Lectures 2009 - 2010
Wednesday October 7th, 2009
Life and Work of A.W.N. Pugin and the Gothic Revival
Paul Atterbury
Paul Atterbury has been a member of BBC TV's Antiques Roadshow team of experts for the last nineteen years, working usually in the miscellaneous section which gives him ample opportunity to explore the antiques and collectables of the 19th and 20th centuries. Other television appearances include The Great Antiques Hunt, and The Antiques Show, as well as participating in Hidden Treasures on BBC Radio Four.
During his life he has been a graphic designer, guide book and travel writer, magazine editor, lecturer, broadcaster, exhibition curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and publisher. He has also found the time to write over thirty books, on ceramics, silver and jewellery, Art Deco design, travel, local history, canals and railways.
Over the last thirty years, Paul has given over 2000 lectures on many aspects of the art, architecture and design history of the 19th and 20th centuries. He has lectured to universities and colleges, antiques societies and collectors’ clubs, NADFAS groups ,Christie’s Education and for the Victoria and Albert Museum in Britain, United States, Europe, Canada and Australia.
Paul Atterbury
Photo courtesy of
www. haveyouhadit
longmadam.com.
The Gothic Revival shaped Victorian Britain, as a style and as a philosophy and, with the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster from the late 1830s, it became, in effect, the style of state.
Hotels, houses, town halls and railway stations all followed the Gothic dream.
The man behind the Victorian Gothic was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852).
In this lecture Paul Atterbury, who curated the Pugin exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1994, talks about the man, his work and his influence, and brings to life one of the most dynamic designers of the 19th century.
Pugin, in a short but turbulent life, developed a universal design style that changed the face of Britain, and paved the way for the Arts and Crafts movement.
Wednesday November 4th, 2009
Queen Victoria:
Success through Portraiture and her
Struggle for the Throne
Dr. Kate Williams
Dr Kate Williams is an author and historian, specialising in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries. She speaks regularly on Radio 4 and has consulted and appeared on historical programmes for BBC and Channel 4. She presented 'Camilla's Family Secrets' for the Reveal ed Series on Channel 5 and the History Channel in July 2008 and a one hour Timewatch special on 'Young Victoria' on BBC 2 in October 2008.
Kate's biography of Emma Hamilton, England's Mistress: the Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton was 'Book of the Week' on Radio 4, shortlisted for the Marsh/ English Speaking Union Prize for best biography published in 2005-6, chosen by the Times as a Book of the Year and the Independent as best biography read of the summer 2007.
Becoming Queen, about the Regency monarchy and the passionate youth of Queen Victoria was published in September 2008, and serialized in the Sunday Telegraph.
Kate studied her BA at Oxford, her MA at London and her DPhil at Oxford in 18th century cultures and narratives of seduction.
Our view of Queen Victoria is often as a staid, dreary, granite faced monarch, who lived according to strict moral codes and was never ‘amused’. But in her youth, she was very different.
In this illustrated talk, the truth about Queen Victoria will be uncovered, showing she was a wild, vibrant girl, with passions that often got her into trouble – and a headstrong woman. Her struggle against her mother for power was the biggest mother-daughter struggle in history.
Dr. Kate Williams
Her portraits will also be explored showing her impact on the visual culture of her age.
Wednesday December 9th, 2009
Diamonds are Forever
Jennie Baeten
Mrs. Baeten is the Special Events and PR Manager of the Antwerp World Diamond Center. AWDC is recognized internationally as the host, spokesperson and intermediary for the Belgian diamond community.
In this capacity, it liaises on behalf of the Belgian diamond sector with governments and actively promotes support for the diamond sector at home and abroad and strives to further develop Antwerp as the world diamond centre.
Diamond jewellery has been and still is influenced by deeply rooted religious convictions, economical changes, technical evolutions, changes in the way of life and less effected by short-term whims of fashion. Although a diamond jewel is a "joy of beauty" of its own, it is yet more fascinating to regard it as a product of its era with all the information it can offer. Our lecturer from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre will put us in the holiday mood with this history of diamond jewellery.
Wednesday January 13th, 2010
The Waterloo Panorama and the Art of the Panorama and Cyclorama
Prof. Ian Beckett
Prof. Ian Beckett
Professor Beckett who studied at the Universities of Lancaster and London and became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society has vast lecturing experience including the Universities of the US Marine Corps, Salford and Luton, RMA Sandhurst, various historical societies and cruise ships. He is currently Professor of History at the University of Northampton.
He is known internationally for his work on the Great War, the British army, and modern counter-insurgency. His many publications include Territorials: A Century of Service, The Great War, 1914-1918, The Victorians at War, The First World War: The Essential Guide to Sources in the UK National Archives , Modern Insurgencies and Counter-insurgencies, and The Amateur Military Tradition, 1558-1945.
The 360-degree panorama painting, or cyclorama as known in the US, was a remarkable 19th century phenomenon marrying art, mass popular entertainment and commercialism. Over 300 were painted, 28 remain, with just 16 still being displayed in rotundas around the world. The talk looks at their origins, popularity; production, marketing, reception by critics and audiences; the revival and decline of panoramas in the last quarter of the 19th century; and its use as a medium for the projection of nationalism and the continuing production of panoramas in totalitarian states since 1945. Particular attention is drawn to the Waterloo panorama as well as to the surviving examples in Europe and North America.
Above: 2 Scenes from the Panorama at Waterloo.
Wednesday February 3rd, 2010
Houses and Gardens of Normandy
Helen McCabe
Helen McCabe read French at university and studied history of art and architecture at the École du Louvre in Paris. She has always particularly loved those parts of France with close historic links with England, - namely Normandy and the Bordeaux region (Aquitaine).
She grew up in Cornwall and has now returned to live in her childhood home. She was commissioned to write a book on the house and Gardens of Cornwall.
Normandy’s houses and gardens reflect France’s history and culture. England’s medieval past is also closely linked with this part of France. Fortified chateaux, moated manor houses, nineteenth century seaside villas and even an Arts and Crafts house are among the buildings covered. Wonderful gardens, including two planted in the 1990’s, demonstrate the colours and atmosphere which have inspired writers and painters. One of the most famous examples is Claude Monet's beautiful garden in Giverny which inspired modern designers to create new gardens like the colourful garden of the American Museum in Giverny.
Monet's Garden at Giverny
Wednesday March 3rd, 2010
The Splendours of North Africa:
- Roman and Islamic Art of Libya, Tunisia and Morocco
Christopher Bradley
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 Africa, 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 the Berlitz Guide to Libya.
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.
Ancient Roman wealth is widely evident in North Africa's magnificent forgotten cities and villas with fabulous mosaics, while the ports handling the attendant Trans-Saharan trade, Leptis Magna, Cyrene, Oea, Sabratha and Carthage, became so powerful that a Libyan, Septimius Severus, even became Emperor in 193 AD. Resting alongside these are the unique structures of Islamic North Africa.
Wednesday April 14th, 2010
The History of the Long Case Clock
Dr. Colin Lattimore, OBE
Dr. Lattimore, a medical practitioner trained at University College Hospital London, has had a career in public health medicine but for many years he has also had a wide interest in the English decorative and applied fine arts. He has lectured extensively for extra mural boards of various universities and written several books on a variety of subjects including silver, porcelain, heraldry and watercolours.
However his special interest is in the field of clocks and watches. He is a liveryman and past master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and is a past president of the British Horological Institute and chairman of the Friends of the Clockmakers’ Museum in the City of London. He is an honorary keeper of locks and watches at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to English decorative and applied fine arts and to the community in Cambridge.
The lecture starts with a review of early timekeepers from sundials onwards. This is followed by the introduction of mechanical timekeeping using a weight driven mechanism. The development is traced through turret clocks and lantern clocks to the long case clock which was in fashion for about 180 years from 1660 – 1840, then coming back into fashion as an antique in the 20th century.
The story involves the artistic, mechanical, social and
commercial aspects. It relates the development to the business and
social needs of
the period.
Wednesday May 12th, 2010
Ocean Liner Art:
Ships that Shaped Our Lives 1800-1950
James Taylor
Mr. Taylor is the former curator of paintings, drawings and prints and co-ordinator of various exhibitions and galleries at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and is also lecturer and ships historian on board cruise ships.
His publications include Marine Painting and Yachts on Canvas as well as the catalogue for the exhibition Rule Britannia! Art, Power and Royalty to mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.
The vision and engineering genius of Isambard Kingdom Brunel underpins this global story of hopes and dreams, disasters and triumphs. This talk features a wide range of ships, including Great Britain and Great Western, Lusitania and Mauretania, Olympic and Titanic, as well as the shipping lines and personalities behind them brought to life through historic and contemporary artworks. This is a lively talk with a diverse mix of images including insights into shipboard design and striking Art Deco shipping posters.
Above: RMS Titanic, an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.