MAY 15th

MARK R. CORBY
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MONASTERIES
The greatest act of artistic vandalism in English history

In the spring of 1536 England possessed nearly 850 abbeys, priories, friaries and nunneries. Within four years the artistic and architectural heritage of Medieval England had been swept away in an orgy of destruction unparalleled in English history. This lecture will attempt to recall and evaluate what was lost in terms of architecture and religious art during this cataclysmic event.

Mark Corby is a freelance lecturer in history and architecture and occasional lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College, London. He has presented historical documentaries on TV and is a guest lecturer on cruises.

JUNE 19th

CLARE FORDE WILLE
VERMEER: THE LAST GREAT MASTER OF THE DUTCH GOLDEN AGE?

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), renowned for his exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life, lived in Delft all his life. His earliest works are influenced by Caravaggio's followers in Utrecht, such as Hendrikter Brugghen, and he may have gained an interest in optical phenomena and the effects of the Camera Obscura from Carel Fabritius, who was in Delft between 1650 and 1654. In 1653 he became a master in the Delft painters' guild. He did not make a living from his paintings, possibly because he painted so few – just 35 are known to exist, and he produced only two or three a year. He died insolvent, leaving his wife and 11 surviving children destitute.

Clare Forde Wille has lectured on many areas of European art, architecture and sculpture for over thirty years, primarily for the University of London and the National Gallery. Other regular commitments include courses and lectures for Morley College, the City Literary Institute, the V & A Museum, The Art Fund, the National Trust, Wandsworth Prison and NADFAS. She writes articles for The Art Newspaper, Encarta and The Companion Guide to European Art. During the summer months Clare teaches at various summer schools for Cambridge and London Universities and takes groups abroad for leading art tour companies.

SEPTEMBER 18th

BARRY VENNING
CHARLES SAATCHI: A MODERN MEDICI?

The lecture plots the rise of Charles Saatchi as an advertising magnate and tastemaker and discusses the notorious Sensation exhibition, more recent exhibitions, his gallery in London and his effect on artistic reputations.

Barry Venning is author of books on Constable (1992) and Turner (2003). Graduating with an MA in the History of Art (Courtauld) he has been an Associate lecturer for the Open University since 1986, teaching advanced courses on Modern Art, Italian Renaissance and "Art and its Histories". Between 1982 and 1990 he was visiting lecturer at Kent University, whilst from 1987 until 1992 he was a part-time lecturer at the Chelsea College of Art. Since 1992 he has been a lecturer in Art History at Brooklands College for Further and Higher Education in Weybridge.

OCTOBER 16th

ANTHEA STREETER
CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH

The lecture traces the somewhat chequered career of the inspirational post- Victorian architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868- 1928), looking at his major architectural commissions and interiors, as well as his less well-known watercolours.

Anthea Streeter's special interest is architecture and design in the 20th century. She began studying Fine and Decorative Arts in London and continued her studies at Harvard University. Since returning from America she has taught courses in Oxford and London and lectured at the Country House Course in Sussex.

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NOVEMBER 20th
A.G.M. 2.00 p.m.

Followed by

FRANCES HUGHES
‘A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES’: THE LIFE AND ART OF THOMAS ROWLANDSON
Artist and Caricaturist (1756-1827)

Thomas Rowlandson, the son of a successful wool and silk merchant, was born in Old Jewry, in the City of London. After attending Eton he became a student at the Royal Academy in 1772. He lived for two years in Paris and later made frequent tours to the Continent. In 1777 Rowlandson opened a studio in Wardour Street where he established himself as a portrait painter. He was a heavy gambler and after losing the money he inherited from a rich aunt, paid his debts with drawings of popular and low-life subjects.

Frances Hughes taught for 38 years, 18 as Head Teacher. She is now a freelance lecturer in Art and Theatre
History. She is Chairman of the Irving Society and of the Henry Irving Foundation.

Information about Christmas celebration to be posted shortly.

JANUARY 15th

ELIZABETH RUMBELOW
A CELEBRATION OF THE SEASONS IN ART, POETRY AND MUSIC

The lecture celebrates the four Seasons in Art, Poetry and Music worldwide, using paintings from Europe, America, Asia and Australia, poetry ranging from the sixth to the twentieth century and music as diverse as Prokofiev’s joyous Sleigh Ride and Spring in Buenos Aires by the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

Elizabeth Rumbelow has an honours degree in English (Bristol University) and in Music (University of London). She studied Old Icelandic at the University of Copenhagen, having gained a Churchill Foundation Scholarship. After experience in advertising and journalism, her main career has been teaching, culminating in the post of Head of English at Guildford High School. Her speciality is the inter-relationship of the arts, especially painting, music and drama.

JANUARY 17th

HILARY WILLIAMS
DÜRER: GRAPHIC ARTIST OF PURE GENIUS
The great painter and printmaker of the Northern Renaissance

Albrecht Dürer: born 21 May 1471, died 6 April 1528. Son of a Hungarian goldsmith who had emigrated to Germany in 1455, Dürer lived most of his life in Nuremberg. His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium. Durer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art have secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.

FEBRUARY 21st

CAROLINE KNIGHT
INIGO JONES
Architect and Designer at the Early Stuart Court

Inigo Jones (1573-1652) was court designer and architect to James I and Charles I. The self-taught son of a Smithfield clothmaker, almost nothing is known about his early life or education. Having studied Palladio’s buildings he designed sophisticated Italianate buildings such as the Banqueting House, Whitehall, and the Queen’s House, Greenwich. He also made major contributions to stage design through his work as theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson.

Caroline Knight is an architectural historian, specialising in British and Italian architecture, combined with social history and the history of travel. She is author of London's Country Houses (published by Phillimore Press 2009, republished 2010) and co-author of A History of Kensington Palace, as well as being a contributor to a variety of academic journals. She has lectured for NADFAS for several years and teaches and lectures at the Royal Oak Foundation in the USA, Courtauld Institute of Art Summer Schools, and elsewhere. She has a long-standing involvement with Chiswick House, and is currently a member of their Advisory panel.

MARCH 20th

DR PAUL ROBERTS
WHISPERING WALLS
Daily life as art in Roman wall painting

The Romans painted directly on the walls of their rooms and also on portable panels. Domestic interiors were claustrophobic, windowless and dark, so the Romans used painted decoration to visually open up and lighten their living spaces. Technical elements of Roman painting include the fresco technique, brightly coloured backgrounds, division of the wall into multiple rectangular areas, multi-point perspective and trompe-l'oeil effects.

Since 1994 Dr Paul Roberts has been Curator of Roman Archaeology in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum. He holds degrees in Classics from the University of Cambridge and Classical Archaeology from Sheffield University. Dr Roberts has excavated in Britain, Libya, Turkey, Greece and Italy. He has lectured extensively to groups in Britain and abroad, including the British and American Friends of the British Museum. He has accompanied tours to Sicily, the Bay of Naples and Rome.

APRIL 17th

DR SUSAN KAY-WILLIAMS
THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF NEEDLEWORK
Celebrating 140 years: yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Dr Susan Kay-Williams is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) which is a charity dedicated to teaching, practising and promoting the art of hand embroidery in the 21st century.  The RSN began as the School of Art Needlework in 1872 founded by Lady Victoria Welby. The first President was Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Queen Victoria's third daughter. The founding principles of the RSN were two-fold: to revive a beautiful art which had fallen into disuse and, through its revival, to provide employment for educated women who, without a suitable livelihood, would otherwise find themselves compelled to live in poverty.