lectures

Wednesday, 30th September 2026

LA SERENISSIMA – THE GOLDEN ERA OF MUSIC IN VENICE

Patrick Craig

Patrick will explore the rich musical traditions of Venice. Claudio Monteverdi not only transformed the music at the Basilica of San Marco but also led the way in the creation of a new art form – opera.

We shall look at and listen to works from the other musical geniuses who developed the musical life of San Marco such as Gabrieli and Lotti, as well as tracing Monteverdi’s successors in the creation of Venetian opera, including Cavalli and Albinoni.

We shall also examine and hear music from Antonio Vivaldi, the other towering figure of Venetian music, who created music both for the opera stage and the female musicians of the Ospedale della Pietà.

Wednesday, 21st October 2026

A POTTED HISTORY OF BRITAIN

Julian Richards

The first pots appeared in Britain about 6000 years ago and this lecture will chart the ways in which ceramic production has evolved from this time to the present day.

From the hand-formed and bonfire-fired pots of our prehistoric ancestors to the products of both modern industry and individual craft potters, this lecture will examine the major changes that have shaped the ways pots are produced and distributed.

Roman industrialisation, the introduction of the potter’s wheel and kiln, the effects of the industrial revolution on rural potteries and the rise of the art potteries of the 19th century are all part of this evolving story, told through the pots themselves and the potters that made them.

This is a genuinely a ‘potted history’.

Wednesday, 18th November 2026

THE ART OF THE CARTOONIST

Harry Venning

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 into a Radio 4 sitcom.

In ‘The Art Of The Cartoonist’ Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Yes, Harry will be drawing live. Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the eskimo brothers said in The Funniest Joke Ever (possibly).

Wednesday, 20th January 2027

THE WOMAN WHO TOLD US WHERE TO GO

Mark Ovenden

You may not have heard of her but from the early 1960s a young student called Margaret Calvert began working with designer Jock Kinneir and their work utterly transformed the entire face of modern Britain.

They designed the road sign system from the typeface to the colours and shapes. They created the look of British Rail. Their signage was used by every hospital and NHS building. They created the yellow and black wayfinding system of British airports. And all of their ideas were copied around the world.

Celebrate Calvert & Kinneir in this revealing lecture and you’ll never look at the UK the same again.

Wednesday, 17th February 2027

GIOTTO – THE FOUNDER OF MODERN ART

Alice Foster

In the early 1300s, a new style of painting appeared that revolutionised art in western Europe. This new style was initiated by the first Italian master to achieve universal recognition in his own lifetime.

Giotto (1266-1337) was described by Dante and Boccaccio as someone who “brought back to light” the art of painting, and “the instigator of the beautiful new style”.

His work is characterised by a sense of drama through body language and facial expression; clarity in terms of storytelling – so much so that his images are still easily readable 700 years on – and with a lively interest in the depiction of three-dimensional space.

My lecture demonstrates these traits by looking closely at the frescoes of the Arena Chapel in Padua.

Wednesday, 17th March 2027

L.S. LOWRY: A VISIONARY ARTIST

Michael Howard

L. S. Lowry is one of Britain’s most popular artists and yet our very familiarity with his work has stopped us looking as closely as we should at this extraordinary artist.

Though famous for painting the mills and factories of the industrial north-west of England, he was really a painter of the human condition.

In this lecture I suggest that his work is the visual counterpoint of T. S. Eliot’s poetry and further, that we can claim him as our English Van Gogh. Too much? Come to the lecture and decide for yourself! Original works by Mr. Lowry and other relevant artists will be available for viewing at the lecture.

Wednesday, 21st April 2027

CARAVAGGIO IS NOT THE ONLY ARTIST

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe

What misfortune to be an artist born at the same time as a dazzling personality like Michelangelo or Caravaggio. Perhaps we should pay more attention to the artists contemporary with and learning from such overpowering characters?

This lecture repositions Caravaggio’s achievements in the period immediately following his brilliant but short career.

Turning over the page of art history, it presents the splendid achievements of many artists such as Gentileschi, – father and daughter – the Spaniards Ribera and Velázquez, the Dutch Honthorst, French artist de la Tour, and ultimately, connects him to Rembrandt.

It also asks “what happened next?” – how was it that Caravaggio’s style came to lose its hold and that fashion in art began to change.

Wednesday, 19th May 2027

LES FAUVES 1900-1910 A RIOT OF COLOUR

Julian Halsby

This a lecture about a group of very young men who set France alight with pure colour. The artists include Matisse, Derain, Braque, Dufy, Marquet and the Dutch painter van Dongen.

The group exhibited together at the 1905 Autumn Salon and a critic called them the wild animals, in French ‘Les Fauves ‘. Critics also criticised their childish paintings but Matisse was happy with the name:

The Fauves painted along the Seine near Paris transforming the river into a riot of blues, greens and reds. But maybe their spiritual home is the small town of Collioure on the French/Spanish border where Matisse and Derain painted in 1905 and 1906. In 1907 Derain came to London to paint the Thames and Houses of Parliament in brilliant reds, blues and yellows. Braque and Marquet painted in St Tropez which was also an important centre for Fauvism, and they were joined by Charles Camoin and Henri Manguin.

These are wonderful, dynamic paintings, and we, the viewers, are dazzled by the immediacy and daring of these young artists. Fauvism died as quickly as it appeared. It was too intense to last and by 1910 it was no more.

This is a lecture of brilliant colour and stunning images – maybe the perfect lecture.

Wednesday, 16th June 2027

BOTTICELLI’S FLORENCE

Paula Nuttall

Botticelli is one of the best-loved artists of the Florentine renaissance. This lecture looks at his career and at the city that shaped his art, putting his paintings in their historical context, and showing how they reflect Botticelli’s world.

From The Birth of Venus and Primavera, painted during the golden age of the Medici, to the Mystic Nativity, redolent of the religious fervour of Savonarola, who dominated Florence after the expulsion of the Medici in 1494, Botticelli’s paintings are not only stunning works of art, but visual testimony to one of the most eventful periods in Florentine history.