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  • Gilded Glories – the fascinating history of gilded decoration

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

    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 […]

  • Girls Behaving Badly: Jane Austen’s Wicked Women

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

    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 […]

  • THE SILK ROAD AND THE SEA: CHINA’S WINDOWS ON THE WORLD

    Arthur Morison Memorial Hall, Cucklington Arthur Morison Memorial Hall, Rowls Lane, Cucklington., Wincanton, Somerset, United Kingdom.

    Chinese emperors and philosophers traditionally regarded their country as ‘the middle kingdom’, situated at the centre of the world.  As they cultivated their minds and spirits, they faced inwards. In contrast, merchants in china’s border regions faced outwards.  On the western frontier the ancient silk road witnessed an exchange of luxury goods:  silk, perfumes, exotica […]

  • Velázquez – ‘The Great Magician of Art’

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

      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

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

    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 […]

  • Rebuilding Ypres

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

    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 […]

  • FABER & FABER: 90 years of excellence in cover design

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

    Founded in 1929, Faber and Faber has built a reputation as one of London's most important literary publishing houses, partly due to the firm's insistence on good design and illustration.  This lecture traces its history through its illustrations, covers and designs, employing celebrated artists.  Toby Faber is the grandson of the firm's founder, so the […]

  • Pierre Bonnard: The Old Master of Modern Art?

    Stalbridge Hall Stalbridge Hall, Lower Road, Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, United Kingdom.

      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 […]

  • The Making of Landscape Photographs – An Extraordinary Double Act Between the Eye and the Brain

    The Tithe Barn The Tithe Barn, Hinton St. Mary, Dorset, United Kingdom

    Beyond Monkton Deverill by Charlie Waite This event has been postponed due to coronavirus. We are attempting to reschedule for May 2021. You are invited to an Evening Celebration Our Evening Celebration this year is on Wednesday 27th May at 6.45pm (doors open at 6.15pm).We have a local - yet world famous - lecturer, landscape […]