Lectures 2023/2024
New Membership Year 2023/2024
6/3/24
Lois Oliver
Boris Anrep and the National Gallery Mosaics
Visitors to the National Gallery are often
surprised to find at their feet mosaics featuring a
host of famous characters, including Winston
Churchill, Virginia Woolf, and Greta Garbo, even
Lewis Carroll’s Alice and a Christmas pudding.
This exuberant mosaic cycle was created by the
Russian artist Boris Anrep between 1926 and
1952. A larger-than-life character, Boris Anrep
was an intimate of the Bloomsbury Group and a
close friend of Augustus John and Anna
Akhmatova. His exploits included deeds of
derring-do in occupied France, competing in the
men’s doubles at Wimbledon, and a colourful
love-life.
This is an account of an extraordinary man and his work, by the author of Boris Anrep: The
National Gallery mosaics.
Astronomy detail Boris Anrep mosaic, The National Gallery
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
3/4/24
Dr Paul Roberts
Palmyra – Bride of the Desert
In this talk we look at one of the most beautiful cities of the ancient world, the fabled city of
Palmyra, in the Syrian desert. Palmyra arose on a trade route that brought silk, spices and
other luxuries across the desert from the east. Her wealth and power are displayed in
gorgeous monuments, while her people, wealthy, sophisticated and cosmopolitan, are
preserved in their hauntingly beautiful funeral portraits.
Palmyra became so powerful during the Roman empire that its warrior queen Zenobia
challenged Rome itself. We’ll see Palmyra’s meteoric rise and its dramatic fall, its
rediscovery by English lords, its influence on art and architecture, and then its desecration
by Isis. But we finish with the hope that beautiful Palmyra will rise again…
1/5/24
Julia Marwood
Introducing the Scottish Colourists
The Scottish Colourists are now acknowledged as one of the most talented, experimental
and distinctive groups in twentieth century British art. Their love of Paris in the Belle
Époque gave them an early understanding of developments in French modern art, from
Manet and the Impressionists to Matisse and the Fauves. Their simple, vibrant and
engaging works combine avant-garde influences with an art for art’s sake joie de vivre.
This lecture introduces the lives of S J Peploe, J D Fergusson, G L Hunter and F C B
Cadell and provides a taste of their joyful and uplifting work.
5/6/24
Ian Swankie
Thomas Heatherwick – A Modern Leonardo?
The past decade has seen the meteoric rise of
this extraordinarily versatile British designer
with his acclaimed Olympic cauldron, the
iconic new London bus and designs for a
spectacular new HQ building for Google. Over
the last twenty years the Heatherwick Studio
has used an intriguing combination of curiosity
and experimentation to produce a vast range
of solutions to design challenges around the
world.
This talk looks at the problems presented, and
the wonderfully creative ways in which
Heatherwick and his team have responded.
Thomas Heatherwick glasshouses for the Bombay Sapphire distillery. A modern extension to
Laverstoke Mill. Andrewrabbott Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
3/7/24
Susan Kay-Williams
History of the Royal School of Needlework
In 2022 the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) will celebrate its 150th anniversary. It was
founded to keep hand embroidery alive and to offer suitable occupation to educated
women who would otherwise have been destitute. Today it is a thriving centre of hand
embroidery education to the highest level.
This lecture, goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the last 150 years and the School’s
changing fortunes including: being part of the ‘Kensington set’; the links with the Arts and
Crafts and Aestheticism movements; the connection with the SAS; the move to Hampton
Court Palace and the variety of commissions the RSN has undertaken from wedding
dresses to Oscar gowns and from runway garments to ecclesiastical vestments.
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