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LECTURES & EVENTS

UPCOMING LECTURES & EVENTS

  • Goya Portraits
    Goya Portraits
    Mon, 02 Oct
    Widcombe Social Club
    02 Oct, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    Although 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.
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  • A Photographic Odyssey – Shackleton’s Expedition
    A Photographic Odyssey – Shackleton’s Expedition
    Mon, 06 Nov
    Widcombe Social Club
    06 Nov, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    On 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.
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  • The Art of Collecting (Special Interest Day)
    The Art of Collecting (Special Interest Day)
    Tue, 14 Nov
    Widcombe Social Club
    14 Nov, 10:30 – 15:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    Featuring 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.
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  • The Very Model of English Entertainment - Gilbert & Sullivan
    The Very Model of English Entertainment - Gilbert & Sullivan
    Mon, 04 Dec
    Widcombe Social Club
    04 Dec, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    These 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.
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  • Berthe Morisot ‘Une Finesse Fragonardienne’
    Berthe Morisot ‘Une Finesse Fragonardienne’
    Mon, 08 Jan
    Online via Zoom
    08 Jan 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Online via Zoom
    Impressionist 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.
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  • Understanding Aboriginal Culture
    Understanding Aboriginal Culture
    Mon, 05 Feb
    Widcombe Social Club
    05 Feb 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    The 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.
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  • Chihuly and American Art Glass Movement
    Chihuly and American Art Glass Movement
    Mon, 04 Mar
    Widcombe Social Club
    04 Mar 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    The 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.
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  • Whistler
    Whistler
    Mon, 15 Apr
    Widcombe Social Club
    15 Apr 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    James 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.
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  • Sir Anthony van Dyck
    Sir Anthony van Dyck
    Mon, 13 May
    Widcombe Social Club
    13 May 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    Sir 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.
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  • Elizabethan Houses and the Transformation of England
    Elizabethan Houses and the Transformation of England
    Mon, 03 Jun
    Widcombe Social Club
    03 Jun 2024, 11:30 – 12:30
    Widcombe Social Club, Widcombe Hill, Bath BA2 6AA, UK
    The 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.
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Lectures

PAST LECTURES & EVENTS

  • Wedgwood
    Wedgwood
    Mon, 05 Jun
    05 Jun, 11:30 – 12:30
    05 Jun, 11:30 – 12:30
    This 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.
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  • Special Interest Day - Scottish Art - A Powerhouse of Art & Design
    Special Interest Day - Scottish Art - A Powerhouse of Art & Design
    17 May, 10:30 – 15:30
    Featuring 3 fascinating talks on the legacy of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald, The Glasgow Boys and their triumph over the Edinburgh ‘Glue-Pots’ and The Scottish Colourists - on four Scottish artists who brought Post Impressionism to Scotland.
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  • The Explosive World of Cornelia Parker
    The Explosive World of Cornelia Parker
    Mon, 15 May
    15 May, 11:30 – 12:30
    15 May, 11:30 – 12:30
    Contemporary 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
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  • Rembrandt's Eyes: Portraits and Self-Portraits by Rembrandt van Rijn
    Rembrandt's Eyes: Portraits and Self-Portraits by Rembrandt van Rijn
    03 Apr, 11:30 – 12:30
    This 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.
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  • What really happened in the Bateau Lavoir? Picasso in 1900s Paris
    What really happened in the Bateau Lavoir? Picasso in 1900s Paris
    06 Mar, 11:30 – 12:30
    The 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.
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  • Frozen Breath of the Polar Night: An Introduction to Art Nouveau Glass
    Frozen Breath of the Polar Night: An Introduction to Art Nouveau Glass
    06 Feb, 11:30 – 12:30
    This 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.
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  • Joshua Reynolds – The Creation of Celebrity
    Joshua Reynolds – The Creation of Celebrity
    Mon, 09 Jan
    09 Jan, 11:30 – 12:30
    09 Jan, 11:30 – 12:30
    President 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.
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  • The Christmas Story in Art
    The Christmas Story in Art
    Mon, 05 Dec
    05 Dec 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    05 Dec 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    It 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.
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  • Collecting The Grand Tour and Enlightenment of the English Gentleman
    Collecting The Grand Tour and Enlightenment of the English Gentleman
    07 Nov 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    An 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.
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  • Wonderful Things – The Treasures of Tutankhamun
    Wonderful Things – The Treasures of Tutankhamun
    Mon, 03 Oct
    03 Oct 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    03 Oct 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    Tutankhamun's tomb contained some of the most exquisite treasures ever discovered and in this lecture you too will discover their beauty, hear about their exciting discovery and the diary entries made by Howard Carter.
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  • Watteau the Rebel: The Court v the Commedia dell'arte
    Watteau the Rebel: The Court v the Commedia dell'arte
    Mon, 06 Jun
    06 Jun 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    06 Jun 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    Usually 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.
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  • The Collections of Napoleon and Josephine at Malmaison
    The Collections of Napoleon and Josephine at Malmaison
    Mon, 09 May
    09 May 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    09 May 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    What 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.
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  • Rachel Whiteread
    Rachel Whiteread
    Mon, 04 Apr
    04 Apr 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    04 Apr 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    Rachel 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.
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  • Georgian Town Gardens
    Georgian Town Gardens
    Mon, 07 Mar
    07 Mar 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    07 Mar 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    The 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.
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  • Skin: John Singer Sargent and the Scandal of Madame X
    Skin: John Singer Sargent and the Scandal of Madame X
    Mon, 07 Feb
    07 Feb 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    07 Feb 2022, 11:30 – 12:30
    In 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.
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  • A History of Western Paintings in 12 Masterpieces
    A History of Western Paintings in 12 Masterpieces
    03 Jan 2022, 11:30
    From 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.
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  • In the Kingdom of the Sweets
    In the Kingdom of the Sweets
    Mon, 06 Dec
    06 Dec 2021, 11:30 – 12:30
    06 Dec 2021, 11:30 – 12:30
    Nigel 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.
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  • Day of Special Interest: "The Art of Graffiti"
    Day of Special Interest: "The Art of Graffiti"
    Tue, 23 Nov
    23 Nov 2021, 10:30 – 15:30
    23 Nov 2021, 10:30 – 15:30
    From 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.
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Events
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