The Picture Gallery Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum   In 2003 a project was set up to catalogue the UK’s national collection of oil paintings. It involved visiting over 3,000 collection locations across the UK and photographing 212,000 paintings. The lecture offers an insider’s view of this ambitious and unique project. […]

Years of working as an artist within the Criminal Justice System in England and Germany have given Angela unique insights into the destructive and costly cycle of crime, prisons and re-offending. In this thought-provoking talk she offers a deeper understanding of the minds, lives and challenges of offenders. Lecturer: Ms Angela Findlay BA (Hons) Dip. […]

The work of women photographers has often been unfairly neglected.  This lecture seeks to correct that by examining the contribution of three outstanding British practitioners: Julia Margaret Cameron, a Victorian pioneer, Jane Brown a brilliant portraitist and Faye Godwin, who excelled in landscape photography. We will also explore the work of two highly- influential Americans, […]

Gilding continues to be the ultimate faux embellishment and decoration.  This lecture explores the fascination for gilt and shows how gilding has been used throughout history to enhance various woodwork, sculptures, metals and paintwork. Lecturer:  Jo Mabbutt Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and Freeman of the City of London. Originally a trained singer, pianist […]

Some Austen scholars consider that Jane Austen is much more subversive than is generally supposed.   In this lecture, Annalie Talent considers how far Austen rebels against expected codes of behaviour for women in her lifetime, with reference to her life and work. The Lecturer: Annalie Talent BA Annalie Talent has worked at several museums and […]

  Velázquez(1599-1660) was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of spain, noted for his portraits, of the spanish royal family and others, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas in 1656.  This Lecture considers the way in which the artist raises questions about reality and illusion, via complex and […]

The origins of our English Christmas lie in distant European history, combining the pagan traditions of the Roman and Scandinavian winter festivals.  In the 4thC AD the Christian Church began to celebrate the birth of Christ, and pagan and religious traditions blended, changing with the social and political landscape. This lecture explores the resultant rich […]

Ypres is an ancient town, known to have been raided by the Romans in 1stC BC.  During WW1, the town was all but obliterated by artillery fire and, in 1920, awarded the Military Cross by King George V.  After the war the town was extensively rebuilt with the main square, including the Cloth Hall and […]

  From his radical youth in the vibrant world of avant-garde 1890s Paris, to his death in rural Southern France in 1947, Pierre Bonnard moved from modern and urban subjects to the limited and domestic. Despite the glorious, atmospheric colour and shimmering decorative effect of his paintings, Bonnard was often dismissed by the avant-garde during […]