MORNING LECTURES
All our monthly talks are free to members of The Arts Society Moor Park. They take place at Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip HA4 7QL, on the third Wednesday of each month except December, July and August, and are streamed simultaneously live online via Zoom. A unique Zoom link is emailed to members on the day before each talk.
Non-members are welcome to attend - there's no need to pre-book, please just come along; the price of £10 per non-member per lecture is treated as a donation and is payable on the door.
We encourage those attending in person to arrive from 10.15 for complimentary refreshments and socialising and ask that you be seated in the auditorium by 10.50. The lecture will begin promptly at 11 o'clock.
Ice and Imagination
20 May 2026 at 10:00:00
Sledging by Edward Wilson - detail, 1902
Speaker:
Katherine MacInnes
PLEASE NOTE: THIS LECTURE REPLACES 'THE FEMALE GAZE' ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED
This lecture explores how Antarctica was carried home – not in crates of specimens, but in images. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, during the Heroic Age of polar exploration, watercolourists, oil painters, photographers and early film-makers translated the white vastness of the Ice for the wives and mothers waiting in Britain. The wind cutting like glass. The silence. The blinding, horizonless white.
What did Antarctica mean to them, standing there at the edge of the known world? And what does it mean to us now? Through the expeditions of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton – and through the work of their official and unofficial artists – we will explore how art shaped the continent in the public imagination.
David Niven and Friends
17 June 2026 at 10:00:00
David Niven
Speaker:
Richard Burnip
Today we explore Niven's remarkable life and career in cinema, from movie extra to Hollywood Institution, with an examination of his enduring place in public affection.
His charm, wit, and dashing persona earned him roles in classic films and ultimately an Academy Award. But he was also a writer and he had a notable military career during the Second World War.
There was much more to this unique actor than a moustache and a smile.
Auguste Rodin and 19th Century Sculpture
16 September 2026 at 10:00:00
The Walking Man by Rodin, 1907
Speaker:
David Worthington
Rodin is one of the heroic figures of 19th century art history and was internationally celebrated during his lifetime. This lecture by David Worthington surveys his work, showing why he is one of the greatest sculptors ever, looking at his work in relationship to 19th century sculpture as well assessing his continuing relevance.
Smoke and Mirrors - Velazquez and Las Meninas
21 October 2026 at 10:00:00
Las Meninas by Velázquez, 1656
Speaker:
Ronnie Ireland
The painting known as Las Meninas, by Diego Velázquez, is a seeming "snapshot" of an insignificant moment in the day of the court - and yet .....
Called "a treatise on painting" and its creator "the Prince of Painters", it has been marvelled at, written about, copied and loved since it was made.
In today’s lecture Ronnie Ireland will try to unwrap for us at least some of the mystery surrounding this unparallelled achievement.
Notre Dame de Paris
18 November 2026 at 11:00:00
Notre-Dame de Paris by Maximilien Luce, 1900 - detail
Speaker:
Carole Petipher
In December 2024, The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris reopened after the devastating fire that had threatened to destroy it five years earlier. Despite the enormity of the task, there was never any doubt as to whether to restore or not; such is the power of this building in the psyche of the French people.
In this lecture our Speaker, Carole Petipher, explores the cultural significance of Notre-Dame through the ages and what makes it so special.