Charles Dickens (1812-1870) needs no introduction.  His novels documented the real life of both ordinary people and the upper classes and the daily social issues of the Victorian era. His work created a social conscience that had a great effect on the genre painters such as his life-long friend William Powell Frith.

Born in 1819 in North Yorkshire, William Powell Frith moved to London in 1835, attending Sass’s Academy and the Royal Academy Schools. He started his career as a portrait painter and in the 1840s often based his work on the literary output of writers. Influenced by the domestic subjects painted by Sir David Wilkie his paintings became increasingly complex, depicting the full range of the Victorian class system, meeting and interacting in public places. Queen Victoria purchased 40 of Frith's paintings making him an instant success. One of his best known paintings is The Railway Station.

William Powell Frith, The Railway Station, (detail) 1862. Reproduced courtesy of Royal Holloway, University of London.

Mark Bills took over as curator at Watts Gallery in 2006 when Richard Jeffries retired after 21 years. He studied at the Slade School of Art and at Birmingham and Manchester Universities and has a wide knowledge of 19th century art, having worked at the Museum of London, English Heritage and Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. His published works include books on Watts and William Powell Frith. He lectures widely in museums and galleries in London and elsewhere.

Watts Gallery was opened in 1904 to house the studio collection of George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817-1904). The collection contains more than 1,000 works of art including portraits, landscapes, symbolist paintings, sculptures and drawings, as well as pottery by the artist’s wife, Mary Seton Watts. Great social philanthropists, George and Mary Watts left the Gallery to the nation. As a result of the Watts Gallery Hope Project launched in 2004, the gallery has undergone considerable renovation, with the addition of two new temporary exhibition spaces, the Showcase Gallery and the Exhibitions Gallery, as well as an outer workshop, equipped with a kiln, for a Learning Department.

From 19 June – to 28 October 2012, there will be an exhibition titled Dickens and the Artists in the new Exhibitions Gallery. Charles Dickens was a very visual writer and Dickens and the Artists will explore the significant connection between Charles Dickens and visual art. The exhibition will be divided into two sections: Dickens as Art Critic and The Influence of Dickens on Artists. The exhibition will include paintings from the author’s own collection as well as works that reflect and illustrate the Dickensian world.

George Elgar Hicks (1824-1914), One Minute to Six (detail),1860. Reproduced courtesy of Museum of London.

Sir Luke Fildes, Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward (detail),1874. Reproduced courtesy of Royal Holloway, University of London.

Thursday, 25th October: 2 lectures in the morning

Anne Haworth
A JOURNEY THROUGH CHINA: 3000 YEARS OF ART, CULTURE AND CIVILISATION

Booking opens at June lecture

Lecture 1 introduces China, its early history, languages and topography of fertile regions, sacred mountains and deserts. Ritual bronzes, polished jades, the philosophies of Confucius and Lao Zi will be included in an appraisal of how the ancient civilisation evolved. The new era began with the reign of Qin Shi Huang Di (259-210BC), China's first Emporer, famous for the Terracotta Warriors and consolidator of the Great Wall. The history continues with the Silk Routes and the first millennium AD which witnessed changing dynasties, turbulence and golden ages of peace.

Lecture 2 covers the period from the late 13th century Yuan Dynasty, established by invading Mongols, to the twilight days of empire, revolution and the triumph of modern Shanghai. This will include the cultural flowering of the Ming Dynasty (during which the Forbidden City was built), Qing Dynasties, the encounter with European merchants leading to the devastating Opium Wars and establishment of the Treaty Ports. Entering the twentieth century the lecure will end with the abdication of the last emperor in 1911, the resultant civil wars, Mao's victory and finally China's Awakening.

Anne Haworth is a lecturer at The Victoria and Albert Museum and a guide for private tours of the State Rooms and The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace. From 1981–1995 she trained and became a senior ceramic specialist at Bonham’s and Christie’s head offices. She resided in Shanghai, China, from 1995-2002 where she visited ancient kiln sites and lectured to expatriate groups.  In autumn  2002 she catalogued the collection of Chinese porcelain at Kensington Palace and from 2002-2005 was a committee member of the French Porcelain Society.  She acurrently gives lectures on British Art (1760-1960) for American students resident in London.

Thursday, 8th March: 3 lectures

DR ANTHONY KELLY
THE LAND OF LOST CONTENT: RECORDING BRITAIN IN WATERCOLOURS 1939-43

2 lectures in the morning (including coffee and biscuits) and one lecture in the afternoon after lunch (including two courses and wine)

In anticipation of an exhibition to be held at the V & A (14 Apr-21 Oct 2012) of works from their ‘Recording Britain’ collection, this Study Day will be devoted to a remarkable and little-known collection of more than 1500 commissioned drawings and paintings, by the finest watercolour artists of the day, depicting the ethos of British life, land and townscape, considered to be at risk of imminent destruction by bombing, invasion and occupation. They may also have boosted morale and patriotism, by showing a land and way of life ‘worth fighting for’, and were seen as a memorial to the war effort itself.

‘Recording Britain’ was the brainchild of Sir Kenneth Clark, who saw it as an extension of the Official War Artist scheme. By choosing watercolour painting as the medium of record, Clark hoped that the scheme would also help to preserve this characteristic English art form. Artists enlisted included Sir William Russell Flint, Charles Knight, Rowland Hilder, Thomas Hennell, John Piper, Kenneth Rowntree, Barbara Jones, Enid Marx and Walter Bayes.

The feared invasion never came, but economic and social changes after the war effectively made this world a nostalgic memory.