To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in America, explore 25

iconic works including Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic,’ Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother,

MRS VICKY BAILEY

I became a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide in 2005, receiving an award as the 'Best Guide in Gallery Exams'.

One of my main areas of interest is Ancient Egypt. I’ve studied hieroglyphs and carry out volunteer work in the Egyptian department at the British Museum. I lead specialist tours at relevant sites across London and also deliver lectures on this subject.

Highlights of my guiding career have included giving a talk on BBC Radio 4 about the execution site of Tyburn and writing a book on the British monarchy.

MR MICHAEL HOWARD

Michael is a familiar face to The Arts Society. He is President of The Arts Society Bolton and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Although retired, he continues to teach at the Manchester School of Art. He has published widely on European art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, his books include: L. S. Lowry: A Visionary Artist; The Impressionists by Themselves; The Stations of the Cross / The Captive Figure and the award-winning dramatic interpretation and publication of material originally performed by the Zurich-based Dadaists of 1916. A New Order: An Evening at the Cabaret Voltaire.

His book on Gauguin, was written in association with the Gauguin Museum, Tahiti, and his book on Monet for the Musée Marmottan, Paris.  One of his most recent books concerns his wife’s life and work: The Human Touch: Ghislaine Howard. (Ghislaine is also an accredited lecturer of The Arts Society). 

Lecture starts at 10:30am

Brueghels, Cranach and Durer

A versatile art form, almost uniquely British, and at its height in the 18th and 19th centuries. Hugh is an architect but also a very talented watercolourist, and regards this as perhaps the most challenging of all the media.

Mr. Hugh Ellwood

Studied philosophy in Rome, followed by a degree in architecture at the University of Manchester. Previously an architect partner with Building Design Partnership, the largest multi-discipline design organisation in the UK, and was for some years an external examiner in architecture at the University of Manchester. For several years he was a visiting lecturer in the history of art and architecture at the University of Central Lancashire. A watercolourist, and has also lectured extensively to various societies and organisations, including cruises, on art and architecture.

Paul Rabbitts is a passionate advocate of public parks especially Victorian and Edwardian parks and shared his enthusiasm with us in an interesting and entertaining talk.  He is a prolific author having written a biography of Sir Christopher Wren, several books on bandstands and he is currently writing a book about Grinling Gibbons.  Paul believes that parks are there to be enjoyed by everyone regardless of race, religion or class. 

He has spent over 30 years working with local authorities and is convinced that they should make parks a priority as these green spaces perform such an important public service.  The visitor numbers particularly for royal parks bear this out at an astonishing 77 million visitors a year.  Even the smallest, St James’, achieves 17 million visitors.

One of our greatest composers, Edward Elgar was an extraordinary man.  He was completely self-taught as a musician, evidence of the strong determination behind his original and unique genius.

His path to recognition was hard and bitter, contending with prejudice, religious bigotry and with entrenched societal class-consciousness. However, with his wife Alice as his staunchest supporter, from a hesitant start with pieces written for his local music societies, to cantatas celebrating Britain’s history, “King Olaf” and “Caractacus”, he finally achieved national and international success with his “Variations on an original theme (Enigma)” of 1899.  This work demonstrates remarkable technical mastery of form and orchestration and above all an individual and forceful personality

This lecture, illustrated with many notable musical examples, explores the development of this contradictory musician, always wracked with self-doubt, and explains how his music expresses a quintessential Englishness.

Roger Askew was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English. He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh.

After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England. He is President Emeritus of The Stoke Poges Society and Joint Chairman of the Arts Society Windsor.

ALAN READ

Holds Master’s and First Class Honours degrees in History of Art from Birkbeck College, University of London. Is a gallery guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery and has lectured at many galleries including the Dulwich Picture Gallery, Plymouth City Art Gallery and the NPG. He is also a London Blue Badge Guide and City of London Guide.

The arts of the Victorian era were full of revivals and inspirations from earlier centuries. But the less scrupulous were forgers, selling deliberate fakes in the pretence they were antiques, for substantial sums. It has recently come to light that George Shaw (1810-76) of Uppermill, near Manchester, was amongst the most audacious of them, maker of furnishings that he insisted he had discovered, which he sold to the aristocrats of northern England. He left diaries and drawings by which to understand him, and would be amazed by the irony of this story: the model he drew on for authentic details, but never understood, is the most important survivor of English royal furnishing and would have made his name.

Dr Jonathan Foyle was Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain for eight years, and a Curator of Historic Buildings at Hampton Court for as long, during which time he took his 2002 PhD on reconstructing Wolsey's palace. He is a frequent feature writer for the Financial Times on issues of architecture, history and craft, and is approaching his fourth published cathedral monograph: Canterbury, Lincoln, Lichfield - now Peterborough. A presenter of numerous television series including BBC4's Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? and BBC2's Climbing Great Buildings, he lectures frequently on a range of art-historical topics. He brings teaching experience as a former Course Director for the University of Cambridge Summer Schools and is an Honorary Professor in Conservation at the University of Lincoln.

For thousands of years the mystery of the Golden Section has inspired thinkers from all disciplines - artists and architects, mathematicians and musicians. Discover the secrets of its sacred geometry and beauty within creations from the classical to contemporary.

Official Guide and Lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery. Pallant House Gallery Lecturer. Qualified Guide to the City of London, offering lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association. Co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015). Alexandra’s background is in design having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years. BA Saint Martins School of Art, MA London College of Printing.

Robust colour and powerful social observation characterize the art of the Brueghels. Their biblical subjects, set in Flanders, teach us much about the village communities of their time. Cranach with his anorexic nudes and exotic mythologies has a more learned appeal. Greater than both, Dürer’s genius is worthy of reconsideration. His rich colour enhances both his portraits and his religious painting, while his meticulous studies of animals and portraits, drawn with silverpoint, charm and bewitch. His woodcuts are terrific. This lecture introduces these great northern masters, showing the best examples of their work.

Hon. Research Fellow, Durham University. Founder of the Cumbrian Biographical Project. Past President of Cumbria DFAS. Author of biography of George Romney. Specialises in Lake District artists of all genres. Art history lecturer to undergraduate and adult classes at Universities. Catalogue of Paintings in Durham Castle (2002). In recent years has lectured on cruises in the Mediterranean and Baltic. He has edited two volumes of the illustrated letters of Percy Kelly (1919-1993). His volume in the national series on public sculpture is Public Sculpture of Lancashire and Cumbria and was published in 2017.

Much of the arts and cultures of the Western Balkans were created as results, directly or indirectly, of the key moments of discord and division in European history. Whatever the art form – architecture, fresco, mosaic, sculpture as well as music, food and folklore – it shows the mixture of influences from the great powers of the past. Two lectures explain the socio-historical background of numerous political divisions and introduce the main monuments of the area. Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Ottoman, Habsburg and other heritages mix side by side, with art serving as a bridge over the political divisions.

Holds BA in History of Art and MA in English Language & Literature, with 20 years of lecturing experience on 3 continents. Since arrival in the UK in 2003, she has been working as a freelance lecturer, public programmes consultant and tour director. She has regularly presented art history courses and lectures, as well as trained staff and volunteers, at the Manchester Art Gallery, the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, University of Manchester and other art and learning institutions. She also organises and presents tours of permanent and temporary exhibitions across the UK and Europe, and study tours to the Balkans, Italy, France, Switzerland, Sweden and South Africa.

The use of water, as a decorative and practical element in the garden, began in the Paradise Gardens of ancient Persia where it was used to separate the Four Gardens of Paradise within the ground plan, as well as to cool and refresh visitors in the heat of the day. Since then, water has been used to enhance and define the character of gardens, often becoming more sophisticated as technology evolved. From the fountains and rills of the grand Papal gardens of the Italian Renaissance to the rivers and lakes of the English Landscape Movement or a simple stone trough in a rustic cottage garden, water adds character, mystery and, if desired, drama to any outdoor space. This talk looks at some of the most inspirational uses of water in international gardens of all sizes, styles and contexts.

Anthony Rayworth holds a Master of Design Degree from the Royal College of Art, London and has over 30 years of international experience in interior design and garden design education, decorative arts management and design practice.

He is a Freeman of the City of London, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, an Educator Member of the British Institute of Interior Design, a Member of the European Academy of Design and an Educator Member of the Society of Garden Designers. He is also an Accredited Lecturer for The Arts Society with extensive experience in lecturing and speaking to a broad range of audiences.

As an independent educator, he has lectured and developed new curricula for design-related courses at both Undergraduate and Post-Graduate Levels in addition to developing research commercialisation programmes for numerous design schools and universities internationally. He is now developing a series of lectures and short courses, to be delivered in Country House locations across the UK, which combine interior design, garden design and fine dining.

Anthony is also presently studying for a PhD, “The phenomenology of design objects within a specific environment”, in partnership with Staffordshire University. The research relates to and is located within the practice of presentation of objects, how presentation may change the meaning of objects and what new questions may be initiated as a result of such presentations.

This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'.

Roger Butler is a landscape architect and an experienced writer, photographer and lecturer. He has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of our canal network and worked on some of the UK’s major canal restoration projects. He has also acted as a consultant to bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

He regularly contributes to waterway and heritage magazines and writes and provides images for a range of countryside and outdoor titles. Roger is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute. He lives near Stratford upon Avon and lectures to groups such as the National Trust, RSPB, U3A, history societies, etc across the Midlands and further afield.

There have been pictorial representations of The Magi from as early as at least the 6th century, such as depictions in Byzantine ivories with origins in places such as Constantinople. Indeed, a vast array of artists, such as Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516), Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (active 1550/1; died 1569), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Masaccio (1401-1428/9?), and Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) to name but a few, have been clearly fascinated by story and its possibilities when it comes to visual depictions. However, these depictions over this vast period of time have been anything but consistent. All the aforementioned artists will be mentioned in this lecture, as I seek to will unravel the myth and the iconography behind the proliferation of the story of the adoration of the magi from its Eastern and pagan roots to its current Christian interpretation. To aid my examination of this story, and to trace the changes in iconography and depictions of the kings themselves, I will be illustrating it with a variety beautiful works of art, images made across many centuries that will illuminate this fascination as never before. The lecture will begin by looking at the etymology behind the term ‘magi’ and how it has come down to us and what is now means in contemporary society. 

This lecture will then look at the changing iconography behind the depictions of the story and the various meanings behind these changes in its iconography, not to mention the changes in the story of the adoration of the magi itself.  Moving on the lecture will then look at the origin of the names of the magi and the significance of their gifts to the Christ Child.  Following this exploration of the fundamental roots of the story I will then come to the issue of the inclusion of the black king, where he came from, why he would be included, how significant was he and how European artists tackled the problem of depicting this magus when they themselves had little or no knowledge of such people of colour.  

Finally, I will examining the actual origins of the story and how much of a bearing does that story, as we understand it, have on the actual story written in the Bible.  To examine this final question, I will contrast the relevant passages the biblical with images from many sources to help clarify the difference between those and the example images.  This final part of my lecture will set out to ask what it is we want this story to mean and why do we hold on to the legendary story rather than biblical tale in our mostly Western secular society.

Holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. Was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Also lectures at the City Literary Institute, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute.

PLEASE NOTE THIS LECTURE IS AT OUR NEW VENUE THE VICTORIA HALL

A senior modern languages teacher in an independent grammar school for many years, I have also enjoyed a successful parallel career since the 1980s as a professional artist and interior designer. Since 2006 I have been regularly appointed to a number of prestigious ocean and river cruise lines, either as resident artist, guest lecturer on art history or as destination speaker for more than forty countries. Most recently this work has successfully extended to art guiding through important towns and museums in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain. 

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS OUR FIRST LECTURE AT THE VICTORIA HALL BOLTON

Is there a distinctive quality to paintings made by women? Looking at works by both men and women of the same subject, painted at the same periods of history, we will have the opportunity to ponder on what it is to experience the world through a woman’s eyes. This is guaranteed to surprise as so many fabulous women painters are still relatively little known today, Guaranteed to be of interest to the male members of the audience as well!

A painter of national reputation named as a Woman of The Year 2008 for her contribution to art and society. She has published and exhibited widely, has had work in the Royal Collection and has had solo exhibitions at many prestigious venues including Manchester Art Gallery, Canterbury Cathedral and Imperial War Museum North.  An associate lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, she has lectured to a broad spectrum of people at her studio gallery or at more public venues such as cathedrals, art galleries and other institutions.

PLEASE NOTE

OWING TO THE CURRENT HEALTH SITUATION THIS LECTURE HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

The Wallace Collection, a national museum containing an outstanding array of paintings, furniture, porcelain, arms and armour, and other works of art, was brought together by five generations of one family between about 1780 and 1880. All the Founders were remarkable – and sometimes rather strange - men in their own right, but the greatest collectors were the 4th Marquess of Hertford and his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace, who lived most of their lives in Paris. It is their French upbringing which largely explains the strong, but by no means overwhelming, French emphasis to much of the Collection. This lecture tells the fascinating story of the Wallace Collection’s formation and presents many of its finest treasures.

Stephen was educated at New College, Oxford, and was formerly Senior Curator of the Wallace Collection where he had particular responsibility for exhibitions and nineteenth-century paintings. He has given countless tours of the Collection for visiting groups and many lectures on its art and other related subjects. His latest publication, The Discovery of Paris, is a book on early nineteenth-century watercolour views of Paris by major British artists.

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

Tapestries were the most expensive wall decorations in the Middle Ages and beyond. Often commissioned in sets, taking years to produce, they graced some of the most significant courts of Europe from the 15th century to the 21st. This lecture will explore the making of tapestries and some landmark sets including those of the House of Burgundy, Pope Leo X and Henry VIII all made by the weavers of Flanders and those of Louis XIV and the current Queen of Denmark made by the weavers of the Gobelins factory in Paris. It will explore the changing approaches and some of the stories translated into tapestry.

Susan is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in recognition of her work on the history of dyes. Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Canada, China, Japan and Taiwan as well as for the V & A and across the UK.

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

In the 1880s and 1890s Europe and America saw the rise of artistic colonies, such as the Newlyn School, practising a form of painting known as “naturalism”. Another such colony, the Glasgow boys, seized the mantle of Bastien-Lepage and their paintings became the toast of Europe. The Glasgow Girls were their contemporaries. Painters such as Bessie MacNicol and designers, such as Margaret and Frances Macdonald, influenced the development of the Glasgow Style and achieved international recognition, contributing to the development of the modern movement. The Scottish Colourists had direct contact with French Post-Impressionism, particularly Matisse and the Fauves. As a result their paintings are considered some of the most progressive in British art of the early 20th century. During his talk, Harry will discuss the lives, the times and the work of these artists.

Harry has tutored three courses for the Open University - The History of Modern Art, Art and the Environment and Design, Processes and Products. He has worked as an OU examiner and A level examiner in the History of Art. He is a practising artist who has had work shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and he leads art appreciation holidays across Europe. As Head of Art & Design in a comprehensive school he taught A level Art, the history of art, printmaking, the history of printmaking and the history of architecture.

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

PLEASE NOTE THIS LECTURE WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE LANCASTER SUITE, ALBERT HALLS, BOLTON TOWN HALL AND NOT IN OUR USUAL VENUE

An Englishman’s home was as likely to be his castle in the 19th century as in the middle ages. The gothic style of castles and monasteries was revived and developed in all sorts of unexpected and original ways. For 150 years from Strawberry Hill to Castle Drogo, the style flourished and this lecture will show us some of the finest examples including Belvoir Castle, Alton Towers, Penrhyn Castle, Scarisbrick Hall, Peckforton Castle, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch and Carlton Towers. All of these survive but we will also revisit some lost houses like Fonthill, Bayons Manor and Eaton Hall. 

Roger studied History at Oxford and Fine Art at Leeds and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel and study in the USA. A former College Vice-Principal who now lectures for University of Liverpool and for Adult Residential Colleges he organises and leads country house study tours, and tries to find time to do research on British and American Country Houses.

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

Nicholas was the Greek Bishop of Myra, a 4th century port in Anatolia. Following his death, his legendary generosity established him as the principle gift-giving saint. Also the patron saint of seafarers, his body was stolen by Italian sailors to protect their own ports.

Over the centuries the image of St Nicholas changed constantly until the Dutch re-invented him as Sinterklaas. Taking him to their new colonies in America, he transformed into kindly Santa Claus. Later re-imported into Britain without his Catholic baggage, he gradually emerged as Father Christmas - the jovial giver of presents.

Christopher is an expert in the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. As a professional tour guide and lecturer he has led groups throughout the Middle East and Asia. Has written extensively on Arabia and is the author of The Discovery Guide to Yemen, Insight Guide to the Silk Road and Berlitz Guides to Libya; The Red Sea; Cairo; Abu Dhabi and Nile Cruising. As a photographer has pictures represented in four photographic libraries. A broad range of lecturing experience, including to the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Institute of British Architects. As a film producer and cameraman he has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4

Lectures begin at 10.30am prompt

PLEASE NOTE THIS LECTURE WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE LANCASTER SUITE, ALBERT HALLS, BOLTON TOWN HALL AND NOT IN OUR USUAL VENUE

Fine art has provided advertisers and their agencies with a great deal of material to use in their creative campaigns.

Tony describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and why the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. From the Renaissance through to the present day fine art continues to provide opportunities to enhance Brand imagery with admiration, humour, satire and irony.

In an entertaining and informative lecture Tony uses a wide range of visuals and video to show examples of the original works, the creative process and the (not always entirely successful) advertisements that are the result.

Tony was educated at Highgate School, starting his career in advertising in 1965 as a mail boy in J. Walter Thompson. He graduated through the training system there to become an account director and subsequently worked in several agencies before setting up on his own in 1985. There he handled primarily Guinness advertising in Africa and the Caribbean, where he produced many commercials and print ads for them over a period of 15 years. He remains active as a consultant in the industry, but now concentrates on more philanthropic projects - producing a film in the rural villages of Nigeria for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. More recently he has completed a sanitation project in Haiti after it was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.  

He has been a member of The Arts Society for many years. His earlier lecturing experience includes presenting to client groups, sales conferences and students of creative advertising in the UK and overseas. More recently he has been lecturing to Arts Societies in the UK and Europe.

Africa is not generally associated with great art, but Nigeria is associated with three major artistic traditions; the 2,000 year old Nok terracottas of the north, the Bronzes of Ife from the C12-C15 and the later Benin Bronzes. Richard lived in Nigeria in the 1960s, near Ife, and became familiar with the art of Ife and Benin and the role they played in society. The art, the technology (using the lost wax process) and the cultural relevance of the Bronzes will be illustrated and discussed in the lecture. 

Dr Thomas completed an MA in Canada in Development Studies, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in History and Political Science. His career as an academic and as a political and institutional analyst in the field of International Development enabled him to travel widely in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He has always sought to understand the arts and culture of the country or region he is living or working in since they illuminate the past and help to explain the present. Some of his lectures (Cobbett, Gillray and Hadrian) began with the history but have been developed for The Arts Society by emphasising the culture and art, architecture and cartoons of the period.

In January 2016 Kate was given a pink silk covered volume that contained a secret world of past lives, of a community in the mid-19th century and stories told through samples of fabric pasted carefully into the pages of a book. Kept for many years, this diary is gradually revealing its secrets and the lives lived, of Anne Sykes and her friends and family in Lancashire from the 1830s. This lecture looks at how textiles can tell us about the lives of our ancestors and the textile manufacturing of a nation.

Kate has worked as a curator of textiles and dress for over 20 years and is now the Deputy Curator at the Totnes Fashion and Textile Museum. She is a Senior Lecturer in History and Theory at Falmouth University and a Special Visiting Lecturer for the DeTao Masters Academy in Shanghai. Publications include An Easy Day for a Lady (Costume Journal, 2008) and Empire Dressing - the Design and Realisation of Queen Alexandra's Coronation Gown (Journal of Design History, 2012). Kate's book on Queen Alexandra's wardrobe will be published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2018. She is one of the youngest practitioners of the dying art of Honiton lace.

Picasso said: “No one has ever looked at Matisse’s painting more carefully than I; and no one has looked at mine more carefully than he.” Even before their first meeting in 1906 these two icons of modern art—Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954)—recognized, were inspired by, and felt determined to compete with each other’s genius.

The complicated personal and artistic relationship between these very different individuals has long fascinated scholars. Although they had instantly recognizable styles, throughout their lives, Matisse and Picasso borrowed subject matter, colours, patterns, and compositional structures back and forth, to create some of the most-radical, influential, and enduring works of visual art ever made.

Michael is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and President of The Arts Society Bolton and is a practising artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker and ceramicist. With his wife Ghislaine, also an artist and accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, he runs weekend and one day courses. He has curated many exhibitions and published widely most notably on Lowry, Goya, Whistler and Cézanne. Exhibited at the RA. His work is in Manchester Art Gallery and in private collections in the UK and abroad. He has featured on TV and radio and had many awards including a prestigious Peabody award.

Few painters can claim greater influence over the development of British Art than Van Dyck. His fluid and colourful Baroque style, inspired by a love of Venetian painters such as Titian, eradicated the stiff painting of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Apart from transforming British portraiture, his exuberant mythological and religious works matched, and at times even outstripped, those achieved by his master, Rubens. This talk will not only focus on his life, travels and key works, but also chart his influence on British Art throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Adam Busiakiewicz is an Independent Art Historian and Guide Lecturer at the Wallace Collection. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in History at UCL in 2010 he held the position of Head of Historical Interpretation (curator) at Warwick Castle. He left the castle in 2013 after winning a full AHRC studentship to pursue a Master’s Degree in Fine and Decorative Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. In December 2014 he became the youngest Guide Lecturer at the Wallace Collection, where he regularly gives talks, tours and lectures to both public and professional audiences. Adam is currently planning a publication on the Grevilles of Warwick Castle, and has had articles published by the British Art Journal and Hispanic Lyra (Spain’s leading Guitar History publication).

19th century Manchester, or “Cottonopolis’ as it became known, was the world’s first industrialized city that enjoyed unstoppable growth for much of the last century. With that growth came grand commercial and civic buildings on a scale and of a quality never witnessed in the city before. This lecture examines the extraordinary variety of such buildings and shows how their architects and stonemasons brought directly into the streets of Manchester the golden age of Pericles, the architecture of Renaissance Italy and the gothic of the Grand Canal. It goes into a detailed study of the allegorical sculpture and decoration of many of these buildings, many of which have fascinating stories to tell and which were designed by eminent architects such as Charles Barry and Alfred Waterhouse even before they went on to make names for themselves in the capital itself.

A senior modern languages teacher in an independent grammar school for many years, Brian has also enjoyed a successful parallel career since the 1980s as a professional artist and interior designer. Since 2006 he has been regularly appointed to a number of prestigious ocean and river cruise lines, either as resident artist, guest lecturer on art history or as destination speaker for more than forty countries. Most recently this work has successfully extended to art guiding through important towns and museums in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.

PLEASE NOTE: FOR THIS LECTURE ONLY OUR USUAL VENUE WILL BE UNAVAILABLE. THE LECTURE WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE LANCASTER SUITE - PART OF THE ALBERT HALLS VENUE, VICTORIA SQUARE, BOLTON BL1 1RU

Louis Comfort Tiffany was America’s foremost exponent of Art Nouveau. Jeweller, painter, designer and architect he is most famous for his richly decorated glassware. Commissioned to produce stained glass windows, Tiffany also produced sumptuous lamps, with naturalistic decoration drawn from flora and fauna. His most famous lamps, with their dragonfly leaded glass shades, consistently reach record prices at auction. Inspired by ancient cultures, Tiffany had his own glassworks where he experimented with different techniques of glassblowing and decoration. By the turn of the century, Tiffany Favrile glass was the most imitated glassware in America.

Charles is a former Director of Broadfield House Glass Museum (1974-2003) and one of the top authorities on glass in the country. Author of British Glass 1800-1914 (1991), 20th Century British Glass (2009) and contributor to numerous books and magazines. Lectures internationally to glass museums and collector's societies. Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology, and a member of the Arts Advisory Board at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland. President of the Glass Association which he was instrumental in founding.

For many people, Kashmir conjures up a beautiful valley surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, for others it is a land of conflict. But what is less well known is that it has been of historic artistic importance for nearly 2000 years. This lecture introduces the astonishing diversity of arts and crafts produced in this tiny area, influenced by Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic cultures.  It explores Buddhist sculptures, Hindu temples, great Islamic gardens, paintings, calligraphy, Moghul carpets and Kashmir shawls. Despite its troubled history, Kashmir has fostered a unique environment of artistic diversity and religious co-existence.

Zara is a freelance lecturer, art consultant and exhibition curator specialising in the art and culture of Tibet, the Himalayan areas and Mongolia. Initially based at the V&A, but also worked with the Central Asian Department of Bonn University, the Orient Foundation, the Royal Academy, Tibet House, the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside and Asia House. In addition to lecturing for The Arts Society, she lectures for museums, universities, Asian art societies, and private associations. Guest lecturer and tour guide on numerous trips to the Himalayas. Edited Masterpieces of Mongolian Art: Vol 1 and has published many articles in the field of Buddhist art and culture.

This complex, 1,400 year-old building bears an immense history, described in ‘Architecture of Canterbury Cathedral.’ Christ Church Canterbury could tell the nation’s story in a single building: the ebb and flow of kings, saints, wars and reforms are all played out in the architecture Geoffrey Chaucer knew. This talk focuses on the lives of three people who were deeply involved with the developing medieval structure: Thomas Becket in the twelfth century; Henry IV at the start of the fifteenth century, and Cardinal Morton in the early Tudor age. We end at the Dissolution, as Becket’s shrine is carted away.

Dr Jonathan Foyle was Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain for eight years, and a Curator of Historic Buildings at Hampton Court for as long, during which time he took his 2002 PhD on reconstructing Wolsey's palace. He is a frequent feature writer for the Financial Times on issues of architecture, history and craft, and is approaching his fourth published cathedral monograph: Canterbury, Lincoln, Lichfield- now Peterborough. A presenter of numerous television series including BBC4's Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? and BBC2's Climbing Great Buildings, he lectures frequently on a range of art-historical topics. He brings teaching experience as a former Course Director for the University of Cambridge Summer Schools and is an Honorary Professor in Conservation at the University of Lincoln.

Many soldiers, especially from the First World War, returned with loss of limbs, disfigurement and shell shock. ‘Healing Stitches’ tells how ordinary people responded to these badly wounded soldiers, wanting to help at the most challenging time in a person’s life. One could become absorbed in needlecraft and, for a time, forget the injury, providing ‘hope’ for the future. Similarly, those who had lost loved ones were able to engage in needlecraft as personal therapy. This lecture explores the supportive help of needlecraft suppliers and practitioners. Therapeutic needlecraft began during the Crimea War, and continues to the present day where it is now seen as a recognised form of occupational therapy, with remarkable benefits.

Jacqueline gained textile conservation experience with Museums' Service and established her freelance studio in 1982. She is listed in ICON's Conservation Register and is an accredited Conservator-Restorer. She has lectured and given study days/courses for The Arts Society, Embroiderers' Guild, Lace Guild, Antique Collectors' clubs and others and appeared on Channel 4, BBC 2 and the Discovery Channel.

It is ironic that an age notorious for its conservatism and prudery produced such a huge range of (often radical) art. All branches of painting seem to have taken huge leaps forward, with the invention of new ways of seeing the world, and owning it, driven by the overwhelming confidence of Britain at the centre of an Empire of Wealth, and of ideas. From the new respect for nature seen in Constable and Turner to the rudimentary Impressionism of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, from the visions of Heaven and Hell seen in William Blake and John Martin to the Golden Dreams of Burne-Jones, from the animal magic of Landseer to the Social Realism of Luke Fildes, the 64 years of Victoria’s reign redefine British art and establish it as an undeniable international force. And of course ‘Victorian’ must now also mean the decadence of Whistler, Wilde and Beardsley – shadow to the sun (which never sets). Truly, ‘all human life is there’.

Adrian has been a lecturer to universities and higher education institutions since 1973 and has held the following posts with various local authorities; Director, Development of the Arts in Northwich (1984-1990). Arts Development Officer, Chester City Council (1990-2009). Arts Development Officer, Cheshire West and Chester Council (2009-). He is also a professional painter and illustrator (1973-2001) and has undertaken tours and study weekends in UK and Europe, and organised exhibitions for Chester City Council.

Artists were never far behind the explorers who opened up the west of America in the 19th Century. Sometimes they painted what they saw. Sometimes they painted what they wished they saw. Either way, painters like Alfred Miller, Frederick Church and Albert Bierstadt have left us a powerful, if romanticised, record of the country and people that the settlers found. Now we can use their pictures to chart the history of the opening of America’s west - the arrival of the railroad, the confinement of Native Americans into reservations, and the extermination of the buffalo.

This is a story on a big scale and it seems appropriate that among the pictures illustrating the lecture are some of the largest and most grandiloquent paintings of the era. After a period of deep neglect, they are now very much back in vogue, but whatever one thinks of their artistic merits, I hope audiences will agree with me that they are, above all, great fun.

Toby Faber has written two works of narrative history, Stradivarius and Fabergé's Eggs, published by Macmillan in the UK and Random House in the US, and given lectures associated with these two subjects at venues including The Victoria and Albert Museum, Bath Theatre, The Library of Congress and the Huntington Library, as well as a number of literary festivals. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. Is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music, a trustee of Yale University Press (UK) and a director of the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

Why were foreigner painters preferred by the aristocracy in London to native-born English painters, why did foreigners come in the first place, what was their motivation, and what was the impact of foreigners in London on English art and art practice?
 

The lecture will look at the various formats and uses of art, tracing foreign artists from the Tudor period through to the Renaissance and Baroque, looking at their origins and how they came to work in England. It will examine the contributions of artists such as Holbein, Gerrit van Honthorst, Marcus Gheeraerts the younger, Lucas and Susanna Horenbout, Isaac Oliver, Paulus van Somer, van Dyck, Peter Lely, and Rubens. This lecture will look at how these artists influenced the British School of painting and assess their legacy.

Leslie Primo holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Also lectures at the City Literary Institute, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute.

From the early Kosovan silver mines which are mentioned in Dante, through the twentieth century politics over Kosovo’s mines which resulted in a war and a golf course, a silver thread winds through Kosovo’s history. Its most intricate tanglings are in the country’s cultural capital, Prizren, where a seventh generation of filigree artisans use ‘filum’ and ‘granum’, zigzags, ‘mouse-tooth’ designs and other twists and turns to magic lacy creations from dull sticks of raw material. The results – in boxes, buttons, jewellery, religious ornamentation and the talismans of superstition – are a fine narrative of Kosovo’s history and traditions.

Elizabeth Gowing studied at Magdalen College Oxford before training as a teacher and working in Lambeth, Hackney and Islington. She moved to Kosovo in 2006 and there worked with the Ethnological Museum in Prishtina and co-founded ‘The Ideas Partnership’, a charity working on education and cultural heritage projects. She speaks fluent Albanian and has translated two books (the unauthorized biography of Yugoslavia’s longest-held political prisoner, Adem Demaci, and the memoirs of one of the leaders of the 1912 uprising). Elizabeth is also the author of three books about Kosovo – Travels in Blood and Honey; becoming a beekeeper in Kosovo (2011), Edith and I; on the trail of an Edwardian traveller in Kosovo (2013) and The Rubbish-Picker’s Wife; an unlikely friendship in Kosovo (2015). She has appeared on Radio 4 (Saturday Live, Excess Baggage, From Our Own Correspondent) and the BBC World Service.

The work of women photographers has often been unfairly neglected. This lecture seeks to correct that by examining the contribution of three outstanding British practitioners; Julia Margaret Cameron, a Victorian pioneer; Jane Bown, a brilliant portraitist; and Fay Godwin, who excelled in landscape photography. We also explore the work of two highly influential Americans: Dorothea Lange, who excelled in documentary images and Annie Leibovitz, who continues to both surprise and delight her audience.

Brian Stater’s chief interests lie in photography, architecture and history and he combines all three in his lecturing career. He has lectured at University College London since 1997 and for over 10 years has proved a highly-successful speaker with the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (Nadfas). He is a member of the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography and an exhibition of his own photographs has been staged at UCL. In an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the skills of some great photographers of the past he works with a pre-War Leica camera as used by, among many others, his great hero Henri Cartier-Bresson. Brian is an engaging and amusing speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.

After World War I, artists and architects were in a state of flux, just like the world they inhabited. How could they create and what, indeed, would they produce in a Europe still reeling from the worst conflict ever known? Yet out of crisis came a truly stimulating period of artistic endeavour. Contemplating painters such as Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and Christian Schad, alongside the experiments of the Bauhaus, new film technologies and the sultry stylings of Marlene Dietrich, this talk looks at the culture of German-speaking Europe during the interwar years. 

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster, appearing on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributing to The Independent on Sunday and The Guardian. He lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, including to the National Gallery, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York, as well as for history of art societies and The Art Fund.

In these years of World War 2 Anniversaries the subject of this talk is hugely relevant. Relatively little is known in this country about Germany’s complex post-war process of remembrance and the counter memorial movement that started there in the 1980s and continues to this day.

Germany’s very specific situation rendered all traditional concepts of monuments and memorials irrelevant and inappropriate. Instead of commemorating their own losses Germany artists looked to creating art forms that would respond to questions of apology and atonement: How does a nation of former persecutors mourn its victims?

The idea behind counter memorials is to keep the memories and lessons of the past alive in the individual psyches of the people. The results are extraordinary, brave, and inspiring.

With her Anglo-German roots, artistic background and years of research, Angela is in an ideal position to give insights into Germany’s fascinating and on-going efforts to find artistic forms for the remembrance of the victims of one of history’s darkest periods.

“Thank you so much for giving us such an outstanding insight into your subject on German WW2 memorials. I have rarely felt such intense attention to the speaker from an audience. You could tell from the atmosphere in the room at the end of your talk that it was exceptional. I have had comments from many members praising your presentation and the way in which you drew us into the subject with such clarity and honesty. You really opened our eyes and understanding to an aspect of German culture so different from that of the UK to the heritage of WW2.”
Chair, Sutton Coldfield DFAS

Angela Findlay is a professional artist, writer and freelance lecturer with a long standing interest in the role the arts and the creative process can play in bringing about changes, on a personal level or within societies. Her long career of teaching art in prisons and Young Offender Institutions in Germany and England, followed by her role as the former Arts Coordinator of the Koestler Trust in London, gave her many insights into the huge impact the arts can have in terms of rehabilitation. She is currently advising the Ministry of Justice and presenting the case for the arts to be included in their new rehabilitation and education policies.

In the past decade Angela’s Anglo-German roots led her to discover and research Germany’s largely unknown but fascinating post-WWII process of remembrance. So completely different to the British one, the arts once again play a huge and vital role in expressing the apology and atonement that underlies the country’s unique culture of memorials and counter memorials.

The dramatic landscapes of Arctic Norway have attracted visitors since the 19th century when wars and revolutions made it impossible to enjoy the Grand Tour. The century also saw two other developments: the appreciation of the Sublime and the rise of national awareness. Both were found in abundance in Norway.

Artists such as Adelsteen Normann, Gunnar Berg and Otto Sinding built on the important work of ‘the father of Norwegian painting’, J. C. Dahl, celebrating the scenery and exploring to great effect the clarity of northern light. Adolf Tidemand, Hans Gude and Kristian Krohg were famed for their representations of everyday life, while Peder Balke and the Frenchman François August Biard recorded the challenges of surviving the harsh climate of the far north.

Dr Fenella Bazin has been a lecturer for the Universities of Birmingham and Liverpool since the early 1970s. Since her retirement, she has been a regular visitor to Norway, developing her lifelong interest in Norwegian art and the Viking world. She regularly lectures on cruise ships, notably Voyages of Discovery, Saga and Viking Ocean Cruises.

She graduated from London University in 1966 and worked in Continuing Education, with Birmingham and Liverpool Universities, as lecturer and course organiser. Was Deputy Director of the Centre for Manx Studies (1992-2008), and has taught postgraduates, trained Blue Badge Guides, and worked with archaeologists, historians and musicians; for many years she presented a regular programme on Manx Radio. Her publications include a Dictionary of Hymnology and a New National Dictionary of Biography; and she has also published specialist music books and articles.

This illustrated lecture surveys the chronological and regional development of medieval manuscript production, from the late Roman Empire to the Renaissance. It explores stylistic and technical developments and introduces some of the colourful personalities of the craftspeople who made them and the patrons who commissioned them.

Michelle Brown holds a BA in History and History of Art, Westfield College, and a PhD in History, UCL. She is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies, SAS, University of London, Visiting Professor at UCL and Baylor University, and Senior Researcher at the University of Oslo. Formerly a Course Tutor in History of the Book (SAS), Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library, and lecturer at Birkbeck and Morley Colleges. Recent publications include The Book and the Transformation of Britain, c.550-1050 (2011) and Art of the Islands: Celtic, Pictish and Anglo-Saxon Visual Culture (Bodleian, forthcoming).

Over 4.6 Billion years ago a star was born and our sun started to shine. Soon after this the Earth and our other planets were formed and light began its eight minute flight to Earth. Science and art have moved forward together in the quest to understand light as can be seen in representations of rainbows or contemporary Black Holes.

For artists light can express emotions, from El Greco’s light of spiritual ecstasy to the dangerous darkness of Caravaggio, from Turner’s sublime sunlight to Samuel Palmer’s melancholy moonlight. Australian Impressionism uses a different colour palette to European Impressionism. 

Stonehenge was built to worship the sun, and today James Turrell makes light temples in art galleries and Dan Flavin makes altarpieces from fluorescent tubes.

Let Alexandra enlighten you as to how artists have painted temporal and spiritual light through the Ages.

Alexandra Drysdale is an art historian and a professional artist who specialises in painting and sculpture. Since 2004 she has been an accredited lecturer for NADFAS (National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies). In 2007, 2012 and 2014 she did lecture tours in Australia for ADFAS.

Her lectures combine art historical knowledge with personal expertise in aesthetics and artistic techniques. It is this combination that makes her lectures so original and dynamic.

Art from all periods, including examples of her own work, is examined from an artist and historian’s point of view. This entails a perceptive analysis of a painting’s structure, its meaning, and its relationship to the history of art. She puts a particular emphasis on studying the symbolic language of the imagination.

Road and rail, sea and air, the infrastructure of travel has provided many architectural treasures from the thatched petrol station of Blashford Hampshire to the futuristic styling of Los Angeles airport. This lecture examines the art and architecture of travelling and includes often overlooked gems including as bus and railway stations, travel posters and tube stations. It examines leading artists and architects in the sphere of travel, including John Hassall, Fougasse, Leslie Green, and Richard Rogers.

Sarah Pearson 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. She lectured for 10 years at Reading and at the University of East Anglia, and now works as a freelance lecturer and adult education provider. She has published articles and a book chapter on the architect Francesco di Giorgio and is currently researching the development of the Riddlesworth estate with a view to future publication.

Art Deco architecture from the 1920s and 30s has a style and appeal that is immediately recognisable and distinctive. At that time, modern precision machining could produce perfect straight lines and curves that enhanced all aspects of these unique forward-looking designs for cinemas, hotels, theatres, offices, shops and homes. Popular features include streamlining, sunbursts, ziggurats, eyebrows, frozen fountains, Egyptian themes and nautical designs, all depicted in wonderful pastel shades. Rapid redevelopment between the world wars saw this modernistic movement spread into the new suburbs of our greatest cities, whilst the expanding film industry also used art deco design as the perfect way to attract cinema-goers into the surreal surroundings of the picture palaces, many of which are disappearing today. This unique architecture and art history is revealed by using the most impressive examples from around the world – South Beach Miami, Napier, Adelaide, Cairo and Mumbai as well as the best art deco from within the UK.

Christopher Bradley is an expert in the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. As a professional tour guide and lecturer he has led groups throughout the Middle East and Asia. He has written extensively on Arabia and is the author of The Discovery Guide to Yemen, Insight Guide to the Silk Road and Berlitz Guides to Libya; The Red Sea; Cairo; Abu Dhabi and Nile Cruising. As a photographer he has pictures represented by four photographic libraries. He has a broad range of lecturing experience, including to the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Institute of British Architects. As a film producer and cameraman he has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4.

A delightfully entertaining look at the history of pleasure piers covering just over 200 years, from the first pier in the Regency period up to the present day. Almost 100 pleasure piers were built around our coastline, diverse in designs and some crowned with exotic palaces or pavilions. These elegant structures bear witness to the remarkable skills of the Victorian engineers and are an important part of our social history symbolizing the nation’s love of days out and summer holidays at seaside resorts. A celebration covering the heyday of piers, how generations have enjoyed the fresh air and sea views, been captivated by the amusements and entertained by a variety of artists. The incredible stories of our surviving piers, whether they are successful flourishing or sadly in trouble, their future and the ongoing struggle to keep them.

Jackie Marsh-Hobbs is a lecturer, specialist guide, researcher and teacher working at the Royal Pavilion, Preston Manor, and Brighton Museum. She has taught on adult education courses on behalf of the University of Sussex covering architecture, decorative arts, local history, and research skills. She initiates, researches and runs her own tours of Brighton Station, Palmeira Mansions, of which she is the archivist, and The Old Ship Hotel; local history walks and piers. Jackie has worked on various research projects and books, including the Heritage Lottery Funded Floating Memories conducting tours on our sea bathing heritage.

Jacopo Bellini and his sons Gentile and Giovanni brought the Renaissance ‘style’ to Venetian painting. Jacopo was obsessed with perspective, and though few of his paintings survive, we have his marvelous sketchbook with its 300 drawings. Gentile is best known for his two huge canvasses showing scenes from contemporary Venetian life, but the real star is Giovanni, who transformed Venice into a Renaissance centre rivaling Rome and Florence. This lecture looks at the Bellini studio, the new methods they used, their interaction with other artists and the ways in which the ‘Venetian’ style developed.

Patricia Erskine-Hill was brought up in Italy, France and Switzerland, and she holds a first class degree in Italian from Trinity College, Dublin and a Masters degree in Imperial Russian history from Edinburgh University. She ran her own business for many years, finishing with a 5 year contract teaching at a US university. Now back in the UK, she lectures widely to history societies, university groups, special interest associations and on cruises. Her interests are the society, art and architecture of Imperial Russia; Italian history, art and culture; the English eighteenth century.

This lecture focuses on the costume and dress accessories that would have been worn for formal occasions (Regulated Court Costume), or informally, at the Imperial Court or in Provincial Government during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Initial consideration will be given to formal, mandated, Court Costume and Insignia of Rank worn by the Imperial Family plus the Civil and Military Officials. The focus will then move to a review of the full scope of the Emperor’s Wardrobe from State Robes, and regalia, through to informal wear Consideration will also be given to robes, and dress accessories, worn on a day to day basis or for special occasions by other members of the Court either in their official capacity or in their private lives. Particular focus will be given to the highly decorative clothing of high ranking Chinese Ladies and will consider the design of items such as informal robes, outerwear, headwear and ornamental accessories.

David Rosier is a Chartered Insurer by profession and a Fellow of the Assurance Medical Society, with extensive international experience as an author and lecturer in Medical Risk Assessment. He has in excess of 25 years of working and living in Asia. Whilst living in Hong Kong (1991-2004) he assembled a collection of approximately 700, predominately Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Imperial and related textiles/costume accessories. He is a Past Committee Member of the Hong Kong Textile Society and frequent speaker on Imperial Insignia and Badges of Rank.

A lecture exploring depictions of literature in British art, from the beginnings in the work of Hogarth and his contemporaries, to Victorian interpretations of literary works by writers such as Tennyson and Shakespeare. How have artists brought great characters from books and poetry to life? This provides a glimpse of works by many different artists, both famous and less well known, and their responses to works of British literature.

Rosalind Whyte has a BA and MA from Goldsmith’s College, and an MA (distinction) from Birkbeck College. She is an experienced guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and Greenwich. She not only lectures at the Tate, Dulwich Picture Gallery, and to independent art societies and on cruises but also leads art appreciation holidays.

View the circus across the centuries, through the eyes of artists such as Seurat, Degas, Lautrec, Tissot, Sickert, Chagall, Hopper, Picasso, Leger, Calder and Cindy Sherman. Clowns, acrobats and trapeze artists were their most popular subjects. Hear how the artists became fascinated by the experience and how it affected them. You will meet Degas’ Miss Laia, acrobat and trapeze artist, who in 1879 was raised to the trapeze by her teeth. Cha-U-Kao, dancer, clown and acrobat, enchanted Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Confined to a mental hospital in Neuilly for three months in 1899, Lautrec drew about 40 circus scenes from memory. The lively style, remarkable detail and the meticulous execution of the drawings resulted in his “liberation” from the hospital. The arrival of the Cirque Medrano in Montmartre, was a catalyst for the change of Picasso’s work from “The Blue Period” to “The Rose Period”. Laura Knight was given special permission to paint Bertram Mills’ star performers during rehearsals and backstage. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. You will be on the edge of your seat!

Harry Fletcher tutored three courses for the Open University - The History of Modern Art, Art and the Environment and Design, Processes and Products. He has worked as an OU examiner and A level examiner in the History of Art. As Head of Art & Design in a comprehensive school he taught A level Art, the history of art, printmaking, the history of printmaking and the history of architecture. A practising artist himself he has had work shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and has led art appreciation holidays across Europe. This lecture marks a welcome return by Harry, who in 2014 lectured to us on the life and works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret McDonald Mackintosh.

To coincide with the anniversary of the start of Captain James Cook’s final and fatal voyage in 1776, the lecture explores the impact of his three extraordinary voyages of discovery on European thought, art and science. Cook is widely renowned as an explorer, pioneering navigator and preventer of scurvy and his voyages provided unprecedented information about the Pacific Ocean, and about those who lived on its islands and shores. This was to have a profound influence on The Enlightenment. The lecture is lavishly illustrated with the exquisite drawings and watercolours of Sydney Parkinson, the glorious paintings of William Hodges and George Stubbs, the botanising of Sir Joseph Banks and the remarkable cartography of James Cook himself.

Peter Warwick is an author, historian and major event organiser, and a recognised authority on Admiral Lord Nelson and specialises in naval and polar history. He chairs the 1805 Club, which conserves the monuments of the Georgian sailing navy; the New Waterloo Dispatch/Waterloo 200, the official body arranging the bicentenary commemorations for Waterloo in 2015; and Thames Alive which in 2012 arranged the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant and the Thames Olympic Torch Relay. He was vice-chairman of the Official Nelson Commemorations Committee and played a key role in the planning of the Trafalgar 200 and Sea Britain 2005. Peter lectures at the Defence Academy, National Maritime Museum, National Museum for the Royal Navy, Royal Institution and at schools and universities and on cruises.

Van Gogh speaks to all, not only through his paintings and drawings, but also through his magnificent letters. This lecture will examine and celebrate the man and his work taking his own ambition as inspiration. Unable to find a way to preach his own particular understanding of Christianity through the Church – he decided to do it through his art. In doing so he gave the world one of its greatest treasures – one that crosses all boundaries to speak of what is the very best in us all.

Michael is President of Bolton DFAS and (though recently retired), he still teaches life drawing to both academic and studio-based students at Manchester School of Art and Design at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He is a practising painter, printmaker and ceramicist and represented the U.K. at the 2006 Varna Biennale. His work may be found in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery and in many private collections here and abroad.

He is one of the leading authorities on L. S. Lowry and in 2000 published the definitive book on the artist entitled “L. S. Lowry: A Visionary Artist”. He has also written books on Goya, Whistler, Monet, Cézanne and many others, including UPclose, a personal guide to the Manchester Art Gallery. He also worked on the Lowry film that introduces the artist’s life and work at the Lowry centre.

Michael and his wife, the artist Ghislaine Howard, have featured on television and radio many times and in 2004 he and Ghislaine worked on the film “Degas and the Dance” which received many awards.

Michael is heavily involved in writing a major monograph on Ghislaine’s work – publication date October 2016, which will coincide with a retrospective of her work at Collect Art Gallery in Lymm.

Making a meal is very much like making a painting; there are rules or a recipe to follow but artists or cooks add their own twist, flavour, and originality. Paint is ground as are spices, and colour, shape, and the placing of pigment on canvas or food on a plate is important to both. From the prehistoric cave paintings, which depicted the animals whose meat would sustain the tribe, food and feasting have been a prevalent subject in Western Art: delicious food on frescoes at Pompeii; Last Suppers; Mediaeval Banquets; still life paintings of fish, fowl and fruit in abundance; simple but beautiful kitchenware; a milkmaid caught in a fleeting moment as she pours from a jug. The French Impressionists adored their food and are credited with helping Paris become the world centre for cuisine. Renoir introduced Paris to the pleasures of Provençal peasant cooking; Toulouse Lautrec was famous for fabulous meals and an infamous cookbook; Monet’s cookery notes have been gathered into a beautiful book. Food has become something of an obsession in the 21st century, with the celebrity chef as artist, so Ghislaine will not only unlock the secrets of cuisine in art she will also enable you to recreate the dishes at home with her recipes.

Ghislaine is a painter of national reputation and named as a Woman of The Year 2008 for her contribution to art and society. She has published and exhibited widely, has had work in the Royal Collection and has had solo exhibitions at many prestigious venues including Manchester Art Gallery, Canterbury Cathedral and Imperial War Museum North. An associate lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, she has lectured to a broad spectrum of people at her studio gallery or at more public venues such as cathedrals, art galleries and other institutions. She is also the wife of our President, Michael Howard, and we look forward to welcoming her back to lecture to us once again.

Pubs and their signs are a fundamental part of our history and cultural heritage. In this colourful and entertaining lecture John shows some of the most interesting and distinctive signs before exploring the fascinating stories behind the origin of some of their peculiar names. Who could fail to be intrigued by ‘The Bucket of Blood’, the ‘Cow and Snuffers’ or even the ‘Eager Poet’ – and who on earth was ‘Blind Jack’?

John Ericson was formerly a lecturer at the University of Bath where he was Director of Studies in the School of Education with responsibility for the professional development of teachers. He has worked extensively overseas as an educational consultant and this has given him the opportunity to give lectures and presentations at conferences all over the world. In 2008 and again in 2011 he undertook extensive lecture tours of Australia and he has been a popular speaker on the NADFAS circuit for a number of years. In his professional life he has developed a particular interest in presentation skills including the role of pictures in learning and the appropriate use of PowerPoint. This coupled with his ability to relate well to people of all ages and backgrounds makes him an impressive and confident public speaker. As well as the talks he has developed from his professional background, he offers presentations on an eclectic range of topics that are derived from his diverse interests and enthusiasms such as, Pub Signs, Children’s Book Illustrations and the Shakers of North America.

By introducing broad issues that pertain to the still life, this lecture aims to equip the audience with a range of questions which will help deepen their experience of viewing still life on subsequent gallery visits. Traditionally, still life, as a genre, has been regarded as of the lowest status. Why then have artists undertaken such works? What were they attempting to express? The history of the genre is traced whilst challenge is made to its lowly status.

Emma initially trained as a Fine Bookbinder and Paper Conservator at the Public Records Office, Kew, London. She gained Certificate in Painting & Drawing (London Metropolitan University, 1989), MA in Fine Art (University of Wales Institute, 1992), PhD Art History (Liverpool John Moores University, 2005). Since 2011 she has been a freelance lecturer, mainly with the Workers Educational Association, Sheffield, following 20 years' experience as a university lecturer and is undertaking Creative Practitioner training to deliver workshops at the Hepworth Art Gallery, Wakefield. After her PhD on Art & the Spiritual that involved an interview with the late Catalan artist Antoni Tapies, she continues her work as an artist, undertaking still life paintings in oils and abstract paintings in acrylics. In her lectures that range across art history from 14th-21st century, she approaches analysis of individual artworks from her experience of being a practising artist.

Today textiles for clothing or decoration are taken for granted, but it was not always so. This lecture unpacks the history of how cloth and yarn were coloured and how the different colours represented power, achievement and desire. Using a variety of illustrations it sheds a forgotten light on how important textiles have been in European history, but more than this, the history of textiles is not just a matter of fashion but is also a story of politics, money, war, trade, laws, the church, agriculture, exploration, science and even serendipity.

Susan is Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Chartered Institute of Marketing she has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience on a variety of topics and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Japan and Taiwan as well as across the UK.

Bolton born Thomas Moran was the greatest American landscape painter of his time. He deserves to be as well-known and as highly regarded here in England as he is in America, where he lived and worked. Inspired by the paintings of Turner, Moran was an explorer as well as an artist. His 30 visits to the West included the first survey of the Yellowstone in 1871 and an expedition to the Grand Canyon with John Wesley Powell in 1873. Moran’s great paintings of these natural wonders were purchased by Congress for $10,000 each and revealed for the first time, the scale, the colour and the light of these extraordinary places. He continued to travel, to paint and to champion the dramatic landscapes of the West for another half century. His was a remarkable life, producing wonderful paintings and a memorable lecture.

Roger studied History at Oxford and Fine Art at Leeds. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel and study in USA. Now a former College Vice-Principal he lectures for the University of Liverpool, Adult Residential Colleges, organises and leads country house study tours, and tries to find time for research at Chatsworth.

It was Henry Clay Frick's (1849–1919) intention that his art collection and home at 1 East 70th Street be opened as a museum following his wife's death. After Adelaide Howard Childs Frick (1859–1931) died in October 1931, the mansion, built in 1913–14 by Thomas Hastings (1860–1929), of Carrère and Hastings, underwent further construction to transform it into a space suitable for a public institution. Under the direction of The Frick Collection's Organizing Director, Frederick Mortimer Clapp, construction and renovation at the Collection began. The Trustees commissioned John Russell Pope to make additions to the original house, including two galleries (the Oval Room and East Gallery), a combination lecture hall and music room, and the enclosed Garden Court. The Frick Collection opened its doors to the public in 1935, thereby fulfilling the intention of Henry Clay Frick to present to New York City his extraordinary art collection and magnificent mansion. In 1977, a new Reception Hall was designed by Harry van Dyke, John Barrington Bayley, and G. Frederick Poehler. Two additional galleries were opened on the lower level of the pavilion to house temporary exhibitions. Finally, in December of 2011 the Portico was enclosed to form the new Portico Gallery, which houses sculpture and decorative arts.

The Frick Collection includes masterpieces of European painting, major works of sculpture (among them one of the finest groups of small bronzes in the world), superb eighteenth-century French furniture and porcelain, old master and nineteenth-century works on paper, Limoges enamels, and other works of remarkable quality.

Hilary was formerly Print Room Superintendent at the British Museum, and is now its Art History Education Officer. She lectures for the British Museum, the London Borough of Bexley and the Wallace Collection. For NADFAS she is the liaison officer at the British Museum and the Founding Artistic Director of North Kent Evening DFAS. She also guides Special Interest Private Tours of State Apartments at Buckingham Palace.

Stained glass tells stories. It has been used to play politics, bribe bishops, recruit soldiers and tell jokes. The most remarkable subjects appear in its panes, from miracles to Mandela, tanks to Tiffany, Burne-Jones’s water-closet to Churchill’s cigar. It is a powerful way to create a message – not just in churches, but in airports, sports centres, town halls, banks, libraries and shops – and this lecture includes examples of stained glass in our locality.

Susie is a writer, editor and lecturer, specialising in 20th century culture and the arts. She has published eight books on subjects including official war art, opera and the composer Elisabeth Lutyens. Her most recent book is the biography of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, published in August 2011. Susie has lectured to a wide range of audiences, from the Imperial War Museum and British Museum to the Twentieth Century Society and the RSA and most recently at the Cheltenham and Bridport Literary Festivals and the Victorian Society.

The Great Omar was the most fabulous, elaborate and opulent binding ever created. It was embellished with over one thousand jewels, five thousand leather onlays and a hundred square feet of gold leaf, and it took a team of craftsmen over two and a half years to make. It went down with the Titanic. This lecture tells the story of the making of the fabulous Great Omar. It is also the story of the renowned bookbinding firm of Sangorski and Sutcliffe – who were known for their elaborate jeweled bindings – and the men that made this extraordinary book. It also tells the moving story of life after the tragedy, and of one young man in particular, who decided against the odds to recreate the binding, a venture which itself is mired in tragedy and which occupied him for the rest of his life.

A bookbinder, artist and teacher Dominic first learned bookbinding at the age of 16 from Benedictine Monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco, and spends part of the year teaching across the USA. He has his bindery in the Lake District, from where he travels across the UK teaching master classes and lecturing. He is Vice President of the Society of Bookbinders and was elected a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. His binding work is mostly the restoration of antiquarian books and Design Bindings. He has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition, including both first prizes and the Mansfield Silver Medal in 2007. His bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library and the John Rylands Library in Manchester. In 2010 he bound a special copy of the winner of the Booker Prize which was presented to the author. In June 2013 he won first prize in the prestigious Sir Paul Getty International Bookbinding Competition. His winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Throughout history, mankind has been absorbed with understanding the concept of Time. An extraordinary variety of devices has been developed, either to tell when something should happen (it’s 10 o’clock), or how long it should take (you’ve got 20 minutes), or to alert us to do something now (wake up, it’s time to go). So we have developed all kinds of device to tell the time – using the Stars, Sundials, our Shadows, Clepsydra (water clocks), Mechanical Clocks and Watches, Burning Timers, Sand Glasses, Bells, Electronics and our fundamental Biological Clocks. But the “tick” of all these is the rhythms of the universe – the daily and yearly movement of the sun, the monthly movement of the Moon and, more recently, by the buzz of the quartz and caesium atom. Such is our interest in the subject that craftsmen have always found commissions to create beautiful time telling things. The lecture looks at all these devices and many more. It charts how their use has risen and fallen as history, fashion and technology have progressed.

Kevin studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. He was a VSO teacher in Borneo, worked across the world as an underground engineer and is now a magistrate in Gwent. He has had a life-long interest in the history of timekeeping and cosmology and in sundials in particular, as objects of art, craft and science. His specialist topic is the Equation of Time and he has lectured on various aspects of sundials in both the UK and USA, including to the British Sundial and North American Sundial Societies. Publications include articles in the journals of both these societies.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AT 10.30 am

Followed by the lecture The Black Death was the greatest catastrophe in recorded history and removed over half the population of Europe. Many skills were lost in the general devastation — for a hundred years, England remained deficient in native craftsmen. This lecture explains how new concepts in architecture, decoration, painting and sculpture were necessarily imported from further afield and have had a profound effect on British art since that time.

Tom Beaumont James MBE, MA, PhD studied at the University of St Andrews. He was appointed MBE in June 2011. He has elected fellowships of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and of the Royal Historical Society. His many publications include 'Clarendon: Landscape of Kings' (2007), 'Winchester: Prehistory to the Present' (2007), 'The Story of England' (2003); 'Clarendon Palace' and 'Palaces of Medieval England'. He is a contributor to 'This Sceptred Isle', Radio 4/BBC Worldwide and other credits include BBC2, Channel 4, Discovery Channel, Radio 4, including Edward Windsor's 'Crown and Country' and Melvyn Bragg's '2000 years of Christianity'. Apart from work in the UK he has lectured in universities and to societies all over the world from Australia to Denmark, also in France, Germany, Russia and the USA where he spoke at Stanford among other institutions. His original area of research was medieval history and archaeology and he continues to work on medieval palaces and also on the catastrophic Black Death of 1348-50.

Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth in 1770 and spent much of his life living in the Lake District. He and his friends Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge became known as the Lake Poets, their work inspired by the landscape and people. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries painters, notably J M W Turner, John Constable, Thomas Girtin and Joseph Wright of Derby went to live in the Lake District or visited the region for inspiration. Many important figures in the Romantic movement were influenced by Wordsworth's praise of the Lake District.

Michael is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and, of course, our very own President of Bolton DFAS. He is a practising artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker and ceramicist and with his wife, also an artist and NADFAS lecturer, he runs weekend and one day courses. He has curated many exhibitions and published widely most notably on Lowry, Goya, Whistler and Cézanne. Michael has exhibited at the RA and his work is in Manchester Art Gallery and in private collections in the UK and abroad. He has featured on TV and radio and had many awards including a prestigious Peabody award. We are very pleased that Michael is once again lecturing for us and we also recognise his generosity in supporting our Young Arts project.

Diana is a freelance lecturer in ceramic, glass and the history of interior decoration in Europe, North and South America. She has a Diploma with Distinction in the Fine and Decorative Arts from the Inchbald School of Design where she also lectures. She also lectures at the Interior Design School and for American University Groups, NT and Antiques Societies and Christie's Education. Personally she collects ceramics and glass and guides groups through museum collections and country houses.

Steven is an independent landscape consultant specialising in historic gardens and architecture since 1985. He is a freelance lecturer, including the Universities of Bristol and Oxford. Steven also acts as a specialist tour leader and lecturer in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. He completed a DFAS lecture tour of Australia in 2010. He is also a writer and broadcaster on historic gardens and related topics.

Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski, a NADFAS member since 1982, is an antique dealer and freelance lecturer in English furniture history. He has lectured for over 30 years throughout Britain, Europe and Australia, giving particular consideration to the aesthetic, craft and socio-economic aspects of fine furniture. Janusz has lectured many times for us at Bolton DFAS and we are especially pleased to welcome him back.

Andrew has been presenting his magic lantern shows for over twenty years and his clients have included the BBC; the National Media Museum; the National Railway Museum in York; The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry and many local museums, festivals and special interest groups.

Chloë is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and on cruises. As a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute she has carried out fieldwork, curated several exhibitions, and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. Her many publications include Mexican Textiles (British Museum Press, 1990), Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1990), The Incas - The Ancient World (Wayland, 1998) and Textiles from Mexico (British Museum Press, 2002). She is co-author of Skeleton at the Feast; Mexican Day of the Dead (British Museum Press, 1991), Traditional Mexican Architecture (Thames & Hudson, 1993) and Masks Arts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1994). She has also published articles in newspapers, magazines and travel guides. This marks a very welcome and swift return for Chloë who gave our June 2014 lecture The Aztec Legacy: Continuity and Change.

Hugh studied philosophy in Rome, followed by a degree in architecture at the University of Manchester. He was previously an architect partner with Building Design Partnership, the largest multi-discipline design organisation in the UK, and was for some years an external examiner in architecture at the University of Manchester. For several years he was a visiting lecturer in the history of art and architecture at the University of Central Lancashire. He is a watercolourist, and has also lectured extensively to various societies and organisations, including cruises, on art and architecture. He last lectured to us in the 2013-2014 season on the architecture of Venice.

Suzanne Fagence Cooper is a writer and lecturer. Her most recent book, 'The Model Wife: the Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, Ruskin and Millais' was published by Duckworth (UK 2010) and St Martins (USA 2011).