10 December (Christmas Party: 7.15pm)

Prague: “The Winter Queen”
Lecturer: Douglas Skeggs

This lecture traces the rich fabric of Prague’s past, its legends and history, as well as the artists, composers, statesmen and rogues who have illuminated this fairy tale history.

A lecturer well known to the Society, Douglas is also a writer (with 6 novels to his credit) artist, and, presenter of TV programmes. He is a Director of the New Academy of Arts.


2013

January 21st
Pevsner and His World Lecturer: Susie Harries

Pevsner, a German refugee from Hitler, became the Grand Old Man of English Art History through his extraordinary one-survey of the Buildings of England. This lecture sketches his background and explores what he said, rightly or wrongly, about South West London.

Susie Harries is an established writer, editor and lecturer specialising in 20th century culture and the arts. She has published several books, most recently the biography of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. She lectures at Museums and Festivals to a wide range of audiences embracing her interests in art, opera and architecture.

February 11th
Dirt and Dirty Brushes: Myths of the Artist at Court Lecturer: Aliki Braine

The rise in status of artists is bound up with the relationship court artists enjoyed with early modern monarchs and this lecture explores the many myths that arose about these relationships; as examples, Alexander the Great giving up his mistress to the court painter Apelles and Charles V stooping to pick up Titian’s paintbrush.

Graduate of the Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, the Slade and the Courtauld Institute, Aliki Braine is now a freelance lecturer at London’s main art institutions. She is an Associate Lecturer for the University of the Arts London and teaches courses on the Slade School Summer programme.

March 11th
Legend and Lustre: Jim Thompson and Thai Silk - Lecturer: Denise Heywood

Jim Thompson arrived in Bangkok as a US army officer in 1945, fell in love with it and stayed. Captivated by the lustrous beauty of Thai silk, he resuscitated an ancient craft in decline and made it famous, creating costumes for films and embellishing his historic teakwood house, which today is a museum and legacy to this aesthete and collector.

Denise Heywood has a particular affinity with South East Asia having worked as a journalist in Cambodia. She lectures at SOAS, London on the post-graduate Asian Art course and is author and photographer for many art, literary and travel publications. She lectures world-wide and is associated with several South-East Asian Societies.

May 13th
The Splendours of North Africa – Roman and Islamic Art of Libya, Tunisia and Morocco Lecturer: Christopher Bradley
The ancient Roman wealth of North Africa is evident in magnificent cities and villas with fabulous mosaics. Resting alongside these are the unique structures of Islamic North Africa. In this lecture, we plunder the treasures of the Bardo and Tripoli museums.

Christopher Bradley’s expertise lies in the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. He is a professional tour guide and has written extensively on the area. He has broad range of lecturing experience including the Royal Geographical Society. Also a successful photographer and cameraman, he produces TV documentaries.

June 10th
Henry Moore – Britain’s Greatest Sculptor Lecturer: Eveline Eaton
This lecture will explain the reasons for Moore’s “infamous” holes. Initially inspired by Picasso and the British Museum, Moore developed his own distinctive style in the themes of the human figure and abstract shapes – “the man who shaped our century”.

A “dream fulfilled” to study History of Fine Art and to graduate from the Courtauld, has given Eveline Eaton a career teaching at Surrey University and now as a freelance lecturer and tour guide, most particularly to Dresden where she is a member of the Dresden Trust.

July 8th
All the Beasts of the Earth and Flowers of the Field – Depictions of Flora and Fauna in Pottery and Porcelain Lecturer: Jane Gardiner
This lecture explores the various ways in which potters, over the centuries, have looked to the natural world for their inspiration – form the famous Chinese Tang horses of the 7th century to the botanical plates produced at Derby in the early 19th. Dishes swarming with realistic snakes, the porcelain menagerie of Augustus the Strong of Saxony and porcelain flowers at the court of Louis XV of France will all feature.

Jane Gardiner has been teaching at Sotheby’s Institute for seventeen years. She trained at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specialising in early European ceramics and glass. She has also lectured for the University of London, Michigan State University, the National Art Collections Fund, the National Trust and l’Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts, Paris.

September 9th
Leaves from a Family Album: The 1890s and 1900s Through the Eyes of the Camera Lecturer: Rupert Willoughby
An entertaining perspective on the art of photography, this lecture reconstructs the lives of Rupert’s ancestors through family photographs – spontaneous shots of them on bicycles, posing with a new motorcar or indulging in mixed bathing, all of which offended or even shocked the conservatively minded at the time.

Rupert Willoughby is a prize-winning historian specialising in the domestic and social life of the past. He writes privately commissioned histories of houses and guides for English Heritage, is an occasional broadcaster and an experienced lecturer, notably for the National Trust.

October 14th
War Artists: Paul Nash, CRW Nevinson and The Great War - Lecturer: David Haycock
Paul Nash and CRW Nevinson were two of the most significant British artists to paint the Great War. This lecture explores their artistic backgrounds and reveals how their distinct, but related talents allowed them to portray an extraordinary, horrific and very modern war.

A graduate of Oxford University with a PhD in British History, David Haycock is the author of a number of books related to the subject of this lecture. He lectures widely at galleries and museums throughout the UK and was Curator of Maritime & Imperial History at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

November 11th
Charles Rennie Mackintosh - Lecturer: Anthea Streeter
This lecture traces Mackintosh’s career, looking at his major architectural commissions and interiors, such as those for the Glasgow School of Art and the Hill House at Helensburgh, as well as his less well known, but exquisite watercolour paintings.

Anthea Streeter studied Fine and Decorative Arts in London and at Havard. Since her return from America she has pursued a particular interest in 20th century architecture and design, teaching on several courses in Oxford and London.

December 9th
The Christmas Story in Medieval Art - Lecturer: Sally Dormer
During the Middle Ages many of the familiar images associated with the Christmas story were devised and popularized including the ox and ass in the Bethlehem stable. This lecture, illustrated by images taken from illuminated manuscripts, church portals, stained glass windows and goldsmiths’ work, will tell the stories surrounding Christ’s birth and investigate the often surprising sources for this well-known narrative.

Sally Dormer is lecturer and tutor for the early Mediaeval Year Course at the V&A with a PhD on Mediaeval Manuscript Illumination (Courtauld Institute). She is Dean of European Studies for 2 US universities and has a popular following for her lectures for the Art Fund and art tour groups.
Study Days