Darling’s daring rescue of a passenger steamship off the Northumberland coast in 1838 brought her international fame. Discover more about her bravery and short life (she died aged 26yrs) and the artistic contribution that has helped to keep her in the public eye.

From the beginning the Houses of Parliament were a battle ground for the architect Charles Barry. The practical challenges were immense, in addition to battling with the interference of MPs and Royalty, coming in 3 times over budget and 24 yrs behind schedule. This lecture tells the story of how Charles Barry created the most famous building in Britain.

The Blue Rider was founded by Kandinsky Franz Marc 1911 and joined by leading modernists such as Paul Klee who sought through experiments with colour and form to explore spiritual questions relating to all the arts.

Holbein painted beautiful and seemingly realistic portraits, but behind the apparent realism, the artist subtly manipulates us to portray a stylised and illusionary world. This lecture looks at some of Holbein’s repertoire of tricks through a close study of his paintings.

The role of sculpture has substantially changed in recent times. This lecture considers how sculpture plays an important role in terms of site in the city; the birth of the sculpture park, thanks to the efforts of Henry Moore, and how sculpture has become a challenging and exciting space for social encounters.

This lecture tells the Christmas story through a selection of well loved paintings and illuminated manuscripts by Italian and Flemish artists. It also introduces some less familiar aspects of the story, such as the Midwives and Joseph’s stockings 

What do we mean by jewellery and what does it mean to different societies across the world?

This talk examines 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 great discoveries in both the Yemen and Ethiopia.

Vermeer’s serene interiors are somehow oddly different from those of his contemporaries. It is the explanation for this particular difference which has fascinated scholars for many years and which Albert Godetzky (Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute) will be exploring in this lecture.

The operas of Gilbert and Sullivan are rich in contemporary satire and witty personal allusions. This lecture tells how each of the fourteen operas drew inspiration from the world in which they lived, drawing on celebrities, politicians, social mores, manners, artistic tastes as well as the class system.

Gwen John is one of the most elusive of 20thC British artists. Long hidden in the shadow of her famous brother, Augustus John, and her equally famous lover, Auguste Rodin, she has gradually emerged as an artist in her own right.

William Morris was a man of prolific talent but it is as a designer of repeating patterns that Morris is probably best remembered today. This lectures examines the history and production of his wallpapers and textiles and considers why they still continue to have such an impact on designers today.

click here on how to book and more information on the lecture: 

https://www.taswox.org.uk/DocumentStore/January%20lecture%20&%20lunch.pdf

Ealing comedies have a reputation for cosiness, whimsicality and ever-so gentle subversiveness but this lecture revisits these films and reads them again, this time in the light of post-war new waves which were beginning to emerge across Europe.

Hopper was a painter of loneliness and melancholy and he portrayed a changing America and the isolation of the individual in the modern city. His works are visually stunning: characterised by striking colours and cinematic and cropped combinations which heighten tension.

The role of sculpture has changed substantially in recent times. Anna will consider how the concept of monument and memorial, familiar since classical antiquity, has shifted towards other concerns and show how sculpture now plays a vitally important role in terms of site in the city and not least, become challenging and exciting spaces for social encounter. The role of sculpture has changed substantially in recent times. Here, I consider how the concept of monument and memorial, familiar since classical antiquity, shifts towards other concerns. I show how sculpture now plays a vitally important role in terms of site in the city; how the sculpture park comes into being during the mid-20th century, thanks to the efforts of Henry Moore, and how it grows exponentially across the globe; how water has attracted artists to make exceptional works in or alongside it; and not least, how sculpture has become a challenging and exciting space for social encounter. Among others,  the work of Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Richard Long, Claes Oldenburg, Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread will be examined.

The Moulin Rouge immediately evokes 'La Belle Epoque' - a period of French and especially Parisian history around the turn of the 19thC which pulsated with artistic energy and innovations - but was there a darker side?

This lecture explores the fascinating story of how dyes were discovered, made and used, focusing on some of the social implications of colour at different times in history. It takes us from pre-historic man to the middle of the 19th century and geographically from Europe to the Middle East, India, Turkey, north America, Mexico and Peru: a story of exploration, invention, war, the church, money, power and sex.

In this talk Ian winds the clock back to the seventeenth century with an armchair tour of some of Wren’s magnificent structures including City Churches, the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich and, of course, his greatest masterpiece St Paul’s Cathedral. Wren was primarily a mathematician and astronomer and he will show how these disciplines are harnessed in his work. He will also look at the origins of the classical orders of architecture and discover how Wren’s love of this ancient system is everywhere to be seen in his legacy.

No English painting could be more familiar than Constable’s The Hay Wain. But what does it actually represent? What is it about? Painted in 1821 as the third of the series of great six-foot landscapes based on scenes of the Stour Valley on the Suffolk-Essex border, it undoubtedly shows Constable at the very height of his powers. There is much more to it, though, than a vivid recollection of a beautiful summer’s day. As well as studying the picture physically, through sketches, x-rays, and accounts of its painting (and repainting), the lecture reflects on how Constable used poetry and the work of historic and contemporary artists to build a richly suggestive atmosphere into this homely rural episode.

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

Are we all charlatans? This lecture looks at the dynamics of the art world and explores why some pieces are worth so much and yet others so little. Clive will demonstrate how governments, both domestic and international, have had a profound effect, alongside demographic change.

NOTE - CHANGE OF VENUE from The Corn Exchange to:

The Masonic Hall, situated on the opposite side of  Witney Green in the direction of St Mary's Church.  There is drop off space outside the Masonic Hall but arrangements for parking will be the same as for the Corn Exchange.

After welcoming refreshments, our lecturer, Sarah Moncrieff, will describe the foundation of her charity “Time for Art” which she set up around 3 years ago following many years of offering art workshops to street children in Africa. Having seen first-hand the benefits of creative activity for those in difficult life situations, she wanted to formalise her voluntary work and offer similar workshops to people in the UK who were also undergoing difficult periods in their lives.  
Sarah lives in Oxfordshire and her charity now works with many groups including asylum seekers, children with a caring responsibility and children with a parent in prison.

A Buffet lunch will follow.

Copy and paste a booking form from 'Latest News' page.

The lecture will look at the history of pantomime: from its origins in the 19th C Italian commedia dell’arte - through to the influence of the 19th C music hall - to the family show it is today.

Cezanne, van Gogh and Gauguin are so often described as “impressionists” but in terms of technique and style they have little in common with that famous movement. The irony is that all three were dead by the time ‘Post Impressionism’ was coined and it was the attempt of an English critic, Roger Fry, to bring their work to Britain in 1910 that gave them this definition. Fry saw in the work of all three men a new pictorial language that made no attempt to copy the natural world, but to create an equivalent for it. They were not a cohesive movement, but in their different ways provided a platform for the next generation of artists to develop a pictorial language suitable for the complexities of the twentieth century.

Ross' lecture will introduce us to a collective of Toronto based painters whose aim was to forge a National School of landscape paintings in a boldly Post Impressionist style. He will examine how they stormed the conservative bastion of Canadian art to establish themselves as practitioners of a distinctive avant-garde movement.

We kick off our 2023/24 programme with Pepe who 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.  He 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. 

Imogen will explore the story of the Master Masons who oversaw everything involved in building our famous Cathedrals, including the design of the buildings, running the site, recruitment of the workforce and sourcing the raw materials.

Not just looking at pictures of fruit and vegetables, Daniel will look at the symbolism of everyday objects and the moral meanings they convey, through examining works by Aetsen, Claesz, VanAelst and Mignon. He will explore the corruption of abundance, the mutability and ephemerality of life, and the inevitability of death.....

Daniel has very kindly provided a slide of his recommended reading on this topic, including the wonderfully named "Caterpillage".

Before the Greeks produced the sculpture we admire, Ancient Egyptians were producing Masterpieces using stone and primitive tools. This lecture examines the range and impact of these sculptures, along with how they were constructed and the purpose for them.

Trisha will explore and the art and design of the productions both pre and post WW1and its influence on contemporary dance.

The cartoonist, Carl Giles, once said that he loved his creation, Grandma Giles – that fearsome, black-clad, gambling, drinking battleaxe – because she allowed him to say things through his cartoons that he was too polite to say in person. She helped him to poke fun at authority in all its forms, from Hitler to traffic wardens and even his employers at the Daily Express, who didn’t trust him and had sub-editors scouring his cartoons for subversive background details. His admirers included Prince Charles, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Tommy Cooper, and it was no surprise when he was voted Britain’s best-loved cartoonist in 2000. Few people realise, however, that this likeable and humane satirist was also a war correspondent who witnessed the horrors of Belsen, where he found that the camp commandant, Josef Kramer, was also a great fan of his work. Giles gave us a remarkable picture of a half-century of British life. He was also, as his editor John Gordon put it “a spreader of happiness’ and ‘a genius…with the common touch’.

The Empress Josephine and the Artists of her Time

Napoleon’s Empress, Joséphine de Beauharnais, was a passionate gardener, book collector, patron and art collector. Her reputation for generosity, charm and gentleness of manner was of enormous value to Napoleon as a feminine counterpart to the otherwise military and legalistic tenor of his regime. This talk will explain the range of her cultural activities, including her acquisition of a large and distinguished collection of pictures – among them by far the most important group of works by an entirely new school of painting – the troubadours (who painted beautifully crafted historical scenes). Indeed, among female royal collectors her only superior is the incomparable Catherine the Great.

Watercolourist, muralist, ceramicist and wood-engraver, Eric Ravilious was one of the most distinctive young British artists working between the two World Wars; he is also an artist who is of increasing interest and popularity, as recent exhibitions and sales of his work have attested. This lecture explores Ravilious’s whole, brief career, looking both at his place in the long tradition of watercolour landscape painting in England, and his place within the social, cultural and political context of England in the 1920s and ‘30s – a context that eventually led to his sudden, untimely death as an official war artist in Iceland in 1942.

Cristopher Wren on the debt the West Owes to Eastern Architecture

The famous trial in 1878 between artist and critic became one of the first great public debates in Britain about modern art. This lectures looks at the issues and personalities involved in this famous court-room drama, how their animosity divided the art world and the extent to which it can be argued that the outcome of the trial ruined both Whistler and Ruskin.

Gustav Klimt and his colleagues broke away from the imperially endorsed art institutions in Vienna in 1897 and founded the Secession. That was the same year that Gustav Mahler arrived to take charge of the Opera House in the city. Comparing these two totemic fin de siècle talents, this lecture places Klimt and Mahler in context, asking what fundamentally links and, indeed, divides them

Founded in the wake of the First World War, under the leadership of Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus strove to create a design ethos for a brave new world. Buildings and interiors, art and craft became art and industry, but driven by socialist ideologies it came under political pressure. Despite everything it is still with us in the guise of International Style.

Fresco is the supreme medium in which one can track the ideas and the accomplishments of the Italian Renaissance.  For secular leaders wall painting cycles were the opportunity to create a virtual world which enhanced their status, in the church they brought a new immediacy, and impact to the presence and meaning of the divine story, but what was their appeal for the artist?  Why did they consider it “the sweetest and most subtle form that exists”?  This lecture illustrates the technique and explores some of the great projects to understand the fascination and significance of fresco for rulers, clergy and painters.

From his early years in Urbino, to Perugia under the tutelage of Perugino, Raphael's early work is characterised by clear drawing, a serene beauty and often an elegiac mood. Celebrated in Florence, he was invited to Rome by the Pope, where his mature work in the Vatican apartments shows heroic, larger than life figures in accomplished spatial settings. Raphael died almost 500 years ago and his work remains as fresh, and as moving as when the images were first painted.

For full details and application form go to Special Events

The figure of Mary’s husband Joseph is familiar from Christmas cards, carols, cribs and nativity plays, yet in the Bible he never speaks a word.  It took many centuries for the quiet carpenter to emerge from humble obscurity and for artists to make his image visible.  This lecture explores the many legends and faces of Joseph through the ages, from wizened old man to powerful guardian.  Come and discover the hidden depths in that simple bearded figure on your Christmas cards. 

Sculpture has the power to stop us in our tracks. It can be awe inspiring, thought provoking, or fun and amusing. The UK’s national collection of sculpture is considered the finest in the world and the lecture will explore a range of works.

The making of pottery has since time immemorial ranged from the purely functional to the purely decorative or artistic. In the second half of the twentieth century, studio potters in the UK faced each other in sometimes acrimonious debate over the nature of “real” pottery. Should it conform to the views of Bernard Leach and his followers in taking an ethical stance in the making of honest, traditional functional ware? Or could it be a fine art, as expressive and free in its form as any fine art, as demonstrated in the bright colours and modernistic shapes of Lucie Rie’s vases or Hans Coper’s sculptures? Opinions differed widely and were argued with great conviction.

This debate in various guises goes back much further - to the days of William Morris, to the advocates of industrial design, and is greatly complicated and enriched for example by Lucie Rie’s claim to be “just a potter”, or Bernard Leach’s claim and practice as a fine artist.

This lecture will show how these different strands are intertwined, and how they combined to produce a landscape of enormous variety and vitality in the making of studio pottery in Britain over the last century.

This lecture will be richly illustrated, and a small number of original pots from the Leach pottery and by “expressive” potters will be available to see (and possibly handle!).

This lecture explores Chinese landscape painting through the ages and the development and evolution of this important tradition. Its title, ‘Travellers Among Mountains and Streams’, is based on that of an 11th century work by the great Northern Song master, Fan Kuan, Using ink and brush and a variety of techniques and formats, Chinese artists’ responses to the natural landscape and to man’s place within it, have been said to evoke ‘landscapes of the mind’. By introducing a range of examples from different periods, this lecture will reveal ways of ‘reading’ Chinese landscape painting and understanding the differences in content, style and philosophical inspiration that have contributed to the uniqueness of this artistic genre.

The degree to which we are subject to influence within the entire artistic spectrum is rarely discussed. From sculpture to photography and everything in-between, the photographer is reinventing images that subconsciously reside in the vast reservoir of past images seen be it photojournalism, repertoire or classic landscape.  Rarely is a photograph made which is not subject to past influence.

Music was a constant theme in Manet’s life and art. His wife Suzanne Leenhoff was a gifted pianist, and regular musical soirées were held at the Manet family home. His pictures of musicians and their audiences range from major early canvases depicting itinerant gypsy musicians and Spanish dancers, through to paintings encompassing the full range of Parisian musical culture, from private performances to street entertainment, café concerts and the Paris Opera. Bringing together Manet’s art and the music that inspired him (including Spanish flamenco, Haydn string quartets, Wagner piano reductions, café songs, and opera highlights) this lecture immerses you in Manet’s world.

Stanley Spencer: An Autobiography in Pictures

Intensely autobiographical, Stanley Spencer’s name became synonymous with Cookham, the village he immortalised. He also left images of two World Wars, virtuoso realistic landscapes and pictures that reflect his turbulent private life.

The vision and genius of Isambard Kingdom Brunel underpins this global story of hopes and dreams, disasters and triumphs. This talk features a wide range of ships, including Great Britain and Great Western, Lusitania and Mauretania, Olympic and Titanic, and arguably Britain’s most popular liner the Queen Mary, brought to life through historic and contemporary artworks, including striking Art Deco posters. A selection of interior views of the famous liners are featured.

This lecture aims to bridge the Science/ Art divide using the work of the ultimate Renaissance Man. Leonardo’s incredible anatomical studies reveal so much about his ingenious mind and covers Renaissance scientific exploration as well as historical gender inequality.

Dr Edwards has had a deep interest in Miniature paintings, as well as a small collection, we are grateful that he has been able to step in at short notice to tell us about this interesting subject, Are these still meing painted, I wonder.

COST £10  appliction form press here

What is the art of Cinema?  An attempt to answer that question by looking at the art form's birth in the late 19th Century, exploring the narrative and aesthetic experiments that are the foundation of cinema's status as the art form of the 20th Century and still going strong today.  A rare chance to view some of the extraordinary work done by the pioneers of cinema and an introduction to some of the main debates about the nature of  cinematic art.  

Britain’s oldest fine arts institution is celebrating its 250th Anniversary in 2018. The Royal Academy has an illustrious history that spans from the mid 18th century through to the 21st century.  We contemplate its past and review its various homes before settling on its current Mayfair location in Burlington House. This fully illustrated talk explores a selection of its ground–breaking temporary loan exhibitions and considers its role and impact on the art scene, both on British soil and overseas.  In addition, anecdotal stories will also be revealed by the lecturer based on her twelve year career with the institution. We also consider the influence of certain world-renowned Royal Academicians, exemplary artists in their chosen field, and the pivotal role that is played by the RA Schools and, more recently, Hockney, Paolozzi, Foster, Craig-Martin and Gormley.

Famous for its shades of nature, Kyotoites seasonally add splashes of colour to their city by having up to 500 annual festivals. This lecture covers the main festivals celebrated by the Japanese throughout the year with certain very large and famous “matsuri” (festivals) being held in Kyoto itself. 

This lecture tells the extraordinary story of these thefts, culminating with the final one which took place during the Second World War, when it was stolen, along with many other treasures from all over Europe, by Adolf Hitler for the magnificent museum he intended to build in his name in his home town of Linz.

'Peasant Bruegel', highbrow humanist, painter of nature or practical joker? This lecture will explore the many identities of the father of the Bruegel dynasty, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, through the legacy of his sons and followers. Focusing on key paintings from the exhibition Bruegel: Defining a Dynasty (Holburne Museum, Bath, Feb-June 2017).

Gaudi is well known and much loved. His work will be explored in detail. It will be shown how he engaged with nature and worked with extraordinary ceramicists, iron workers and decorative artists. However, it will be the aim of this lecture to uncover the other architects working in Barcelona over the turn of the twentieth century; Domenech y Muntaner and Puig y Cadafalch. Attention will be paid to several significant and ravishing buildings and some less well known buildings in Barcelona

The British Museum holds some of the most revered art of different world cultures.  Early in his career, Henry Moore found the displays in the museum an inspiration - that lasted all his life.  Many of these gave birth to his well-known monumental works that are essentially 'modern' in appearance, if ancient in concept.

This talk looks at the role of artists as camoufleurs – creating camouflage to hide, mislead and misdirect in times of war – and considers some of the influences their designs have had in times of peace.   Camouflage patterns have appeared in haute couture and, while digital technology is now involved in creating effective military camouflage, some contemporary artists remain fascinated by its possibilities, using its forms and techniques to intrigue and surprise us.

Mexico has a vast range of festivals. While some commemorate national events, the majority are religious in inspiration. These draw on the Christian legacy of Colonial rule. After the Spanish Conquest of 1521, many priests used theatrical representation as a method of instruction.  This lecture will capture the flavour and variety of these colourful events, putting us in the mood for the festivities in the UK.

Judy Rudoe uses her unrivalled knowledge of the Cartier archive and collection to reveal the brilliance of Cartier’s luxurious jewels and to uncover the firm’s celebrity clientèle, from the royal heads of Europe to Indian Maharajahs and American heiresses.

We follow the arrival of moving pictures in the 1890s, looking at early venues such as converted shops and fairground booths. Then the architecture becomes increasingly lavish and we marvel at the plush inter-war picture palaces. 

We look too at the decline of the cinema-going habit but end on a high with a vibrant celebration of the movie poster.

Mr Punch – the most famous puppet character of all time. His comic irreverence gave “Punch” magazine its title. His anarchic vitality has inspired opera, ballet and punk rock and his enduring popularity has seen his likeness on goods ranging from Victorian silverware to computer video games. Appearing in England in 1662, Punch is descended from the Italian Clown Pulcinella of the 15th C Commedia Del’Arte tradition.  Even today This Lord of Misrule uses his slapstick to dispense with oppressive authority, be it politicians, political Correctness or the devil, while proclaiming his notorious refrain; ‘That’s the way to do it!”

At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, Glasgow was the centre for an avant- garde movement of art and design innovation in Europe which we now refer to as ‘The Glasgow Style’. This lecture will look at the fascinating but little- known contribution that women designers made to art and design in Glasgow in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Women such as Margaret and Frances Macdonald and Jessie Marion King produced exquisite metalwork, jewellery, textiles and book designs and received international recognition for their work. The lecture will also discuss their achievements in the wider context of women in art and design at the time and examine the developments in women's art and design education in England and Scotland that enabled women to benefit from greater access to professional training.

 The Raphael Cartoon paintings arrived at Knole in 1701 to be the centre piece of the Cartoon Gallery.  As part of the major conservation work at Knole, the Cartoons were removed from Knole in 2016 to undergo  conservation treatment.  A year later, the Cartoons were returned to Knole and the sheer colour and beauty of the Cartoons is now visible. 

The lecture will look at how romanticised depictions of the island and its peoples by artists such as: William Hodges (1744-1797), Benjamin West (1738-1820), John Webber (1751-1793), and John Cleveley (c.1712-1777), and indeed those of Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903), not only bolstered the notions of the so called 'exotic' or 'noble savage' in the minds of Europeans, but helped to perpetuate and invent the Western notion of the exotic and the myth of paradise.

 

Tapestry: The ultimate wall decoration:

Tapestries were the ultimate expense in the medieval period. They were frequently commissioned in sets that took years to produce, yet for these most expensive items, they were often rolled up and transported across Europe as the court moved around. This lecture will look at some of the key sets of tapestries and their owners including those of the Dukes of Burgundy, the Lady and the Unicorn set, Raphael’s set for Pope Leo X, the Abraham tapestries of Henry VIII, the seasons and months series of Louis XIV and coming right up to date, the set produced for the Queen of Denmark for the millennium. It will also briefly explore the methods of making and the colour issues for designer and weaver.

We can learn so much about people through their possessions and nowhere is this truer than at Malmaison, the private country retreat of Napoleon and Josephine.

 Carole Petipher an experienced guide lecturer, will be looking at individual items commissioned by the couple to delve behind the scenes and help discover hidden truths.

We are all familiar with playing cards, but how far back do you think they go?      They become truly interesting when the face of the card deviates from standard and particularly when recognisable faces are depicted.   Similarly, among the many popular playing card themes are 'transformation' cards.   All of these mysteries and more will be revealed in this fascinating lecture.

On the basis of sensational new evidence from archaeological fieldwork, Dr Faulkner will contrast the legend of Lawrence of Arabia with the true story of what happened in the desert war of 1916-18.    Is the legend a myth - was Lawrence, as some claim, a liar and a charlatan?  Or does the legend reflect reality?  Was he, in fact, a brilliant military coimmander and a sincere adviocate of the Arab national cause?

Modern sculpture has always been controversial, challenging expectations of what a sculpture “should” be. Yet almost everywhere we go, it is there too: invading our space and demanding to have attention paid.  Time and critical opinion have made the names of the sculptors familiar – Jacob Epstein and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska; Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore; Michael Ayrton, Anthony Gormley, Elisabeth Frink and Eduardo Paolozzi – but left their works still, for many, mysterious and intimidating.  This lecture suggests that, on the contrary, the viewing of sculpture is something to be enjoyed: a journey of exploration on which that we can all be explorers. 

The stylistic development of glass produced in Venice from the late 15th century to the late 17th century, seen through actual objects and through paintings.

During this lecture, we will look at the early history of glassmaking in Venice, the material itself and the techniques involved in forming and decorating the pieces.

James Gillray was the natural successor to William Hogarth but represented, in his cutting and brilliant caricatures, everything about satirical prints that Hogarth disapproved of. Uncompromising and fearless in his art, Gillray tore into politicians and the royal family alike. And yet, full of contradictions, that didn’t stop him pursuing a staunchly patriotic stance when it came to the French Revolution, nor accepting a pension to tone down his satirical bite. After he died insane in 1815, his reputation, in the Victorian climate of moralistic righteousness, plummeted. It is only now that he can be seen as the natural forefather of Spitting Image and the cartoons of Gerald Scarfe and Steve Bell – although none of these have quite matched the wit and vitriol of Gillray at his best.

"Through paintings, old photographs and recent images, we trace how London's skyline has changed, from the towering 1st century Roman Basilica to the 21st century Walkie Talkie".

It’s almost taboo to mention money in the labels on art gallery walls, yet in reality even other-worldly artists like Blake or Van Gogh were as pre-occupied with cash as the rest of us. Many were downright commercial, and if they weren’t, the dealers were. We watch the tug of war between creativity and credit in financial vignettes from five centuries

The talk aims to show how Tintoretto’s approach to painting was at once pragmatic, being suited to mthe deands of both private and corporate commissions alike, and highly innovative, heralding the development of a new approach to art – one that was to fundamentally change the course of painting in Venice forever.

2016 will mark the 200th anniversary of the purchase of the so-called 'Elgin Marbles' from Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, by the British Parliament. This lecture, beautifully illustrated with specifically taken slides and video, will explore the aesthetics, the back-story, and the heated debates surrounding these fascinating and controversial works of ancient Greek art.

English Furniture Design Today What are the true requirements of modern furniture design and what do 'flexibility’ and ‘practicality’ really imply?

This lecture shows what these requirements say about our society today and illustrates many of the fabulous commissions undertaken by Luke Hughes, including those hidden from public scrutiny.

We will be exploring the architectural development of English Cathedrals through the Medieval centuries from the rebuilding of Winchester after the Conquest to the brand new cathedral at Bath begun only a few decades from the Reformation and not completed until the nineteenth century. Along the way we will discover how these buildings and the spaces within them were used, and will look at surviving fixtures and furnishings such as stained glass, sculpture, carved misericords and fonts to furnish our imaginations.

The great gardens of England during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were formal extravagances dominated by knot gardens and mounts. Under the Stuarts, English gardens were increasingly influenced by styles from the Continent, particularly France and Holland. Knot gardens were swept away and replaced with parterres; mounts were superseded by raised terraces from which to enjoy the pattern of the garden below. Under William and Mary, at the end of the seventeenth century, English formal gardening reached its greatest pitch, with the creation of the magnificent gardens at Hampton Court setting the style for hundreds of others including Powys Castle and Westbury Court which have survived, the others were swept away during the craze for the landscape style in the following century.