LECTURE PROGRAMME 2010
Monday, 25 January
Punch and Judy - A subversive symbol from Commedia Dell' Arte to the Present Day
Mr. Punch - the most famous puppet character of all times. His anarchic vitality has inspired opera, ballet and punk rock and his enduring popularity has seen his likeness on goods ranging from Victorian silverware to computer video games. Appearing in England in 1662, Punch is descended from the Italian Clown Pulcinella of the 15th Century Commedia Dell'Arte traditon. Even today "This Lord of Misrule" uses his slapstick to dispense with oppressive authority, be it politicians, political Correctness or the devil, while proclaiming his notorious refrain: "That's the way we do it!"
By Bertie Pearce
Monday, 22 February
Journey across the Himalayas
The highest mountain range in the world, the Himalaya is revered by many as the "abode of the gods". This lecture will focus on the Buddhist area of the Himalayas, the once spiritual domain of Tibetian culture and religion. It will explore the kingdoms of Ladakh, Zanskar, Spiti, Lahoul, Nepal, Mustang, Bhutan and their spiritual heartland of Tibet. Many of these countries lay on the ancient trade routes connecting India with Central Asia and became important centres of Buddhist art and culture, housing vast respositories of sacred art in their monasteries and temples.
By Zara Fleming
Special Event
Kindly sponsored by NADFAS/UK
Friday, 05 March
King George III: the most cultured monarch, art collector, friend of America and family man
George III is injustly remembered soley as having been mad and having lost the American colonies. The lecture corrects this impression. He was a discerning art collector, patron of the arts and artists, friend of America and Americans, and a committed family man. He was also a keen architect who added the future Buckingham Palace to the Royal residences, and reinhabited Windsor Castle. The lecture discribes his life, family and wide interests, his patronage of the arts, his important additions to the Royal Collection and his relationship with North America and Americans.
By Oliver Everett
Monday, 26 April
Art Inspired by Wine
This lecture examines paintings of wine being made and being consumed in celebration since the time of Noah as well as looking at the contribution that "wine art" makes to our colourful world. Who was not marvelled at the creativity and beauty of wine labels? Who would forget the wonderful artwork of Ronald Searle that adorned Oddbins' catalogues for many years? This lecture also draws upon many other illuminating images and literary quotations. "Life without art is like dinner without wine. Why bother?" (Thomas Arvid)
By John Ericson
Monday, 31 May
The Identification of Oriental Rugs and Carpets
Collectores like to be able to attribute names to their pieces. Making an identification of a rug or carpet by a pattern or design alone can be unsafe: the main name groups only are identified visually by design. By learning how a rug was constucted and from what materials, will allow the collector to make an objective assessment as to where the rug was made. The manner of weaving a rug was handed down from one generation to the next. Customs and methods of construction differed from area to area, thus recognising construction methods is essential to making a proper attribution. General dating of rugs by the dyes used is addressed; and carpets in their historical context in the Western World over the century are covered.
By Robert Gowland
Monday, 28 June
The National Gallery, London: A selection of paintings and the stories beind them
Unlike most other national galleries in the world, the National Gallery in London did not start by absorbing a Royal Collection. It therefore had to begin at the beginning and acquire works by other means. This lecture looks at a selection of paintings - their subject matter, the artist who painted them and the stories behind the paintings. We shall work in chronological order through the galleries from Early Italian to Impressionism.
By Linda Collins
Monday, 27 September
The Glories of Winchester Cathedral
Founded in the seventh century, later rebuilt after the Norman conquest and then remodelled as a Gothic cathedral, Winchester is one of England's greatest buildings. The Cathedral's treasures include the Norman transepts, the English perpendicular nave and the Quire, with its monastic carvings and misericords. Its memorials include those of William of Wykeham, Isaak Walton and Jane Austen, while its art treasures include late twentieth-century work that reflects a living tradition of worship and reflection. Professor Michael Wheeler, who was formerly a Lay Canon and member of Chapter of the Cathedral, explores the relationship between that living tradition and the visual arts.
By Michael Wheeler
Monday, 25 October
Moonlight and Nightingales: German Romantics 1740-1840
Germany's golden age spanned the years either side of 1800, from the Rococo period through the Enlightenment to Romanticism. Goethe's life and work are at the heart of this great cultural flowering, when German composers, artists, architects, garden designers and poets poured out a glorious response to Reason and Nature. Caspar David Friedrich bred a kind of silent ecstasy in his paintings of land, sea and moonscapes. Carl Wilhelm Kolbe shows myserious figueres in a setting of heroic vegetation. Karl Friedrich Schinkel transformed the face of Berlin and Potsdam with his visionary buildings in noble settings. Schubert in his Winterreise, Goethe watching the eruption of Vesuvius, and Prince Albert listening to the song of the nightingale are all aspects of this veneration of Nature.
By Steven Desmond
Monday, 29 November
The Life and Times of Nell Gwynn
-
Nell Gwynn's (1650-87) 17year relationship with King Charles II is one of the greatest love stories in English history. Comic actress, court jester, enfant terrible, Nell was the only royal mistress ever to increase her monarch's popularity. Charles's reign marked the start of the modern era in England (newspaper, tea and coffee, party politics, one-parent families, and the royal walkabouts) and furnishes many parallels with our own times, both politically and socially. Fanaticism threatened to engulf the country, but the King's bond with the people - symbolized by his love for Nell Gwynn - saved the day.
By Charles Beauclerk
