Monthly Lecture
The British Army in India – an unofficial view
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Many thousands of British soldiers - and, in some cases, their wives - sailed out to India in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the era before photography, many sent back drawings and paintings intended for private consumption. These now offer us a vivid insight into various aspects of their lives, sometimes unglamorous, often amusing. […]
The art of the cartoonist
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Harry Venning has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high-profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times) as well as for countless more obscure titles (British Journal Of Wound Care). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist Of The Year for his Guardian strip Clare In The Community, which he adapted […]
Picasso`s Guernica
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Zarateman, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Picasso's Guernica the painting created in 1937 is considered by many to be his greatest masterpiece. Painted as a reaction to the bombing of the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War, it shows the horror, cruelty and devastation of modern warfare. The painting contains a lot more than a depiction of […]
Opera : The melting pot of culture
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Norio NAKAYAMA from saitama, japan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons This is my ‘calling card’. The lecture is of general interest and charts opera’s close connection with the society that is paying for it. The talk moves from the 17th and 18th century preoccupations with princely patronage, classical plots, courtly manners, high voices, enormous […]
Henry VIII and the Field of the Cloth of Gold
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons In June 1520 the king of France and the king of England met in a field outside Calais to celebrate peace. The celebrations that accompanied this meeting have become known as The Field of Cloth of Gold because of their extravagance and luxury, a magnificence captured in the […]
From Errol Flynn to Bottles of Gin: Literary Portraits and their Afterlives
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.(left)User Roisterer on en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons-(right)Majvdl, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons I confess to not thinking it much like the original – but that the public will not be able to detect… Cassie Austen on her Aunt Jane’s portrait. From Burns to Byron and from Jane Austen to the Brontes; […]
The Colour Blue – From paradise to poison
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Lecture Description Deep blue is the most popular colour in the world. Perhaps it is redolent of velvety night skies and starry Summer evenings. It is thought to symbolize strength and wisdom. It has always stood for the cosmos and the Virgin Mary, as a colour of the intellect and spiritual healing and was the […]
The Kennedy White House
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons This talk is about the White House’s most celebrated twentieth century residents. Others had been, perhaps, more intellectual, such as Eleonora Roosevelt, certainly others utterly perfidious, just to name Nixon for one, but no other couple who inhabited the White House were ever so glamorous, […]
Public Sculpture
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Public Art is a contentious subject. It is the most visible art form and therefore is an easy target. But how do they come to appear in our public spaces? This lecture tracks the development of public art over the last century and looks at various examples to see why are some loved and others […]
Tulipomania – A 17th Century Passion in Art, Gardens and Collecting
Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.Featured Image Attribute Pvt pauline, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Description of Lecture The lecture explores the passion for the exotic and beautiful tulip flower which reached its height in Amsterdam in the 1630s. Collectors, besotted by the exceptional beauty of this new and exotic flower, speculated in and paid ever higher prices for […]