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Past Meetings Here are details of our past meetings, to give you an idea of the variety and scope of the lectures. Unfortunately due to weather damaging the roof at the Sue Townsend Theatre we had to cancel this talk. However we hope Barry will be able to do the talk in January. 24th June 26 Change to previous lecture advertised. At the Sue Townsend Theatre Barry Venning Paintbrushes at Dawn: the World's Greatest Artistic Feuds, Rows and Quarrels The late Christopher Hitchens, who knew a thing or two about feuds, once wrote that a really first rate bust up requires one of at least two things: a clash of strong personalities, and a conflict of principles. The history of art is peppered with first rate bust ups: between the great early Renaissance artists, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, between Constable and Turner in the early 1830s, between Salvador Dali and the Surrealist leader, Andre Breton in the 1930s and, most recently, between the graffiti artists Banksy and ‘King’ Robbo, who painted out and amended each other’s works. There are many more. 20th May 26 Chloe Sayer The Maya Heritage: Ancient and Modern Mayan Culture The civilisation of the ancient Maya reached its peak between AD 300-900. Across much of present-day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, dozens of great cities have been located, many still buried in remote parts of the jungle. Maya achievements in art and architecture were matched by a knowledge of maths, astrology, calendrics and hieroglyphic writing. Mural paintings, ceramic figurines and intricately carved stone panels provide an insight into the religious rituals, music, warfare, textiles and courtly life of the Maya. Today some six million Maya carry on many of the traditions of their ancestors. Sculpture of a Maya Warrior crawling. The Original reddish colours are still visible. The statue is from San Migueal La Palotada, Guatemala made somewhere between 250-600 AD. GorissM - https://www.flickr.com/photos/71963413@N06/25067577544/. CC BY-SA 2.0 Join us for a day out in Oxford on Tuesday, 14th April. The focus of our visit will be ‘In Bloom, How Plants have changed our World’ at the Ashmolean. This major new exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Oxford to the furthest corners of the world, uncovering stories of some of Britain’s most beloved blooms. It features over 100 artworks in a variety of media. 22nd April 26 Nick Salmond 18th Century England through the eyes of Canaletto The great Venetian artist Canaletto spent ten years living in London producing wonderful landscapes of the city and its surrounds. In this lecture, we explore his time in the capital and look at how his style changed during his long visit. We look at some of the work he produced and explore how the views he captured have changed over the centuries. 25th March 26 Carol Wilhide Justin The Influence Japanese Wood Cuts in Western Art When Japan's borders were opened to the West in 1868 there was a huge surge of interest in all things Japanese in the West, particularly in Paris. Ukiyo-e prints were collected avidly by the leading Impressionist painters of the day who 'borrowed' wholesale from their asymmetric compositions, flowing lines, bright colours and subject matter. In this lecture I explore how the Japanese aesthetic revolutionised Western art in the late 19th century, and how a new wave of artists today have brought a deeper understanding of the mokuhanga technique into Contemporary Art. 25th February 26 Raymond Holden Gilding the Stage, a brief history of the Modern Opera House The modern opera house is often the beating cultural heart of many cities around the world. It is both a centre of musical excellence and a barometer for cultural change. Throughout its long history, the opera house has not simply been a place of lyrical excellence, but a venue where the great and good have come to meet and where music lovers have come to be uplifted, educated and enthralled. Singers dazzled, directors outraged and conductors often cut their musical teeth in theatres that were as awe inspiring as they were daunting. 28th January 26 Astrid Bolodis Vija Celmins Fixes the Image in Memory Question: What’s the connection between a bowl of soup, a comb, the ocean, and the night sky? Answer: Vija Celmins. Learning her craft while Abstract Expressionism was giving way to Pop Art, Celmins’ oeuvre nonetheless defies categorisation. Her work, held in all major collections worldwide, including the Tate, encompasses painting, drawing, printing, and sculpture: each piece executed with astonishing precision and attention to detail. Find out what lies behind her meticulous practice. Visit ‘Playing with Fire’ Hepworth Wakefield Tuesday 25th November 2025 Edmund de Waal has curated this the first major exhibition of works by the acclaimed Danish ceramists and polymath Axel Salto. He is internationally renowned for his individual and expressive stoneware, which will be seen alongside his illustrations, writings and textiles. We will have a guided tour of the exhibition. We can also visit the wonderful permanent collection of work by Hepworth, Moore. Epstein etc, all displayed in the beautifully lit pigmented concrete building designed by David Chipperfield. Also on show will be Elizabeth Fritsch ‘Other Worldly Vessels’ and, ‘Sculpture with Colour’, the Hepworth prize saved for the nation. Members £49.00 Guests £51.00 all inclusive. 26th November 25 Peter Swallow Influence of Egyptian Architecture on Art Deco Egypt has long had a reputation as a land of esoteric wisdom and from the Middle Ages onwards pilgrims and travellers sought out sites in that country associated with the Holy Family. During the Renaissance scholars endeavoured to penetrate the mysteries behind the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, thought to be a contemporary of Moses, and as the Renaissance gave way the Age of Enlightenment travellers began to bring back more accurate accounts and drawings of the archaeological remains of Ancient Egypt. Driven by the publication of these archaeological findings designers began to incorporate Egyptian motifs and structural forms into their work. The influence of Ancient Egypt on British architecture and monuments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be the focus of this talk. 24th September 2025 Ashley Gray Post War Textile Visionaries of Modern Art: Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers Alistair Morton, a modernist visionary, was uniquely recognised for his talent of interpreting in fabric the full quality of an artist’s handwriting. He commissioned drawings from some of the greatest modern artists for textile production and through his designer's eye took their art to new levels. In the late 1930s his Constructivist range saw work from Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth translated into jacquard woven textiles for the top end of British Interior design. In the post war era, Morton continued to fuse modern art with textile design, keeping it in step with contemporary living. This is the last lecture of the 2024/2025 Membership year.