29 Sep

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2021

The Honourable and Dishonourable Art of Acting

From Rogues to Knights

Speaker: 

Malcolm Jones

Actors were often seen in the past as rogues and vagabonds. The start of the 20th century established the actor as an 'honourable' profession with the knighthood of Sir Henry Irving. The great generation of actors emerged including John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans.

20 Oct

WEDNESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2021

Ups and Downs in the Lives of the Impressionists

The Seine - the 'Cradle of Impressionism'

Speaker: 

Carole Petipher

The Impressionists are nowadays world renowned and we are used to their works fetching huge sums of money at Auction. Yet when they were starting out it was quite a different matter as they dared to challenge the art world. Their escapades and attempts to gain recognition are quite a story.

17 Nov

WEDNESDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2021

Gaudi and Barcelona

Kitsch or Genius?

Speaker: 

Clyde Binfield

This lecture focuses on Antoni Gaudi, an outstanding creative architect whose work is immediately recognisable. It begins with Barcelona, cosmopolitan, European, and Catalonian. It explores the myths around Gaudi himself and then concentrates on his major buildings and patrons. Is his work kitsch, or genius, or both at once?

19 Jan

WEDNESDAY 19 JANUARY 2022

Sir Christopher Wren

Rebuilding the City of London

Speaker: 

Janet Gough

Starting at the Monument to the Great Fire of London designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, Janet Gough uses Wren’s buildings to tell the story of the incredible rebuilding of London after the badly-handled Plague and disastrous Great Fire of 1666.

16 Feb

WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2022

Barbara Hepworth

Her Life and Career

Speaker: 

Linda Smith

Barbara Hepworth is one of the most significant names in twentieth-century sculpture. Her work is enormously popular and widely exhibited. This talk looks at her life and career, emphasising her incredible talent as a carver and her instinctive feel for her materials. It also charts how her work moved away from the human figure towards more abstract subjects.

16 Mar

WEDNESDAY 16 MARCH 2022

A Decorative Art

The History of Wallpaper

Speaker: 

Joanna Banham

Often regarded as the most ephemeral and least precious of home decorations, we examine how wallpapers were used within grand and more ordinary homes.

20 Apr

WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL 2022

Coventry Cathedral

Icon and Inspiration

Speaker: 

Alexandra Epps

The extraordinary story of the rebuilding of the Cathedral as a symbol of peace and reconciliation and its inspiring commitment to the modern.

18 May

WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 2022

John Peter Russell

The Lost Impressionist

Speaker: 

Lucrezia Walker

John Peter Russell, the lost Impressionist, was a friend of van Gogh, and an artist regarded by Rodin as equal to Monet, Renoir and Matisse.

15 Jun

WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2022

The GPO Film Unit

The Birth of the Documentary Film

Speaker: 

Howard Smith

The birth of documentary films in the 1930s, through the experimental Soviet era to the 129 films produced by the GPO Film Unit in seven years, including 'Night Mail' with poetry by W H Auden and music by Benjamin Britten.