betrayal of Christ:  a painting ‘lost’ for almost 400 years, found by chance in Dublin 1990
• No body, no grave, no record of his death. How did Caravaggio die?
• Caravaggio and his models, including himself.
• Did Caravaggio’s alleged bi-sexuality, trigger a sequence of events leading to his premature death?
• Malta; A year on the island which promised so much, but ended in disaster
• Caravaggio and Costanza Colonna: a bond that helped him throughout his life and very nearly saved him

…….. but not quite.    

Keith Bonser

Keith was a teacher and senior manager in education for 38 years. Retirement in 2008 gave him the opportunity to pursue a specific interest that has its origins in 1995m when a weekend break in Dublin introduced him to Caravaggio. Keith has travelled extensively in Europe to see Caravaggio’s paintings in situ, tracing his life story from the town of Caravaggio to Milan, Rome, Naples, and the islands of Malta and Sicily. He subsequently wrote a book on these experiences. Caravaggio came into his life completely by chance; life has never been quite the same since!

This talk will be about the remarkable way in which Wodehouse, over his phenomenal career of three-quarters of a century as a published author, populated Mayfair and the West End with scores of characters in one of the most elaborate overlapping fictional worlds ever created. Moreover, this was a locale Wodehouse knew well; living in Mayfair for several years and borrowing the addresses of family, friends and colleagues to root the likes of Uncle Fred, Lord Emsworth, and Psmith (not forgetting Bertie Wooster and Jeeves), in a real world which was vanishing even as he immortalised it. 

Richard Burnip
Richard took a BA Hons in English Language and Literature from the University of Manchester, followed by an acting diploma at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama. He combines acting, writing and lecturing. He has lectured in many venues including the National Army Museum and the Museum of London, and is currently presenting a variety of virtual lectures online.
Richard has contributed to, among others, The Journal of Popular Film and Television, The Sherlock Holmes Journal, and the P G Wodehouse journal Wooster Sauce. A specialist in voice work, he has narrated numerous documentaries and 150 audiobooks

For more than three centuries Sadler's Wells has been a place of entertainment and a part of London's theatrical history with a reputation known across the world. Surviving many highs, lows and rebuildings, the theatre has hosted and nurtured an impressive array of performing companies over the years. We follow the unique story of The Wells which includes pony racing, naval warfare, Shakespeare with Sir John Gielgud as well as the strongest connections with the worlds of opera and dance and the roots of today's Royal Ballet companies. A fully illustrated talk with audio & video clips.

Nigel Bates has been a performer for more than forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra and eight years as the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet.

He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC's Maestro at the Opera and Pappano's Classical Voices documentary series. He is a regular contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH.

He has given lectures for over thirty years, including many arts societies and conservatoires in the UK and across Australia.

Following his delightful zoom lecture on the Art and Science of colour in the garden, Timothy returns in person.

Many people now carry a phone with a camera capable of taking very high-quality pictures, and yet the painting of botanical specimens persists with new Florilegium Societies still being formed.  Why is a drawing and painting still considered to be superior to a digital image?  This talk looks at the history of botanical illustration from the early herbals 1,500 years ago to the present day, taking in the lives of both the artists and the plants immortalised in the artwork.

From 1988-2014 Timothy was director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.  Since 2014 he has been a college lecturer and tutor in Plant Biology at Somerville College Oxford

From TW’s website:  “If you haven’t heard him, his lectures are the equivalent of sparkling vintage champagne’ 

Val Bourne (Oxford Times 3 July 2014)

The waters of the Venetian Lagoon have been both saviour and enemy. Their protection enabled the city to become a magnificent Republic, a leader in global trade and a highly successful world power. All of this is reflected in the architecture her citizens created, from the delicate Gothic that so enchanted Ruskin to the elegant classicism of Palladio. Now those same waters challenge the city’s very existence.

This lecture covers the origins of Venice, the difficulties of building a city within the lagoon, and the idiosyncratic architecture that characterised the Venetian style. It also looks at the development of Renaissance architecture in Venice and explores the contributions of Jacopo Sansovino and Andrea Palladio.

Jo Walton

Jo 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, the National Gallery and local art societies.

Review of Rising from the Rubble - by Mark Bench - Committee Members ASTV

Benedict Morrison in his “Rising from the Rubble - Post War British Cinema” gave a deeply absorbing and entertaining history of the cinema focusing on Ealing Studios and the significant contribution and direction given by its then director Sir Michael Balcon and placing the films in a present modern day context. 

From the moment of his introduction, with lights being dimmed, Benedict gave a thoroughly impassioned, lucid and gripping lecture on the importance of the studio in its portrayal in film of British comedy, our innate ability to poke fun at ourselves and a subtle underscoring of the complexities of human relationships; a kind of didact. We were given delicious slices of film including “Passport to Pimlico” and “The Lavender Hill Mob”, all shot in black and white and lacking many of the tools - and therefore challenges - available to the present day auteur, (such as drones). These films known for their cosines, whimsicality and very mild subversiveness were sophisticated films and as Benedict said, should be viewed and treated as such. Many of us present vowed to view and review these films at the earliest opportunity. 

Cinema from the Rubble: Post-War Politics of the Ealing Studios

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

Benedict Morrison is a lecturer in Literature and Film at the University of Exeter. He has recently published a book entitled Complicating Articulation in Art Cinema with Oxford University Press and is now producing works on post-war British comedy films, the response by the arts and humanities to Covid-19, and cultural narratives of extinction. He spent seven years studying at the University of Oxford, but finally traded the dreaming spires for the cultural bustle of London, where he lives with his partner. He loves nothing more than settling down in the darkness of a cinema to enjoy a great film.

Charles’ talk starts at the beginning of the 19th century covering Regency cut glass and, as well as one or two other important British glass factories, features the three major Stourbridge works of Richardson, Webb and Stevens & Williams in the second half of the century. This will provide an excellent background for our visit to Stourbridge’s new glass museum in March.                    

Charles R. Hajdamach is one of the top authorities on glass. From its opening in 1980 he was in charge of Broadfield House Glass Museum in Kingswinford which was respected as one of the top glass museums.

He lectures internationally, writes extensively on the subject and his two books remain the standard works on the subjects of 19th and 20th century British glass.

In 2000 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology and in 2009 he was elected Life-President of The Glass Association, now The Glass Society. Currently he is involved with curating the new Stourbridge Glass Museum.

Like almost everyone else, I have felt deeply shocked but also helpless in the face of recent events in Ukraine. But as an art historian with a long-standing interest in the relationship between art and war, art and displacement, art and adversity, one thing I CAN do is to alert people to the huge contribution refugees from conflict zones around the world, past and present, make to the culture of the country that takes them in.

This talk celebrates the achievements against the odds of artists as diverse as miniaturist Isaac Oliver in the sixteenth century, painters James Tissot in the nineteenth and David Bomberg and Lucian Freud in the twentieth - and many more as we move into the later twentieth century and beyond.

And as a small gesture, Monica is donating a portion of her fee for each lecture to a charity which supports refugees fleeing Ukraine right now.

London-based freelance lecturer, writer and exhibition organiser, Monica Bohm-Duchen has lectured for Tate, the National Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Open University, Sotheby's Institute of Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art. Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck College since 2005, and has led many tours. Publications include Understanding Modern Art (1991), Chagall (1998/2001), The Private Life of a Masterpiece (2001),The Art and Life of Josef Herman (2009) and Art and the Second World War (2013). She is the initiator and Creative Director of the nationwide Insiders/Outsiders arts festival (see https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org/), and contributing editor of the companion volume, Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture (2019).

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. 

Macaronis and Milordi:  travelling through mainland Europe on an extended ‘Grand Tour’ was the latest fashion amongst 18th century aristocrats. Many men (and some women) were lured by the thought of obtaining the latest fashions. Exquisite embroidery was cheaper in Paris, fine lace was bought in Flanders, and velvet in Italy. In Rome portraits were painted by Batoni for half the price of a Reynolds or Gainsborough. Gentlemen returning to London with new manners, dress and deportment were sometimes scorned as fops or ‘Macaronis’ (the ‘dandies of their day’). We will explore this phenomenon through contemporary paintings, letters, and satirical prints.

Jacqui read History of Art and Theory at the University of Essex before going on to gain an MA in History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute. Formerly an Education Officer at the National Gallery, London, and a tutor and writer for the Open University, she has a wide range of teaching experience. She continues to lecture regularly on the public programmes of the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery and to publish on court dress, Grand Tour portraiture and Welsh Costume as well as dress as a cultural marker and indicator of class, gender, national and professional identity. Jacqui is a senior lecturer at Christie's Education, London.

The Sahara as Palimpsest: a cultural history of the world’s greatest desert, from rock art and myth, to the Desert Fathers, Sons of the Desert, Klee and Matisse, Schultz and Lucas.

The Sahara has inspired the artistic and cultural life of the West for millennia, and this eye-opening presentation allows us to journey there with no risk of getting lost in a sandstorm.  Whether resident, foreign adventurer, or armchair traveller and artist, the deserts of North Africa are a palimpsest upon which poets, painters, filmmakers and other dreamers have been inspired by and drawn to for millennia.

 The Sahara proved as vital for the oracles of Ancient Greece as it has for the high priests of Hollywood, and North African landscapes have witnessed the creation of both stunning prehistoric rock art and Impressionist canvasses; inspired mythology and faith; and been a muse for every form of creative endeavour.  This is a fascinating talk through time and space, war and peace, love and loss, that will never again let you see the Sahara as a blank canvas.

Eamonn Gearon is an author, historian, and recovering journalist, who lived and worked across the greater Middle East – from Kabul to Casablanca – for more than 20 years. As well as living in the Sahara with the Bedu, Eamonn conducted a number of solo, camel-powered expeditions … and has never lost money when re-selling a camel! 

The author of three, multi-million selling lecture series on Middle Eastern history and culture for The Great Courses, in addition to entertaining general audiences, Eamonn also designed, and is responsible for delivering Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area studies training for both the British and American governments, at the US Department of State and FCDO (ex-FCO) respectively.

Eamonn’s a highly experienced speaker who has spent years delivering entertaining and educational presentations to audiences of all shapes and sizes, including the universities of Oxford and Harvard, scientific and geographical societies, aboard Queen Mary 2, and in scores of other venues on both sides of the Atlantic and across the Middle East and North Africa.   

William Morris led a revolution against the products of the machine age. The first of our ‘passionate potters’, William de Morgan, was a friend of Morris who rediscovered the secrets of Near Eastern lustre glazes. In contrast, the eccentric and argumentative Martin Brothers created a range of elaborate salt glazed pots unparalleled in their imaginative breadth. Sir Edmund Elton, the ‘potter baronet’, made pots which combine startling glazes with exotic forms. And finally, Bernard Leach, the father of English studio pottery, not only married the arts of Japan and England but created a legacy that is still alive today. 
This lecture explores the lives of these truly passionate potters and celebrates their extraordinary and beautiful creations.

Julian Richards
Julian studied archaeology at Reading University and has since worked as a professional archaeologist, in commercial archaeology, for English Heritage, for the BBC and as an independent. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992 and is being awarded an honorary doctorate. He has been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education, to groups and societies and to special interest tour companies. A career in broadcasting involved researching and presenting Meet the Ancestors and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. Julian is author of a number of English Heritage publications on Stonehenge, including the previous and current guide books to the monument and landscape. He was guest curator of Wish you were here and an exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' was displayed at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre. Julian also curated an exhibition for the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, in 2016. 

Few countries in the world offer such a rich and varied cultural heritage as Mexico. Before the Spanish Conquest of 1519, numerous civilisations rose and fell. The great cities of the Maya, the Aztecs, the Zapotec and the Mixtec were peopled by muralists, sculptors in stone, ceramic artists, feather- and gold-workers, jewellers, weavers, and painters of sacred books.

Throughout the twentieth century, painters such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo helped to set a new value on Mexico’s popular traditions. The arts and crafts of Mexico remain an essential part of life. They are a living force, not a nostalgic evocation of a vanished past.

Fine ceramics, shimmering work in gold and silver, rich textiles, imaginative toys and festive dance-masks are some of the many art forms that combine Aztec, Maya and Spanish traditions. Enriched by the fusion of Old and New World materials and techniques, Mexican folk art is sought after by private collectors and major institutions.

Although most folk-artists are anonymous creators, many now sign their work. Papier-mâché figures by the celebrated Linares family, gigantic pottery ‘trees of life’ by the Sotenos of Metepec, colourful yarn pictures by Huichol artists are a valued part of the British Museum’s modern Mexican collection.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

In Mexico, arts and crafts remain an essential part of life. Textiles, ceramics, silverwork and other ancient skills combine Aztec, Maya and Spanish traditions. 

Chloë Sayer

Author, Lecturer Curator and Travel Guide 

Chloë Sayer is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She is a Research Associate with the Department for World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and has made ethnographic collections in Mexico for the British Museum. She has worked on television documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, and regularly leads cultural tours to Mexico. She has lectured for galleries and cultural institutions in Australia, Canada, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Mexico. Her many books include MEXICAN TEXTILES (British Museum Press, 1990), THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF MEXICO (Thames & Hudson, 1990), and FIESTA: DAYS OF THE DEAD AND OTHER MEXICAN FESTIVALS (British Museum Press, 2009). In 2015-16, she guest-curated the exhibition ¡Viva México! Clothing & Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum, and wrote the accompanying book. In 2016 the Mexican Government awarded her the prestigious Ohtli medal to thank her for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture.  

This lecture takes the audience on a tour of some of the extraordinary images that exist in over 700 churches in England. The art form was in vogue mainly from C13th – C15th and rarely includes religious images despite the misericords being positioned so close to the high altar. The secular, sometimes bizarre and often profane nature of their subjects meant that many survived the Reformation and later religious enthusiasts. Much social comment can be gleaned from these carvings even though there are no records describing why particular images were chosen and very often it is not possible to date them accurately. 

Imogen Corrigan
After nearly 20 years in the British army, Imogen went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with 1st class honours, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. She works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. Imogen has written Stone on Stone: the Men Who Built the Cathedrals, published 2019. A Freeman of the City of London, she is a Member of the Company of Communicators.

The flamboyant Duc de Berry (1340-1416), brother of the king of France, was the most famous art patron of the late Middle Ages. His great Book of Hours, the Très Riches Heures, is one of the finest of all medieval works of art. The lecture, new to the speaker’s repertoire, asks who the Duc was and why and how he was forming his vast collections. It includes visits to his palaces and castles in France, now mostly ruins, and it uses the Duc’s medieval inventories to conjure their displays of jewels, goldwork, relics, exotic animals and (above all) breathtaking illuminated manuscripts.

Christopher de Hamel
‘Immerse yourself in the medieval world of Christopher de Hamel’ (Sir David Attenborough’s advice on life, quoted in The Evening Standard on his 90th birthday). Christopher de Hamel, FSA, is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge. He was a director of Sotheby’s for 25 years, responsible for illuminated manuscripts, and then librarian of the Parker Library in Cambridge for 17 years. His very many books on medieval manuscripts include the best-selling Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, which won the Wolfson History Prize. He is widely known as a lecturer across six continents.

Australian Aboriginal Rock Art – the world’s longest unbroken art tradition

Rock art has been produced in Australia since at least 40,000 years ago - and probably even longer - but continues to be produced in some regions. -Major new discoveries of rock art are still being made in remote areas. This talk presents an account of some of the major regional variations in both rock paintings and rock engravings, and presents a brief account of what we know of their many meanings, particularly in relation to Aboriginal creation myths and creator-ancestors.

Paul Bahn
Paul studied archaeology at the University of Cambridge, and completed his PhD thesis (1979) on the prehistory of the French Pyrenees. He has held post-doctoral fellowships, at Liverpool and London, plus a J. Paul Getty postdoctoral fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities. Paul devotes time to writing, editing and translating books on archaeology, plus occasional journalism and as much travel as possible. His main research interest is prehistoric art, especially rock art of the world, and most notably Palaeolithic art, as well as Easter Island. He led the team which, at his instigation, searched for and discovered the first Ice Age cave art in Britain (at Creswell Crags) in 2003.

In January 2017, Teme valley based artist Shelly Perkins embarked on a voyage to Antarctic as Artist in residence on the Royal Navy's Ice Breaking ship HMS Protector. Shelly's talk shares her experiences of life on board a military vessel, as she toured the Antarctic peninsula for six weeks, through her pictures, sketches and finished artworks. For more information about her work visit www.shellyperkins.co.uk
                                 
This Lecture will take place in the Richard's Castle Village Hall on Wednesday 15th December commencing at 1.30pm. Tickets are £12.50 a head available at the November Lecture or directly from Judith Payling jmpayling@aol.com or 01588 660292. There will be a Festive Buffet of sausages, vegetarian options, and other treats.
Tea and mince pies will be served at 4.00.

Off the record
Some of the most iconic images of the 20th century were created, not for galleries or private patrons, but for record sleeves. The zebra crossing immortalised on the cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road is the site of a pilgrimage for people traveling thousands of miles to recreate this famous scene. Album covers have been adorned by Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Yoko Ono, Richard Hamilton and a host of lesser-known artists and designers. We will explore the art of the album cover and reveal the close connections between visual and musical creativity in this vibrant period of popular culture.

 Rupert Dickens is an art historian based in south London with a special interest in Dutch and Flemish 16th and 17th century painting. He works at the Wallace Collection as a guide conducting public and private tours and lecturing on aspects of the collection. Rupert is also a tour director for a Cambridge-based company accompanying groups on art-themed tours to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria and Italy. He has lectured to large audiences on subjects as diverse as the game of chess in art and Madame de Pompadour’s artistic patronage in 18th century France. He studied art history at Birkbeck College before undertaking a Masters in Dutch Golden Age Studies at University College London. Before that Rupert had a 26-year career as a BBC journalist ending as an editor in radio news. 

Starting in 1607 with Monteverdi’s astonishing opera Orfeo, and ending in 1759 with the death of that great “English” composer George Frideric Handel, the Baroque era produced music of great brilliance and emotional depth. In helping to navigate us through its choppy waters, Sandy draws on his experience as broadcaster, conductor and hands-on practical musician. His in-depth exploration of this fascinating period of Classical music draws on hand-picked images, autograph scores and recorded musical illustrations, with a special focus on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.

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. He devises and leads cultural holidays all over the world, is the author of the Idler Guide to Classical Music, runs an online classical music appreciation Listening Club, 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.

Paul Nash is one of the most important British modernist artists. He is often associated with art movements such as Neo-Romanticism and Surrealism but his work remains hard to categorise. He worked as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars and forged his own distinctive approach to landscape.
His work makes the homely uncanny and though he depicts specific places they inhabit an imaginative realm that reveals a mystical relationship to the world. Nash is a poet of the visual who creates his own world of symbols that is both natural and unnatural, a landscape of mystery that reveals, in the words of Coleridge: ‘the translucence of the eternal in and through the temporal’.

Colin Pink has a BA in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Southampton and a MA in the History of Art from Birkbeck, University of London. He specialises in the interrelationship between the history of ideas and the history of art and has lectured on aspects of modern art at a wide range of cultural organisations: Putney School of Art and Design; the Temenos Academy; APT Studios; Mascalls Gallery; the Museum of Futures, Surbiton; the Jerwood Gallery, Hastings and the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea. He also curates exhibitions and has published two books of poetry: Acrobats of Sound, 2016 and The Ventriloquist Dummy’s Lament, 2019.

Note
For the time being, all Lectures shown in this web site will be available only by Zoom. The Society plans to reintroduce “real” Lectures again at the newly renovated Ludlow Assembly Rooms at the start of the next Season in September 2021. One week before each Zoom Lecture, all paid up Members and Guests who have paid the Guest Fee will receive an email giving full instructions on how to access it. A reminder email will be sent the day before the Lecture. General information on accessing Zoom Lectures is given in the ASTV Guide to the use of Zoom which is now available in the Documents tab of this web site. Lectures start at 2.15pm.

THE SUBTLE SCIENCE AND EXACT ART OF COLOUR IN ENGLISH GARDEN DESIGN—why gardening can rank as a fine art' In 1882 ertrude Jekyll wrote a short but seminal article in The Garden in which she urged the readers to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”.  As an accomplished watercolour artist, Miss Jekyll was familiar with the principles of using colours, but she felt that in gardens these principles “had been greatly neglected”.  This talk looks at how to apply these principles in designing a border, but it also looks at the ways in which a border is different from a painting.  However, it goes further than this and looks at how contemporary work of the likes of Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollack evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like.

Timothy Walker was director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014 and since 2014 he has been a lecturer and tutor in Plant Sciences at Somerville College Oxford.

Note
For the time being, all Lectures shown in this web site will be available only by Zoom. The Society plans to reintroduce “real” Lectures again at the newly renovated Ludlow Assembly Rooms at the start of the next Season in September 2021. One week before each Zoom Lecture, all paid up Members and Guests who have paid the Guest Fee will receive an email giving full instructions on how to access it. A reminder email will be sent the day before the Lecture. General information on accessing Zoom Lectures is given in the ASTV Guide to the use of Zoom which is now available in the Documents tab of this web site. Lectures start at 2.15pm.

The Art of the Steal: Nazi looting during World War II
The Nazis looted over 20% of Western Art during World War II, confiscating art from Jewish families and emptying museums throughout Europe. This lecture will provide an overview of Nazi looting by setting the scene in Nazi Germany, discussing Hitler’s obsession with art and how the Monuments Men recovered art after the war. Several landmark cases will be discussed in detail, including Gustav Klimt’s celebrated Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer and the stash of over 1200 artworks found in possession of the son of a notorious Nazi dealer.

Shauna Isaac has been active in World War II art recovery for several years and has worked with families and government organisations to return Nazi looted art. She set up the Central Registry on Looted Cultural Property and served as a member of the Working Group for the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague. Shauna studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Smith College. She is a regular lecturer at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Her publications include articles for The Art Newspaper, Times Literary Supplement and Art Quarterly. She is a contributor to the book Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture.

Note
For the time being, all Lectures shown in this web site will be available only by Zoom. The Society plans to reintroduce “real” Lectures again at the newly renovated Ludlow Assembly Rooms at the start of the next Season in September 2021. One week before each Zoom Lecture, all paid up Members and Guests who have paid the Guest Fee will receive an email giving full instructions on how to access it. A reminder email will be sent the day before the Lecture. General information on accessing Zoom Lectures is given in the ASTV Guide to the use of Zoom which is now available in the Documents tab of this web site. Lectures start at 2.15pm.

We all use chairs! But over the past 150 years, artists across the world have been using the humble chair as a conduit for profound ideas on themes from protest, absence and memory to domestic or everyday life.
In Europe, Egon Schiele, René Matisse, Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys used empty chairs for personal expression, while in America, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Joseph Kosuth and Bruce Nauman used chairs to develop the exciting new artistic movements arising in the sixties.
The Palestinian artist, Mona Hatoum, adapted chairs to explore female identity and the Columbian artist, Doris Salcedo, stacked 1,550 between two buildings to remember anonymous victims of war.
These are just some of the many diverse artists and uses of chairs we will be looking at in this talk. And as in all my lectures, my personal connection as an artist, who has worked with chairs throughout her career, will aim to bring the subject to life.

Biography
Angela Findlay is a professional artist, writer and freelance lecturer with a long career of teaching art in prisons in Germany and England. Her time ‘behind bars’ gave her many insights into the huge impact the arts can have on processing guilt. In the past decade, Angela’s Anglo-German roots led her to research Germany’s little known post-WWII culture of remembrance and apology in which the arts, once again, play a huge and vital role.
Angela has a BA(Hons) in Fine Art, a Diploma in Artistic Therapy and her paintings - often of empty chairs - have been widely exhibited.  More information at :  https://www.angelafindlaytalks.com/
Review
Angela Findlay gave us a grippng lecture on “The Empty Chair”. She started by explaining how she has used the empty chair in her own paintings. People had left things on her chairs which were an indicator of personality.
Then she went to the famous Empty Chair by Van Gogh and contrasted its rural simplicity with Gauguin’s more elaborate and sophisticated armchair. We saw Charles Dickens’ chair pushed away from his desk and empty.
She devoted most of her lecture to more modern paintings by Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and others. The empty chair is in the painting. Its meaning is supplied by the viewer.
Empty chairs proved to be more moving than a single empty chair. For example, she showed us an installation of 1550 chairs piled up higgledy-piggledy between two buildings in Istanbul. There was a beautiful installation, from memory, a memorial to the Oklahoma bombing. There were neat rows  of a chair for each victim, resting on a clouded glass base instead of legs, with the name of the victim engraved in the glass.
AI Weiwei  was kept for a climax at the end. We saw several of his installations using lots of empty chairs and many empty stools.
 List of Paintings mentioned in the Lecture
Vincent Van Gogh’s 2 chairs 
Egon Schiele
Art Cannot Be Modern; Art Is Eternal, 1912 
Two of My Handkerchiefs, 1912 
Organic Movement of Chair and Pitcher, 1912   
René Magritte
Threatening Weather, 1929
The Legend of the Centuries 
Joseph Beuys
Fettstuhl (Fat Chair) 1964-85 
Andy Warhol
Little Electric Chair, 1964 
Big Electric Chair, 1967-68
Joseph Kosuth
One and three chairs, 1965 
Gerhard Richter
1. Küchenstuhl / Kitchen Chair,1965 
2. Kleiner Stuhl / Small Chair,1965 
3. Stuhl im Profil / Chair in Profile, 1965 
Robert Rauschenberg
Pilgrim, 1960
Orrery (Borealis) 1990
Soundings, 1968 
Bruce Nauman
1. South America Triangle, 1981
2. White Anger, Red Danger, Yellow Peril, Black Death, 1984
3. Untitled (Suspended Chair, Vertical III) 1987 
Mona Hatoum
Jardin Pubic, 1993
Untitled (wheelchair), 1998
Remains of the Day , 2016-18
Doris Salcedo
Noviembre 6 y 7, (2002)
1,550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings, 2003, Istanbul 
Memorials
Oklahoma Field of Empty Chairs memorial, 2000
The Ghetto Heroes Square, 2006
Sarajevo Red Line, 2012
185 Empty Chairs, Christchurch, NZ
The Empty Chair Project, Juneau, Alaska 
Ai Weiwei
Marble Chair, 2008
Grapes, 2007 - 2011
Fairytale, 2007 Kassel Documenta
Bang, 2013

Note
For the time being, all Lectures shown in this web site will be available only by Zoom. The Society plans to reintroduce “real” Lectures again at the newly renovated Ludlow Assembly Rooms at the start of the next Season in September 2021. One week before each Zoom Lecture, all paid up Members and Guests who have paid the Guest Fee will receive an email giving full instructions on how to access it. A reminder email will be sent the day before the Lecture. General information on accessing Zoom Lectures is given in the ASTV Guide to the use of Zoom which is now available in the Documents tab of this web site. Lectures start at 2.15pm. 

This is one of the quirkiest lectures you will ever hear. There is a universal delight in being deceived and in this lecture Bertie takes his audience on a whistle stop tour of art which fools, surprises and amuses the viewer. Beginning and ending with the Belgian surrealist Renee Magritte, it encompasses Trompe L’oell, Banksy, Bridget Riley, Arcimboldo and Escher to name a few. Hold on to your seats and get ready to be visually fried.

Biography:
Bertie Pearce 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. Past experience includes lecturing and performing on cruise ships, and to U3A, historical societies, festivals, schools and colleges. In addition, Bertie has toured the world with a magic cabaret show and a one man show entitled All Aboard. He has written articles for newspapers and magazines on entertainment and theatre.
More information can be found at :  https://www.bertiepearce.com/biography/

Images shown in the lecture.
 
L’IMAGE EN SOI  (the image in itself) by R. Magritte 1961
 
LA REPRODUCTION INTERDITE (Not to be Reproduced) by R Magritte  1937
 
TIME TRANSFIXED by R. Magritte  1938
 
THE SONG OF LOVE by Giorgio de Chirico 1914
 
LE BLANC-SEING (THE BLANK SIGNATURE) 1965 N.G. of Art Washington
 
THE BORING FIGURE adapted from 19thc double image motif
 
AMBIGUOUS DUCK RABBIT  anon late 19th C - popularised by Joseph
Jastrow
 
NAPOLEON IN THE TREES
 
THE IMPOSSIBLE SHELF
 
PERSPECTIVE ABSURDITIES engraving 1753
 
LETTER RACK by Samuel van Hoogstraten 1666
 
ROMAN UNSWEPT FLOORMosaic  2nd C Ad 
 
ROMAN FRESCOE From Boscoreale, Pompei 40 BC  Met Mus. Ny
 
BALDASSARE PERUZZI  FRESCO To Simulate A View Of Rome Villa Farnesina  1516
 
Andrea Pozzo’s VAULT IN THE NAVE OF THE CHURCH OF ST IGNAZIO IN ROME 1691-94
 
TIEPOLO CEILING FRESCO  Wurzburg 1752
 
Antonio Verrio’s HELL Staircase 1687
 
VARIOUS WORKS BY BANKSY (Including the ‘Well Hung Lover”)
 
PIN BOARD By Martin Battersby Commissioned For The Qe2
 
BOOKCASE By Kenneth Davies 1951
 
Rex Whistler MURAL AT PLAS NEWYDD 1836-7
TINKER AND HOUSE WIFE Rex Whistler
 
Rene Magritte’s HUMAN CONDITION 1933
 
ONE DAY CLOSER TO PARADISE By David Hensel - Jesmonite Resin
 
Samuel Van Hoogstraten VIEW DOWN A CORRIDOR 1662
 
STAIRCASE GROUP By Charles Wilson Peale 1795
 
Charles Willson Peale  1741-1827 
 
ESCAPING CRITICISM Pere Borell Del Caso  1874
 
LE GRAND VAN GOGH By Bruno Catalano 2013
 
John Pugh’s TAYLOR HALL 1981
 
ANONYMOUSE - Swedish Art Collective
 
Kurt Wenner – UNDERGROUND 2007
 
Kurt Wenner 1958-
 
Leon Keer - ABU DHUBAI
 
COKE BOTTLE - Julian Beaver
 
Graphs, often positioning the image as if they were interacting with the scene.
 
PRECIPICE By Edgar Mueller
 
THE FOLDED CHESS SET By Sandro Del Prete 1975
 
HERCULANEUM DOCK By Campbell Taylor 1919
 
DISGUISING A BRITISH FIELD GUN By S Ugo August 1918
 
LA MANDORE By George Braques. 1909-10
 
HARLEQUIN Victor Vasarely 1936-52
 
ZINT By Vasarely 
 
 
TORN IN TRANSIT  John Haberle 1888
 
Antonio Verrio’s HEAVEN ROOM At Burghley House, Lincs Olympian Gods
 
COURTYARD AMBRAS, Austria 1567-8 By Heinrich Teufel
 
A FEMALE FAUN WITH CHILDREN AT PLAY  Anne Vallayer-Coster 1773
 
TROMPE L’OEIL WITH DRAWINGS AND SAVOYARDS By Louis-Leopold Boilly 1805
 
Cornelius Gysbrechts LETTER RACK & CURTAIN 1659-78
 
TROMPE L’OEIL STILL LIFE WITH A FLOWER GARLAND AND CURTAIN 1658.   Adrien Van Der Spelt (1630-1673).  And Frans Van Mieris(1635-1681)
 
Cornelis Gysbrecht’s  PAINTERS EASEL 1659-78
 
THE REVERSE OF A FRAMED PAINTING By Cornelius Gijsbrechts 1670.
 
Anonymous CUPBOARD OF CURIOSITIES late 17th C
 
Jan Van Eyck – ARNOLFINI & HIS WIFE 1434
Jan van Eyck 1390-1441 was a painter active in Bruges - Early Netherlandish painting - reps of Early Northern Renaissance art.
 
VIOLIN ON A DOOR  By Jan Van Der Vaardt C.1723  Chatsworth House
 
FAITHFUL COLT By William  Harnett 1890
 
AFTER THE HUNT  1884 Harnet
 
THE WHITE TABLE CLOTH By Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin 1737 
 
 
THE AMBASSADORS – Hans Holbein The Younger 1533
 
THE JURIST  By Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1566
 
VERTUMNUS  By Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1590-1
 
THE APPARITION OF FACE AND FRUIT DISH ON A BEACH 1938 Salvador Dali.
 
MYSTERIOUS MOUTH APPEARING IN THE BACK OF MY NURSE 1941 By Salvador Dali
 
BEDTIME AVIATION By Rob Gonsalves
 
HERE COMES THE FLOOD By Rob Gonsalves
 
COMMUNITY PORTRAIT By Rob Gonsalves
 
UNDERGROUND PIANO By Shigeo Fukuda 1984
 
Shigeo Fukuda LEGS 1975
 
PHOTO OF ESCHER AT WORK
 
DRAWING HANDS By M.C.Escher 1948
 
HAND WITH REFLECTING SPHERE By M.C.Escher
 
DAY AND NIGHT Woodcut In Black And White 193
 
THE PENROSE TRIANGLE
 
WATERFALL  By M.C. Escher 1961
 
LA VIE EN ROSE By Sandro Del Prete  1994
 
ZEBRE 1950
 
VEGA By Victor Vasarely  1957
 
FALL  By Bridget Riley 1963
 
PRIMITIVE BLAZE By Bridget Riley 1963-4
 
THE RIVER SEINE AT LA GRANDE JATTE By George Seurat. 1888 
 
MOVEMENT IN SQUARES  By Bridget Riley 1961
 
LE FILS DE L’HOMME  1964  Rene Magritte