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The Anatomy of Collecting – The History of Collecting and Great Collectors through History

Thu 8th Jan 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery. Painting by David Teniers the Younger. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

A fascinating time-line talk focusing on why we collect and how our predilection for collecting has evolved through history, illustrated with examples from the great historical collectors and illuminated with objects from Marc’s own eclectic collection.

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Lecturer: Marc Allum

Marc Allum is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire. He is shortly to begin his 27th year as a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes. Marc regularly writes for mainstream magazines and is an author, antiques consultant and lecturer. He also runs a fine art valuation and consultancy service. Marc has his own unique style with interests ranging from pre-history to modern design and is a self-confessed collectaholic. He has a passion and reputation for divining the unusual through ‘a desire to connect with history through the interpretation and pursuit of objects and their origins’. Marc has lectured widely for many years to a number of different organisations in both the public and charity sector, including travel companies, The National Trust, The WI and many literary festivals including Cheltenham, Bath, Wells and Petworth. He has also lectured as far afield for the Arts Society in New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Malta and Penang. Marc is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

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EVENT

The Anatomy of Collecting – The History of Collecting and Great Collectors through History

Thu 8th Jan 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

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

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

The Dregs of the People Remain

Thu 5th Feb 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Miniature by Pierart dou Tielt illustrating the Tractatus quartus bu Gilles li Muisit (Tournai, c. 1353). The people of Tournai bury victims of the Black Death. ms. 13076 - 13077 fol. 24v.

 

"The Dregs of the People Remain": the Black Death and its Aftermath: its impact on the people, how they reacted in society and art

It is possible to see a shift in artistic tastes following the plague years which began in the mid C14th. This is understandable considering that we now know that at least 50% of the population of Europe and beyond perished in the first wave and that the disease recurred over the next 130 years. There is a distinct increase in interest in the macabre, but also in explorations of what will happen in the next life; some of it surprisingly optimistic and amusing. We see more interest in ex-pagan images and specific demands for spiritual protection and so what might be seen as a dust-to-dust mentality also becomes one of no tragedy, no triumph.

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Lecturer: Imogen Corrigan

After nearly 20 years in the British army, went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with 1st class honours, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. Works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. Has written Stone on Stone: the Men Who Built the Cathedrals, published 2019. A Freeman of the City of London, being a Member of the Company of Communicators. Advisor on memorials and monuments for Canterbury's Diocesan Advisory Committee.

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EVENT

The Dregs of the People Remain

Thu 5th Feb 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

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

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

Posters of the Belle Epoque

Thu 5th Mar 2026 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

poster art from "La Belle Epoque", via wikimedia commons

 

This lecture on the Poster relates the technical innovation combined with the creative genius and remarkable craftsmanship that enabled the Poster to become the world’s first effective method of mass communication. From ‘Les Chats’ by Edouard Manet to ‘Saxoleine’ by Jules Cheret, and ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Divan Japonais’ by Toulouse-Lautrec, you will see inspirational work by generations of superb artists who made the poster great, including the magnificent Mucha and the socially-conscious Steinlen. Learn how an effective poster is designed, how it plays on the mind and why most posters today go unnoticed.

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Lecturer: Charles Harris

Charles Harris has had a lifelong career in mainstream advertising agencies around the world, most of it as Creative Director in global agencies such as J Walter Thompson,Bates, FCB, Publicis,Leo Burnett. Responsible for the quality of the creative ideas and finished production of advertising campaigns, his work for many of the world`s great brands including British Airways, Sony, Nestle, Kraft, BP, Heinz, Black and Decker, Gillette,General Motors and MacDonalds earned him national and global awards in New York, Hollywood, Singapore and Sydney.
When it comes to art with a persuasive purpose he gives his professional insight into what works, what doesn`t and why.

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EVENT

Posters of the Belle Epoque

Thu 5th Mar 2026 @ 11:30

VENUE

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

ORGANISER

The Arts Society Blackmore Vale

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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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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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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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