This group of young artists came together in 1848 to shake up an art world they considered stultified and untruthful, because they were encouraged to copy only the old masters. Consequently, they sought inspiration from artists that came before Raphael with more truthful and honest subject matters.

Sarah Ciacci has an MA in History of Art (Late 19th century French Painting and 20th Century Art) from University College London. She has been a Blue Badge Guide for London since 2008, specialising in art, museums and galleries.  Since 2008 she has trained Blue Badge Guides in the National Gallery and is an art lecturer for trainee guides in Tate Britain, Tate Modern and for a period in the National Portrait Gallery. From 2008-2023 she was Adjunct Faculty at Richmond University teaching the History of British Art, the History of Museums in London and the History of London. She is a gallery educator and runs regular courses and independent lectures on a variety of art historical periods.    

Traces from 3 centuries of seaside holidays are still present in our historic coastal towns, their architecture and environments. Mass transport contributed to their development but later drew people away with cheap flights abroad. The opening of new galleries and public art works are reviving their fortunes.

Many of us find contemporary art challenging, strange, provocative or downright silly. This lecture unravels the step changes in art since the 1870s, exploring how we got from impressionist paintings to the interactive, immersive, ephemeral and “post- medium” art of today.

The four elements of this lecture are: the emergence of the North (A Taste of Honey etc) ; Swinging Britain (Alfie etc); Last days of Empire (Zulu etc) and finally the drastic change in the depiction of sex, from Victim in 1961 to Women in Love, 1969.

The life of Lee Miller, told with reference to those with whom she exchanged creative inspiration – Man Ray, Roland Penrose, Pablo Picasso, David E. Scherman, her father Theodore Miller and her son Antony Penrose. A definitive view by her son and biographer, this presentation has been acclaimed for its ability to embrace many different levels of the history of art and photography, social commentary and emotional connection with the subject.

*Contains some wartime images which may be disturbing*

Wool, silk and cotton have each played a part in the fortunes of Central Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and used as currency, creating a network of trading routes that led to globalisation. Silk Road products stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of this part of the world.

Murano Glass, the Jewel of Venice CANCELLED, rescheduled to 2027

Followed by

GET TOGETHER FOR RECENT MEMBERS

TS Eliot was indebted to, and himself inspired by some of the 20th Century’s greatest artists. He influenced his counterparts in the visual arts. Edward McKnight Kauffer and David Jones illustrated his work, Patrick Heron and Wyndham Lewis painted him and Jacob Epstein sculpted him. There are paintings and compositions inspired by him and the reverse is also true.

The Waste Land employs techniques borrowed from modern art.

A light-hearted seasonal lecture for Christmas describing what we actually know or rather what we don’t know. We assume they were 3 because they brought 3 gifts. But why gold, frankincense and myrrh?

Followed by FESTIVE DRINKS AND MINCE PIES

AGM at 10am; followed byThe Golden Age of British Comedy

It ran from the 1970s to the 1980s as we started to drift away from theatres and radios and found ourselves living through a wonderfully rich period of television comedy. Some say this period has never been bettered.

The lecture looks at the relationships between actor and audience. From the Greeks, through pageants, masques, liturgical drama, to court theatre. Then a quick glance at Commedia dell’arte before entering the Elizabethan stage of the Globe and the Fortune and arriving at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.

London’s sumptuous Victorian and Edwardian department stores changed the capital and changed its women. Shoppers of every rank were often undone by the temptations laid out before them in these new ‘cathedrals of desire’.

This lecture/recital will trace the beginnings of the piano and its development into one of the most popular home instruments. We will also look at the piano duet music of Mozart and how, in a very short space of time, the piano took a quantum leap forward.

A persuasive introduction to buying antiques and integrating and using them in today’s homes. The state of the antiques market and the different meanings of the word value are considered.

In 402 AD Ravenna became the capital of the western Roman Empire and continued to prosper under Ostrogoth and then Byzantine rule. This past eminence left Ravenna with a legacy of richly decorated early Christian buildings, which has earned it UNESCO World Heritage site status.

The artistic output of one of the leading textile designers of the 20th century. This lecture will reveal Dorn’s various commissions which included designs for the Savoy Hotel, Eltham Palace, the London Underground and the White House.

Most revolutions in philosophy, science or technology like the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution have an impact upon art. Our lecturer suggests why the Space race and discoveries in the cosmos has so little effect upon 20th century art.

Followed by GET TOGETHER FOR RECENT MEMBERS

The second city of the British Empire in the 19th & 20th century it was India’s capital until 1911. This lecture provides an overview of its arts and architecture and the central role it played in shaping the arts and culture of modern India