Imperial Calcutta

Calcutta was the second city of the British Empire and a hub of cultural and artistic production throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.  The lecture provides an overview of the arts (poetry, theatre, literature, song) and architecture of this extraordinary city, that was India’s capital until 1911.  At the epicentre of the ‘Bengal renaissance’, Calcutta played a central role in shaping the arts and culture of modern India.  A huge variety of artists sought to interpret India’s classical heritage in new ways and to combine this heritage with Western cultural forms.  In the lecture how Calcutta’s arts and architecture were affected by British rule is examined, and the fascinating ways in which Indian artists viewed the British in India are explored.

"Tom Thomson and the ‘Group of Seven’: Painters Inspired by the Canadian Landscape"

Reception: 
Drinks will be served in the Main Hall at Moor Park Mansion.  

Lecture: 
From 1912 Tom Thomson and  the ‘Group of Seven’ revolutionised Canadian painting.  Some were war artists who went on to produce wonderful portraits and townscapes, but all were  inspired by the Canadian landscape and the wilderness to the ‘north’.  The early focus was on Algonquin Park near Toronto – into which Tom Thompson mysteriously disappeared in 1917.  The others continued throughout the 1920s and 1930s and moulded the way Canadians looked at their land.  The talk will discuss the main artists within the group  (including FH Varley, Lawren Harris and AY Jackson) and show many of their defining paintings.
 

For those who have also booked Dinner: 
After the lecture you are invited to join our Chairman for her three course retirement dinner.  There is a choice of starters, main courses and desserts.  Please select from the attached form and return with your cheque by 25 May 2020.  We are delighted to say that the lecture and dinner will be accompanied by classical guitarist Charlie Reston.  

Black tie is optional for the evening.