Christina Faraday's talk explores the visual and literary uses of the clock and the varied meanings it could hold throughout the ages: as an ominous symbol of oncoming death but also as a metaphor for the soul, for capitalism and the good use of time.

Few people nowadays give more than a second thought to their clocks: practical, sometimes beautiful, devices that form the background noise of our daily lives. But from their introduction in the thirteenth century onwards, clocks have held a variety of philosophical and social meanings. This talk explores the visual and literary uses of the clock, the varied meanings it could hold throughout the ages: as an ominous symbol of oncoming death, but also as a metaphor for the soul, for capitalism, and for the good use of time.

Dr Christina Faraday FSA FRHistS is a historian of art and ideas, specialising in Tudor and Stuart Britain and the wider 16th and 17th-century world. She is a Research Fellow in History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, a Trustee of the Walpole Society for British art history, and a BBC New Generation Thinker, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in other popular media. She is an experienced lecturer, and teaches for the History of Art Department at the University of Cambridge, The Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, London, and for the Institute for Continuing Education, Cambridge, where she is Co-Director of the MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture. Her first book, Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England, was published in 2023 by the Paul Mellon Centre and Yale University Press. Her next book, The Story of Tudor Art, will be published in 2025.

The Soviet Avant Garden (incl. Chagall & Kandinsky) blazed a trail through Art History which too soon was stunted with the advent of Socialist Realism. James Butterwick is one of the world's leading dealers, expert in the field of Ukranian and Russian Art. He tells us what occurred when a flood of newly-discovered works appeared after the fall of Berlin Wall. 98% were found to be fake!

The Russian Avant Garde movement contained some of the greatest names of its generation. Malevich, Chagall, Kandinsky, Exter, Popova, Rozanova, Rodchenko, Tatlin and countless others blazed a trail through Art History for an all-too brief period. With their creativity stunted by the advent of Socialist Realism in 1932, their work disappeared – only to re-emerge in the early 1970’s when Greek collector, George Costakis began to buy up swathes of paintings of the period. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a flood of newly-discovered works appeared on the Western and domestic markets of which the vast majority, up to 95%, had neither verifiable provenance nor exhibition history, their authenticity supported only by documents from now discredited Russian and Western art historians and erroneous certificates of chemical expertise.
This scandal reached a crescendo in January 2018 with an exhibition of 24 dubious works of the period at the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium. James Butterwick examines the background behind the mass faking of the Russian Avant Garde, the history of these dubious paintings, universally rejected by museums and the art market, as well as the methods used to ‘create’ authenticity.

James Butterwick
James is an acknowledged expert and collector of Russian Art. He began collecting and dealing in Russian Art in 1985. In 1994 he moved to Moscow becoming the only foreign member of the Russian Society of Private Collectors. He then starting forming collections, taking part in Museum exhibitions and lecturing in Russian Art. James’ gallery, in Brook Street in London, acts as a source of museum quality paintings of both the Russian and European school. He has travelled regularly to Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In 2015 James’s gallery became the first gallery dealing in early 20th century Russian Art to be invited to exhibit at TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) in Maastricht. James speaks fluent Russian.

Amy Orrock, Curator and Art Historian, asks who was Pieter Bruegel the Elder. His small body of surviving paintings demonstrating his supreme ability to depict the daily life of the peasants with both humour and humility.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525-1569) was an undisputed master; his small body of surviving paintings demonstrating his supreme ability to depict the daily life of the peasants with both humour and humility. This lecture will introduce Bruegel as a distinctive artistic voice in the sixteenth century, and consider the ways in which his revolutionary images were transmuted and popularised after his death in the works of his two sons, Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/5-1638) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). Examples are drawn from the exhibition Bruegel: Defining a Dynasty (2017, Holburne Museum, Bath) which Amy co-curated.

Dr Amy Orrock is an art historian and curator who has published and lectured widely on northern European art of the 16th and 17th centuries. She first became fascinated by Bruegel as an undergraduate at University College London and then completed her PhD on Pieter Bruegel the Elder at the University of Edinburgh. In 2017 she co-curated the exhibition Bruegel: Defining a Dynasty at The Holburne Museum. Amy is currently senior curator at Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park, where she has curated the exhibitions Painting Childhood: From Holbein to Freud (2019) and Cranach: Artist and Innovator (2020-21). Amy’s Arts Society lectures include: Who was Bruegel? Discovering the Master through his Sons and Bruegel’s Winter Scenes.

Paul Roberts who was made an OBE in 2025 for services to Archaeology & Heritage gives us an insight into the last supper in Pompeii. We recline in the dining room, with exotic food and fine wine, surrounded by beautiful silver, mosaics and frescoes. But don't go in the kitchen! No fridge, no running water, no hygiene (and an open cess pit next to the cooker!)

Last supper in Pompeii celebrates the Roman love affair with food and drink. It takes us on a journey from fields and vineyards to markets and shops. We’ll learn how Romans sourced their food and drink and enter the heart of the bustling city. Inside fashionable homes we’ll recline in the dining room with exotic food and fine wine, surrounded by silver, mosaics and frescoes. All this against a backdrop of no refrigeration, no running water and questionable hygiene.

Dr Paul Roberts is Research Keeper in the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford University.  He studied Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Classical Archaeology at Sheffield and Oxford.  He then lived in Italy for several years.  He has travelled the Roman Empire from Britain to Syria and has excavated in Britain, Greece, Libya, Turkey and in particular Italy. He is currently excavating a Roman Villa in the Molise region of Central Italy.  His research focuses on the daily life of ordinary people in the Greek and Roman worlds, and he has written books and articles on Greek and Roman daily life, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Sicily, Roman Emperors, mummy portraits, and Greek and Roman ceramics and glass.

Bertie Pearce makes a welcome return to examine the fascination with magic from the beginning of time. Where there was power there was magic. Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that 'the hand is quicker than the eye'.

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. Egypt was the cradle of magic. Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions for the edification of worship and to hold power over the people. Where there was power there was magic. Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’. Magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ lest they by sentenced to death for ‘witchraft and conjuration’ under the edicts of Henry V111. With the emergence of the Music Hall, Magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked in their thousands to watch the extraordinary feats of The Great Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion is a whistle stop tour of the history of mystery from 3000bc to the 21st century and be careful! – you might be amazed and bewitched.

Chris Aslan lived with nomadic yak herders for three years. His lecture will be on his experiences with this enigmatic people, their lives, beliefs and their little known textile cultures.

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey (hence the name Aslan) and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge, and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came a couple more years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford, and is now based in Cambridge, but with plans to move to North Cyprus. When he’s not lecturing for The Arts Society, he writes. His latest book, Unravelling the Silk Road, is published by Icon Books. Chris also takes tours to Central Asia, returning whenever he can, having left a large chunk of his heart out there. 

Since the 18th century women have played an important, but often anonymous role in the process of ceramic manufacture. Never acknowledged as individual artists or designers until the late Victorian period. Then a revolution took place. By the early 20th century, women were working as named designers and from the 1920's were creating the industry's look and style. Women such as Charlotte Rhead and Clarice Cliff became household names. Today the work of ceramicists such as Susan Williams-Ellis and Emma Bridgewater are vital in keeping the Potteries on the map.

Paul was born in London in April 1945. His mother Audrey Atterbury was a puppeteer with the BBC. Known for her work with the programmes Andy Pandy, Bill & Ben the Flowerpot Men, the Wooden Tops and other children's series. His father, Rowley Atterbury, was a typographer and printer who set up the innovative Westerham Press.

​Educated at Westminster School in London, the London School of Printing and the University of East Anglia, where he graduated with a BA degree in Art History. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Keele.

​In 1990 he was invited to join the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow team of experts and has been a familiar face on the programme ever since.

Paul has written or edited over 50 books on art, antiques, ceramics, silver, sculpture, canals, railways, travel and the First World War. At one point he was Britain’s best selling railway writer.

Over the last forty years Paul has given well over 2000 lectures to societies, groups, universities, museums, galleries and other institutions all over Britain, and in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Paul has curated many exhibitions for museums and galleries, including several for the V&A in London.

Emma Johnson is described by The Times as Britain's favourite clarinettist. She looks at snippets from Mozart's A Musical Joke and Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, also taking in along the way foortage of Charlie Chaplin, Dudley Moore and Victor Borge to uncover the techniques composers use to make us chortle.

Be prepared to hear Malcolm Arnold’s Grand Overture for Three Vacuum Cleaners, a Floor Polisher and Four Rifles!

With 30 CDs to her name, Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinettists to have performed as a soloist all over the world. She also enjoys giving talks about music - Woodwind Wizardry and The Poet John Milton were both broadcast by BBC radio and she has lectured about composers Gerald Finzi and Malcolm Arnold for the internet company Tonebase, as well as about Schubert and Brahms for Martin Randall Travel.

Johnson studied Music and English at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, where she was the first woman to be made an Honorary Fellow. She was honoured by the Queen with an MBE in 1996.

From cathedrals to churches, cottages to coastlines we are never very far from a place John Piper has painted, written about or undertaken a commission for. One of the most versatile British artists of the twentieth century - painter, designer, stained glass artist, photographer and writer onthe arts - a man of many parts.

From cathedrals to churches, cottages to coastlines we are never very far from a place John Piper has painted, written about or undertaken a commission for. One of the most versatile British artists of the twentieth century – painter, designer, stained glass artist, photographer and writer on the arts – a man of many parts.

The extraordinary story of the rebuilding of the Cathedral as a symbol of peace and reconciliation and its inspiring commitment to the modern. Experience the work of many of the world-class artists associated with its treasures including Jacob Epstein, Elisabeth Frink, John Piper and Graham Sutherland. 

Alexandra Epps is an Accredited Lecturer for The Arts Society and Guide and Lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the Guildhall Art Gallery. A qualified Guide to the City of London offering walks and talks about many aspects of the arts. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association. Alexandra’s background is in design having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years

Jo Banham, a curator and lecturer gives us an insight into William Morris who was a man of prodigious energy, talent and versatility. He is best known today for his wallpapers and textiles.

His firm, Morris & Co., was the foremost decorating company of his day. His over-arching passions were a love of art and making, and a hatred for what he perceived as the greed and inequality that characterised contemporary society.

This lecture reviews Morris’s life, ideas and achievements, exploring not only the highlights of his career but also his relationships with his wife Jane, and other artists and designers with whom he worked, and the reasons why he is still so important and influential today.

Jo Banham is a freelance curator, lecturer and writer. From 2006-2016 she was Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and before that Head of Learning and Access at the National Portrait Gallery, and Head of Public Programmes at Tate Britain. She has also been Curator of Leighton House and Assistant Keeper at the Whitworth Art Gallery. Jo has published on many aspects of Victorian and early 20th century decoration and interiors. She is currently curating an exhibition on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement for the Juan March Fundacion in Madrid and the Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya in Barcelona. She is also Director of the Victorian Society Summer School.

Author and lecturer Jacky Klein in this talk reveals Perry's techniques and sources, his favourite themes & subjects, and the diverse artworks he has produced.

Jacky Klein is an art historian, publisher, writer and broadcaster, specialising in modern and contemporary art. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, she worked as a curator at a number of leading galleries: Tate, the Barbican, the Courtauld and the Hayward. In 2008, she moved sideways into the world of art publishing, first as Commissioning Editor at Thames & Hudson, then as Executive Editor at Tate Publishing and subsequently as Director of HENI Publishing, a small independent arts publisher. She is the author herself of a bestselling book on British artist Grayson Perry (Thames & Hudson, 3rd edition 2020) and co-author of a number of other titles including Alfred Cohen: An American Artist in Europe (Ben Uri Gallery / Alfred Cohen Art Foundation, 2020), Body of Art (Phaidon, 2015) and What is Contemporary Art?  (Thames & Hudson, 2012), a children's guide to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which has been translated into 11 languages. 

Jacky has presented and contributed to a range of television programmes for the BBC, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's arts review programme, 'Front Row'. She has appeared on Channel 5, the Travel Channel and Bloomberg TV, and has written and presented a number of online films and livestreams for Tate, Christie's and the Art Fund. She regularly delivers digital talks including Zoom lectures, ‘Instagram Live’ events and Crowdcast broadcasts which have reached live audiences of many thousands of people across the world. An experienced lecturer in museums, galleries and at literary festivals, she has taught at a number of arts institutions including University College London, Christie’s Education, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts. A public and passionate advocate for the arts, she is a Trustee of the UK Association for Art History, and is currently Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute on their Masters programme, 'Curating the Art Museum'.

This lecture looks at western bookbinding, in particular during the age of the printed book. Aspects of the book trade, including bookbinding practices and materials used in bindings are shown and, as structure and decoration changed as the centuries passed, the individual binders’ fingers tell their own tale as the craft developed. The bookbinding trade has long recycled waste materials, some of which may be more valuable than the books themselves. Bookbindings also provide an insight into the owner’s wealth and station in life, as books were bought unbound and bindings were therefore generally chosen by the first owner until the 19th century.

Caroline Bendix is a library conservator, accredited through the Institute of Conservation, who has worked on over 500 collections in the UK and abroad, including St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, advising on all aspects of books’ care in situ.   She has written three of the British Library’s guides on preservation and in 2019 was awarded the Plowden Medal for her “outstanding work in developing in-situ library conservation”.   Since 1992 she has been the National Trust’s Adviser on Libraries Conservation, the adviser and trainer for The Arts Society’s Heritage Volunteers projects and is on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s advisory panel for Lambeth Palace Library.

This lecture lifts the lid on the surprising world of spells, amulets, charms and miraculous objects which operated throughout the diverse regions of the vast Byzantine commonwealth. How and why were these intriguing artefacts being used and what do they tell us about the citizens at the centre and at the edge of this powerful Christian empire? We journey from 4th century Syria to 14th century Trebizond to discover their secrets.

Helen Dejean is an established iconographer, independent teacher and accredited Arts Society lecturer, specialising in Byzantine and Late Medieval Italian art. She holds a Masters degree in each of these subjects from The Courtauld, where she is currently reading for a PhD in Byzantine art history. For many years, Helen has taught within the adult education sector, combining art history with traditional panel painting practice. She is the owner of two businesses through which she has delivered courses in the UK, Italy and Sinai and undertaken numerous devotional art commissions for churches and cathedrals worldwide. Previous roles include Icon Cataloguer for a leading London Russian art auction house.

The Maya lived in Central America between 1000 B.C. and 1528 at which time they were conquered by the Spaniards. The peak of their civilization was between 300 and 900 AD. During that time, they built enormous monuments, produced jade and ceramic items of great beauty and developed a calendar that was far more advanced than anything in Europe at the time. They had an advanced understanding of mathematics and astronomy and developed a hieroglyphic script which scholars are beginning to decipher, allowing us to understand their achievements much more fully.

Duncan Pring was educated at Oxford (BA, MA) and London (MA, Ph.D) universities. PhD thesis on “The Preclassic Ceramics of Northern Belize”. 

Subsequent articles in academic journals, mainly on Mayan ceramics. 

The Protoclassic in the Maya Lowlands published in 2000 by British Archaeological Reports.

Joint author in chapter 4 of Pre-Mamom Pottery Variations and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya. University Press of Colorado 2023 

Whilst a great deal is known to many about the Greeks, the Romans and even the Egyptians, the great ancient civilisations of the New World (The Maya, the Aztecs and the Incas) are much less well known. My focus is on the Maya, arguably the greatest of the 3, who achieved remarkably high levels of civilisation in the inhospitable jungles of Central America. I attempt to provide a geographic context, give some details about their timescale, and highlight their numerous achievements and their way of life.

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 Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'. Lectures are always tailored to include local and regional examples which reflect the unique distinctiveness of our inland waterways.

Roger Butler is a landscape architect and an experienced writer, photographer and lecturer. He has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of our canal network and worked on some of the UK’s major canal restoration projects. He has also acted as a consultant to bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

He regularly contributes to waterway and heritage magazines and writes and provides images for a range of countryside and outdoor titles. Roger is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute. He lives near Stratford upon Avon and lectures to groups such as the National Trust, RSPB, U3A, history societies, etc. across the Midlands and further afield.

The commission to produce jewellery for the series and film Downton Abbey inspired Andrew to create a talk based on this unique period. Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case. In his talk, Andrew guides you through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence. Along with this, he illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

Andrew Prince has had a passion for jewellery since he was a small child. In fact his enthusiasm can be traced back to the time when, at the age of three, he swallowed one of his mother’s pearl earrings having found her jewel box hidden from him in a cupboard. The very first piece of jewellery he created was a ring made of copper wire pulled from the back of a television. He presented it to his grandmother (it turned her finger green and gave her a rash). He then created a necklace for his mother using beads taken off her wedding dress (she was not at all happy).

In 1980, when he was nine, Andrew's mother took him to the Princely Magnificence exhibition at the V&A, exhibiting Renaissance jewels dating from 1500 to 1630. It proved a revelation. Dazzled by the splendour and opulence of the jewels on show, Andrew decided then and there that creating jewellery was what he wanted to devote his life to. His passion for jewellery grew when, in 1984 on his first ever visit to Bond Street, Andrew viewed an exhibition by Castellani and Giulianoe at Wartski & Co’s. While there, he was allowed to handle beautiful 18th century gold boxes and magnificent imperial Russian pieces by Fabergé. In 1987, just before leaving school, he took time off to visit Geneva to view the astonishing Sotheby’s auction of the Duchess of Windsor's jewellery collection. Here, for the first time, he held pieces created by some of the world's greatest jewellers, fashioned from only the finest of stones and set in designs of outstanding quality. For the young Andrew, it was a life-changing experience.

In August of that year, two weeks after his 16th birthday, Andrew started work in London’s Bond Street, working for The Antiques Roadshow expert Ian Harris. Under his guidance, Andrew developed an appreciation for jewels that were valued for their quality of design and craftsmanship, rather than for how much the stones in the piece were worth. He then joined the renowned contemporary jeweller Elizabeth Gage and worked with her on the design and production side. Through her and her private collection, Andrew was able to see and handle rare and extraordinary stones with names such as Sphene, Andalusite, Spinel and Dioptase, many of which are far rarer than diamonds. Elizabeth Gage was to have an enormous influence on Andrew's sense of what was possible within the realm of jewellery design.

Andrew's taste for fine 'costume jewellery' can be traced back to an antique market, where he came across a late Victorian brooch set with what he initially thought were emeralds and diamonds. They were, in fact, crystal and green glass set in silver and gold. He realised that beautiful jewellery didn't require expensive stones, and that it was the elegance of the design and the quality of the workmanship that truly mattered. Private commissions then started to trickle in. The trickle turned into a flood, as celebrities such as Michael Jackson (a large crystal and pearl shoulder jewel) and Shirley Bassey (necklaces) were seen wearing Andrew's creations.

In 2002, the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the resplendent Tiaras, Past and Present exhibition which became one of their most popular exhibits. The exposure gained by the show then led to Andrew's jewellery appearing in film.

In 2005, he was asked to make tiaras and jewellery for Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judy Dench. In 2009, pieces were commissioned for The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson. In 2012, he was chosen by the creators of Downton Abbey to supply a large collection of jewellery for the third series. The characters played by Maggie Smith, Shirley Maclaine, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery were all adorned with elegant tiaras, combs, earrings and necklaces designed and created by Andrew Prince.

Few artists are as rooted in a place as Stanley Spencer and his beloved home village of Cookham. This Thames-side village was not only his birthplace, his home for most of his life, and even his nickname, but it dominated his imagination and was the inspiration and location for many of his greatest paintings. This lecture will look at Cookham’s place in Spencer’s art, and how it was central to his unique vision of English domestic and spiritual life.

About Amy Lim

"I am a historian by training. I hold an MA in History from the University of Cambridge, an MSt in Literature and Arts and DPhil in History from the University of Oxford. My doctoral thesis, 'Art in Aristocracy in late Stuart England', researched aristocratic art patronage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, taking in some of England's best-loved country houses, including Chatsworth, Petworth and Burghley. Alongside running 'Amy Lim Art & Antiques', I continue to research and publish as an academic art historian. My articles and essays have appeared in Apollo, The Georgian Group Journal, Art & the Country House, ed. Martin Postle (Paul Mellon Centre, 2020), Furniture History, First World War Studies and British Baroque: Power and Illusion, ed. Tabitha Barber (Tate Publishing, 2020).

"I am Curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, an important and diverse collection of fine and decorative arts that is privately run within a National Trust country house. I am also a freelance researcher and curator, and am currently researching women artists in Britain for the forthcoming exhibition 'Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920', Tate Britain, 16 May-13 October 2024. Previously I worked on the exhibition 'British Baroque: Power and Illusion' (Tate Britain, February-March 2020), and in 2021 was a Junior Teaching Fellow at the Ashmolean Museum. I am a volunteer curator at the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, where I curated 'Mind and Mortality: Stanley Spencer's Final Portraits' (March-October 2021) and 'Most Loved Works in the Stanley Spencer Gallery' (November 2022-March 2023). I am also a member of the Events Committee of the Furniture History Society."

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Brothers Paul Nash (1889-1946) and John Nash (1893-1977) grew up together in Iver, Bucks where they developed a passion for the English countryside. Their budding artistic careers were interrupted by World War One, in which they both served before becoming war artists. To paint their monumental canvases they rented a shed in Chalfont St Peter, and they retained a love of the Chilterns ever after. We will return frequently to the chalk hills in the course of these three lectures, which follow the extraordinary, intertwined careers the brothers enjoyed, pausing here and there to examine important or celebrated works in detail.

James Russell -Having studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, James Russell enjoyed a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that inspired him to begin writing and lecturing on 20th century art. Of his dozen or so books, one was a Sunday Times book of the year, while his writing has been described by critics as 'insightful', 'informative' and 'enjoyably readable'. James has curated major exhibitions at Dulwich Picture Gallery and for museums around the country. He bases his lectures on wide-ranging original research into the subjects that fascinate him.

This entertaining and informative presentation tells of the Mozart family’s residence in London (1764-5) when the 8-yr-old prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus befriended George III, was the subject of medical research by the Royal Society, and composed his first symphony seated at the kitchen table in a small terraced house in the 'country village' of Chelsea. Dr Griffiths illustrates his talk with explanations and performances of Mozart’s witty and precocious miniatures at the piano, if available, or electric keyboard (provided). The presentation also features a helpful and practical guide on How to Listen to Mozart by recognising characteristic Mozartian 'thumb-prints' - clearly audible even in his earliest compositions. The performance of a dazzling Polonaise for piano, by Mozart’s own child-prodigy Franz Xavier, brings the event to an emotional conclusion.

Graham Griffith's experience is wide ranging, including work as a lecturer, conductor, pianist and composer. Qualifications include Music Research Fellow (City, University of London). DPhil., Musicology (Christ Church, Oxford, 2008), PGCE (Cambridge), BMusHons (Edinburgh). 

Guest appearances - BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week (December 2022: BBC Sounds ‘Kashperova Composer of the Week’) and  at ‘St Petersburg International Conservatoires Festival’ performing lost works by Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940) re-discovered by Graham. This research featured in the BBC Radio 3/AHRC celebration Five Forgotten Female Composers on International Women’s Day (8 March 2018). Graham's work has been featured by public service broadcasters in several countries.

Ealing Studios is often hailed as the most quintessentially English of all film studios. Run by Sir Michael Balcon for decades, the studio reached its zenith in 1949, its annus mirabilis, releasing Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore!, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Now most celebrated for these and the similarly magnificent comedies that followed, Ealing's films have a reputation for cosiness, whimsicality, and an ever-so gentle subversiveness. This talk revisits these films and reads them again, this time in the light of the post-war new waves that were beginning to emerge across Europe. Ealing films – like the masterpieces of Italian neo-realism – are films set amongst the ruins, documenting the lives of citizens in bombed cities. Viewed as comedies of rubble, they take on a far more serious set of meanings than their whimsical reputation suggests.

Benedict Morrison is a lecturer in Literature and Film at the University of Exeter. He has recently published a book entitled Complicating Articulation in Art Cinema with Oxford University Press and is now producing works on post-war British comedy films, the response by the arts and humanities to Covid-19, and cultural narratives of extinction. Not surprisingly he loves nothing more than settling down in the darkness of a cinema to enjoy a great film.

J.M.W. Turner was arguably the greatest practitioner in watercolour the world has ever seen and his achievements still represent the benchmark for artists working today. Yet he left frustratingly few written records of his processes and was notoriously reticent about his methods. One brave soul apparently once asked him the key to being a successful artist and it is recorded that he rather grumpily replied ‘The only secret I have is damned hard work’! This lecture examines Turner’s watercolour practice in detail, unlocking the mysteries behind his exceptional effects. In addition to showcasing the diversity and richness of his achievements in the medium, we will look at his experimental approach to techniques and some of his tools and materials

Nicola Moorby is an independent art historian and curator, specialising in British art of the nineteenth century. She studied at the University of York and Birkbeck College, London. Formerly at Tate Britain, she has curated a number of exhibitions including, most recently, Constable: The Dark Side at The Arc, Winchester in 2023. She has published widely,  including as co-editor and author of How to Paint Like Turner (Tate Publishing, 2010) and as a major contributor to the online catalogues of the Turner Bequest and the Camden Town Group. She is an experienced lecturer and regularly teaches short courses at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has appeared as an expert on television and radio including ‘Great Paintings of the World with Andrew Marr’ (2020 and 2021) and ‘Art on the BBC’ (2022). Her forthcoming book about Turner and Constable for Yale University Press will be released in 2025.

Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge has been described as “one of the country’s most intimate and spellbinding museums, the collection of one man and his unerring eye; restorative, homely yet life-changing”. This man was H.S. ‘Jim’ Ede, curator, writer, collector and friend to artists. In1957, he opened his Cambridge home to university students as “a living place where works of art could be enjoyed… unhampered by the greater austerity of the museum or public art gallery.” His collection included works by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska which were carefully placed alongside pieces of furniture, ceramics and natural objects. His cur ated home remains, by and large as he left it, characterised by its unique atmosphere, fascinating juxtapositions and personal connections. This lecture will discuss the life of Jim Ede, his collecting, his vision for Kettles Yard and its enduring legacy. 

This lecture will consider the artistic output of one of the leading textile designers of the 20th Century; Marion Dorn. Dorothy Todd, the influential journalist, but somewhat flawed Editor of the magazine British Vogue, first brought Dorn to the public attention in 1925 and christened Dorn the ‘architect of floors’. Renowned for her ’sculpted rugs’, this lecture will reveal Dorn’s various commissions from the 1920s to the 19060s, which included amongst others, designs for the Savoy Hotel Group in London, Eltham Palace (the former Tudor royal residence that was transformed by the millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld), the London Underground and the White House in Washington DC. In addition to her designs of wall hangings, carpets and rugs, Dorn also produced wallpaper and graphics, having studied graphic design at Stanford University prior to coming to live and work in London. We will explore her extraordinary career and position her place as a designer whose name should be forever enshrined in the history books of British 20th century Art Deco. 

MA Hons Art History, St Andrew's University. Over 30 years of lecturing experience to undergraduates, adult groups, and to Friends and Patrons of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the Adult Education Department's programme of events. Also conducted numerous guided tours and focused gallery talks on individual works of art. Specialises in British Domestic Architecture and Modern British Art. Over 12 years' experience at the Royal Academy. Work experience also undertaken at Bonhams, Art Loss Register, National Trust. Now a freelance art consultant and lecturer. Recently curated a collection for the Lansdowne Club.

Prometheus was a Titan who, according to Greek legend, created the human race and then famously incurred the wrath of Zeus by stealing fire from the gods to preserve it. The punishment that Zeus devised was both cruel and ingenious. This lecture goes back to original sources to re-tell the story, explore the remarkable parallels with Adam and Eve and trace its influence from Reubens to Henry Moore and from Frankenstein, through Great Expectations to the Alien movies. Mary will explore our enduring interest in the ideas that thread their way through the numerous adaptations and reflect on what they reveal about our changing attitudes to religious belief. 

Following our lecture on 30 May we invite you to join us for drinks and canapes. This will give everyone an opportunity to mingle and have a chat. There will be a raffle (cash only)

The long British tradition of political satire is coming to the fore again as a General Election approaches - May 2024 at the latest. At the root of that tradition is William Hogarth’s Election Entertainment series of prints from the 1750s. His ruthless exposure of electoral corruption and hypocrisy sets the stage for later generations of satirists including James Gillray, Private Eye and today’s digital artist Cold War Steve. We will look closely at the Election series, explain Hogarth’s many jokes and references and reveal some themes with surprising topical relevance, from voter identification to the politics of immigration. 

This lecture seeks to provide a balanced insight into the life and achievements of one of the most important women in Chinese Imperial history. 

From relative obscurity as a low-ranking consort we explore the events that led to her confirmation as Dowager Empress Cixi in 1861 and her strategy to preserve, then revitalise, imperial rule after a series of humiliating military defeats by Western Colonial Powers plus several brutal ethnic uprisings. 

We will trace the distinct cycles of Cixi’s power, as Emperors came and went, whilst the Dowager Empress moved periodically from a position of influence to full authority and then into times of enforced retirement. 

Looking beyond Cixi’s desire to force China into the modern world we will gain an insight into her life within her beloved Summer Palace with a focus on her passion for painting, embroidery, fashion design and the extensive gardens. A location where Cixi forged some extraordinarily close relationships with leading western women. 

This is one of the quirkiest lectures you will ever hear. There is a universal delight in being deceived and in this lecture Bertie Pearce takes his audience on a whistle stop tour of art which fools, surprises and amuses the viewer. Beginning and ending with the Belgian surrealist, René Magritte, it encompasses Trompe L’eoil, Banksy, Bridget Riley, Arcimboldo and Escher to name a few. Hold on to your seats and get ready to be visually fried. 

A vast range of sacred and secular music has been inspired by and created for Christmas and there is surely no other musical circumstance where melodies from the Middle Ages sit happily side by side with modern pop numbers. The lecture takes a most enjoyable look at contributions both old and new to the festive season and examines the work of contributors such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Willcocks and John Rutter. We will also discover how some of our best-loved carols have come into existence almost by accident as well as exploring the creativity that goes into making a lasting Christmas Hit. Fully illustrated with musical examples. 

According to one leading architect, “the modern architectural drawing is interesting, the photograph is magnificent, the building is an unfortunate but necessary stage between the two.” 

Architecture + Photography = Art introduces photographers who crystallised the architects’ vision in images that are both works of art in their own right and shape our opinion of the buildings they depict. These photographers include Dell and Wainwright from Britain, Julius Shulman in the United States and Lucien Hervé in France. 

The lecture also examines photographers who recorded rural churches, barns and cottages to create a lyrical vision of Britain. Prominent in this group are Edwin Smith, Frederick Evans and Eric de Maré, a friend and drinking companion of John Betjeman and widely considered to have been the poet’s favourite photographer. 

 The ballet dancers in Garnier’s Opera House, the female spectators in the boxes, and the raucous Café Concert singers on the Champs Elysees form the focus of this talk. High culture rubbing shoulders with popular culture is painted by Degas, Renoir, Manet and the female Impressionist Mary Cassatt. But in exploring Renoir’s La Loge, Degas’s The Star, and his multimedia sculpture Little Dancer of fourteen years, questions arise that undermine preconceived attitudes about the glamour of the ballet at Garnier’s Opera House. The dancers do not seem to be as pretty as they appear on first acquaintance, and the women in the boxes, also on display as part of the spectacle, seem less alluring the more you know about them. Equally, Degas’s raucous Café Concert divas in the Champs Elysees, the idols of the urban crowd, are also explored and modernity turns out to be a far more complicated issue than initially assumed. 

While many English gardeners have visited China to “collect” plants, few have gone to look for gardens. The Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship Scheme funded this six-week trip to visit gardens and meet gardeners, with a view to building bridges between Chinese & English horticulture. In addition to examining gardens and gardening, this talk looks at some of the wider cultural aspects of a country full of contradictions, and some wonderful food, and the very welcoming people.

From the early Kosovan silver mines which are mentioned in Dante, through the twentieth century politics over Kosovo’s mines which resulted in both a war and a golf course, a silver thread winds through Kosovo’s history. Its most intricate tanglings are in the country’s cultural capital, Prizren, where a seventh generation of filigree artisans use ‘filum’ and ‘granum’, zigzags, ‘mouse-tooth’ designs and other twists and turns to magic lacy creations from dull sticks of raw material. The results – in boxes, buttons, jewellery, religious ornamentation and the talismans of superstition – are a fine narrative of Kosovo’s history and traditions.

This is a general lecture which looks at the history of silver (particularly British) and examines the history of both hallmarks and goldsmiths. It examines the way in which the history of silver reflects the more general social history of England. It is a broad survey of the changing role of silver in society, as well as an examination of different fashions and styles. It focusses on some of the leading figures in the history of the silver trade as well as looking at the role of the Goldsmith’s Company in promoting and protecting the craft. It can serve as a separate lecture or form part of a study day with the lectures on Royal Silver and George Wickes.

Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. Since the brutal murder of the last tsar and his family in a Siberian basement, these eggs have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: both supreme examples of the jeweller’s art and the vulgar playthings of a decadent court. After going missing in the Revolution, most of the eggs re-emerged in the store-rooms of the Kremlin, where they were immediately identified as a source of much-needed foreign exchange. Their subsequent history holds up a mirror to the twentieth century and encompasses Bolsheviks and entrepreneurs, tycoons and heiresses, con-men and queens. Eggs have been sold and smuggled, stolen and forged. Now, as they return to Russia, their history – like that of Russia itself – seems to have come full circle. Then there are the eight eggs which remain missing. What prospect is there that they will ever emerge, and if they do, will anyone believe that they are genuine? Toby Faber wrote Fabergé’s Eggs: One Man’s Masterpieces and the End of an Empire, described by P.D. James as a ‘fascinating story which combines unique decorative art, contemporary culture, history and the murder of the Romanovs with the excitement of a crime novel’. The lecture is illustrated with pictures of the eggs today and their owners, and with archival material showing some of the missing eggs.

Bilbao in Spain had been producing iron for centuries, drawing in workers from all over the country. Its rapid industrialisation in the nineteenth century was helped in no little measure by British capital and entrepreneurship. By 1985, it was all over. But the rise, heyday and fall of the Bilbaoan iron industry has been fixed forever in oils, water colours and bronze. In this lecture, he first shows how iron is turned into steel, illustrating the equipment used and explaining the processes involved. He then introduces the artistic works which have recorded the iron and steel industry of Bilbao over the last 150 years and the viewer is thus equipped to identify and understand the activities represented.