Upcoming Lectures

Uzbekistan in the heart of Central Asia boasts glittering mosques, madrassahs and minarets in the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. These contrast wonderfully with the brutalist Soviet buildings of Tashkent, Urgench and Nukus. This lecture is an overview of the country, and a primer for anyone thinking ...

“Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money,” remarked Joseph Duveen. It was a simple observation, but there was only one man who was perfectly positioned to combine his  English charm with an unparalleled gift for creative salesmanship, allowing him to convince the ...

This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage ...

"Take 4: Interiors" is part of a series of theme based lectures, in this instance looking at the theme of Interiors. The theme is considered through the work of 4 different artists in different places and periods, or from 4 different points of view. In INTERIOR, The artists are :- Edouard ...

Born in Fife in 1785, David Wilkie was a painter of everyday scenes of country life, he was the first British genre painter. He painted small, detailed pictures of domestic life peopled with well observed characters. His picture of his local village fair, painted when he was only 19, has ...

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 at the meeting! Harry ...

The decisive allied victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 ended a series of wars that had convulsed Europe for over two decades. Most people of the time experienced these conflicts not on the battlefield but through art, both serious and comic. This lecture explores the contrasting ...

Sometimes called Britain’s greatest ‘Art Form’, Pantomime has been a popular form of entertainment for over 300 years. In the early 18th century the word was used to describe the performances at Drury Lane Theatre based on the Italian Commedia dell’arte. In the 18th century it was often seen as ...