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LECTURES & EVENTS
UPCOMING LECTURES & EVENTS
Mon, 02 OctWidcombe Social Club02 Oct, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKAlthough better known for his famous social critique, the ‘caprichos’, Disasters of War series and the so-called Black Paintings, Goya’s position as Painter to the King meant that he was primarily a very prolific portraitist.
Mon, 06 NovWidcombe Social Club06 Nov, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKOn Ernest Shackleton’s third Antarctic expedition in 1914, his ship, the Endurance, was trapped and crushed in the pack ice. Frank Hurley's photographs are a visual narrative of an epic journey which capture the amazing landscapes, as a remarkable human drama is played out.
Tue, 14 NovWidcombe Social Club14 Nov, 10:30 – 15:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKFeaturing three fascinating talks with Marc Allum (Miscellaneous Specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow): "The Anatomy of Collecting" on the historical origins of why we collect, "An Object Talk" on objects brought by attendees on the day, and "Fakes & Forgeries" looking at the history of fakery.
Mon, 04 DecWidcombe Social Club04 Dec, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKThese two very different men, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, came together under the guiding hand of the impresario, Richard D’Oyly Carte. The Savoy operas, with their gentle satire, celebrate the quirks and foibles of the British nation, and are as alive today as in the 1880’s.
Mon, 08 JanOnline via Zoom08 Jan 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Online via ZoomImpressionist Berthe Morisot is known for her light-filled canvases of modern life: after- noons boating on a lake, young women in ballgowns. This lecture traces Morisot’s engagement with 18th century culture, and highlights what set her apart from her predecessors and contemporaries.
Mon, 05 FebWidcombe Social Club05 Feb 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKThe indigenous population of Australia occupied the land for over 60,000 years in relative isolation. Discover their ancient traditions and how they’ve adapted to modern times since the arrival of Captain Cook.
Mon, 04 MarWidcombe Social Club04 Mar 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKThe Studio Glass Movement dates from 1962, with its emphasis on the aesthetics of form and colour. Dale Chihuly became one of the foremost American Studio glass artists, and this talk considers his individual works and large-scale exhibitions, such as that in Kew Gardens in 2005 and 2019.
Mon, 15 AprWidcombe Social Club15 Apr 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKJames McNeill Whistler was a witty, irascible dandy who took pains to display his art in exactly the way he wanted. The lecture examines Whistler’s painting techniques from early ‘Rembrandtesque’ portraits of his youth, to his experiments with colour, form and texture.
Mon, 13 MayWidcombe Social Club13 May 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKSir Anthony van Dyck was the principal painter at the court of King Charles I and is regarded as the greatest painter in 17th century Britain. This lecture will examine the ‘Flemishness’ of his art and trace how it altered subtly to fit in with British tastes and expectations.
Mon, 03 JunWidcombe Social Club03 Jun 2024, 11:30 – 12:30Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UKThe Elizabethan era saw the transformation of Britain’s medieval dwellings into the basis of modern houses. Underpinning the story is the social change wrought by the end of the monasteries, the growth of cities and the discovery of a world beyond our shores.
Lectures
PAST LECTURES & EVENTS
05 Jun, 11:30 – 12:30This 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.
15 May, 11:30 – 12:30Contemporary 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, 03 Apr03 Apr, 11:30 – 12:30
06 Mar, 11:30 – 12:30The 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, 06 Feb06 Feb, 11:30 – 12:30
09 Jan, 11:30 – 12:30President 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, 07 Nov07 Nov 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
06 Jun 2022, 11:30 – 12:30Usually 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.
04 Apr 2022, 11:30 – 12:30Rachel 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.
07 Feb 2022, 11:30 – 12:30In 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.
06 Dec 2021, 11:30 – 12:30Nigel 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.
Events
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