LECTURES & EVENTS
UPCOMING LECTURES & EVENTS
Mon, 05 DecWidcombe Social ClubIt has adorned our Christmas cards and provided centuries of artists with a chance to add exotic colour and dramatic light to their works. This talk tells the Christmas story through a series of well known and beloved images.
Mon, 09 JanOnline only via ZoomPresident of the new Royal Academy, Joshua Reynolds, wanted to establish a new golden age for British art in the grand style of Italian History painting, but his clients wanted flattering portraits so he developed a clever compromise and raised portraiture to the top rank of art.
Mon, 06 FebWidcombe Social ClubThis lecture explores the achievement of the masters of Art Nouveau glass, Émile Gallé, Louis Comfort Tiffany and René Lalique, and their outstanding contribution to one of the most important movements of the last century.
Mon, 06 MarWidcombe Social ClubThe poverty, crowds, artists and performers of Paris transformed Picasso from a precocious, talented teenager into a charismatic leader of the young Turks. Together with his intensely disturbing “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, he almost single-handedly unleashed the 20th century's cultural revolution.
Mon, 03 AprWidcombe Social ClubThis talk concentrates on Rembrandt's revealing portraits and painfully honest self-portraits which helped forge his reputation as one of the finest artists of any era.
Mon, 08 MayWidcombe Social ClubContemporary sculptor and installation artist Cornelia Parker is best known for her large-scale installations like Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View where she took a typical garden shed, had it blown up then installed the debris around a light bulb creating the effect of an explosion frozen in time
Mon, 05 JunWidcombe Social ClubThis lecture explores the contribution of Josiah Wedgwood to the history of world ceramics: beginning with his early career as a potter; the development and marketing of cream-coloured earthenware; the opening of the Etruria factory and the development of encaustic painting.
PAST LECTURES & EVENTS
Mon, 07 NovWidcombe Social Club07 Nov, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKAn absorbing lecture which charts the history of the Grand Tour through the lens of Marc’s interest in collecting Grand Tour souvenirs, and the influence of the Grand Tour on our museums, fashion and design over the last 400 years.
Mon, 03 OctWidcombe Social Club
Mon, 06 JunWidcombe Social Club06 Jun, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKUsually thought of as the quintessential artist of the French Rococo, lecturer Timothy Wilcox explores how Watteau's immersion in the worlds of theatre, music and dance allowed him to create a parallel reality: one which resembled real life on the surface, while hinting at a different realm.
Mon, 09 MayWidcombe Social Club09 May, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKWhat was it that made Napoleon and Josephine one of the most followed couples in history? Lecturer Carole Petipher answers these questions by exploring their collections at the Chateau de Malmaison, giving a true insight into their character.
Mon, 04 AprWidcombe Social Club04 Apr, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKRachel Whiteread is a Turner Prize Winner, and one of the most important and respected British artists working today. Her preoccupation with the hidden spaces in between things has resulted in an extraordinary range of objects. Lecturer Linda Smith gives an account of Whiteread's career to date.
Mon, 07 MarWidcombe Social Club07 Mar, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKThe gardening image of the eighteenth century is the Arcadian landscapes of William Kent or 'Capability' Brown. But this was not the whole story. Lecturer James Bolton brings us a look at the care and expense that created the Town Gardens of the 18th Century.
Mon, 07 FebZoom07 Feb, 11:30 – 12:30ZoomIn 1883 John Singer Sargent implored a beautiful socialite to allow him to paint her, resulting in the portrait of Virginie Gautreau. The painting destroyed Sargent's career in Paris. Lecturer Justin Reay examines prevailing attitudes and the public response to the painting known as Madame X.
Mon, 03 JanWidcombe Social Club03 Jan, 11:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKFrom the beginnings of the Renaissance in 13th century Italy to the birth of Abstraction in the 20th century, lecturer Aliki Braine charts the main developments of Western European Painting, focusing on a selection of acclaimed masterpieces.
Mon, 06 DecWidcombe Social Club06 Dec 2021, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKNigel Bates brings us a close look at how The Nutcracker ballet takes its rightful place on stage and how the music of Tchaikovsky, along with the story-telling, design, dance and a little bit of stage ingenuity come together to make this magical escape for young and old.
Tue, 23 NovBath Royal Literary and Scientific Insti23 Nov 2021, 10:30 – 15:30Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Insti, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN, UKFrom the ancient cave art of early man to the post-modern street art today, artists have always produced what we call graffiti. This study day examines graffiti’s evolutionary path throughout the centuries.
Mon, 01 NovWidcombe Social Club01 Nov 2021, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKLewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (published 1865) transformed children's literature. Elizabeth Merry takes us through the origins of the book and its first illustrations and we see how illustrators reflect different aspects of the book with their interesting artistic portrayals.
Mon, 04 OctWidcombe Social Club