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Beautiful, Beastly, Bizarre: the Art of Hieronymous Bosch

Thu 2nd Apr 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Hieronymus Bosch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Hieronymus Bosch’s (c.1455-1516) nightmarish monsters and demons, his bizarre allegories, and the amorous exploits in his Garden of Earthly Delights have intrigued viewers for centuries. Little is known about this remarkable painter, although it has been claimed that he was a member of a heretical sect, a dabbler in alchemy and even a drug-user! This lecture unravels the meanings of Bosch’s enigmatic paintings in the context of his own time, explaining them in terms of social satire, medieval folklore and pre-Reformation spirituality, while also revealing the beauty and inventiveness of his images.

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Lecturer: Paula Nuttall

Specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004). Has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent, 2020).  Before retiring in 2023 Paula was Director of the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Year Course, and has taught at – among others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence.  She now focuses on the Arts Society, her own online courses, and research.

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EVENT

Beautiful, Beastly, Bizarre: the Art of Hieronymous Bosch

Thu 2nd Apr 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge
Sturminster Newton, Dorset DT10 2NF United Kingdom.

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

A Celebration of Nature; Antoni Gaudi ( 1852-1926) and other Catalan Architects

Thu 7th May 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Antoni Gaudí is well known and much loved. In this lecture, his work will be explored in detail. It will be shown how he engaged with nature in the most innovative and extraordinary ways. Inspired by honeycombs and spiders' webs, armadillo skins and mushrooms, trees and whales' bellies, he worked with extraordinary ceramicists, iron workers, tilers and decorative artists. We will look at his public and private buildings and his relationship with a wealthy and demanding patron. Private shy and retiring he was also humorous and witty in his extravagant style. However, it will also be the aim of this lecture to uncover some of the other architects working in Barcelona over the turn of the twentieth century; Domenech y Muntaner and Puig y Cadafalch. Attention will be paid to several significant and ravishing buildings and some less well-known buildings in Barcelona.

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Lecturer: Jacqueline Cockburn

Jacqueline is Managing Director of Art and Culture Travel, running residential courses in Andalucía, Southern Spain in the art and culture of the region as well as curated tours to Madrid, Tangiers, Barcelona, Paris and Venice. Jacqueline is a course director and lecturer at the V&A and also lectures at The Royal Academy,  She has toured New Zealand and Australia for The Arts Society. Her specialist field is Spanish Art, but she also lectures on European Art 1790-1950. She is currently working on a Monograph on Goya (Prestel, Spring 2024)

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EVENT

A Celebration of Nature; Antoni Gaudi ( 1852-1926) and other Catalan Architects

Thu 7th May 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge
Sturminster Newton, Dorset DT10 2NF United Kingdom.

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

Elisabeth Frink: the expressive power of bronze

Thu 4th Jun 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Graham Horn / Horse and Rider by Elisabeth Fink

 

This lecture examines the work of one of the outstanding figures of 20th century sculpture, an artist who achieved an international reputation for her monumental works depicting the human figure, birds and other animals. Sadly she died in her early 60s but, from the first small sculpture acquired by the Tate Gallery (when she was a student of 21) until her death, she produced an astonishing body of work. Her bronzes varied in scale and feeling, from small, threatening birds to the life-size, tranquil Walking Madonna in Salisbury Cathedral Close. Frink’s work will be examined in the context of great British and European predecessors such as Henry Moore, Auguste Rodin and Alberto Giacometti, as well as her contemporaries, including Reg Butler, Jean Fautrier and Germaine Richier.

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Lecturer: Frank Woodgate

Lecturer and Guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, for the Art Fund, the National Trust, U3A and other organisations, including on Zoom. Lectured for Dulwich Picture Gallery, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester and on cruises on behalf of Tate. Previously script-writer for The Living Paintings Trust (art for the visually-impaired).

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EVENT

Elisabeth Frink: the expressive power of bronze

Thu 4th Jun 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge
Sturminster Newton, Dorset DT10 2NF United Kingdom.

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

Vermeer and Music – Art of Love and Leisure

Thu 2nd Jul 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Johannes Vermeer, the concert, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

The role of music and musical instruments in both life and art of the Dutch Golden Age.  This talk comes with musical excerpts which illustrate particular instruments shown in paintings. Based on a popular exhibition at the National Gallery by the same title some years ago.

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Lecturer:  Lydia Bauman

Born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award), and an MA in History of Art from Courtauld Institute of Art, London, (19th-20th century art - Distinction for thesis on Matisse's Illustrations to Poetry). She has since divided her time between painting and exhibiting as well as lecturing widely to adult audiences. She has taught at London's National Gallery for more than 35 years, and intermittently at Tate Gallery and National Portrait Gallery as well as collections such as Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Hermitage and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the latter as a guest speaker for travel companies. Since the pandemic began in March 2020 Lydia had devised and delivered a programme of upwards of 180 online lectures to her own group Art For The Uninitiated.

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EVENT

Vermeer and Music – Art of Love and Leisure

Thu 2nd Jul 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge
Sturminster Newton, Dorset DT10 2NF United Kingdom.

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale