"More than just Moonlight" John Atkinson Grimshaw was one of the very few genuinely self-taught, working class artists, to emerge during the most productive period of British art, the reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901. Overcoming the discouragement of having his paints and brushes burned by his mother, and inspired by the success of Pre-Raphaelitism, his own meticulous rendering of landscapes led to the development of his main subject- moonlight views

Lecturer : Tim Stimpson

Tim's involvement in art began with the practical; for a number of years he was a professional painter and ceramicist in Scotland and Wales, before returning to university to study literature and the history of art, then training to teach adults. For the last 30 years he has been a freelance cultural art historian, specialising in 17th and 19th century art and society. He has lectured for the universities of Cambridge, Nottingham and Hull; the WEA, the Art Fund and presents residential study courses in Britain and Europe. He has completed two month long lecture tour of Western Australia

When Edvard Munch created The Scream in 1893, he was responding to an intense emotional experience. Today, we would call it a panic attack. Crippling and anxious making, this primal cry was also a rallying call: for Munch and for the wider world of art. It gave birth to a movement known as expressionism, showing life not at it is (realism) or as it might be perceived in a fleeting moment (impressionism), but as it is experienced within the unembellished core of our being. Explosive and emotive, the aftershocks of Munch’s vision were felt across the world: in art and music, literature, dance and film.

Lecturer : Gavin Plumley

A writer and broadcaster. Appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is out now.

‘Cathedrals aren't just buildings - they are treasure houses. So why are they overlooked as museums?’  Simon Heffer, the Daily Telegraph

Cathedrals are monumental constructions, representing the greatest effort of Christian dedication in our landscape. They also house the most important objects associated with Christianity. In Janet Gough’s lecture accompanying her paperback, Deans' Choice, Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales, 50 of these astonishing artefacts on display in the cathedrals of England and Wales and selected by the cathedral deans are brought to life. Ranging from sundials and astronomical clocks to stained glass, and pilgrims’ boots to Early English books and the first Welsh Bible, the National Churches Trust describes the treasures covered as ‘simply mesmerising’. 

Lecturer : Janet Gough 

For eight years the Church of England’s Director of Church Buildings and Secretary of the Church Buildings Council and Cathedrals Fabric Commission, Janet has written three illustrated paperbacks to encourage wider enjoyment of these amazing buildings, Director's Choice, Churches of the Church of England, Director's Choice, Cathedrals of the Church of England and most recently (2022) Deans' Choice, Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales. A Cambridge graduate in History and History of Art, Janet worked at Sotheby’s for nine years, was a trustee at the Churches Conservation Trust, the Museum of Fulham Palace and the Friends of the V&A and guided and lectured at the V&A. Janet set up and ran an architectural history course of London around visits to significant buildings. Janet has also given tours and lectured on secular architecture and fine and decorative arts. Janet received an OBE for services to heritage in 2017, and in 2021 was made one of the first lay Canons of Bangor cathedral. 

Following a colourful timeline (which every audience member receives), John takes you on a complete journey through European architectural development. The story begins in ancient Greece and subsequently develops through the Roman and Byzantine periods. Medieval Europe then goes through Romanesque and Gothic styles before the Renaissance revives classicism. But as industrialism takes hold medieval styles get revived again - John identifies some of the principal influences.

Lecturer: John Sherlock

An engineer by training, educated at Winchester and Oxford. Spent much of his working life in the City of London, and then ran his own business advising the owners of historic houses and landscapes, counting the National Trust and the Crown Estate among clients, as well as several privately owned properties.

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).

Lecturer : Harry Venning

Harry Venning is a cartoonist, comedy writer and performer based in Brighton. Harry’s cartoons have appeared in publications as diverse as Mathematics Today, Radio Times, Music Teacher and The Stage. For twenty five years he provided The Guardian with the weekly strip cartoon Clare In The Community, about an unaware and empathy free social worker. In 2004 he developed Clare In The Community into a successful BBC Radio 4 sitcom starring Sally Philipps which ran for twelve series. When not at a desk , Harry tours his cartoon workshop around schools, theatres, arts centres, cruise ships and festivals. He is an accredited lecturer with the UK Arts Society, an Honorary Fellow of the English/Creative Writing departments of Aberystwyth University, resident cartoonist with the Blue Hat team building organisation, UK Social Workers Union honorary ambassador, winner of a Sony Radio Award for Comedy and a former UK Strip Cartoonist Of The Year. He cannot draw hands or horses.

This lecture offers a fresh angle on the High Renaissance, from the viewpoint of the fierce and often bitter rivalries that existed between the artistic Titans of the day. Set against the backdrop of Florence and Rome, with Michelangelo as its protagonist and Leonardo and Raphael in supporting roles, it draws on contemporary anecdote to evoke personalities and tell the stories behind many of the most celebrated works of the Italian Renaissance, providing an entertaining yet illuminating glimpse into the creation of some of the most iconic paintings in western art.  

Lecturer : Paula Nuttall

Specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004). Has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent, 2020).  Before retiring in 2023 Paula was Director of the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Year Course, and has taught at – among others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence.  She now focuses on the Arts Society, her own online courses, and research.

Change of Lecture Tuesday 27th January 

The lecturer on Tuesday 27th January has changed and Ms Suzanne Fagence Cooper will give a talk entitled  'The Female Gaze'  which is about pioneering women photographers from 1860 to 1920 including Lee Miller, who was an extraordinary photographer.  It promises to be a fascinating lecture. 

Dr. Suzanne Fagence Cooper

Is a writer, curator, historical consultant and lecturer, working on 19th & 20thC British art & culture.

We will re-schedule Lars Thrup later this season 

This lecture examines the extraordinary  life and dramatic times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his days as a student at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity. We travel with him to the United States and examine his starring role within the artistic & theatrical worlds of late 19th century London. We visit his home in bohemian Chelsea and some of his favourite West End haunts. Finally, we learn how ‘tired of being in the heights, he plunged into the depths’ and became famous for being INfamous...

Lecturer : Simon Whitehouse

Simon is a (recovering) actor, lecturer, presenter, Alexander Technique and voice teacher and award winning London Blue Badge guide. He has worked as a guide lecturer in house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public and private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and also lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts and English literature. Simon’s specialisms and passions are theatre, literature, fashion and art history but whatever the subject, Simon will weave a wonderful story from it.

The world of opera is full of remarkable contributors, great game changers who leave the stage in a completely different place from the one they found. In the 19th century three such men revolutionised the art form; in three very different ways; Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. From the romantic heart-breakers of La Traviata and Rigoletto via the mystery and magic of the The Ring Cycle to the breath-taking melodramatic tear jerkers of Tosca and La Bohème. Enjoy their remarkable journeys and innovative, dynamic and thrilling theatricality which highlights so much of their work. This illustrated lecture will highlight the great opera productions which have graced the worlds opera houses.

Lecturer : Jamie Hayes

After training at RADA Jamie graduated as a Stage Manager and subsequently worked for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Bristol Old Vic and the BBC. He became an Assistant Director with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Kent Opera and English National Opera and soon began directing productions of his own. He has directed many new opera productions in the UK whilst other new opera productions overseas include Reykjavik, Malta and Melbourne. Jamie was Associate Director on the original production of the hit musical Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway. He has directed productions in all the major UK conservatoires and was Director of Productions for British Youth Opera for over a decade, a company devoted to promoting the talents of our finest young opera singers in the UK. Jamie is a regular enrichment programme lecturer for various leading cruise ship companies. He is married to the mezzo-soprano Jean Rigby and they have three sons. 

In 1882 Gertrude Jekyll wrote a short but seminal article in The Garden in which she urged the readers to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”.  As an accomplished watercolour artist, Miss Jekyll was familiar with the principles of using colours, but she felt that in gardens these principles “had been greatly neglected”.  This talk looks at how to apply these principles in designing a border, but it also looks at the ways in which a border is different from a painting.  However, it goes further than this and looks at how contemporary work of the likes of Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollack evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like.

Lecturer : Timothy Walker

I read Botany at University College Oxford. After graduation, I worked as a trainee at Oxford Botanic Garden, the Savill Garden Windsor, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In 1985 I was awarded a Master of Horticulture by the Royal Horticultural Society of London. From 1988 to 2014 I was director (Horti Praefectus) at the Oxford Botanic Garden. Between 1992 & 2000 the OBGHA won 4 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show London. In 2009 the Botanic Garden was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for providing imaginative educational programmes for adults, students, children, and the general public, thereby breathing new life into education for people of all ages and enriching their lives. In 2010 I was elected as a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London. In the same year I presented a 3-part series of films on the history of botany on BBC4. Since 2014 I have been a tutor in Plant Biology at Somerville College, Oxford.    

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain rose as the great European superpower with an empire spanning the globe. This vast wealth, alongside the renewed catholic fervour of the counter reformation kickstarted the Spanish siglo d’oro – literally the century of gold - the great flourishing of painting, sculpture, literature and music. My lecture explores this period, looking at the historical moment and vast array of art before focusing in on the work of the greatest painter of the age, Diego Velázquez.

Lecturer : Isabelle Kent 

Isabelle is an academic and educator specialising in the baroque, with a particular focus on Spain and its empire. She received a BA and MPhil in History of Art from Trinity College, Cambridge, where she is currently completing her PhD on the art of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán. From 2017 to 2019 she worked as the Enriqueta Harris Frankfort Curatorial Assistant at the Wallace Collection and in 2020 her book Collecting Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in Britain and Ireland was published by CEEH. Alongside her academia, Isabelle is an expert guide for a travel company, leading groups around Spain and beyond, and she also teaches regularly for the V&A, Art Fund, Royal Academy, Chelsea Arts Club, Wallace Collection and University of Cambridge.

Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense has never been out of print, but what isn’t realised often is that he made his living producing topographical watercolours of great delicacy. “A man of original and versatile genius”: ornithologist, diarist, musician, traveller- this warm and delightful human-being expressed his simple philosophy through timeless humour. An illustrated lecture focussing on his biography with quotations from his writings throughout.

Lecturer : Tim Stimson

Tim's involvement in art began with the practical; for a number of years he was a professional painter and ceramicist in Scotland and Wales, before returning to university to study literature and the history of art, then training to teach adults. For the last 20 years he has been a freelance cultural art historian, specialising in 17th and 19th century art and society. He now lectures for the universities of Cambridge, Nottingham and Hull; the WEA, the Art Fund and presents residential study courses in Britain and Europe. He has recently completed a month long lecture tour of Western Australia.

Jane Austen’s novels are often characterised as lightweight romances dealing in trivialities and portraying a limited social sphere, reflecting the constricted circumstances of the author’s own life.  This lecture offers an alternative reading, suggesting that Austen is not interested in romance but moral challenge, not a mild spinster but a social commentator of contemporary relevance and by no means inferior to Eliot and Dickens by virtue of her limited canvas.  Mary will read and discuss extracts from Emma and Pride and Prejudice, considering questions such as how we should view the tedious Miss Bates to whom Emma is so famously insolent and how we should judge the over-excitable.

Lecturer: Mary Sharp

Mary is an experienced broadcaster and teacher with particular expertise in literature and drama. She worked for many years for BBC Radio 4 producing some of its most popular programmes including Start the Week and Woman’s Hour before joining the senior management team as a Commissioning Editor. Mary has subsequently worked as a teacher and Director of Sixth Form at a leading girls’ grammar school. She now runs her own company 'Opening Up Literature' which offers literature courses for adults including studies of Shakespeare and Creative Writing. Her most popular course is 'Telling Tales' which explores how writers and artists have reinvented classical stories. She is also a professional bridge teacher and lecturer.

Hearst created, “the greatest publicity machine in history," but he also had a private obsession: In 1935, Forbes Magazine called him, “quantitively the world’s number one collector of objets d’art” and when he died The New York Times stated that during the 1920s and 30s, he alone had accounted for 25% of all the world’s art market activity. But to where was this king’s ransom headed and hoarded?

Lecturer:  Mark Meredith 

Mark is the founder of HouseHistree.com and lectures regularly in Europe and the United States, notably at the New-York Historical Society. After leaving Stowe School, Mark worked for twenty years as a plumber in London. However, his real passion has always been history, and he delights in 'telling a story,' not 'giving a lecture'. Packed with facts and laced throughout with humour, he takes a particular joy in bringing to life the stories behind the people that shape houses; and, his area of special interest lies in the great American houses and American social history, from pre-revolution to the end of the Gilded Age.

This lecture examines depictions of food and feasting in the art of western Europe and explores the architecture in which such meals were produced. From the medieval period to the modern era, we consider imagery of feasts, banquets and intimate dinners whilst examining some fine examples of kitchen design to discover how changes in taste led to changes on the ground in palaces, castles and chateaux. Immortalised in paintings and frescos, feasting and fine meals were a mark of wealth and status. From depictions of such high living this lecture descends to the world of those who were preparing these elaborate banquets and reflects on the history of food and its preparation. We examine kitchen design from the Royal Chateau of Chambord to Brighton’s Royal Pavilion and encounter changing historical attitudes to food, from spices worth more than gold   to the dangers of eating too many artichokes.  An epicurean blend of art and architecture this lecture is certain to pique both  your interest and your appetite.

Lecturer: Sarah Pearson 

Sarah holds a First Class BA in Art History from Reading University, an MA in World Art Studies from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Architectural History, also from Reading. Lectured for 10 years at Reading and at the University of East Anglia, and now works as a freelance lecturer and teaches at the University of Cambridge (Madingley Hall) in person and for online courses. Has published articles and a book chapter on the architect Francesco di Giorgio and maintains active research interests in the subject of architecture and ideology.

When we receive a letter or a Christmas card from someone we know, we often recognise the handwriting straight away, and know who it’s from without even opening the envelope. Recognising the hand of an artist can be like that – an instant certainty that the painting must be by Rubens, or El Greco, or Rembrandt. Yet if you try to explain to someone else how you know that your letter is from that person, or what it is in their handwriting that is so distinctive, you would probably struggle to put it into words.   This lecture takes examples of a wide range of artists from the 15th, 16th 17th and 18th centuries, and will put into words what it is that tells us a picture is by Rubens rather than Rembrandt, or even, by Rubens rather than by, say, Van Dyck, who was taught by him and painted so very much like him. My lecture uses photos of small details of paintings greatly enlarged, to demonstrate some of the distinctive quirks and give-away characteristics of artists from Mantegna and Bellini to Canaletto and Gainsborough. I’ll share with you tips and tricks of art-gazing, and show you how to have the enormous satisfaction of looking at an unfamiliar painting and realising that you can instantly recognise the artist.

Lecturer : Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe

Has a MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. With 40 years' experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.

We are still living amongst the infrastructure created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 19 th century. He changed the face of the English landscape with his ground-breaking projects including railways, bridges, tunnels, ships, and grand buildings such as the magnificent Paddington Station. He merged art with engineering and science and was a pioneer and a revolutionary. And he was brilliant. We'll look at the man, his background, his work, and his legacy.his ground-breaking projects including railways, bridges, tunnels, ships, and grand buildings such as the magnificent Paddington Station. He merged art with engineering and science and was a pioneer and a revolutionary. And he was brilliant. We'll look at the man, his background, his work, and his legacy.

Lecturer : Ian Swankie

A Londoner with a contagious enthusiasm for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral. He is also a freelance London tour guide. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is an Accredited Lecturer for The Arts Society and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

In this amusing lecture I will talk about the seemingly happy world of professional, family pantomime - and what it’s really like. I’ll recount the bouquets and the brickbats. I’ll look at the famous names, the greatest Dames and the old routines that we all remember – and I’ll look at when it all works – and when it doesn’t.  And I’ll talk about why this most precious of British traditions will always endure, and why, surprisingly, every actor wants to do it. This is a revealing look at professional panto, from someone who was born into it.

Lecturer: Tyler Butterworth

Tyler Butterworth grew up in a theatrical family and spent twenty five years as an actor working extensively in film, television, theatre and radio. He then worked as a development producer in television documentaries. Now, he produces walking audio guides to cities across Europe for private clients. He lives in Sussex where he walks on the South Downs and the South Coast.

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the ‘Leonardo of Liverpool’ to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbs of his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766 – a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects. This lecture looks at the life and work of this country’s greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British sporting artists of the eighteenth century more generally.

Lecturer : Christopher Garibaldi                            

Independent Researcher. 2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art: www.nhrm.co.uk). 2008–2010 Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. 1994–1997 Catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.