Programme for 2023‑24
March 22nd - 2pm
In paynted pots is hidden the deadliest poison:
English Delftware Drug Jars
Blue and white tin-glazed earthenware has long been admired and collected for its attractive appearance, but this lecture went further by examining English delftware with a pharmaceutical purpose. Briony demonstrated that delftware drug jars have an undervalued role to play in understanding medical practices in the 17th and 18th centuries.
April 6th (Thursday)
Outing: Apothecaries' Hall, London
April 26th - 2pm
Land of the Monkey God:
The Art and Architecture of Sri Lanka
Shrines, stupas, cave temples, colonial grandeur and modernist architecture - a look at the history of this beautiful island through its intriguing art and culture.
May 9th (Tuesday)
Outing: Champs Hill Coldwaltham
for a private viewing of their Summer Exhibition
May 19th (Friday)
Outing: Wonderful Waterloo
- Walking tour with Rachel Kolsky
May 24th - 2pm
Cinema from the Rubble:
The postwar politics of Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is often hailed as the most quintessentially English of all film studios. This talk revisits these films and reads them again, this time in the light of the postwar new waves that were beginning to emerge across Europe.
June 28th - 2pm
The Ballets Russes: when art danced with music
When Diaghilev created ballet in the west in the early 20th century, he brought extraordinary revolutionary energy from Russia. The dream he created of dance joining hands with the other creative disciplines to create a total work of art changed the course of ballet forever.
Non-members are welcome at this and future talks.
Please contact our Membership Secretary
July 26th - 2pm
From Biscuits to Blouses: Garibaldi & the British
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was one of the leading figures in the fight for the unification of Italy during the 19th century and attracted almost fanatical devotion. Christopher Garibaldi looks at the many links he had with Britain and how he fits into the contemporary artistic fashions of the period.
September 27th - 2pm
Grace Darling & the fine art of saving lives at sea
Grace Darling's daring rescue of steamship passengers off the Northumberland coast in 1838 brought her international fame and celebrity. This talk reveals the full extent of the artistic contribution in keeping Darling in the public eye and is part of the national events marking the RNLI's bicentenary across the years 2023-2024.
October 25th - 2pm
Pigments of the imagination:
ten things you should know about icons
With the seemingly unstoppable appetite for Eastern Orthodox icons in the West, and the inevitable misunderstandings that have arisen as to meaning and function, terminology and theology, maybe it is time to address some of the key facts? Expect a few hot potatoes!
November 11th (Saturday)
Special Interest Morning
Subject TBA
November 22nd - 2pm
Raphael’s tapestry cartoons at the V&A Museum
The tapestry cartoons completed by Raphael (1483-1520) in 1516 remain one of this country's greatest artistic treasures. The commission's importance was underlined by the immense sums paid to both the artist and weavers.
December
Members' Christmas event
Details TBA
2024
January 24th - 2pm
Eric Ravilious & the lure of the everyday
Eric Ravilious was an artist who combined a love of the landscape with a fascination for different types of transport - from trains, old cars and gypsy caravans to the aircraft and destroyers he depicted as an Official War Artist in his precise, dry watercolours.
February 28th - 2pm
The Corsican Adventurer: images of Napoleon
Napoleon, a master of self-publicity, used an array of great artists to create and disseminate an image of himself as an omniscient Emperor. For the English, however, Bonaparte was the 'bogey man', and caricaturists used scorn and laughter to spread defiance to the mass market.
The AGM will precede this talk