News

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) Portraitist of the Rennaisance by Jane Choy-Thurlow. One of the highlights of our society's visit to Holland was our time at the Mauritshaus in The Hague where Jane Choy-Thurlow was our excellent guide. We were very pleased when she accepted an invitation to speak at our society. Surprisingly, we know little of Holbein's early life in Augsburg and assume he ...

Grayshott DFAS were represented at the Societies Fair held in Grayshott Village on Saturday morning. The fair included a variety of stands ranging from Grayshott societies and charities from the Tennis Club, through St. Luke's Church Bell Ringers to the Ludshott Photographic Club. Despite the cold weather and the occasional shower we were delighted with the interest shown in the society by a mixture of ...

The Red House and Dulwich Picture Gallery This day out was something of a South London odyssey as William Morris’s Red House, originally in the middle of tranquil fields, is now in the middle of a suburban housing estate in Bexleyheath, while our onward journey to Dulwich required us to brave the vagaries of London’s South Circular road. But it was well worth the trip, ...

The title of this month's lecture had aroused various reactions before our meeting when Rupert Willoughby sought to illustrate the less well-known aspects of this much-derided town. Renowned for its dullness, distinguished by its roundabouts and Modernist Architecture even local residents have given it unflattering nicknames yet today the town has one of highest rates of pay and employment in England In 2004, the town ...

At this month's meeting James Bolton began by describing what was happening in English gardens in the 1850's. With omnipresent parterres, an abundance of annuals and perennials, exotics from across the globe and the essential multitude of gardeners; a garden was the way to display the wealth and status of the owner. Like the Arts and Crafts Movement, Lutyens and Jekyll reacted against this. In ...

Eveline Eaton's captivating and illuminating exploration of the development of Seurat's highly personal art, at this month's meeting, must surely rank as one of the highlights of our 2017 Programme. She explained how, by the 1860's, the Impressionists were starting to paint modern life as seen in the loose, sketchy brushwork of Renoir's Moulin de la Galette and the bright mixed colours of Sisley's Bridge ...

Forty members boarded the coach, on a cold but sunny day, for our trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see this critically acclaimed exhibition of Picasso's portraits. Light traffic meant we arrived in Trafalgar Square in plenty of time for coffee before gathering in the Gallery's new lecture theatre for an introductory talk by Marc Woodhead. Marc, afreelance art historian and artist, gave us ...

We celebrated Christmas this year with a special lunch at Waverley Abbey House which is a Grade II listed Georgian mansion by the River Wey between Tilford and Farnham. It's owned now by a Christian charity which uses it for training and conferences. Before lunch, Robin Crawford, a Farnham Town Guide and Jackie Girling,, the Manager of the House, gave a talk to us about its history ...

As there are limits on the numbers that can tour The Garrick Club and Royal Opera House, we ran two visits. The record number of members enjoyed two outstanding days , largely centred on the performing arts. A reward for such an early departure! Conveniently dropped off from our coach beside the Theatre Royal In Drury Lane, we walked through Covent Garden to The Garrick ...

Grayshott DFAS has contributed to the restoration of the stained glass windows at Undershaw - Arthur Conan-Doyle's former home in Hindhead. John Sherwood, Chairman of Grayshott DFAS handed the cheque to Stepping Stones School during a visit in September. See more photographs here ...

Few of us were aware of Longford Castle, just beyond Salisbury, prior to this visit but we certainly won't forget it now. On a hot and sunny day we had an almost magical tour of the Castle and its stunning art collection. Enjoyed all the more, thanks to our superb guides, Alexandra and Peter. Dating from the reign of Elizabeth1 but substantially re-imagined in Victorian ...

To celebrate the 300th anniversary of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and to complement our recent lecture about him, we visited one of his most celebrated creations at C18th Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock. Blessed with ideal weather but less helpful traffic conditions, we were a little late arriving and had to wait longer to collect our pre-booked tickets from the friendly but somewhat disorganised staff. We then found ...