Joseph Wright (1734-1797), an English landscape and portrait painter, was commonly called "Wright of Derby" because he resided in Derby, England.  Wright was the first artist to capture the awe and wonder inspired by inventions and technology of the Industrial Revolution. He is best known for his artistic techniques using chiaroscuro, and various lighting in his works. Joseph Wright was an artist whose style and technique challenged the somewhat rigidly formulated painting genres.

Dr Scott Anderson. Scott is a University Senior Lecturer in the History of Art and Design and is an Honorary Fellow of the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers. He is a specialist in Victorian and Edwardian art, architecture and antiques and is a consultant expert for the BBC2 'Flog It!' programme. Scott is an Art Society lecturer and has lectured extensively to various societies, special interest groups and educational groups throughout Britain. He has extensive tour guiding experience in Britain, European locations such as Paris, Berlin, Vienna and New York. 

Painting: Joseph Wright -The Orrery

REPORT BY ANGELA DAVIES

Joseph Wright of Derby -painter of the Industrial Revolution; a talk given to Appleby Arts Society by expert Scott Anderson in May at the Market Hall.

Joseph Wright was born in Derby in 1734 at a time when the industrial Revolution was active in the Midlands. (It was later up North, more during Victorian times). Powered by rich local coal and iron deposits, the region pioneered the modern factory system, steam power and specialised metal working like the Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale.

Joseph’s father was an influential lawyer in Derby and part of a new middle-class in the city. One son trained to be a doctor but Joseph just wanted to paint and draw. Thinking that he could at least earn a living painting portraits, his father paid for him to go to Thomas Hudson’s famous London studio, where he learnt how to paint satin, silk and lace, pretty ladies and titled gentlemen; training alongside Joshua Reynolds who later became the first President of the Royal Academy.

He did become a well- known portrait painter of the new middle class, but on returning to Derby thought he’d rather like to be known for something else. Two things influenced this next step. The first was the paintings of Caravaggio, a 16th century Italian painter who used strong contrasts between light and dark called Chiaroscuro to produce highly dramatic effects; the second influence was Joseph’s interest in Science and friendship with members of the Lunar Society. The Lunar society was formed in Birmingham sometime around 1760, mostly scientists and inventors and industrialists like Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgewood, and many more. They met at the full moon for discussions on Science and Enlightenment issues.

As a result of these influences Joseph began to paint his famous interiors of figures lit by candle-light; workers and their families iron smelting and having pride in their achievements; and ones like the one shown here of a lecture about an Orrery (a working model of the Solar System) given to a whole range of people including children for their education. It’s hard to work out exactly where the light is coming from, but the painting is dramatic and tells an interesting story. Joseph liked drama. On a visit to Italy he waited for Vesuvius to erupt in the dark and managed to produce a stunning canvas of erupting fire and brimstone/ dark and light fireworks.

Joseph also made mezzotints of his paintings which could be sold cheaply to ordinary people who couldn’t afford expensive paintings done in oils. Now, his many oil paintings are in Art Galleries all over the world, but the biggest collection is here in England in the Derby Museums.

The Society takes a break until September when the lecture, on the second Wednesday of the month will be:- ‘Visionaries of 20th Century Textile Design’ by Ashley Gray. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk.

A captivating exploration of fashion as a symbol of empire - from Imperial China's robes to British colonial regalia. David maps how clothing reflected power, culture and identity in imperial contexts.

David Rosier is a curator and fashion historian with expertise in textile art, historical costume, and colonial aesthetics.  His immersive presentations reveal much about the social significance of attire.

Pic:  Imperial badge worn by an official

REPORT BY ANGELA DAVIES

Chinese Imperial Court Costume

Appleby Arts Society April lecturer on Imperial Court Costume was David Rosier. Whilst working in China in the 1980s and bored at weekends, David began looking at Chinese history starting with the Forbidden City in Beijing. This interest expanded into Imperial Court Dress and textiles over the centuries which he began to collect at a time when Chinese interest in such things was frowned upon. David’s large collection is now in the Shanghai Museum, but he brought a selection of beautiful copies of these textiles the museum made for him for us to view. One of them is represented here.

David chose to focus on the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) where the evolution of Court Robes and insignia reached a pinnacle as it was especially needed by the invading Manchu to establish rules of behaviour, precedence and control at the ruling Han court.  (This was the dynasty of the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China, and where the elites buried their garments with the body- unearthed since so we know more about them therefore).

What you wore at Court told others what you were, essential in a Court containing many thousands of individuals; the Emperor and 5 other ranks of Nobility; nine separate ranks of Civil officials, nine of Military personelle, several of Auditors and so on.  There were robes and insignia for Audiences, Sacrificial ceremonies, Casual occasions -not to mention attire for four seasons of the year. The insignia were added to particular styles of robes (a study in itself), as roundels or squares woven into the robes or applied later. The best robes were made of silk of course.

The first ranks of nobles including the Emperor had insignia of golden dragons with 5 claws in roundels; Nobility ranks 5-12 golden dragons with 4 claws and Qilin squares; the nine ranks of Court official had a different bird each, the Military ranks were represented by a different animal and hooves outranked paws we were delighted to hear. All this information was accompanied by David’s beautifully illustrated slides.

The roundel shown here is a relatively simple one from the 18th century Qing dynasty. It’s a golden dragon with 5 claws, facing forwards so it has to be the Emperor’s insignia. Only the Emperor chases the flying, flaming pearl shown between the first swirl of the dragon’s body. Above the head is the abstract mathematical longevity symbol and the dragon is shown among the waves, and plants and animals he -the dragon emperor-provides for his subjects.

As could be expected there were similar rules and iconography applied to headwear (how high is your finial and how many pearls does it have for example), belts, footwear, jewelry -not to mention the many dynasties down the years- indicating how deep and absorbing is the study of Imperial Chinese Court Costume.

Dr Amy Lim, researcher for Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520–1920, will give a lecture on how women artists fought against barriers to establish themselves in the art world. She will introduce both celebrated figures, such as Angelica Kauffman and Rosa Bonheur, and once-renowned women who have since been forgotten. Drawing on her work for the exhibition, Dr Lim will focus on the art schools and exhibitions of the nineteenth century and share the stories of artists who challenged expectations and reshaped opportunities for women in art.

REPORT BY ANGELA DAVIES

Women Artists in Britain 1520 – 1920

For their March meeting Appleby Arts Society welcomed Dr Amy Lin. Amy is an art historian and curator, specialising in British fine and decorative arts from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. Every work of art has the potential to tell a story: about the people who made, bought and owned it, and the society in which they lived. 

Levina Teerlinc (1510 –1576) was a Flemish Renaissance miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. She was the most important miniaturist at the English court between Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard. Her father was a renowned book illuminator and miniature painter of the Ghent-Bruges school and trained her as a manuscript painter.

The first British artist to be recognised was Mary Beale (1633-1699) who supported her family through her work as an artist, primarily as a portraitist. Beale’s clientele included her immediate circle of friends, nobility, landed gentry, and clergymen.  Her husband, Charles, prepared her canvases and paints, purchased supplies, handled accounts, and kept detailed notebooks about his wife’s daily work.

The Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi is considered the most accomplished 17th century artist. When she came to England her artistic style developed further. She became famous for her historical paintings, which was revolutionary for a woman at the time; other women artists tended to focus on genre or portraiture paintings. During her time in Britain she sold seven paintings including her famous work, Susanna and the Elders 1638-40, which is in the Royal Collection, having been bought by Queen Henrietta.

Angelica Kauffman was a Swiss painter who had a successful career in London and Rome and was known  as skilled portraitist and landscape painter. Her father was a skilled Austrian muralist and painter who trained Angelica, and she worked as his assistant moving through Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. Angelica was a talented singer and musician and, forced to choose between opera and art, she chose art. She was, along with Mary Moser, one of two female painters among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Art in London in 1768.

Elizabeth Southerden Thompson (later Lady Butler) was a British painter who specialised in painting scenes from British military campaigns and battles, including the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars. She wrote about her military paintings in an autobiography published in 1922: "I never painted for the glory of war, but to portray its pathos and heroism." Her most notable work was the painting The Roll Call, which depicted a line of soldiers worn out with conflict. It was shown in 1874 at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and when it went on public display, was mobbed by crowds because  it had shown the ordinary soldier as the hero. It was later bought by Queen Victoria for £100.

Helen Allingham (1848 – 1926)

Helen Allingham is one of the best known Victorian painters in watercolours and one of the most successful female British artists ever. She studied art in Birmingham and the Royal Female School of Art in London before turning to watercolours. Her country gardens and cottages were  incredibly popular with the public. After the death of her husband in 1889 she continued to support her family by painting constantly, even when her work went out of fashion in the early twentieth century. She continued to paint country cottages for the new urban middle class in London who had become detached from their country roots, and loved these pictures. She was an artist of great skill and it is thought that she painted over 1,000 pictures. The year 1920 was a transition point – women were given a franchise and therefore could work. The April 8th lecture, is ‘Chinese Imperial Court Costume’.

See taswestmorland .org.uk for details.

The making of Miss Saigon, a musical that has captivated audiences worldwide, is a story of passion, talent, and the relentless pursuit of artistic excellence.  

Jamie Hayes our lecturer, graduated from RADA as a stage manager and has subequently workd for Glyndebourne and other well known opera companies as well as the BBC. He has worked on a variety of operas. In this lecture, Jamie charts his own personal journey as Associate Director on the original production on Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway. He will share the process, from page to stage and beyond, illustrated with unique film clips of the original rehearsals and World premiere.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Miss Saigon-the making of a Musical by Jamie Hayes

Jamie was the speaker at February’s Appleby Arts Society meeting and he told us that when he was operatic director of the Buxton Opera House in the 1980s, he received a call from Cameron Mackintosh to ask him to become associate Director for a new musical he was creating. As Cameron Mackintosh was the producer of such ground breaking shows as Cats and Phantom of the Opera the offer was very tempting, particularly as Nicholas Hytner was to be director. The story was to be based upon the Madame Butterfly tale of love between an American and a Geisha, but updated to the time of the US/Vietnam War so that the man is a GI, and the lady a dancer in a downtown Bar in Saigon, the Vietnam capital- hence the name. The great pathos of the story lies in the fate of the mixed- race child they produce and there were many during this war.

There was a real quest for originality in this production. The musical director spent time in Vietnam and returned with various Asian musical instruments- zither, flutes and percussion instruments made from bamboo to give the authentic Asian sound. In these early days of racial equality it was determined that the cast would come from Vietnam and the West, and that no character would be ‘’made up’’ to look like one or the other. Indeed there was some trouble at the time when Jonathan Pryce was cast as the boss of the Night Club. Should he be made up to look Asian? He was for a week or two but then as a result of a backlash he played the role as a Western guy. The GIs were all recruited from New York of course.

The real joy of this talk was that Jamie showed us film footage of events that occurred during the making of this musical. We watched the two writers engaged in sessions at the piano whilst they created the score; we saw an audition, in Saigon, for the main female role which went to a seventeen-year-old Vietnamese girl, Lea Salonga, who appeared in the show in London and America when it toured there. We saw the set director making models of the Saigon Bar- moving and repositioning objects as the show went into rehearsals and as the choreography demanded more space here rather than there. Jamie stressed the importance of the whole creative team and their ability to work together and also how, during rehearsal time things could change dramatically. For example, one female role lost two musical numbers (and subsequently left the show very early!).

Naturally there were all the rehearsals for that helicopter!  We watched footage of it landing on stage for the first time during rehearsals for the second act. This bit took three weeks of rehearsal time, with much rewriting in between times. We learned the secrets of the trade- lots of elastic bands and bobbins, and escape hatches for those on board the vehicle. The whole thing was rather breathtaking, as was the whole lecture, and an updated version of the show is touring the country now!

The March lecture on the second Wednesday is ‘Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920’ and the speaker is Amy Lim. For more information go to taswestmoreland.org.uk

We welcome back Harry Venning an award winning cartoonist.  Harry will escort you through the peaks and pitfalls of his profession, supported by visual and verbal contributions from such luminaries as Matt Groening, Dr. Seuss, Charles M. Schulz and Gary Larson. Entertaining and informative in equal measure, the topics include rejection, procrastination, deadlines, artificial intelligence, professional envy, censorship and the cartoon community response to the Charlie Hebdo's murders of 2015.  Harry will also be drawing live on an A1 flip chart, the images filmed and projected onto screen for everyone to clearly see.

Harry is a cartonist, comedy writer and speaker based in Brighton, best known as script writer for Clare in the Community, as a weekly strip in The Guardian and as BBC Radio 4's sitcom starring Sally Phillips. In 202 Harry was made a fellow of The University of Wales.

RESUME BY ANGELA DAVIES:

Harry Venning at Appleby Arts Society! ‘Oh dear, that’s not funny’

Harry Venning is a cartoonist, illustrator and contributor of cartoons to most Newspapers and magazines over the last forty years. He is also quite a comedian as Appleby Arts Society members discovered at their January meeting. He can also draw well as he demonstrated with lightening sketches on a flip chart in front of his audience.

‘’Someone who can’t quite draw and can’t quite write is a cartoonist’’ said the drawer of the famous Simpson’s family Matt Groening (father’s real name Homer and mother’s real name Marge, Harry informed us).  Harry generously showed us sketches done by lots of other famous cartoonists to illustrate the many features of the job. For example did we know that Terry Gilliam was doing a serious painting of the Virgin Mary and because he couldn’t draw hands well, exaggerated them and wrote  ‘dammit, dammit’ on the bottom and thus became a cartoonist? Harry demonstrated to us on his flipchart how he does hands, feet, horses (hard to do), Eskimos, Paris, New York and much else-cartoonwise-quickly, expertly and easy to recognise.

The purpose of a cartoon is to get the information across quickly and put little clues in to set up the joke. To illustrate this Harry drew a naked man and woman on his flip chart.  He put a tree and a serpent on it-so we have the garden of Eden. Remove the tree and serpent and change it- put a banner ‘Socialist Convention’ behind the two naked figures to set up a different joke -the one you want. Then a speech bubble from Adam ‘’Have you read Marx?’’ to Eve …setting up the final joke and allowing Eve’s reply ‘’No, I sat on a cushion’’ which he wrote underneath the cartoon to complete it. (Read Marx sounds like red marks!).

He also talked seriously about Censorship and how someone in ancient Athens was tortured for doing cartoons of the great and the good. He showed us the cartoon of Stalin and Hitler that got David Lowe into trouble with Lord Halifax in 1938. Halifax claimed that it would spoil his and his country’s real relationship between the two. The Paris Offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo were subject to terrorist attack in 2015 for publishing satirical cartoons.  The numbers of cartoonists now are in decline as Newspapers close and go online, and AI is already being used in place of real cartoonists in journalism.

You don’t have to be a great drawer to be a great cartoonist said Harry finally and drew the following. One of the best cartoons of the last 25 years he said-and not his work either.

The lecture in February at the Moot Hall is ‘Miss Saigon- the making of a Musical’ by Jamie Hayes. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

Ideal for Christmas time!  This talk ranges from Dickensian Christmas stories to traditional Victorian Christmas activities and the inspiration for ghost stories at Christmas.

Our lecturer Vicky Bailey became a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide in 2005, receiving an award as "The Best Guide in Gallery Exams" One of her main areas of interests is in Ancient Egypt. She studied hieroglyphs and carries out volunteer work in the Egyptian department at The British Museum.  Vicky leads specialist tours at relevant sites across London and also delivers lectures on this subject.  Highlights of her 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.

This illustrated lecture examines the role of women making music in art. Using paintings by the likes of Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Vermeer, Watteau, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence, this talk will chart the various meanings, symbolism and iconography associated with women musicians. Associated with both the educational accomplishments of affluent young ladies, and the licentious talents of prostitutes, the varying associations of women making music throughout the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries will be examined and probed for both the eyes and ears. 

This lecture includes live music performed on a lute.

Adam Busiakiewicz is an Art Historian, Lecturer and Lutenist. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in History at University College London 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. He is currently finishing his doctorate in Art History at the University of Warwick for which he received a full scholarship. 

Adam is a Lecturer / Educator at the National Gallery and Guide Lecturer at the Wallace Collection, where he has organised several events and courses on Music & Art as well as other subjects. He has also given talks and performances at the Royal Collection, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Sotheby's institute of Fine Art.

L.S. Lowry’s works are perhaps the most immediately familiar of any ‘provincial’ British painter, but his enduring popularity has perhaps cast a shadow over those contemporaries active in Northern Britain during the first half of the 20th Century. 

This lecture, which can also be offered as a study day, considers those other artists and painters who sought to embrace the new visual language of modernism, but whose approach recognised and embraced the urban and natural landscapes of Northern Britain.

Manet: A Modern Eye on the World

Join us for a fascinating exploration of the life and work of Édouard Manet, a pioneering figure in the transition from traditional to modern art. Born into a wealthy Parisian family, Manet defied his father’s wishes for a legal career and instead pursued painting—much to the shock of the French art establishment. This lecture traces his artistic journey, from early influences and travels to his daring depictions of modern life.

We’ll look closely at key works such as The Absinthe Drinker, Music in the Tuileries, and the radical Luncheon on the Grass, examining how Manet’s bold technique and contemporary subjects challenged convention, divided critics, and inspired a generation of artists. A compelling story of rebellion, innovation, and lasting influence.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Manet- the painter of Modern Life

On Wednesday Appleby Arts Society returned to welcome their members to the Market Hall for the start of the new season of interesting and informative lectures. Lecturer for this meeting was Paul Chapman who travelled from Wiltshire to talk to us about the French painter Edouard Manet. Manet was a Modernist painter, one of the first mid 19th century artists to paint real life rather than gods, godesses and heroic figures. He was also a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born into an upper-class household with strong political connections, Edouard rejected the naval career his father had planned for him and became engrossed in the world of painting.

In 1862, Manet exhibited Music in the Tuileries, one of his first masterpieces, causing great controversy with both critics and the Academy of Fine Arts, by portraying Manet’s social circle as they were, instead of classical heroes, historical icons, or gods. The painting portrayed a vast crowd of people enjoying the outdoor leisure of contemporary Paris at the Jardin des Tuileries, which would be a lifelong subject of Manet’s. The Paris Salon gave it substantial and critical public attention, however most of it was negative.

Another major early work is le Dejeuner sur l’herbe (The lunch on the grass). The painting’s juxtaposition of fully dressed men and a nude woman was controversial and too much for the puritanical bourgeoisie. It was rejected for exhibition in 1863 but Manet agreed to exhibit it at the Salon des Refuses (Salon of the Rejected). This parallel salon was initiated by Emperor Napoleon 111 and gave rejected artists the opportunity to display their work. On opening day 7000 people crowded the salon to see what all the fuss was about.

In 1865 Manet exhibited Olympia, a nude portrayed in a style of early studio photographs. Apart from the blatant nudity she is controversial because she is wearing small objects of clothing, such as an orchid in her hair, a bracelet, a ribbon around her neck, and mule slippers all of which accentuate her sexuality. She looks out defiantly as her servant offers flowers from one of her male suitors. As with Dejeuner sur l’herbe, the painting raised the question of prostitution within contemporary France and the roles of women within society. Olympia was championed by the avant- garde community, and the painting’s significance appreciated by writers such as Emile Zola and Antonin Proust, and artists such as Monet, Cezanne, Courbet and later Paul Gaugin. Twenty years later in 1882 he was still painting masterpieces of social observation as in Bar at the Folies-Bergeres, where the beautiful and enigmatic waitress gazes across the bar at the crowd of punters.

These works were praised by progressive artists as breakthrough acts to the new style, Impressionism, and are considered watershed paintings that mark the start of Modern Art.

Simon worked closely with Deborah Devonshire - the unforgettable youngest of the Mitford sisters - for over 20 years.  In this warm and insightful lecture, he plays tribute to her remarkable life and legacy. From transforming Chatsworth into one of the most admired historic homes iBritain, to her roles as best selling author. countryside chamption, and unlikely poultry celebrity, Deborah Devonshire's life was anything but ordinary. Along the way , she befriended the likes of President Kennedy, Lucian Freud, and Alan Bennet - and always with her trademark wit, elegance and curiosity. Come and hear about a life well-lived, told by someone who knew her well.

Founded by Charles Tiffany with a loan of just $1000, the firm of Tiffany & Company, New York grew from a small bric-a-brac shop to become purveyors of the finest luxury goods and the world's leading jewellers. The business evolved even further under Charles's immensely gifted son Louis, who not only completely redesigned the now lost interior of the White House but spent over thirty years developing the manufacture of the most exquisite glass. From wonderful vases and lamps to the diamonds worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's this is a fascinating tale of how art and luxury came together to create one of the the world's most iconic brands.

Brian Healey

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.

During his  lecture Harry will show the major influences in his Grayson's life and on his works. He will highlight his most important vases, drawings, sculptures, tapestries and his House for Essex.  He will also consider his very successful presentations on Channel 4 television, for which he has received three BAFTA awards.  Grayson Perry became famous in 2003, when he won the Turner Prize. Ten years later he was awarded the CBE.for services to contemporary Art. In 2012 he was made a Royal Academician and in 2018 he was asked to take charge of the 250th Summer Exhibition. 

Harry Fletcher is a practising artist who has a broad experience of teaching and examining Art and Art History across many levels. He has tutored courses for The Open University and has been an OU examiner and an A level examiner for The History of Art.

Much More Than Soup Cans: The Life and Work of Andy Warhol
Join us for a fascinating lecture by Bill Powell, who will delve into the remarkable life and art of Andy Warhol—an artist who was much more than his famous soup cans.

About Bill Powell

After a successful career in finance, where he served as Head of Customer Service for M&S Money and as UK Chairman of the Consumer Credit Trade Association, Bill Powell took early retirement and embarked on a new adventure. He became a tour manager, traveling the world and indulging his passion for modern art by visiting galleries across the globe. Since 2013, he has been a popular lecturer on cruise ships, sharing his knowledge of modern art and rock and roll music. His engaging and insightful talks combine his professional expertise with his lifelong love of art and culture.

About the Lecture
Andy Warhol is celebrated as the king of pop art, a figure who revolutionized art by embracing consumerism, celebrity, and the aesthetics of mass production. But there’s much more to Warhol than his iconic Campbell's soup cans. Bill Powell will explore the lesser-known side of Warhol: the shy, gay son of Eastern European immigrants whose groundbreaking, experimental approach to art fostered a counterculture that transformed the modern art scene.

This promises to be a thought-provoking look at one of America’s most influential and enigmatic artists, offering fresh insights into his life, work, and enduring legacy.

Report by Angela Davies

What price Andy Warhol?

Had you asked most members of Appleby Arts Society on entering the Moot Hall last Wednesday, what their expectations of the Lecture were on ‘’Andy Warhol’’, most would have responded ‘’some understanding-I don’t like his work’’ or ‘’enlightenment-his work is overpriced’’.

Lecturer, Bill Powell, certainly had his work cut out then to convince us why Warhol is one of the most important artists of the second half of the twentieth century. Except of course, he didn’t just produce multiple images of Campbell’s Soup cans and Marilyn Monroe but was an expert photographer, film Director and Producer.  But-we were there to be convinced of his qualities as an artist.

He was born in 1932 in Pittsburgh, the son of Eastern European immigrants. A sickly child he grew up isolated and confined to bed but drew incessantly and was able to go to Carnegie College to study Textile design. He became an illustrator of books and magazines and was a skilled screen printer. He produced images for Schiaparelli shoes but his exhibited works in N. York galleries weren’t a great success. He was obsessed with Truman Capote, the writer, and produced a picture of 16 overlapping images of him which Capote bought. It was the beginning. He began to produce more multiple images of famous people, like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley which sold to the subjects for a few hundred dollars each. (The one of eight overlapping Elvis’ was re- sold in 2008 for $100 million). Then he did covers for music albums and began to make more multiple images of common everyday commodities like brillo pads and coca cola.

In 1962 he had his own exhibition in New York where he showed 28 images of different flavours of Campbell’s Soup (the company produced 32 flavours at the time). The public liked his multiple images and thought they were fun. Our lecturer showed us just how the images of the Campbell’s Cans were cleverly altered very subtly by Warhol to make a more appealing image. A crest was applied to each can, the edge of each label was enhanced and the colour altered to make it more outstanding-he was an artist after all.  In May 2006 one sold for 11 million dollars.

 One magazine advertised a Souper Dress, a paper dress illustrated with multiple Campbell cans, available to buy for a dollar apiece. They were popular and he had shown he was an entrepreneur. Original ones are in museums all over the world and fetch thousands of dollars each. You can go on line today and buy a copy for a few dollars yourself!

In New York Warhol acquired a large home called the Factory from where, with the help of several assistants he went into the production of multiple photographic images on silk screens-sometimes using urine to oxidise the colour-these ones are known as the Piss paintings. From the Factory he made films and entertained the artistic fraternity in drug fuelled parties.  He adopted the rock group Velvet Underground. Later he re-interpreted several impressionist painter’s works by giving them the Warhol touch-making them look ‘modern’ with multiple images. As our lecturer said-these were all fun and appealed to the American public-hence their popularity and later their high prices. He died when he was just 59 after an operation and is buried in Pittsburgh. His grave is always surrounded by Campbell’s Soup cans, placed there by his current devotees.

The next meeting on the second Wednesday is ‘The life and works of Grayson Perry: an appraisal’ by Harry Fletcher. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

Dare you think about the things our 18th century forebears did to pursue the social arts of beauty and fashion? We strive for fashionable body shapes and we are prepared to use all sorts of potions and lotions on our skin in our pursuit of the image of beauty. None of this new. For thousands of years image has influenced our taste and our habits. At no point was this more obvious – or more lampooned – than in the 18th century in Europe. The fashions were excessive,  the lotions were poisonous, and the caricaturists were merciless. 

With a dregree in archaeology, Amanda was a curator at the Museum of London for a decade, specialising in the 18th to 20th centuries. She spent eight years in Japan studying East-West connections, and draws on this ecletic background for her lectures, writing and broadcasting. Decorative arts, including jewellry, porcelain, dolls' houses and more, combined with social history, inform her studies. 

REPORT OF LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART

Appleby Arts Society were very pleased to welcome a goodly number of members who had managed to get through the wintry conditions to the Market Hall for the monthly lecture. This was an engaging and thought-provoking start to the year as our lecturer Amanda Herries entertained us with a fascinating history of what our ancestors went through in their pursuit of beauty in the 18th century.

Think toxic potions and outrageous clothing - from body shapes to lotions, the pursuit of beauty has a long and fascinating history, but in the 18th century, it reached astonishing extremes. As early as the 16th and 17th centuries there was a huge industry in hair dyes, cosmetics and perfumes. Hair was dyed with rhubarb, honey and alum, the face powdered and painted with alabaster and grease, some harmless and some not. However as we know today, keeping up with the latest fashion is fun and must be done!

In the early 18th century the clergy preached against cosmetics, and of course for caricaturists such as Boucher and Gainsborough nothing was safe or private. We know patches were used on the skin for concealing spots, but they were also used for decoration.  Different designs in certain places on the face could indicate that the woman was feeling dignified or flirty, vivacious or tarty, or that she was someone’s mistress. In 2021 a picture showing a black girl with white patches and a white girl with black patches was sold for over £250,000. It was later bought for the country and can now be seen at Compton Verney in Warwickshire.

Men took part in this fashion vogue, and caught up with strange hairstyles. Hair got longer and longer and wigs became popular from the 16th and 17th centuries to disguise poor hair. The shorter periwigs and perukes, worn on a shaved head, were used by all classes and very expensive. The wig was taken off at home and changed for a cap and a dressing gown or indoor coat. Professional classes, such as lawyers and doctors still wore big wigs – hence the term ‘bigwigs’ today? – but the average man wore a short wig tied at the back with a ribbon, to keep the dust and grease off their coats. I should add that none of these wigs and hairpieces were ever washed, and became incredibly smelly! Very few people washed or took off their underclothes at all. Soap was heavily taxed and ladies often had dirty hands and feet. Cosmetics were perfumed with musk, civet and jasmine, a greasy paste, some containing mercury, arsenic and lead all made into a fine white powder which was put all over the face and exposed chest.

The second half of the 18th century was a golden age for women’s hair which became more and more exaggerated until they couldn’t pass through a door. These huge hairstyles were held together with pomade, pomatum, bear grease, lard and sheep or beef suet, then powdered. Hairdressers were booked for weeks ahead, so you might have your high hairdo for three months or more, also having to sleep propped up. Male popinjays, also had hair of excessive heights and were often called ‘the Macaroni’ (a boorish fool) a club for super ultra fashion. They wore bright colours, and high-heeled shoes and were dandies, with tight breeches, waistcoats and trousers, all on top of a corset.

In 1795 William Pitt put a guinea tax on hair powder, which discouraged the sale of these cosmetics. Fashion moved on to more comfortable loose-fitting gowns, which was surely a relief, and face paints became more natural-coloured.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 12th February at Appleby Market Hall.

On Monday, 11th December, we will welcome Hugh Ellwood, who will present a fascinating talk on the visionary architect Antoni Gaudí.

Hugh brings a wealth of expertise, having studied philosophy in Rome, architecture at the University of Manchester, and served as a visiting lecturer in the history of art and architecture. An accomplished watercolourist, he has lectured widely on art and architecture, including on cruises.

Gaudí’s extraordinary career in late 19th-century Barcelona produced iconic architectural works, including the world-famous Sagrada Família. From intricate townhouses to his detailed design of furniture, Gaudí’s imaginative genius is unparalleled.

To make the occasion special, we’ll be offering all members a complimentary coffee and mince pie before the lecture.

Report of the lecture by Angela Davies:

Antoni Gaudi-the architect who converted the language of nature to the language of Architecture.

Former Architect and University lecturer, Hugh Ellwood, raced to the rescue of Appleby Arts Society in December, to deliver our talk in place of an indisposed programmed speaker. Hugh lives near Lytham St Annes and was able to drive to us on the morning and delight us with a sparkling and beautifully illustrated lecture on Antoni Gaudi the Catalonian Architect whose unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona was his last and crowning achievement.

 Antoni Gaudi was born in Catalonian Spain in 1852, near Barcelona. A rebellious character from birth he preferred the out- of- door world of plants and animals to formal study though he eventually graduated from Art School in Barcelona. At this time the city was expanding outwards from the port and new wide boulevards established with a whole range of new dwellings lining them. Gaudi’s first lowly commission was the design of the street gas lamps in bronze and glass, but later he designed several houses along these boulevards as well as Park Guell as his reputation increased.

Gaudi loved the Gothic Style of architecture, the natural forms of plants and animals and Islamic Art- the vividly coloured ceramic tiles- in particular. He also was influenced by Art Nouveau from Britain and France and the Jugendstil movement in Vienna and his style in Spain is called Modernismo.

 Casa Battlo or ‘the House of bones’ illustrates many of these Modernismo features. Steel forms the structure of the place which is tall and narrow with human skeleton-like structures supporting balconies which themselves have the form of a half skull. The roof outline is dragon like with brilliant majolica tiles representing dragon scales adorning it.  Within the house though it is beautifully practical with an enormous light well illuminating the interior rooms. These walls are covered with darkish tiles at the top shading to very light at the bottom for maximum lighting effect. The furniture within is all natural wood and was designed and carved by local craftsmen at the time.

Although he designed many things the Cathedral was the biggest project at the end of his life. He used to sleep on site to better control events. Begun in 1882 it was intended to have 16 towers, but there are eight remaining. More importantly though it was designed on geometric and organic principles largely borrowed from the structure of a tree. Free standing fractal geometry our lecturer called it.  The cathedral is designed to stand on its own without internal bracing or exterior buttresses. Inside there is a forest of helicoidal piers which branch to support the roof, allowing for light filled spaces in between -the sun floods the church interior during the day. Catenary Arches support corridors throughout the cathedral and externally there are four facades adorned with sculptures by leading Spanish sculptors. The place is enormous and will likely be the tallest Church Building in the world when it is finished. The central tower of Jesus Christ is scheduled for completion in 2026. Gaudi died in 1926 and is buried there.

‘’Gaudi combined geometry and organic forms; he transformed the language of nature to the language of architecture’’. Hugh Ellwood’s summary of Antoni Gaudi .

January’s lecture on the second Wednesday is entitled “Skin Deep: the Beastly Art of Beauty; reality and ridicule” by Amanda Herries. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

Our lecturer Gillian Hovell obtained a BA (Hons) Latin and Ancient History, Exeter University, and then branched out into archaeology. Ex-BBC, lecturer for British Museum and York University, an award winning writer and author who specialises in relating the ancient world to our modern lives, in person, in the field, on line and in the media (most recently on BBC News Channel, Radio 4 Today programme and BBC World Service). Publications include Visiting the Past: A guide to finding and understanding Britain's Archaeology and Roman Britain. Forthcoming Latin Yesterday, Today and For Ever, and A Mediterranean Tour: Not just a Load of Old Stones. Gillian also teaches adult education courses in Latin, archaeology and ancient history and has  lectured widely and passionately, on cruises and tours and for museums such as the British Museum & Ashmolean, national press, universities, literary festivals, and diverse societies including Classical Associations, the U3A and the National Trust. 

Prehistoric Orkney refers only to the prehistory of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that begins with human occupation. (The islands’ history before human occupation is part of the geology of Scotland.) Although some records referring to Orkney survive that were written during the Roman invasions of Scotland, “prehistory” in northern Scotland is defined as lasting until the start of Scotland's Early Historic Period (around AD 600).

There are numerous important prehistoric remains in Orkney, especially from the Neolithic period. Four of these remains today constitute a World Heritage Site. There are diverse reasons for the abundance of the archaeological record. The sandstone bedrock provides easily workable stone materials and the wind-blown sands have helped preserve several sites.[1] The relative lack of industrialisation and the low incidence of ploughing have also helped to preserve these ancient monuments. In addition, local tradition hints at both fear and veneration of these ancient structures (perhaps inherited from the Norse period of occupation), and these attitudes may have helped prevent human interference with their structural integrity.[2][3]

Prehistory is conventionally divided into a number of shorter periods, but differentiating these various eras of human history is a complex task – their boundaries are uncertain, and the changes between them are gradual. A number of the sites span long periods of time, and, in particular, the distinctions between the Neolithic and the later periods are not clear cut. However, in general, the Paleolithic lasted until the retreat of the ice, the Mesolithic until the adoption of farming and the Neolithic until metalworking commenced[4] The Neolithic period's extraordinary wealth of structures is not matched by the remains from earlier periods, in which the evidence of human occupation is sparse or non-existent - nor is it matched by remains from the later Bronze Age, which provides a relative dearth of evidence. However, the subsequent Iron Age supported a return to monumental building projects, especially brochs.

(Thanks to Wikipedia)

Our lecturer Lydia Bauman,  is an artist and lecturer with a background in fine art and art history. She was born in Poland and holds a BA in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she received the John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award. She also earned an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, specializing in 19th-20th century art, and received a Distinction for her thesis on Matisse's Illustrations to Poetry.

Her upcoming lecture on Edward Hopper will explore Hopper's unique contribution to American art in the 20th century, focusing on his haunting images of loneliness amid urban life. Hopper's works are known for their portrayal of isolation and introspection, themes that have become even more relevant and relatable in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching.

Hopper created subdued drama out of commonplace subjects layered with a poetic meaning, inviting narrative interpretations. He was praised for "complete verity" in the America he portrayed. His career benefited significantly from his marriage to fellow artist Josephine Nivison, who contributed much to his work, both as a life-model and as a creative partner.

Hopper is one of America's most renowned artists. His influence on art and popular culture has been substantial. Among his best-known paintings are New York Movie (1939) and Nighthawks (1942).

(Thank you to Wikipedia).

Edward Hopper-the painter of loneliness. Report of the lecture by Angela Davies.

The American, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) painted himself as a tall, diffident, introspective man and his wife said that he didn’t talk much either. Lydia Bauman, our Hopper expert lecturer gave Appleby Arts Society members this thumbnail sketch of a man she also described as ‘the painter of loneliness’ at the October monthly meeting.

His wife was the exact opposite- lively, gregarious and above all organised. A painter herself and the more famous at the time they met, she devoted herself to encouraging him and promoting his career as she reluctantly recognised his superior talent. She also insisted that she was the model for all the women he put into his work.

Edward was born into a prosperous upstate New York family. He studied Art in New York and became an illustrator of magazine covers first to support himself. He loved architecture and following some time in Paris came under the influence of the Impressionists and their experiments with light, and began painting the streets of America with isolated figures within. He said that what he wanted to do was paint sunlight on the side of a house, and America as it IS, not a romanticised view. The latter is maybe depicted in his painting called ‘Automat’ showing a young woman alone drinking coffee in an all-night café.  What is she doing there - coat on, anxious and facing an empty chair? The rows of reflected lights above her punctuate the blackness of the night to make the painting a mysterious one. Dramatic dark and light also characterise his even more famous ‘Nighthawks’ which depicts four figures at a long counter in a large darkened New York café with very odd communication between them and thus the painting’s very strange air of ‘What is going on here?’.

He and his wife travelled to New England and he came back with paintings of buildings including lighthouses in the most amazing light, as well as single figures at doors or windows or in landscapes in sunlight. His paintings of dark eerie buildings is also thought to have influenced American cinema too -remember that house in Psycho?

Hopper also captured fleeting glimpses of sad, urban life as seen possibly from the window of a passing train as in ‘Office at night’ (1940) where the boss and his curvaceous secretary are engrossed in their own particular tasks, separately and apparently closed in on their own shadow world of artificial light. These paintings influenced cinema too- remember ‘Rear window?’

His paintings sold well, thanks to his wife’s influence even though America was going through its abstract ‘Ashcan’ period of Art in the 1930s and 40s.

Perhaps, best of all though are his paintings of the buildings of New York streets in lovely, long, low light with a single figure showing the sad desolation of suburban life. Not one painting of his exists in the whole of the UK though. New York and Chicago are the places to go to view these remarkable art works.

Or lecturer this month is Sarah Burles. Sarah's journey began at Cambridge University, where she studied the History of Art, followed by a master's degree at University College London. She played a pivotal role in establishing new services in three different museums and spent many years at the prestigious Fitzwilliam Museum. Sarah is not just an art historian; she's also the founder of Cambridge Art Tours. Her tours and courses in East Anglia have delighted art enthusiasts. As a Tour Director for a travel company, she's led captivating art tours across Europe and America. 

Sarah will discuss the remarkable Impressionist movement, which took Paris by storm in the 1870s. The Impressionists, with their innovative colors and techniques, shocked and awed the art establishment with their depictions of modern life. Among these trailblazers were remarkable women artists, who often lived in the shadows of their male contemporaries.

Marie Bracquemond, Berthe Morisot, and Mary Cassatt were just as revolutionary in their work, and they exhibited alongside iconic names like Monet, Renoir, and Degas. In 1894, they were bestowed with the prestigious title "Les Trois Grandes Dames d’Impressionisme" by the renowned art critic Gustave Geffroy.

 Sarah  will delve into the lives and artistry of these extraordinary women. Explore their skills, originality, and their unwavering courage to take artistic risks, despite the additional obstacles they faced as women. This engaging lecture promises to illuminate their remarkable journey through the Impressionist movement.

Discover the captivating world of art and culture through the lens of the sunflower in this lecture titled "The Divine Sunflower." The sunflower, revered by Aesthetes and cherished by Impressionists, has left an indelible mark on art and culture. Join us as we trace its journey from classical mythology to twentieth-century masterpieces by artists like Van Dyck, Van Gogh, Clytie, Klimt, Monet, Rivera, Wilde, and Watts.

Our guest speaker, Twigs Way, is a dedicated researcher and writer with a passion for the past and a keen interest in the intersection of flowers, gardens, and landscape with art and culture. She explores themes of symbolism, class, gender, and literature, shedding light on lesser-known paths in garden history, including the role of women in the garden.

Twigs has also explored the art and culture of specific flowers, such as the carnation and the daffodil. Her book, "The Chrysanthemum in Art and Culture," published by Reaktion Press in October 2020, is a significant contribution to our understanding of the connection between this flower and the world of art. Currently, she is delving into the daffodil's role in art and culture, promising fresh insights into this captivating subject.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART

                       The Divine Sunflower in Art and Culture

At Appleby Arts Society’s May lecture members were fascinated to learn the history of the  sunflower.  Lecturer Twigs Way led us from their home in their native America and the New World where sunflowers were revered by the Aztecs and known as shield flower, and traced their history in the art and culture of east and west.  The Latin name is helianthus, from Helios the sun god, and today, Ukraine, USA and Russia grow the most of the world’s sunflowers. The flowers often appear to follow the passage of the sun, usually west to the setting sun.

Early Spanish-conquest priests were crowned with sunflowers, which were presented to them by the Aztecs as symbols of alliance and peace. The Spanish coveted the flower and took it back to Europe, with maize and chocolate.

Arriving in England about 1597, they were also known as the marigold of Peru, the Indian sun or golden flower of Peru. After 1612 the flower was included in the florilegiums of the Americas. Although often attaining about 18’, there were claims of the plant growing up to 40’.

Jan Breughel the Elder in 1621-3 painted sunflowers, and at the court of Louis XIV, where the king dressed as Apollo the Sun God, the plant symbolising the sun was famously reproduced everywhere - carpets, furniture, wallpaper, and especially embroidered clothes. In Anthony van Dyck’s self-portrait of 1632–33, the recently knighted artist is almost overwhelmed by a massive head of yellow-gold petals, representing both Charles I and the artist’s faithfulness to his monarch. With one hand van Dyck points to the flower, while the other holds a gold chain from the king.

Of course we are all familiar with Vincent van Gogh’s sunflower paintings from the late 19th century, masterpieces of art. The sunflower as a symbol of love, hope and happiness is one of the most recognizable works of modern art. Van Gogh produced over 2000 pictures of sunflowers. With his friend Gaugin he moved to Arles in 1888, for the sun and to paint sunflowers. Sadly, as we know, he shot himself in 1870.

Many of the Impressionist painters were fascinated by sunflowers, including Gustave Caillebotte and Claude Monet, both at Giverny. Monet’s gardens were lined with tall sunflowers which he took from house to house when he moved, reminding him of his garden at Vétheuil, where they lined the path in blue and white ceramic pots. Sunflowers still inhabit Monet’s gardens at Giverny. 20 years later Gustav Klimt added a solitary sunflower to his wonderful painting ‘The Kiss’, and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) often painted the bright golden sunflower as an evocation of his native Mexico, bringing us back to the Aztecs and the cultural home of the sunflower.

In the late 19th century, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) adopted the sunflower as his emblem and stage prop. The sunflower emblem often tastefully decorated the beautiful handiwork of the Arts and Crafts Movement. In 1945 British war artist Paul Nash painted a series of sunflowers to demonstrate cycles of life and death, heaven and earth, divine and mortal, themes of today’s talk.

In September 2024– January 2025 the National Gallery in London will present Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, including the museum’s ‘Sunflowers’ (1888). Appleby Arts Society is taking a summer break and our next lecture will be in September. Look out for our posters!

Barbara Peacock, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts with over 35 years of lecturing experience, is set to deliver an engaging lecture on the Baroque style in England. This lecture will focus on the architectural contributions of Sir Christopher Wren and the lasting influence of the Baroque era on English craftsmanship. The lecture will journey back to the late 17th century when the Baroque style flourished in England, producing some of the most imaginative and exciting architecture in the country's history. Sir Christopher Wren, a central figure in the lecture, reshaped English architecture and left an indelible mark on the landscape. The audience will explore his designs for iconic structures, including Chelsea Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, and grand palaces at Winchester, Whitehall, and Hampton Court, influenced by Versailles. Wren's famous City Churches, known for their diverse floor plans and Baroque steeples, will be discussed, along with the creation of his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral. The lecture will also highlight Wren's role in enhancing English craftsmanship through his mentorship of craftsmen. 

Barbara Peacock's lecture promises to be an enlightening exploration of the Baroque era in England, with a focus on the legacy of Sir Christopher Wren. From his groundbreaking designs to his lasting impact on English craftsmanship and architectural influence, this lecture is a must-attend event for enthusiasts of art, architecture, and history. Barbara Peacock's extensive expertise ensures an informative and inspiring experience.

Christopher Wren and the Baroque - by Angela Davies

Just what is the Baroque, when was it and what are its features? These are the intriguing questions any would- be student of architecture needs to know and should know if travelling around Europe and in this country.  The answer to these questions was supplied with examples by Barbara Peacock, an expert in the period, in a terrific lecture to Appleby Arts Society at April’s meeting. The two words she chose to depict the Baroque were Monumental and Grandeur.

The Baroque Period of architecture spanned just under a century and a half from about 1600 to 1745. In Europe, rich Catholic Kings, nobles and the Church built big and very grand in order to express their power, wealth and authority after the Protestant Reformation. The Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, the Abbey in Melk and the Palace at Versailles are fine examples of the period. In this country the slightly less monumental Castle Howard, St Paul’s Cathedral and Blenheim Palace are good examples of that time.

The buildings we had prior to this period were of the Classical style looking back to ancient Greece and Rome. This style has simple pillars soaring upwards to be topped with elegant triangular pediments all showing quiet harmony and serenity. The Baroque uses this Classical style in new ways. The pillars become pilasters-huge vertical pieces of stone from the base of the building to the top. All is enlarged, and multiple domes become a feature of the extended wings of these enormous Palaces and Houses. There are some lovely features too, enabled by the complexity and size. For instance, in the complex rhythms of alternating concave and convex walls and in the Cupolas and many twisted columns. Inside, the architecture is theatrical too as the painted ceilings and cupolas make rooms appear as if they were open to the sky. There are other visual effects too -trompe l’oeil painting tricking the eye into imagining the painted figures are falling to the ground. Everywhere there is exquisite carving too. Rich folk vied with one another to produce the most ornate and richly decorated interiors to the extent of vulgarity almost.

Christopher Wren (1632-1723) was more trained scientist than architect. His experience of the Baroque was confined to just one visit abroad to Paris in 1665 where he met and studied with the great Italian sculptor Bernini. On his return to London he made his first design for St Paul’s. A week later the great fire of London destroyed two thirds of the city and Wren submitted plans for the rebuilding of the City to Charles 11. Influenced in part by Paris, the plans are ground breaking though were never adopted unfortunately. However, he was given charge of rebuilding many of the churches. Some of them were rebuilt quickly by the different parishes and Wren’s inventive influence is seen externally in the many different forms of Spire and Dome, and galleried interiors to serve an increased population.  During this time there were master craftsmen from all over the country, like Grinling Gibbons, working in London repairing the churches-carving benches, altars, pulpits and columns. This activity marked the start of an active training ground for craftsmen which survived for many years in the city.

Wren’s plan for St Paul’s was never fully realised, but his design of the dome, with a double cupola and cleverly concealed buttresses within a secondary roof was the largest in Europe and influenced the construction of the Pantheon in Paris. His influence also extended through his trained successors Nicholas Hawksmoor and Vanburgh who completed the designs of Blenheim and Castle Howard.

The next lecture on May 8th is ‘The Divine Sunflower in Art and Culture’

For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

Our lecturer for today's exploration of Uzbekistan is Chris Aslan, a man with a truly extraordinary background. Born in Turkey, Chris spent his childhood both in Turkey and war-torn Beirut. After two years at sea, he pursued a degree in Media and Journalism at Leicester University.

His adventures truly took off when he settled in Khiva, Uzbekistan, where he established a UNESCO workshop dedicated to reviving fifteenth-century carpet designs and embroideries. Unfortunately, he was expelled from Khiva during an anti-Western purge. However, this challenging chapter in his life served as the catalyst for his year in Cambridge, where he penned his experiences in a captivating book titled "A Carpet Ride to Khiva."

Today, Chris offers us a unique perspective on the artistic and cultural tapestry of Uzbekistan, a land where glittering mosques and Soviet-era remnants coexist. This lecture promises to be an enriching journey through time and art. We'll delve into the country's art scene, which includes the second largest collection of Russian Avant Garde Art, carefully amassed during a time when these artistic styles were banned. We'll also explore the revival of handicrafts, the exquisite world of ceramics, silk, and velvet, and the rekindling of Islamic miniature painting, all of which contribute to the vibrant and dynamic landscape of modern Uzbekistan.

With Chris as our knowledgeable guide, we'll unravel the intricate stories behind these art forms and their profound impact on contemporary Uzbek society. So, join us on this artistic odyssey, and let's discover together the hidden gems of Uzbekistan's culture and history.

REPORT BY GILLIAN STODDART

Appleby Arts Society’s March lecture took them from a grey, wet day in Cumbria to a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, with lecturer Chris Aslan as their very experienced guide. Chris was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After university he moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town, travelling through the villages to tell about the programme. He then spent three years in the Pamirs mountains in Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came two years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop.

On Chris’s first trip along the Silk Road at Xinjiang he saw Ancients, bodies which had been buried on salt ground which preserved them. A baby was found, buried at 3 months old, now 3000 years old. Their clothes, ancient textiles, had remarkably survived. Woven as twill recovered from burial dating to between 1200 and 700BC the fabric was, surprisingly, in light brown, light blue and white tartan pattern. This was part of the ‘wool road’ a vast area across to Hungary.

In his UNESCO workshop he worked showing the people how to get the best return from their sheep’s wool, after their own immediate need for warmth, and how to distribute it for profit. They live a semi-nomadic life 3000m high on the roof of the world. They have winter and summer pastures, and began to breed sheep varieties that would be useful for wool rather than milk and meat. They have mouflon sheep, thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds, and have domesticated the wolf for herding.

The most successful animal for this terrain is the yak, and yak dung is better for the environment! From the yak can be obtained the hide and the meat, milk and cheese. If you boil up yak milk, and add salt, this makes yak yoghurt balls, but Chris reports that they taste awful! However, yaks moult and have two coats, the very soft down coming from under the neck. This down is the best wool, like cashmere, and comes mainly from yearling yaks and must be kept apart from the rough coat wool. The people were taught to use a spinning wheel and could not believe that they were going to be paid for their wool.

Chris showed us images of the wonderful textiles made by the women, felt rugs, embroidered bags, caps and jackets, in traditional colours and exquisitely worked. Red is the most powerful and vibrant colour, the predominant colour in all tribal and peasant embroidery, used as protection in vulnerable areas such as seams and edges. The dyes used natural colours, red was made with Armenian cochineal, brown with walnut shells, and yellow with pomegranate rinds. Villages often made rugs for wedding feasts, warm and colourful.  

A wonderful lecture, appreciated by all. The April lecture will be ‘Christopher Wren and the Baroque’.

THIS LECTURE IS AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL AND WILL START AT 11 AM 

Keith Bonser, a lifelong educator turned passionate Caravaggio enthusiast, will take you on an exhilarating journey through the tumultuous life and groundbreaking art of Michelangelo Merisi, the legendary artist known as Caravaggio. In this captivating lecture, we will delve deep into the dramatic narrative of a man whose genius shone brilliantly amidst the chaos of his time.

Caravaggio, born in the town bearing his name in 1571, lived in an era fraught with violence, yet he managed to redefine the world of art. His paintings, raw and emotionally charged, continue to resonate with audiences across the globe. But Caravaggio's impact extends far beyond his own lifetime, influencing a succession of artists, including luminaries like Rembrandt, Velasquez, and Géricault.

Keith Bonser's fascination with Caravaggio was sparked during a fateful weekend break in Dublin back in 1995. Little did he know that this encounter would set him on a path of discovery and obsession. With his retirement in 2008, Bonser seized the opportunity to embark on a remarkable adventure that would lead him to Caravaggio's footsteps.

Bonser's travels took him to the very places that shaped Caravaggio's life and work: from his birthplace in Caravaggio to the iconic cities of Milan, Rome, and Naples. He didn't stop there; he ventured to the sun-drenched islands of Malta and Sicily, unearthing hidden gems and remarkable revelations about the flawed genius. His journey was more than just a pilgrimage; it was a quest to unveil the enigmatic artist's secrets.

And now, in this lecture, Keith Bonser will share his thrilling discoveries with you. Get ready to be transported to the heart of Caravaggio's world, where the shadows and light of his art reflect the complexities of his life. Join us as we unmask the Master of Shadows and delve into the captivating legacy of a painter who defied his turbulent era to leave an indelible mark on the world of art.

 Salvador Dalí was known for his eccentric personality, distinctive style, and vivid imagination. He initially dabbled in various artistic styles, including Impressionism and Cubism, before finding his niche in Surrealism. Surrealism is an art movement that sought to explore the realm of the unconscious mind, dreams, and irrationality.

Some of Dalí's most famous works include "The Persistence of Memory," featuring melting clocks, and "Swans Reflecting Elephants," which captures a dreamlike, surreal quality. His paintings often featured bizarre and dream-like landscapes with strange, often grotesque figures. The use of symbolism and multiple interpretations in his works was a hallmark of his style.

Dalí's palette was indeed vibrant, and his technical skills were remarkable. He was known for his precise and meticulous attention to detail in his paintings. His virtuosity extended beyond painting to include sculpture, film, photography, and even fashion.

Dalí was not only a talented artist but also a master of self-promotion. He knew how to capture the attention of the public and the media with his eccentric behavior and flamboyant personality. This skill in manipulating the press contributed to his popularity in America, where he became a celebrity of sorts.

This lecture is essentially an overview of the life and work of Salvador Dali. I begin by considering the painter’s early life and influences and the variety of styles he tried before developing and settling on his own idiosyncratic style. Dali came late to Surrealism and was ousted by its controlling leader Andre Breton before too many years had passed. Nevertheless Dali is often regarded as the archetypal Surrealist. I discuss this notion but also explain Dali’s personal response to Surrealism, in particular the approach he called his ‘paranoiac critical activity’, one which spawned works such as The Persistence of Memory and Metamorphosis of Narcissus. 

Angie Smith our lecturer:

PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. Author of numerous articles and several books including A Timeline of Art History (2013). Experienced lecturer who has taught for several universities. Catalogued paintings in galleries for the National Inventory Research Project. Has led a number of cultural tours on the continent and has lectured for several cruise lines. Regularly runs courses of study days for The Arts Society on subjects including ‘Women artists down the centuries’ and English church art and architecture. Has contributed to television programmes, most recently an episode of Digging up Britain’s Past.

Salvador Dali 1904-89

Appleby Arts Society’s lecture on Wednesday attracted a large audience, all eager to find out the truth about Salvador Dali, Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, film maker and designer. Angela Smith, our lecturer, was soon able to give us the information we needed about this Spaniard famous for his strange art. Dali’s talent for self-publicity made him the most famous representative of the Surrealist movement. Throughout his life he cultivated eccentricity and exhibitionism, claiming this was the source of his creative energy.

As a child, Salvador was spoiled and idolised by his parents, who had lost their first son to meningitis before Salvador was born. His self-portrait of 1921, set against his home landscape of Catalonia, shows the young Dali already quite the dandy, and he would later modestly claim to be a genius.

Dali was a maverick, and spent time trying out various styles of painting, to see what suited him most. He admired the Spanish still life tradition, particularly 17th century artist Zurbaran. He attended the Fine Arts Academy in Madrid where he was briefly attracted to Impressionism, and in Madrid he met poet Federica Garcia Lorca, and Luis Bunuel, considered to be the father of cinematic surrealism, with whom Dali later made films.  In 1925 he painted his father’s portrait, and this caught the eye of Pablo Picasso, who had settled in Paris. Dali thereafter spent most of his life in Paris where he met many other artists and poets associated with the Surrealist movement, including Joan Miro, and film-makers Paul Eluard, poet and Andre Breton, French writer and poet, and principal theorist of surrealism. Because of the success of his exhibitionism it was Dali whose name became most identified in the public mind with the art form. The basic Surrealist principle was to release the creative forces of the subconscious mind from the control of logic and reason, which was illustrated in the hallucinatory character of his work. He described his pictures as ‘hand-painted dream photographs’.

The Persistence of Memory (1931) is Dali’s most recognizable work, famously with watches appearing to melt, a feature known as automatism which allowed images to fall from the pen in any order. Other pictures to look for are The Temptation of St Anthony (1946), Swans Reflecting Elephants (1943), and of course the famous Lobster Telephone (1936). Christ of St John of the Cross, (1951) and now valued at more than £60 million, is regarded as one of Scotland's most treasured paintings and can now be seen at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Dali was not really in tune with the Surrealist movement, although he had significant influence on them. Dali is certainly one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, but he declared ‘he never had the slightest idea of what his paintings meant!’ There is a museum devoted to his work in Figueras, his home town in Spain, and two in Ohio and Florida in the USA. The next lecture is on 14 February, and will feature the artist Caravaggio.

EVENT DETAILS

Step into the Time-Traveling Shoes of Dick Whittington: Unveiling the Real London Legend!

Join Us on a Journey Through the Centuries

Are you ready to embark on a riveting adventure through the heart of medieval London? Hold onto your hats, because in 2023, we're celebrating the incredible 600th anniversary of none other than the legendary Dick Whittington (c1354-1423). But wait, he's not just a storybook character or a star of the Christmas pantomime – he was a bona fide powerhouse in medieval London!

Our charismatic lecturer, Simon Whitehouse, will be your time-traveling companion. He'll help us unravel the truth from the tales that have made Dick Whittington a household name. Together, we'll stroll through the very streets that Dick once walked, discovering that they were far from being "paved with gold."

🏛️ From Mercer's Apprentice to Magnate

Dick Whittington's journey began as an apprentice to a master mercer, but it didn't stop there. He climbed the ladder of success, becoming one of London's wealthiest and most influential textile merchants. And if that's not impressive enough, he bankrolled not one, not two, but three medieval kings! His impact on the city was so profound that he served as the Lord Mayor of London a staggering four times.

🐱 The Mysterious Feline Companion

Now, you might be wondering about his famous feline friend – his cat. The answer may lie within a mysterious church that Dick Whittington himself built. But fear not, our lecture will reveal all the intriguing details surrounding this enigmatic feline companion.

🎟️ Open to All Explorers

Everyone is welcome to join this thrilling journey through time, but for non-members, there's a modest fee of £8.00 (pay at the door). But why not take this opportunity to become a member of our society? For just £57, you can enjoy a full year of enlightenment with access to nine captivating lectures, plus the chance to join our art trips, social events, and more!

🌟 Membership Perks:

• 9 fascinating lectures at Appleby Market Hall
• Exclusive invitations to art trips and social gatherings
• Free access to the inspiring lectures presented by The Arts Society Cumbria
• The quarterly magazine from The Arts Society
• A local newsletter outling events from both Appleby Arts Society and local events

All our lectures last approximately 1 hour.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES:

Dick Whittington-but where is his Cat?

Our lecturer this month, Simon Whitehouse, is an actor, Blue Badge Guide in London, Tour Guide at the National Gallery and an Art Historian. He demonstrated all these roles at Appleby Arts Society’s December lecture ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’

 In a witty and most engaging talk we followed the career of orphan Richard, the son of rural gentry in Gloucester, to London as Mercer’s apprentice in the reign of Edward the Third around 1360. Sheep’s wool was gold at that time and it was this king who insisted that the speaker of the House of Commons should sit on a woollen sack as tribute to its importance, and there it remains. We saw pictures of his family manor and Baptismal Church in Pauntley, near Gloucester and then medieval maps of the London Richard reached with its 120 churches to the square mile. It is likely he passed Newgate jail on his way into the capital from Highgate -though Highgate is too far from Bow Bells for him to have heard them calling. Shame that some of the legend isn’t true.

We know that Richard was apprenticed to Alderman Fitzwilliam, married the boss’s daughter and became Chief Mercer in the Guild of Mercers in his turn, in the area of Leadenhall Market in London, about where the building called the Cheese Grater is now. In return for exporting Wool to Italy, fine fabrics like satin and silk were imported from there, and also a special fabric called ‘’cloth of gold’ ’which was silk woven with gold in the weft. It is recorded that King Richard 11 ordered two rolls of this in 1394 from our Richard, and the next year recommended him as London Mayor on the early death of the incumbent. Had he paid for his cloth of gold one wonders?

The wealthy Guilds lent money to various monarchs and it is likely that Dick Whittington, as chief Mercer and Mayor of London for a further two terms, financed the Battle of Agincourt for Henry V.  It is said that our Richard threw a party for Henry on his triumphant return and threw Henry’s bills of sale, worth £60,000, on the fire in celebration of the victory. Also, as a measure of his influence he insisted that further building of Westminster Abbey should be in the older Gothic style to match the original, rather than the newer style with extremely pointed arches.

As Mayor, our Richard also financed many good civic projects. Drinking fountains for the poor, a ward for unmarried mothers at St Thomas’ Hospital, a library to the Greyfriars Monastery, Alms Houses in East Grinstead and public toilets for 64 men and 64 women situated over a tributary of the Thames in Central London. It is not surprising that his name passed into legend.

 The legends start in the early 1600s in the form of plays and ballads about him and the first appearance of that cat is in 1656 in a chap book. How or why has he acquired a cat? Maybe they were simply essential companions for putting down vermin. Or maybe Richard travelled part of his way to London by a type of boat called a Chatte or maybe it’s a corruption of the French word Achat meaning Trade or Purchase, referring to his occupation. We shall never know and it’s perhaps how we prefer it.

January’s lecture on Wednesday the 10th is called ‘The Persistence of Memory-Salvador Dali’ by Angela Smith. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk.

Harry Venning is an award-winning cartoonist, comedy writer and performer based in Brighton. His cartoons have appeared in publications as diverse as Mathematics Today, Radio Times, Music Teacher and The Stage. For 25 years he has provided The Guardian with the weekly strip cartoon Clare in the Community, based on the misadventures of an empathy-free social worker. In 2004, he developed the strip into a successful BBC Radio 4 sitcom starring Sally Phillips, which ran for 12 series. Among his lectures for The Arts Society are Release your inner cartoonist – the art of storytelling and joke writing in strip cartoons and The art of the cartoonist. For more on his work, see the Harry Venning website or the Clare in the Community website.

Harry will be tracing the history of his profession through the work of artists who have made an impact upon language, culture history and most importantly him. 

REPORT BY GILLIAN STODDART:

Harry Venning – the Art of the Cartoonist

Members of Appleby Arts Society arrived at the Market Hall ready to be entertained and amused, and they were not disappointed! Our speaker was Harry Venning, who has been making people laugh for years, for example on Radio 4 with his popular ‘Clare in the Community’ and many publications including 25 years of cartoons for the Guardian newspaper.  Harry started his working life as an actor, but found his cartoons were more productive. He was invited to produce some strip cartoons for free newspapers in Wales, only to arrive there and find they wanted 208 cartoons in 2 weeks! Harry produced 104 dog jokes, and the strip cartoon ‘Dogzilla’ was born.

It was for ‘The Stage’, the actors’ newspaper,  that Harry introduced Hamlet the Pig. Hamlet cropped up many times throughout the morning, to laughter from the appreciative audience who were invited to add their own ripostes to the many situations in which Hamlet found himself. Harry showed the first window of some Hamlet cartoons and challenged the audience to supply the tag line for the second window, which some members did surprisingly well!

Is Mona Lisa famous for her enigmatic smile, because Leonardo da Vinci didn’t have time to give her eyebrows? Harry then gave her several different sets of eyebrows, illustrating how quickly the famous face can be made to show moods from happy through to very annoyed. He then went to the paper easel and illustrated a series of cartoon devices that are used as visual shorthand – hites, zites, grawlixes, plewds, quimps and of course those speed lines which so easily make cartoon characters appear to whiz by!

The word ‘cartoon’ comes from the Italian ‘cartone’ meaning a sketch on thick card, and came from the cartoons in the National Gallery, for example 18th century artists William Hogarth and James Gillray. Hogarth’s satirical work led eventually to the modern comic book and the political cartoon and Gillray was one of the first professional artists to use caricature portraits in his work. Punch magazine, a weekly formerly known as The London Charivari and first issued in 1841, was famous for its cartoons until it closed in 2002.

There’s nothing like a good laugh to cheer you up on a cold wet morning, and Arts Society members left the hall feeling grateful to Harry for lightening their day. At next month’s talk we will discover the truth about ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’, more than just a pantomime! For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

THE EXPLOSIVE WORLD OF CORNELIA PARKER

Step into the electrifying world of Cornelia Parker, a contemporary sculptor and installation artist whose creations defy convention and challenge our perceptions of everyday objects. Imagine the audacious act of taking a quintessential British garden shed, brimming with its familiar contents, and then, quite literally, having it detonated by the British Army! This explosive spectacle gave birth to Parker's iconic masterpiece, "Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View" back in 1991.

But what happened next was nothing short of magical. The shattered remnants of the shed were meticulously arranged around a solitary light bulb, freezing the chaotic aftermath of the explosion in time. Picture the drama of an explosion captured in a suspended moment, as if reality itself had been frozen in awe.

Parker's artistic vision is fueled by her fascination with what she calls 'cartoon deaths'—objects being squashed, stretched, dropped from great heights, or, in this case, spectacularly detonated. She undertakes these acts of creative destruction not merely to destroy, but to explore the very essence and worth of everyday objects. What emerges from this fiery crucible of destruction is nothing short of extraordinary beauty, a paradoxical transformation that maps the contours of a thought process as intriguing and unique as the artist herself.

Prepare to be dazzled by the explosive imagination of Cornelia Parker, where destruction meets creation, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Our lecturer Rosalind Whyte has a BA & MA from Goldsmiths College and an MA (Distinction) from Birbeck College. Rosalind is a guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and The Royal Academy.

All our lectures last approximately 1hour.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Conceptual Artist Cornelia Parker RA & CBE.

Cornelia Parker is a modern conceptual artist though she doesn’t like labels. She feels passionately that art should be original, make you think and also make you laugh. Her hero is Marcel Duchamp who turned a urinal upside down and called it a fountain. She likes to re-use objects and convert them into something else-as cleverly and wittily as she can. Appleby Arts Society had a most stimulating and joyful lecture about Cornelia from Rosalind Whyte at their October meeting. Rosalind is an experienced guide and lecturer at the Tate, Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and Greenwich’s Queens House.

One example of Cornelia’s work goes as follows. She gathered about a thousand objects made of silver plate from car boot sales, charity shops and from people who no longer wanted their teapot, sugar bowl, light fitting etc- unwanted objects with a history. She then got a steam roller to flatten them slowly and carefully, a piece of rather violent performance art in itself.  She then arranged the transformed silver objects into thirty disc-shaped groups and suspended them by fine wires about a foot from the floor and lit them from above and below so that the shadows from the suspended silver pieces made mobile patterns everywhere. She then called the installation ‘Thirty pieces of silver’ It is a beautiful, original and moving display with a title to make you think. The piece was made in 1988-9 and is owned by the Tate.

Perhaps her most famous piece was done in 1991. She acquired an old wooden shed and its contents and got the British army to blow it up-again an act of violence which seems to be her trademark as well. She then gathered the charred fragments and suspended them by fine wires simulating the original shed shape and illuminated them from the inside-again making beautiful mobile shapes. This piece she called ‘Cold dark matter: an exploded view’ Again a title to make you think as you circulate around the thoughtful and witty display.

Just one further example is a 1997 piece she amusingly calls ‘Measuring Niagara with a teaspoon’. She took a Georgian silver teaspoon and had it melted down and then drawn into a fine wire whose length was equal to the height of Niagara Falls and then displayed as a series of fine shining coils. Under Rosalind’s expert guidance we saw many more examples of this remarkable woman’s work which many of which are in the States. She had a large retrospective exhibition at the Tate in 2022.

November 8th meeting is ‘The Art of the Cartoon’ given by Harry Venning at Appleby Market Hall. For more information go to: taswestmoreland.org.uk

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art.  Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas both sacred and profane. But in Bruegel's hands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus.  Looking at paintings suchf as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, this lecture explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within a shifting cosmos.

Gavin is a writer and broadcaster appearing on BBC Radio 3 & 4 and contributing to newspaper magazines and opera and concert programmes world wide. His first book "A Home For All Seasons"was published in June 2022.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART

Appleby Arts Society welcomed lecturer Gavin Plumley to give their first lecture for the new term. Bruegel the Elder proved to be a very popular subject and the large audience were not to be disappointed. Visual arts in the 16th century  were dominated by religious paintings and courtly portraits of the wealthy. In Antwerp in the Low Countries, towards the end of the 15th century, a co-operative of artists and studios formed the Guild of St Luke to promote their work. Antwerp at this time was a bustling place, a port trading with all the world. This gave artists access to precious materials, such as lapis lazuli which came only from Afghanistan.

Pieter Bruegel specialized in genre paintings populated by peasants, and he aimed to show people the varied landscapes which he had seen in his travels.  Being a member of St Luke’s Guild had enabled him to obtain permits to travel far outside the Antwerp district, and he therefore had experience of the wider world. In 1565 Bruegel was commissioned by Niclaes Jonghelinck, a wealthy patron in Antwerp, to paint a series of six genre paintings of the  agricultural year unfolding. It was quite new for many people to see the daily life of the countryside, and today probably the best well-known of these paintings are the December-January picture, Hunters in the Snow, and August-September, The Harvesters. Sadly the April-May panel was lost, but the remaining three are The Return of the Herd for October-November, Hay Harvest for June-July, and The Gloomy Day for February-March. All these paintings show peasants at work performing tasks probably unknown to  town dwellers, but there is also fun being had with general dancing and merriment!

His art was often more highly valued by collectors than critics. Sadly Bruegel went out of fashion but his pictures can now be found all over the world. Three of the Seasons pictures can be seen in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, one in The Metropolitan Museum in New York, and one in Prague.

These paintings show that Bruegel was very aware of the working conditions of the man who knew what it was like to get up and go out to work hard all day, in all weathers – 1565 experienced a particularly harsh winter - and that nature is in charge. This was the man that Bruegel painted in all seasons.

We thanked Gavin for his excellent presentation of this lecture which had been very much enjoyed. Some members of the audience later suggested that the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna should be their next Arts Society summer outing, so we can see their three Bruegels. Our October lecture will be quite different, looking at the work of Cornelia Parker, one of Britain's best loved and most acclaimed contemporary artists.

Music is our oldest social activity. It crosses divides of age, race, gender, class, religion and is inherently social: A birthday isn’t properly marked without the communal singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ and music underscores our traditions and music identifies us culturally. Surviving historical manuscripts give us a really good overview of what music was played at any given period in history, but it is through works of art that we can see how music affected people’s lives – how they would have enjoyed it, who would have played it. Music in Art looks at how the depiction of musical instruments from the Middle Ages to the 18th century evolves, focusing on instruments that Sophie plays, so as well as looking at images by artists such as Bruegel, Bosch and Hogarth she gives musical demonstrations on replicas of the instruments depicted.

Sophie began playing flute at the age of ten but is now more well-known for her prowess on the English border bagpipes and has become one of the foremost players of the instrument in the UK. She also plays a variety of early woodwind instruments such as shawm, rauschpfeife and recorder. She’s also one of a handful of British players of the baroque musette, an 18th century French bagpipe similar to the Northumbrian smallpipes.

Sophie is also recognised as a superb interpreter of narrative song with a clear, pure and unaffected soprano voice. When not touring with GreenMatthews, Sophie also makes instruments (she made her own baroque oboe) and works with respected luthier Tony Millyard on his flutes. She’s previously worked with The Oxford Waits as well as the respected early music collective Piva. Sophie is self-taught on all of her instruments.

Sophie is an accredited Arts Society Lecturer.

REPORT OF MAY'S LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES:

Arts Society May Lecture.  Music in Art by Sophie Matthews.
May’s Arts Society lecture at Appleby Market Hall, also celebrating the Coronation with cakes and buns, was given by Sophie Matthews. Sophie is a musician, specialising in folk and early music. She is also a balladeer- story telling through song. Throughout this lively and foot tapping lecture she played her own early instruments, often doubling up the sound via computer and external speaker.
It is through works of art we learn which musical instruments are being played through history and on what occasions. Thus the bagpipe features in many early European paintings and consists of leather bag, drone and chanter and is called a Shepherds Pipe. It is also relatively easy to play and features at country weddings and other frolickings.  Dutch painter, Pieter Breughel, paints it often in his depictions of everyday life. In ‘Peasant Wedding’ the player is wearing white to draw in the eye and his pipe has a forward- facing drone to make the sound a little louder. Sophie also told us that the Scottish Bagpipes, invented for Military purposes, are much, much louder than Shepherds Bagpipes, more difficult to play, and were invented 400 years later!
An illustration of the Miller’s Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from medieval times shows him playing bagpipes too. To the audience of the day it would have indicated that he was of lowly status and fairly crude. Indeed a large, glorious plaster angel bearing a bagpipe at the Guildhall in Birmingham is warning against gluttony, and in Hieronymus Bosch’s painting ‘The Garden of many delights’ the Shepherds Pipe is deep amongst the food trough as well. At this juncture Sophie played us a Saltarella- medieval jumping dance -on her set of English pipes.
Unbelievably, in the 18th century, it became fashionable amongst the Aristocracy to dress up as country folk, particularly shepherds and shepherdesses in an attempt to recreate their imagined idyll of country life. It is called the Pastoral Revival and it included the playing of the Shepherds Pipe. Except that dainty lips couldn’t blow into a bag, so elbow bellows were invented. Under aristocratic scrutiny the pipes were further modified so that the chanter had devices for altering the key of a piece and an extension to its range. Such developments made it suitable for playing more classical music, Lully-a composer at the French Court for instance- wrote a bagpipe Concerto.
Sophie also dealt with another medieval instrument, the Shawm, a large ancestor of first the Baroque Oboe, the English composer Purcell’s favourite instrument, and then the modern oboe. Smaller, more intimate and therefore suitable for ensemble playing, the Oboes differ in the wood they are made from, the shape of the bell end of instrument and some sophisticated metal innards. She finished her lecture playing her own, self- made Baroque Oboe, another foot tapping lively dance and a fitting send off for the Society which has a holiday until September

In  1855, Edward Burne-Jones purchased a copy of Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory. This book became the major source for inspiration for Morris and Burne-Jones throughout their lives, and culminated in their finest artistic achievement, the series of tapestries called "The Quest for the Holy Grail". The tapestries, commissioned by the Australian millionaire William Knox D'Arcy, were the final major commission for Morris as he died within a year of their completion and Burne-Jones died 2 years later. Through my personal conservation of these tapestries, I am able to show a rare insight into their construction, design and artistic skill with unique detailed images.

Jacqui is an accredited conservator/restorer who has appeared on Channel 4's BBC2 and Discovery Channel. She lecturers for The Antique Collectors Club and other organisations.

REPORT OF THE LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART:

The Quest for the Holy Grail

Appleby Arts Society’s lecture for April was given by Jacqui Hyman, an accredited conservator/restorer who, through her personal conservation of the tapestries whose images she showed, was able to show a rare insight into their construction and design.

William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones are probably the two best known figures of the Pre-Raphaelite period, Morris famous today for his fabric designs, and Burne-Jones for his paintings and stained glass windows, some of which can be seen locally. They met at Oxford University and went on a walking trip to France to visit Amiens, Beauvais and Rouen cathedrals, and also Beauvais tapestry factory. On their return they devoted themselves to the world of art of the Middle Ages.

With two friends Morris formed a company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. and opened a shop at 449 Oxford Street, London, a showroom full of his designs and fabrics. He despised all the cheap, new goods that were being produced, and believed everything should be made from natural products. He taught himself to master all the techniques such as stained glass, block printing cotton fabric, using the tapestry looms and how to produce the natural dyes based on early herbal recipes, that he used for all his fabrics.

Millionaire William Knox D’Arcy had struck gold in Australia in 1886  He returned to England and bought Stanmore Hall in Middlesex. He commissioned Morris and Co to decorate the whole house – including tapestries - for which the theme was the Knights of the Round Table and the Quest for the Holy Grail, for a fee of £3,500. The Holy Grail was the vessel that Christ drank from at the Last Supper, the Quest was a moral journey based on Christian principles.

There  were 12 tapestries in total, of various sizes to suit the walls where they were to be hung.  One tapestry was 2.45m high by 5m in length. Burne-Jones designed the cartoons from which the tapestries were woven on a medieval style high warp loom. The work was woven sideways on, and the weaver only sees the back as he weaves, he can’t see the right side as he works. Wool and silk were used for the tapestries, the silk giving a sheen to the work. The tapestries were worked from 1892-95.

Jacqui then showed images of the tapestries, which are breathtaking. We have King Arthur, Sir Galahad and Lancelot, Gawaine and Guinevere, horses, rabbits, birds and it is possible to identify every one of the millefleur display of flowers on each panel. By great good luck, the current exhibition at Tullie House in Carlisle is ‘The Legend of King Arthur: A Pre-Raphaelite Love Story’. In addition to some well-known Pre-Raphaelite art, there are two tapestries from the Stanmore Hall collection, which are exquisite.

Appleby Society’s next lecture will be ‘Where have all the women gone?’ on 10th May.

In Greek legend Pandora was created with the express purpose of causing trouble to men, which by opening the box she achieved. This lecture will look at the original sources for thge story andshow how My Fair Lady, The Winters Tale and Educating Rita are among works that developed the theme.

Mary Sharp our lecturer is an experienced broadcaster and teacher with a particular expertise in literature and drama. She worked for many years for BBC Radio 4 producing some of its most popular programmes including "Start the Week" and "Womens Hour".

Painting: Watercolour of an ambivalent Pandora by Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1881

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Appleby Arts Society March Lecture.   Pandora’s Box.

Appleby Arts Society March lecturer Mary Sharp, subtitled her talk ‘The manufactured woman’.

To understand why, we had to examine Greek mythology as written by Hesiod a 5th century BC scribe.

According to him there was once a Golden Age of Man. He means there was once a world containing only immortal men who were hard working, reverent to the gods and had abundant food from overflowing fruit groves. When one of the gods, Prometheus, stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to these men, top god Zeus decided he’d gone a step too far in helping them, and decided to punish them both. His punishment for this happy, single sex society was to create woman. It is a very misogynistic tale to be sure. Several other gods bestowed gifts on this woman; Athena taught her needlework and weaving, Hermes gave her speech (and lies and crafty words) Venus gave her beauty (and the power of seduction) and so on. He named her Pandora, which can mean all the gifts, or all giving (something much argued about in academic circles). Not only that, he gave her a jar (later called a box) in which he placed all the evils of the world, all the things that would bring sorrow and mischief to men, but was told not to open it. On reaching earth of course she peeps in the box and thus scatters its contents to the world. Fortunately there was one good gift at the bottom of the box, hope, for mankind to continue.

There are very many images in Art of Pandora, statues and paintings, images on coins and ceramics. Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Pandora is seductive and knowing and there is a whiff of smoke from her box as the evils escape. John Waterhouse paints us a curious Pandora peeping into an enormous box. In children’s versions of the tale she is usually shown trying to prevent the evils escaping.  In much art she is shown as temptress and seductress, but a more positive approach to her might be to regard her as feisty, independent and curious, as well as bringing sympathy for the pain and suffering she has discharged.

 The image of her and the box is borrowed by political journalists as in ‘’SNP opened the Pandora’s box of anti-English sentiment’’ or ‘’Pandora’s box may ruin Zelenskyy’s chances for a second term’’ and in literature who can forget Adrian Moles’ muse and would be girlfriend Pandora.

There are parallels between Eve and Pandora. Eve, the first woman in the bible, by eating the forbidden fruit (opened the box) becomes human and is punished by eviction from the Garden of Eden. Some people think that the Pandora story influenced the Biblical one all those centuries ago and is yet another story about transformation. Todays stories about the transformation of women are seen in films and plays such as Shirley Valentine, Pygmalion and Pretty Woman and the result for the woman is usually a better one than Pandora suffered.

The next meeting is ‘The Quest for the Holy Grail’ given by Jacqui Hyman, on Wednesday April 12th.

For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

Report by Gillian Stoddart 

Saints and their Emblems 

The saints of the Christian Church begin in the Bible itself, but many favourites have separate, later stories of their own. St George and St Katherine may still be familiar, but what about St Apollonia or St William of York? St Zita or Little St Hugh of Lincoln? Each has their unique tale, their distinctive emblem and their importance to the lives of the faithful ~ and we will explore some as evoked in medieval and Renaissance art .  

Nicole studied The History of Art at Sussex, York and Paris Universities. She established the first Department of Art History in Northern Ireland. She now is freelance, working for national museums, universities, and the National Trust. She is a fellow of the RSA and a published author.

SAINTS AND THEIR EMBLEMS 

The Arts Society’s February lecturer Nicole Mezey surprised her audience by revealing that there are over 10,000 saints listed worldwide. Saints are at the heart of the Christian Church and Pope Francis has created 98 new saints since 2013.

Each saint of the Christian Church has their own story and emblem.  We recognise St George with the English rose, St Andrew the Scottish thistle, the Welsh daffodil for St David and St Patrick with Ireland’s shamrock.

When St John was baptised he was called ‘the lamb of God’ and images show him holding a lamb. Thus we can distinguish between St John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, who has no beard, a sign of youth and purity.

In order to be canonised as a saint the person should have been a martyr, who died for their beliefs. If you’ve attended a firework display there will surely have been Catherine wheels.  Saint Catherine of Alexandria was martyred in the early fourth century by the emperor Maxentius for refusing to renounce her faith. She became a Christian at the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred at eighteen. The emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered. Maxentius then ordered her to be beheaded. St Catherine is always pictured with her wheel.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles but was skinned alive and beheaded for spreading his faith. As a symbol of his gruesome martyrdom, in artwork St. Bartholomew is often shown holding his own flayed skin, and is the patron saint of tanners and leatherworkers.

Saint Apollonia was one of a group of virgin martyrs in Alexandria. During an uprising against the Christians she was tortured by having all her teeth violently pulled out or shattered and is often portrayed holding a pair of tongs containing a tooth. The next time you have toothache, Saint Apollonia is the one to call on for relief! St Pancras station is close by the church dedicated to the saint. In the year 40 Saint Pancras was the first Bishop of Taormina but met his death by stoning at the hands of opponents to the new religion and is depicted holding a Gospel book.

St Peter, also known as Petra the Rock, is easily recognised as he carries a large key, the symbol of his authority. He was the founder of the Papacy, and keys are on the symbol for the Pope. St Peter and his brother Andrew were crucified  on the diagonal Greek cross, as they were not considered worthy of being on the Latin cross, like Jesus.

Our lecture for March will be the story of ‘Pandora and Her Box’. For more information go to  taswestmorland.org.uk

LOOKING CLOSELY AT PAINTINGS

11TH JANUARY 2023 AT 11 AM (DURATI0N 1 HOUR) AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL

How to look slowly: Impressionism

Looking slowly at an Impressionist painting might at first seem counterintuitive, since one of the concepts associated with Impressionism is that the artist captures quickly in paint a fleeting, fugitive moment. Although their works frequently appear to have been painted speedily, in reality, this was not always the case. The Impressionists’ works were often the result of careful observation and planning and their paintings invite us to dwell on and enjoy the evocation of a transitory effect.

Looking slowly at an Impressionist painting is to engage with the idea of seeing a moment which in lived existence might pass unnoticed, but one which the artist was keen to represent to produce visual pleasure. In order to appreciate the artist’s work, we need to look slowly. Touches of paint, punctuations of colour and varied textures come alive with sustained looking.

This presentation looks at a small selection of works in order to experience Impressionism with particular attention to the innovations of the style.  We will also consider ways to develop visual analysis skills.

Joanne worked at the NG as adult learning officer and Head of learning programme.Her freelance work includes Tate Haywood and NPG. She is currently a panel tutor for Cambridge University and teaches at the Wallace Collection and the V & A.

Painting: The Artists House at Argenteuil - Monet 1873

REPORT OF THE LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

How to look slowly at Impressionism.

Appleby Arts Society had a most enlightening talk this month by Joanne Rhymer, an Art Historian and specialist in 19th and 20th Century Art. She chose just three Impressionist paintings and invited us to look at them slowly and in great detail.

In the first, ‘The Bathers at Grenouillere’ (1869) by Claude Monet, we were asked to consider the challenges facing the painter in executing this very outdoors painting. She suggested that there were, among many others, moving water, changing light, and the busy and active people enjoying their day out by the river. She asked us to engage our imagination, to be creative and conjure up what was being depicted here. Listen to the sounds in the canvas, Joanne asked of us -what can you hear?  Boats bumping, birds singing and the shouts and screams of the bathers on their day out from the city were suggested.  What would it feel like to breathe the air within this painting too?

This painting is in the National Gallery in London, and you can go online and look at it yourself and enlarge sections to see how Monet paints moving water, the many colours there, the complementary colours of blue and orange, red with green and the broad, energetic brushstrokes done by this genius. It was only recently, in the 1840s, that oil paint was available in a tube so Monet could carry his material outdoors and paint in the open air.  Joanne also asked us to consider the viewpoint and placement of objects within the work. Would it be different if the jetty were further away from us or nearer? How important was it that the boats were pointing away from us and why certain figures were placed where they were, and just why was the painting relatively dark at the front and brighter at the back?

With our senses all alert, we examined two other Impressionist paintings:- ‘A Nymph by a stream’  a nude done by Renoir in 1870, and Berthe Morisot’s Girl on a Divan 1885. The latter, one of the rare women among the Impressionists was rather restricted in what subjects she could paint as she couldn’t go in bars or outdoors without a chaperone. As a result her lovely paintings are more of interiors with women depicted, full of psychological depth. Both paintings may also be viewed on the National Gallery website, and there is an exhibition of Morisot’s work at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in Spring.

The next meeting in February is ‘Saints and their emblems’ by Nicole Mezey. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

MERRILY ON HIGH: THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHRISTMAS CAROL

11 AM ON THE 14TH DECEMBER AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL - THIS LECTURE IS TO BE ZOOMED INTO THE HALL (DURATION 1 HOUR)

MR PETER MEDHURST

Peter Medhurst traces the progress of the English Christmas carol through seven centuries of continuous development and explores the many fascinating stories that lie behind our popular seasonal songs.

Carols discussed include : Angelus ad virginem, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, The First Nowell, I Saw Three Ships, While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night, Christians Awake, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Adeste fideles, In the Bleak

Peter appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

REPORT OF DECEMBER LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART:

"Merrily on High: The History of the English Christmas Carol"

Appleby Arts Society entered the Christmas spirit at this month’s meeting with coffee and mince pies and were then  joined by lecturer Peter Medhurst, broadcasting via Zoom from Crystal Palace in south London. Peter traced the progress of the Christmas carol through seven centuries and explored the many fascinating stories that lie behind our seasonal songs. Throughout the talk Peter accompanied himself singing some of our carols, using different tunes that have been used across the centuries.

Early carols used simple, repetitive words and tunes as they had to be remembered from year to year - carols that were full of joy, like ‘Ding dong merrily on high’. In northern Europe people danced outdoors while singing their carols. ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, a ballad carol,  was popular, and dancing was a way of keeping warm! The Dutch had their bagpipes, which would be loud enough to be heard when circle dancing. ‘The First Nowell’ was a carol with a chorus, which helped people to join in with Church services.

Many works of art from the time include angels singing and playing the violin or lute. Piero Della Francesca’s 15th century ‘Nativity’ in the National Gallery shows a heavenly music ensemble – lutenists, violinists and singing angels.

In 1653 Christmas and carols were banned by Oliver Cromwell as being the  trappings of popery. Many carols were lost at this point but after the Restoration, with great joy the country celebrated Christmas again. One of the new carols was ‘While Shepherds watched their flocks by night’, written by Nahum Tate, Poet Laureate in 1696. If you would like an alternative tune to the one we use today – try singing it to ‘On Ilkley Moor’!

‘I saw three ships’ is a simple carol with a great melody, and one of the legends surrounding it can be traced back to the 12th century when three ships brought the relics of the purported Magi to Cologne, Germany. The "three ships" refers to the belief that there were three Wise Men, each bringing a gift. The remains of the Wise Men are in a sarcophagus in Cologne Cathedral.

In the 19c Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularised Christmas and there were great celebrations. The turkey for Christmas dinner was favoured by Victoria and Albert, and this is still many people’s choice. Carols from the Victorian era include ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and ‘Away in a manger’, both much-loved children’s carols. I’m sure our Christmas would not be the same without ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, and Good King Wenceslas, all written about 1850. Charles Dickens lived through the ‘mini ice age’ and romanticised a snowy Christmas in his novels. He would have felt at home as we thanked our lecturer, and made our way home through our own snowy scene outside.

Our first lecture in the New Year will be on  11th January when will be ‘Looking Closely at Paintings’ with lecturer Joanne Rhymer.

"Merrily on High: The History of the English Christmas Carol"

Appleby Arts Society entered the Christmas spirit at this month’s meeting with coffee and mince pies and were then  joined by lecturer Peter Medhurst, broadcasting via Zoom from Crystal Palace in south London. Peter traced the progress of the Christmas carol through seven centuries and explored the many fascinating stories that lie behind our seasonal songs. Throughout the talk Peter accompanied himself singing some of our carols, using different tunes that have been used across the centuries.

Early carols used simple, repetitive words and tunes as they had to be remembered from year to year - carols that were full of joy, like ‘Ding dong merrily on high’. In northern Europe people danced outdoors while singing their carols. ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, a ballad carol,  was popular, and dancing was a way of keeping warm! The Dutch had their bagpipes, which would be loud enough to be heard when circle dancing. ‘The First Nowell’ was a carol with a chorus, which helped people to join in with Church services.

Many works of art from the time include angels singing and playing the violin or lute. Piero Della Francesca’s 15th century ‘Nativity’ in the National Gallery shows a heavenly music ensemble – lutenists, violinists and singing angels.

In 1653 Christmas and carols were banned by Oliver Cromwell as being the  trappings of popery. Many carols were lost at this point but after the Restoration, with great joy the country celebrated Christmas again. One of the new carols was ‘While Shepherds watched their flocks by night’, written by Nahum Tate, Poet Laureate in 1696. If you would like an alternative tune to the one we use today – try singing it to ‘On Ilkley Moor’!

‘I saw three ships’ is a simple carol with a great melody, and one of the legends surrounding it can be traced back to the 12th century when three ships brought the relics of the purported Magi to Cologne, Germany. The "three ships" refers to the belief that there were three Wise Men, each bringing a gift. The remains of the Wise Men are in a sarcophagus in Cologne Cathedral.

In the 19c Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularised Christmas and there were great celebrations. The turkey for Christmas dinner was favoured by Victoria and Albert, and this is still many people’s choice. Carols from the Victorian era include ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and ‘Away in a manger’, both much-loved children’s carols. I’m sure our Christmas would not be the same without ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, and Good King Wenceslas, all written about 1850. Charles Dickens lived through the ‘mini ice age’ and romanticised a snowy Christmas in his novels. He would have felt at home as we thanked our lecturer, and made our way home through our own snowy scene outside.

Our first lecture in the New Year will be on  11th January when will be ‘Looking Closely at Paintings’ with lecturer Joanne Rhymer.

"Merrily on High: The History of the English Christmas Carol"

Appleby Arts Society entered the Christmas spirit at this month’s meeting with coffee and mince pies and were then  joined by lecturer Peter Medhurst, broadcasting via Zoom from Crystal Palace in south London. Peter traced the progress of the Christmas carol through seven centuries and explored the many fascinating stories that lie behind our seasonal songs. Throughout the talk Peter accompanied himself singing some of our carols, using different tunes that have been used across the centuries.

Early carols used simple, repetitive words and tunes as they had to be remembered from year to year - carols that were full of joy, like ‘Ding dong merrily on high’. In northern Europe people danced outdoors while singing their carols. ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, a ballad carol,  was popular, and dancing was a way of keeping warm! The Dutch had their bagpipes, which would be loud enough to be heard when circle dancing. ‘The First Nowell’ was a carol with a chorus, which helped people to join in with Church services.

Many works of art from the time include angels singing and playing the violin or lute. Piero Della Francesca’s 15th century ‘Nativity’ in the National Gallery shows a heavenly music ensemble – lutenists, violinists and singing angels.

In 1653 Christmas and carols were banned by Oliver Cromwell as being the  trappings of popery. Many carols were lost at this point but after the Restoration, with great joy the country celebrated Christmas again. One of the new carols was ‘While Shepherds watched their flocks by night’, written by Nahum Tate, Poet Laureate in 1696. If you would like an alternative tune to the one we use today – try singing it to ‘On Ilkley Moor’!

‘I saw three ships’ is a simple carol with a great melody, and one of the legends surrounding it can be traced back to the 12th century when three ships brought the relics of the purported Magi to Cologne, Germany. The "three ships" refers to the belief that there were three Wise Men, each bringing a gift. The remains of the Wise Men are in a sarcophagus in Cologne Cathedral.

In the 19c Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularised Christmas and there were great celebrations. The turkey for Christmas dinner was favoured by Victoria and Albert, and this is still many people’s choice. Carols from the Victorian era include ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and ‘Away in a manger’, both much-loved children’s carols. I’m sure our Christmas would not be the same without ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, and Good King Wenceslas, all written about 1850. Charles Dickens lived through the ‘mini ice age’ and romanticised a snowy Christmas in his novels. He would have felt at home as we thanked our lecturer, and made our way home through our own snowy scene outside.

Our first lecture in the New Year will be on  11th January when will be ‘Looking Closely at Paintings’ with lecturer Joanne Rhymer.

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE: GIOTTO AND THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

11 AM ON THE 9TH NOVEMBER 2022 AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL (DURATION 1 HOUR)

Italo-Byzantine art will be considered as background to the early or 'proto' Renaissance at a time when Italy was a focus of cross currents from the East and Northern Gothic styles. The ancient heritage of Rome and the revival of the classical tradition by artists like Cimabue, Duccio, Simone Martini and Giotto will be considered, alongside the historical and philosophical context that contributed to the 'rebirth' of the arts in fourteenth-century Italy. (The first of a series of three lectures on the art of the Italian Renaissance from the late 13th to early 16th centuries, from Giotto through the Quattrocento to Michelangelo).

DR VALERIE SHRIMPLIN

Valerie is currently Senior Research Associate at Gresham College London (previously Registrar and Secretary of the College). Having studied at the Universities of Bristol, Manchester and the Witwatersrand, she has lectured extensively on Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture and published widely on the influence of astronomy and cosmology on art (including her PhD on the influence of Copernican heliocentricity on Michelangelo’s Sistine Last Judgment). After her main career in education management, she now works freelance, in order to pursue her writing and research (www.valerieshrimplin.com). She is Chair of the series of Conferences on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (www.insap.org). Author of many publications

Giotto and the Early Italian Renaissance.

REPORT BY ANGELA DAVIES

This lecture was given to Appleby Arts Society in November by Valerie Shrimplin -an Art Historian and Researcher of the Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance periods. Her story, illustrated with some beautiful photographs was this.

Before about 1250 AD, European Art and Architecture looked toward the Byzantine tradition.  Think of static, symmetrical and very spiritual depictions of the Virgin Mary, done in brilliantly coloured mosaics as we see in Ravenna, or the very stern Christ figure as depicted in the Florence Baptistery.  Then, around 1250, gradual change began in Italy, in the North particularly. Increase in trade brought the rise of city states and rich influential families like the Scrovegni in Padua and Medici in Florence, who began to challenge the Church about how they built and decorated their own chapels and mansions.

In places like Pisa, sculptors began to notice and copy old Roman statues and images on tombs, sculpting large life like figures in flowing robes and lively three- dimensional scenes from Christ’s life on pulpits and friezes. In Assisi, St Francis begun to humanise religion, preaching that Jesus was a living, human, feeling suffering man and not the remote unfeeling King as depicted in the Byzantine mosaics.

 The most famous and influential artist of the time was Giotto (1267-1337). His patron was Enrico Scrovegni, a banker who commissioned the decoration of his Chapel in Padua. It is a masterpiece, telling the story of Mary and Christ and episodes from the bible. It was done as a series of frescos which are quicker and cheaper to do than mosaics. He paints living, breathing, natural human figures for the first time in centuries. They show joy and sorrow and surprise and pathos in telling their stories. The chapel and its frescos are now a World Heritage Site.

Similarly in Siena, Duccio (1255-1319) was painting life-like altar pieces for the Cathedral there though in a more Gothic style, and Lorenzetti (1280-1348) was introducing ever more naturalism with three dimensional and spatial arrangements in his work.

After the Black Death in 1348 when half the population perished, two schools of religious painting arose.  The ‘eat drink and be merry’ one and an even more religious sort where Christ kicked sinners down to Hell to endure all manner of horrendous tortures. But this is the later Renaissance of Botticelli, Donatello and Michelangelo which has its own story.

December’s lecture on Wednesday December 14th is ‘A history of the English Christmas Carol’ from the piano by Peter Medhurst. It is a zoom lecture. For more info go to taswestmorland.org.uk

The past few years have seen the meteoric rise of this extraordinarily versatile young 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.

MR IAN SWANKIE

A Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

REPORT OF THE LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES:

Thomas Heatherwick – a Modern Leonardo?

Appleby Arts Society’s October lecture dealt with another branch of the arts - architecture. Lecturer Ian Swankie introduced us to architect Thomas Heatherwick, polymath, and a gifted and imaginative designer – the late Terence Conran called him ‘the Leonardo da Vinci of our times’.

After graduating from the RCA in 1994, Heatherwick founded Heatherwick Studio. His first public commission came when Mary Portas (‘queen of shops’) commissioned to make a window display for the 1997 London Fashion Week at the Harvey Nichols department store.  Part sculpture, part window dressing, a plywood structure was suspended from the brick façade of the store by a network of steel cables, and supported a broad, golden ribbon weaving its way across the entire frontage. It stopped the traffic and won First Prize!

Heatherwick won the open competition in 2010 to design a new Routemaster bus for London. The layout of the new bus allowed it to be operated by one person but it proved to be more expensive to build and was threatened with being withdrawn from service. He is probably best known for the stunning 2012 Olympic cauldron, which consisted of 204 individual 'petals', and for the Paralympics 164, one for each competing nation.

Heatherwick Studio also had many commissions abroad, including Little Island Park, New York, shown in the accompanying picture. Designed as a haven for people and wildlife, it is a green oasis, held above the water by sculptural planters, and located just a short walk across a gangplank from Manhattan’s Lower West Side.

In 2010 they built the UK Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo and in Singapore in 2014, a library for Nanyang Technological University. The studio has been involved in building new headquarters for Google in California and Coal Drops Yard at the former Kings Cross Station site in London. The Google building in Coal Drops Yard is as long as The Shard is high and contains a swimming pool and running track, and, presumably, some work space. Heatherwick likens Coal Drops Yard, his fourth retail development, to "a new high street," designed around the human experience and how shoppers connect with buildings.

I feel I have not done justice by Thomas Heatherwick by being unable to show you more images of his work. On Wednesday November 9th the lecture will be ‘Italian Renaissance’ given by Valerie Shrimplin.

REPORT ON LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Timothy Walker used to be in charge of Oxford Botanic Gardens, now lectures in Botany at Oxford University and has won four gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show sometime in his career. He was therefore well placed to talk to Appleby Arts Society on the subject of Colour and Design in a garden at September’s opening meeting of its lecture season.

With a delightful and offbeat manner he challenged us to think about how colour has beguiled us over the centuries, how many there are, what you call them, which you like and why. We can look at light scientifically, examine its wavelength, get the Dulux paint list or the 5,000 long watercolour chart but what we exactly see is subjective. In the design of large Country House gardens before 1711, colour did not feature at all -it was line, length, silhouette, shades of green and water that were important. After this date gardens got smaller and colour was introduced and there was debate over colour harmony versus colour contrast and the great Gertrude Jekyll was of the opinion that the ‘placement’ of colour in a garden was the most important thing. ‘We are painting a picture’ she said. Timothy showed us how her design for a garden bed closely resembled that of a Turner painting in range, hue and placement of colour-wonderful to see.

He also showed us a series of photos taken of the same patch of garden at different times of day. How different the blues and reds look at early morning and then at noon and at evening, and how shadow throws the pattern of leaves into relief. The direction of light and its intensity is manifest.

He talked about and showed us the effect of different colours in the garden – how a splash of yellow can act like a spotlight -especially euphorbias with their lemony acid yellow hues- and how white can be a linking colour to produce harmony rather than contrast. And surely black irises are dark violet?  I think he also managed, rather mischievously, to persuade us that Mark Rothko’s plain colour canvases, where one colour bleeds into another, has influenced the colour palette of some modern poppies. And today’s fashion for more random planting resembles a Jackson Pollock drip painting. Who would have thought! Above all, though, gardens are ephemeral and that is both their joy and frustration.

The next meeting on the second Wednesday of October is:- Thomas Heatherwick- 

In Europe, in both a religious and secular context, we are used to art which is representational, and it is commonly held that Islamic art is non-representational. This lecture, given by Professor James Allan, Professor of Eastern Art at Oxford University, introduces Islamic art through its three most widely appreciated non-representational strands: Arabic calligraphy, the Islamic art form par excellence, resulting from its use in the language of the Koran; geometry; and the arabesque. All three are used in a wide range of media, including the art of the book, carpets, tilework and woodwork. However, the lecture will also explore the figural side of Islamic art and show how widespread figural art really is – even, most surprisingly, in some religious settings. The lecture concludes by highlighting the way art reflects the deep theological divide between Sunni (orthodox) Islam and Shi’ism.

James Allan read his degree in classical Arabic at Oxford, and spent most of his career in the Ashmolean Museum as curator of the Islamic collections and latterly Keeper of Eastern Art. He also set up an Inter-faith Exhibition Service. For the last 6 years before his retirement in 2012 he continued to teach Islamic art in the Khalili Research Centre. He leads tours in the Middle East, and has published numerous articles and books on Islamic art, his most recent book being, “The art and architecture of Twelver Shi’ism: Iraq, Iran and the Indian Subcontinent”.

This short lived, rebellious, anarchic and creative movement took hold in the economically depressed late 1970s. In this lecture we will explore the aesthetics of revolt. Vivienne Westwood creatively led a fashion explosion of disaffection, fetishism and radical politics. With strong links to the Surrealist and Dada artists of the Situationist International and the biting social criticism of German Expressionism, punk has a fascinating heritage. It acted as a 'theatre of provocation'. But Punk was much more than an artistic style. It leaves a huge legacy and resonance on our modern contemporary culture. This illustrated lecture reveals the facts behind the mythology.

JOHN FRANCIS, LECTURER

For me the Arts are not just about looking, they're about the backstory.

In my lectures we consider the social, political and cultural context.

Some of the best art such as Turner, Picasso, even Miles Davis, all combine experiment with popularity. Their work takes the audience from somewhere familiar to somewhere new. In my lectures, this is what we do.

We explore the not yet said of modern art.

John Francis MA  Accredited Arts Society Lecturer

REPORT ON THE LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

Punk definition:- worthless, bad and inferior person or possibly a harlot or prostitute.

Thus began John Francis’ exhilarating lecture at the Wednesday April lecture for Appleby Arts Society. The Punk period was short from about 1975-1980 and flourished during difficult economic times here. It was the time of the three- day week for example, and the sociologists say that ‘’it allowed working class youth to restate their opposition to the dominant values and institutions of the time’’- and some of us remember it well.

It came from America largely in the wake of teenagers, jeans, leathers and motor bikes and men with Attitude like Brando and James Dean. The word Punk is used in West Side Story in the song “Gee Officer Krupke……our fathers all are drunks, Golly Moses, naturally we’re Punks.” (It was difficult not to sing along). The attitude was one of rebellion.

Here, entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren teamed up with dress designer Vivienne Westwood to promote rebellion in clothes-like T shirts carrying shocking messages, ripped jeans, safety pins and boots. Youth added the spiky hair, nose, ear and tongue rings and from comedian Jo Brand ‘Punk allowed women to stop looking feminine-oh the relief’. There was also a thread of Marxism running through the movement, in addition, strangely, to tartan trousers.

Who would have thought that the mundane paper clip would become an icon of rebellion?  It came, surprisingly, from Norway where it had been a symbol of resistance in World War Two. It joined the music of the Sex Pistols (who swore for the first time on TV) in promoting outrage and offence. Sid Vicious was part of an influential circle which included Westwood and Jamie Reid whose eye-catching posters proclaimed the anarchy trope. He it was who made the one of the Queen sporting a safety pin and another which proclaimed ‘say it with bricks- a brick will do the trick’. It was ones duty to offend and be subversive.

John Francis concluded by saying that the Punk movement was chiefly an Attitude of Rebellion which ran through everything- clothes, music, art and by the 1980s these had become mainstream. Think of today’s message laden T shirts and posters, boots and rap music. Even Royalty have joined in as the Duchess of Cornwall was shown recently wearing a Vivienne Westwood outfit.

May’s lecture is ‘Calligeofiguresques: an Introduction to Islamic Art and Design’ by James Allen

The fears and anxieties of Vienna in the final years before the outbreak of the Great War found expression in the writing of Freud, the music of Gustav Mahler and the haunting paintings of Klimt, Koboschka and Schiele. Shimmering portraits flecked with gold; hypnotic landscapes of vibrant brushstrokes; erotic dreams of decadence and death reveal a society in search for salvation at a time when mankind had lost faith in its future. The lecture traces the course of this brief, often dark but always dazzling inventive period of art.

Douglas Skeggs, our lecturer, read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980. In that time he has given many lectures to universities, colleges and art societies, in Britain and Europe. He has written and presented various TV documentaries, notably the Omnibus programme on Whistler and the exhibition video on William Morris. Three one-man exhibitions of his paintings have been held in England and Switzerland. He has published five novels, and his book on Monet, River of Light, was very popular in England, America and France.

The recently discovered self-portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi in the guise of St.Catherine is the first painting by the artist to enter the National Gallery.  The artist and the painting will be the subject of a major exhibition planned by the National Gallery for the spring of 2020 when it will be an opportunity to reassess the life and art of this outstanding artist, who worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, England and Naples.  Daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, she was inspired, like her father, by the dramatic new style of Caravaggio in Rome.  Her early life has been much overshadowed by the rape by one of her father’s assistants, Agostino Tassi, and subsequent trial.  It is her work as a painter and her long career which define her as one of the greatest artists of the 17th century.  The new acquisition by the National Gallery is a quintessential example of her work with the saint’s penetrating gaze, her powerful and natural form twisting in space and rich glowing colours.  The lecture will be an opportunity to explore in depth the life and work of this fascinating artist and the period in which she lived.

DR CHANTAL BROTHERTON-RATCLIFFE

MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. With 40 years' experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies in London, Italy and America. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.

REPORT BY GILLIAN STODDART

Artemisia Gentileschi – Daughter of Rome, Painter of Europe

It was good to see that Appleby Art Society’s February lecture was very well supported, as our lecturer, Chantal Brotherton- Ratcliffe had come from London to talk to us about that rare thing, a respected woman artist in the time of Caravaggio. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-c1656) is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists. In 1616 she was first woman to gain membership to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing.

The Gentileschi family lived in Rome, her father Orazio being what we might call a ‘B list’ artist. Artemisia’s mother died early leaving four young children, and it naturally fell to Artemisia to look after her brothers and the home as well as helping mix the pigments and prepare everything for Orazio.

Somehow Artemisia found time to paint. In 1610 she painted the Bible story of ‘Susanna and the Elders’, the men spying on Susanna as she bathed in a pool. Like her male counterparts she tackled big historical and biblical subjects, with her own distinctive style.  At the age of 17, Artemisia was raped by the painter Agostino Tassi. Her father took Tassi to court to prove Artemisia’s innocence, as by the conventions of Rome she was now unmarriageable. After an infamous trial in 1612, Tassi was found guilty. Artemisia was immediately married to a Florentine and went to live in Florence  where no-one would know her. In Florence she had a better life, and was able to establish herself as an independent artist. Her work became extremely sought-after.   

In 1613 she painted ‘The Penitent Magdalene’, and another of her best known subjects, also from the Bible, ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’, where she had no qualms about portraying the full gory spectacle of the blood dripping from Holofernes’s head. ‘St Catherine of Alexandria’, one of Artemisia’s self-portraits, was bought by the National Gallery in 2018,  and ‘The Allegory of Painting’, painted in London when she visited the court of Charles 1st , is now in The Royal Collection Trust.

She returned to Naples c 1630 where she painted two altar pieces for the Spanish court. In 1638/39 she was in London and painted several pictures for Charles 1st. She lived in Naples until her death at around 1656.

Our next lecture will be ‘Klimt and the Viennese Secession – A Kiss for all the World’ on 9 March. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE WILL BE ZOOMED INTO YOUR OWN HOME AS THE MARKET HALL IN APPLEBY HAS CANCELLED EVENTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO THE RISE OF COVID INFECTIONS IN OUR AREA.

Barry is an Art Historian whose interests and teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. Currently Associate Lecturer with the Open University and lectures on a freelance basis for a variety of organisations.

ART, DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY IN

POST-REVOLUTION RUSSIA

This lecture surveys developments in Russian art and design after the 1917 revolution, from the experimentation of the first decade to the stranglehold Stalin exerted upon the arts during the 1930’s. Russian artists and designers such as Tatlin, Malevich and the Constructivists attempted to design for a new unprecedented society.

Their achievements in the field of painting, sculpture photography, cinema and all forms of design are still felt today.

LECTURE REPORT BY ANGELA DAVIES

Art, Design and Photography in Post-Revolutionary Russia.

The storming of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in 1917 started the Russian Revolution and wrought changes throughout Russia including the Arts. So began January’s lecture to Appleby Arts Society, via Zoom, by Art Historian Barry Denning. He explained to us that the Arts were then put to the use of the new regime, technical workshops set up, experimentation encouraged and for the next ten years the Arts developed as never before.

Prior to 1917 Russian Art had followed along European lines. For example, Kazimir Malevich, the famous avant- garde painter was first an Impressionist in the manner of Cezanne; by 1900 he favoured Cubism and Abstraction in the manner of Picasso and by 1915 he has become a Futurist with his signature painting of a black square.  After the Revolution he is designing abstract covers for books intended for the education of the new citizens and lovely designs for pottery which have a very Art Deco look about them. Similarly, Vladimir Tatlin, an abstract sculptor influenced by Picasso, is employed to create monuments to announce the achievements of the new regime.

During this ten -year period the technical workshops were producing prototype steel chairs, office furniture and tableware which were innovative and useful at the same time. Our V&A has many examples of these and they fetch a fortune if they ever come up at auction.

To get news to the far- flung regions of Russia, the regime transformed former Tsarists trains into information and education centres. These carried leaflets, books and films produced by the artists and graphic designers. Gustav Klucis did posters, one of Lenin personally carrying electricity to the whole country, using the new technique of photomontage developed in the technical workshops.

Artist and designer Alexander Rodchenko turned to photography and photomontage post-revolution, using the first portable Leica camera produced in 1924. He used unusual camera angles for the first time, shooting from above and below his subjects. He claimed that a new world needed a new vision using photography. He made posters for his film-maker friends, another much expanding art at the time. He also did an avant- garde poster and a jewelled pin to celebrate the first Aeroflot flight in 1923. These are now collector’s items.

Barry Venning showed us stunning and informative images of all of the above; ultimately poignant because Stalin’s arrival put a stop to these 10 years of innovation. Artists, Sculptors, musicians, designers, architects-all now had to do conventional, realistic and government approved Art.  Malevich, Tatlin and Rodchenko complied, but Klucis didn’t so he was shot.

Malevich offered a little gesture of subversion though-he placed a very small black square somewhere on the canvas of his portraits of the good, Soviet, Russian people.

February’s lecture is - Artemesia Gentileschi, Daughter of Rome, Painter of Europe by Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe. For more information go to taswestmorland.org.uk

The description of the Nativity in St Luke's Gospel is brief and to the point, mentioning only the Holy family. But this did not prevent later writers and artists including a full supporting cast and incidental props as a means of embellishing both the mystical and maternal aspects and so capturing the imagination and empathy of the believer. So by the time we get to the 15th century, the story had been expanded to include animals, shepherds, midwives and even contemporary portraits.

In this lecture we will study this by looking at Italian and Flemish 15th Century paintings on the subject and the texts which supplied the artists with their stories. The result is touching, amusing, at times bordering on the blasphemous, but never dull.

Picturing the Nativity: Painting by Numbers

Appleby Arts Society were given a fascinating and topical lecture for December. Referring to some beautiful paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries, lecturer Shirley Smith showed how the nativity legend has developed over the years. According to St Luke’s gospel, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, but very soon the scene included animals, saints, shepherds, dogs, angels and musical instruments. Were you aware that while his parents were busy, the young Jesus was amusing himself in a baby walker? This was presumably constructed by his carpenter father, Joseph. If you study ‘The Holy Family at Work’, painted by a Master of Catherine of Cleeves in 1440, alongside this article, you will probably be surprised to find that baby walkers had been invented at this time.

‘The Institution of the Crib at Greccio’, was shown in a fresco by Giotto c1297 and  connected to a legend involving St Francis of Assissi. St Francis is seen carefully lowering The Christ child into a wooden box, representing the manger.  Giotto’s ‘Nativity’  shows the ox and ass, several angels on high, and white sheep representing good, black goats representing bad. In 1383 Bartolo di Fredi’s shepherds had brought their dogs with them.

The artist Michael Pacher’s magnificent 1481 altarpiece in the church of Sankt Wolfgang in  Austria has introduced a shepherd with a lantern, one of the Magi, angels and possibly a midwife. ‘The Nativity at Night’, c1490 by Geertgen tot sint Jans shows an ox and an ass in the dark stable, with Joseph standing back in the shadows. Through the window behind can be seen tiny shepherds on a far hill, and an angel in the sky.

Figures changed in paintings from southern Europe and the north, and it was interesting to compare the images of the Christ child. Those from the south tended to be plump, those from the north skinny. In ‘Virgin and Child before a Firescreen’ (Robert Campin 1440) the Virgin is shown breastfeeding. Images of Mary’s birth, pregnancy and marriage were shown in order to humanise the Virgin, but Joseph’s doubt about the expected birth is shown in ‘Doubt of Joseph’ 1430. However by far the most touching image, by an unknown artist,  is of Joseph cutting up his socks to clothe the new baby.

What a lot of changes since we first heard of the birth of Jesus in a manger, images intended to bring these scenes into a world with which man could identify. Pictures were the books of the unlettered.

VERMEER - THIS LECTURE IS GIVEN BY MIKE FOSSEY

WEDNESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL

Although Mike trained in Chemistry and Education he has had a lifelong enthusiasm for Art and Art History.

He has run a U3A class in Art History/Appreciation for 24 years during which time he has led a number of residential art tours and lectured to many Art Groups and Societies in Cumbria, on a wide range of subjects.

The Oxford Dictionary of Art says of Vermeer:- "Vermeer painted those serene and harmonious images of domestic life ...the majority showing one or two figures in a room lit from the onlookers left, engaged in domestic or recreational tasks." Mike will aim to show that this appreciation of Vermeer's paintings overlooks the deeper, moral messages in his work which he conveys through the use of symbols and emblems which were widely understood in his time.

Bookbinder, artist and teacher, Dominic Riley first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine Monks at Douai Abbey and later at the London College of Printing. He has a bindery in the Lake District from where he travels across the UK teaching Master Classes and lecturing. 

Why was the best paper made from the worn out clothes from peasants? Why did leather have to be tanned outside the city walls? Why do printers have to do everything upside down and backwards Why did gold finishers get paid more than other bookbinders despite not washing their hair? And why is the art of bookbinding itself, surely the most complex of hand crafts, as beguiling and enchanting today as it was when it was invented on the banks of the Nile 2,000 years ago? This lecture is a "through the round window" for grown ups, and tells the fascinating story of everything that makes a traditional hand made book.

Report of lecture given by Gillian Stoddart. 

Appleby Arts Society’s October lecture ‘The Whole Art of the Book’ gave members a fascinating insight into construction of a hand-made bound book. Lecturer Dominic Riley is a restorer, designer binder, teacher, writer, lecturer, elected fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008.

Papermaking came from China 1200 years ago and the process of bookmaking requires skill in many artisanal crafts, of which papermaking is one.  Traditional papermaking required rags, and bundles of rags were bought from dealers who sourced old, worn out clothing, bed linen, rope, as in ‘money for old rope’. Women sorted the rags, removing buttons, rivets, pins, rubber and sorting linen from cotton. These shredded rags were put in a machine which broke them down into a porridge of rag pulp, called ‘stuff’. This was pumped into Stuff Chests, large, round storage containers with revolving arms which kept the stuff suspended in water and didn’t settle to the bottom and solidify. After a time in the papermaking vats the vatman would begin to create sheets of paper. Paper was made in several grades, the highest quality being used for important documents, into which it was possible to put a watermark. Watermarks were created with wire shapes and letters sewn onto the mould, and being integral to the sheet of paper provided security as the document could not be copied.

Leather for the cover needed careful preparation. The best goatskins for bookbinding come from an area of northern Nigeria where environmental conditions are ideal for producing hides with the right balance of strength and suppleness. They are tanned using vegetable materials and thousand-year old methods, the best tanning agent coming from the baobab tree. Tanning helps preserve the skins, which are graded and sent off to Northampton. The tails are used for shoe laces! Traditionally the skins were transported by camel across the Sahara desert to merchants in Morocco (hence the term ‘Morocco leather’) from where they would be distributed throughout the ancient world.

Paper and leather are initial stages in the bookmaking process. The paper must then be printed, the pages stitched together, the covers bound, and end papers inserted. Gilding the edges of the pages once the book is assembled is an important procedure, as it preserves the life of the book forever. The book is squeezed tightly in a vice and gold leaf applied. You may be surprised to hear that the best adhesive for applying gold leaf is good old ‘Robin’ starch. Looking at today’s casual fashions you might be surprised to find that Robin starch is still available! The gold leaf is burnished, waxed and brushed. The finishing touch, tooling on the covers and spine with more gold leaf, produces a book which can be treasured for centuries.

Dominic showed us images of some of the beautiful books he has covered, many winning prizes in international bookbinding competitions. Altogether it was an interesting and informative lecture.

MEMBERS ONLY

 THIS LECTURE IS "LIVE" AT APPLEBY MARKET HALL AT 11 AM ON THE 8TH SEPTEMBER, 2021

From earliest civilisations gold with its magic lustre had a very special place amongst colours. Expensive, durable and beautiful, it became synonymous with many different and often conflicting things, such as ostentation and sensuality, the sun and its life giving powers and the sacred. We will trace the place of gold in the history of European art, from the medieval practice and technique of gilding religious panels, through myths and legends with gold as their subject, to considering how gold can introduce an unexpected element of sensuality into art both sacred and profane. 

Lydia Bauman was born in Warsaw, Poland but now lives and works in Britain. Lydia lectures at numerous adult education institutions in London and art galleries such as The Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Botston Museum of Fine Art and The National Gallery.

RESUME OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES

It was with joy and great relief that over fifty Appleby Arts Society members met in the Market Hall last Wednesday for the first time since Covid, suitably anointed, masked and distanced to hear painter and lecturer Lydia Bauman speak on the subject of Gold in Art.

What is it about gold that is so alluring? Is it the colour, bright and mysterious in sunlight or glowing in the light of a thousand flickering candles in a medieval church? Perhaps it’s the monetary value; or is it that it never degrades nor tarnishes? The fact is that real gold has to be mined, melted and finely beaten to form a thin leaf before it can be used to embellish pictures, or fused with glass to form mosaics. Early Christian basilicas like San Vitale in Ravenna used gold mosaics in great quantity to celebrate Christ as the simple Good Shepherd or Christ as powerful king as we see at St Mark’s in Venice. Donors gave money for paintings of course; the richer the patron the more gold on the altarpiece and the greater likelihood of salvation. We saw several beautiful examples of this type of gold painting like Duccio’s Mother and Child in Sienna, where the extensive background is entirely of gold.

After the Middle Ages gold metal wasn’t used again much until the 19th century when a painter like Gustav Klimt used it to great effect on The Kiss and the portrait of Adel Bloch-Bauer, and now modern painters like Lydia herself uses gold leaf to embellish the New Mexican landscapes she does. It was the discovery and development of oil paints at the Renaissance which meant that the colour gold could be as good as the real thing, being both cheaper and easier to work. Bellini’s ‘Virgin Mary with the Saints’ from 1505 and Veronese’s ‘Venus, Mars and Cupid’ in 1580 are early examples where the gold is paint alone.

Stunning gold oil paint is used by Rembrandt in the painting ‘Balshazzar’s Feast’ (1635) where he makes Balshazzar’s garments appear encrusted with jewels and gold by applying the paint very thickly with a palette knife and then scratching into its surface raising it up so that it catches the light. He uses a similar technique with the letters on the wall and the feasting dishes so that the whole painting glows. Rembrandt is also saying something else; that the love of gold can be a bad thing and that the hand writing the golden letters foretells a violent death and therefore a warning. The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Poussin in 1633 also carries a warning- make a pagan deity of gold and you wreak the wrath of God.

Portraits of the great and the good often included the wearer showing off his wealth in the form of gold chains or playing with gold objects. Both Titian and Rembrandt self-portraits wear gold chains saying ‘look – how successful I’ve become’. Gold can also be a symbol of goodness in some religious paintings like Veronese’s ‘Mystic marriage of St Catherine’-she has golden hair, is wearing a golden cloak and is marrying the baby Jesus with a gold ring. No doubting the gold goodness there.  Lydia also examined several paintings with us from mythology and entertainingly took us through the symbolism throughout. It represents sexuality when the god comes to possess the goddess Danae as a shower of gold in Titian’s rendering of that myth and Rubens ‘Judgement of Paris’ gives us a golden apple and Jean Francois de Troy’s painting in the National Gallery has the Golden Fleece. The examples were many and wondrous.

Our October meeting on the 13th is ‘’The whole art of the Book’’ by Dominic Riley. At present, due to covid restrictions we are sorry that members only and not visitors may attend. For further details go to taswestmorland.org.uk.

This lecture will start at 11 am on 12.5.21

During the 1970's and 80's Australian artist Brett Whiteley dedicated a series of works to his home in the Sydney harbourside suburb of LAvender Bay. His focus was on the immense influence of the harbour and home and he was inspired greatly by Henri Matisse.

Paul is an Art Historian and a National Gallery trained guide with many years of experience working in education. As a freelance Paul delivers courses and lectures for a wide range of educational organisations.

This lecture will start at 11am on 14.4.2021

'Tantrums and Tiaras' is a look at backstage life at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the pressures faced by performers, be they singer, dancer, conductor or musician. We see how the building copes with the demands of modern productions and examines audience expectations both inside the theatre and out. Nigel Bates is the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet and has been a performer for nearly 40 years in and out of the Royal Opera House, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra.

Tantrums and Tiaras.  Behind the scenes at the Royal Opera House

Nigel Bates described himself as ‘Head of Drums’ in the Royal Opera House Orchestra at the April Zoom lecture for the Appleby Arts Society last Wednesday. He has held the position of Principal Percussionist for 17 years, orchestra member for 40, and Music Administrator for the Royal Ballet for the last 8 years.

His talk covered far more than tantrums and tiaras as he described the day- to- day workings of its 1200 full-time employees whether musicians rehearsing the next opera or ballet, stage hands manipulating enormous sets on wheels, or principal artists performing in one of the eight rehearsal areas. We saw shots of improvements done in the 1999 rebuilding like the long downhill ramp from dressing rooms to stage door, down which all performers must go before a performance or rehearsal so that the newest ballerina might be rubbing shoulders with Darcey Bussell as both reach the essential drinks machine at the bottom. The new Floral Hall, so distinguished and prominent in the latest photographs contains refreshment areas, a champagne bar holds regular tea dances now, and can also be used for educational purposes.

The Opera and Ballet are distinct operations. The Ballet is a company which includes all the Principals which fosters co-operation and discipline, whereas in Opera the soloists come from all over the world sometimes for a single performance. Nigel said the pressure on Opera singers was intense- each one is only as good as the last performance. For instance Bryn Terfel, singing Scarpia in Tosca at the ROH recently had to rise to the stage via an understage trapdoor, needing instantly to be in character, in time and on pitch with the orchestra- which he did every night to perfection. We then saw a clip from Milan Opera House of a tenor singing in Aida who was booed off by the audience and never returned. Not at the RHO though, but there are ways for patrons and distinguished audience members to pass the word to Management if someone on stage isn’t up to scratch.

We heard stories from the orchestra pit; for instance how to let an overcritical new conductor know he’s gone too far by letting the tuba player play the theme from the Great Escape twenty minutes into the rehearsal. But we also heard how empathetic an orchestra can be with great performers. Angela Georgiou was playing Mimi in La Boheme and in the final death scene her performance was so heart rending the orchestra played their quietist ever, to match the moment. It has been known too, for an orchestra to help out a favourite performer by following what she or he is doing, rather than obeying the conductor.

Stage staff are critical workers, like cleaners to keep the floor of the stage free of unwanted debris but also keep the surface tacky so performers don’t slip. Other stage staff have their ways of letting a performer know that offhand treatment will not be tolerated. At the end of the opera Tosca, Tosca herself throws herself off the castle walls. In reality she falls onto a crash mat behind the stage. This was replaced by a trampoline once at the dress rehearsal by a disgruntled stage crew for a performer they disapproved of- she behaved herself ever after.

We were able to see tantalising extracts from several operas and ballets which illustrated aspects of the lecture. From the first act of Traviata, the Clog Dance from the Fille Mal Garde, Nutcracker (where the ballet mistress shouted instructions to the young ballerina from the wings), to Wagner’s Ring Cycle. We saw an extract from the end of the Ring where the stage is ablaze at the front and the waters of the Rhine are rising at the back. Scary stuff for all staff as the Opera House has burnt down twice before.

Finally, in the ballet Two Pigeons, Sir Frederic Ashton wanted live birds, suitably trained. At one performance one flew off the shoulder of the dancer and into the auditorium, perching on a light fitting high up. A replacement bird arrived and behaved itself on stage, but at the climax of the ballet when the two pigeons were perched on the back of a chair as per opera, the auditorium bird flew down to join them, so it was Three Pigeons that night. Hearing these interesting stories was poignant given that everything is closed at present. Nigel is awaiting the phone call to start something on May 17th, but as he pointed out, an orchestra pit is one of the most unhygienic places there could be. Maybe they can build up from small and hopefully there may be full performances in September.

The next meeting is Brett Whiteley’s Lavender Bay given by Paul Chapman, Art Historian and National Gallery guide on May 12th. Non members £5 . For further information go to artsoc.appleby@gmail.com

This lecture will start at 11am on the 10.3.21

'The Glasgow Girls' were a group of women artists and designers active in Glasgow at the turn of the twentieth century. Fra Newbury, the head of Glasgow School of Art at the time is often credited for his contribution to this period of women's enlightenment; he provided many opportunities for women to study or pursue teaching roles. Elaine Hansen has a Master's degree in Education and taught for twenty seven years. During the COVID 19 crisis she registered with the Arts Society as a Zoom lecturer.

(image 'Day Dreams' by Constance Walton (1865-1960)

The Glasgow Girls.

The Glasgow Girls were a group of around 16 women who made a significant contribution to Art between 1890 and 1920, about the time of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements.  Most of them attended the Glasgow School of Art as pupils and teachers. So began the Appleby Arts Society March Zoom lecture given by Elaine Hansen, an Art teacher for many years and a guide at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. She picked out six of ‘the Girls’ to illustrate her talk.

The enlightened Principal of the Glasgow School of Art at the time, Francis Newbery, encouraged women to come to the College, be original in their designs and steered them towards a broad range of disciplines like ceramics, metal work, textiles and embroidery as well as fine art, so they might be able to make a living and become independent. He married one of his students, Jessie Newbery who established the school of Embroidery there; she encouraged originality in her pupils and designed women’s clothing. Like the rest of the Girls she wanted to wear loose flowing garments to be able to work comfortably, not corsets and stays and this is perhaps the origin of the term ‘loose women’- women who wore loose clothing which also signalled independence and freedom.

Her successor at the School of Embroidery was Ann Macbeth who designed banners for the city of Glasgow and for the Suffragettes of which she was a member; she was imprisoned and force fed for protesting. She also designed beautiful silk embroidered panels which are in museums everywhere. She came to live in Patterdale in the 1920s, held rug making classes for local women and made four lovely embroidered hangings for St Patrick’s Church. The Nativity shown here is done on linen with coloured wool and depicts Patterdale village as well as the surrounding mountains.

Jessie Marion King was a pupil from1893-1899 whose talents lay in book illustration. Her work was popular abroad, and she won medals for it in Germany, Venice and Turin. In Paris she was asked to illustrate Oscar Wilde’s verses in ‘The House of the Pomegranate’.  In this country, Liberty of London employed her to design wallpaper and jewelry. She married a fellow painter, a friend of the Scottish Colourist, E.A. Hornel and they joined him in Kirkudbright during WW1 so helping to establish an artists colony there which exists to this day. In 2010 there was a big Exhibition of the Glasgow Girls work there, in the Town Hall.

‘Probably the most talented female artist Scotland has produced’ was Bessie MacNicol’s epitaph when she died in childbirth in 1930. Encouraged by Francis Newbery to go to Paris and learn there she painted nudes and portraits. She also spent time in Kirkudbright with Hornel and was made an honorary member of the Glasgow Boys group-an honour indeed as women painters were usually ignored.

The final two members of this group are the Macdonald sisters, Frances and Margaret. They set up a studio in Glasgow in 1896 working in beaten metals and water colours. They attended day classes at the College and both married painters, Frances to J.H. McNair, Margaret to Charles Rennie MacIntosh in 1900. Charles said of Margaret ‘’You are a half if not two thirds of my architectural work’’. Tribute indeed and not only from him, but Gustav Klimt who claimed that his Beethoven Screen in the Seccessionist Building in Vienna was indebted to her illustrated panel work. We are now in the Art Nouveau period and images of elongated women often with flowers were her innovations and much copied in decorative panels and stained glass. She often did the interior work in gesso on Charles’ buildings, like the Willow Tea rooms in Glasgow. When they moved to Walberswick in later life, the paintings done then are signed by both of them.  So concluded this most informative talk on the Glasgow Girls.

The next Zoom Lecture is on Wednesday April 14th and is called ‘’ Tantrums and Tiaras: Behind the scenes at the Royal Opera House’’ by Nigel Bates who is Musical Administrator of the Royal Ballet, and a percussionist for many years with the orchestra. Attendance for non-members is £5. For further information email:  artsoc.appleby@gmail.com

This Zoom lecture will start at 11am on the 10.2.2021 a link for you to join the lecture will be sent to members before the lecture.

French Rococo Dress in all its glory. In 18th Century France a new style emerged which encompassed furniture, paintings, prints, decor and fashion. Light and airy decorations (whimscially inspired by nature) climbed up the walls, and encircled mirrors, wound up and down chair legs and drove out the heavy symmettry of the Baroque style. Madame de Pompadour was a champion of Rococo, which coincided with her reign of mistress of Louis XV. When and why did she (and other Rococo style) lose favour? Through the paintings of Hogarth, Boucher, Fragonard, and others we will address this question - with a focus on analysing works from the National Gallery (London) and the Wallace collections.

Our lecturer Jacqui Ansell read Art History and Theory at  Essex University and gained an MA in History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute. Formerly an Education Officer at the National Gallery, London and tutor and writer for the Open University she has a wide range of teaching/lecturing experience. She has lectured regularly on the public programmes of the National Gallery and Wallace Collection and is an accredited Art Society Lecturer, with specialism in artand dress history.

RESUME OF THE LECTURE BY GILLIAN STODDART

At their February meeting Appleby Arts Society welcomed Jacqui Ansell, to deliver her Zoom lecture. Jacqui has a degree in Art History and an MA from the Courtauld Institute, and her lecture was  ‘Rococo: A Masterpiece, a Mystery and Madame de Pompadour’. 

Rococo was a style of art and architecture characterised by lightness, grace, playfulness and intimacy, that emerged in France around 1700 and spread through Europe. The earlier heavy Baroque style was replaced by softer pinks, greens and blues. Rococo was mainly a decorative style, typically with heavily decorated musical clocks, Sèvres china and small porcelain figures.  Jacqui showed us pictures by two of the finest artists of the period, François Boucher 1703-70, and Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1732-1806.

Boucher was a painter, engraver and designer whose work embodied  the frivolity and elegant superficiality of French court life around the middle of the 18th century. Characters from Greek myths were popular subjects for these artists, allowing them to paint voluptuous goddesses and their maidens, all with flowing, flimsy drapery, and of course plenty of cherubs. Boucher’s masterpiece was ‘The Toilette of Venus’. It originally decorated the bathing apartments in Madame de Pompadour’s Château de Bellevue. Venus is being assisted by cherubs and the picture contains luxurious silks, pearls, flowers and a perfume burner to sweetly scent the air.

Towards the end of his career French taste changed in the direction of Neo-Classicism and Boucher’s style of painting was attacked for his stereotyped colouring and artificiality and he fell out of fashion.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard was another French painter whose scenes of frivolity and gallantry truly expressed the Rococo spirit.  His mythological work Psyche showing her sisters her gifts from Cupid  illustrates an episode from the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche. Fragonard's work is probably based on La Fontaine's version of the fable. After falling in love with Psyche, Cupid had visited her only at night, forbidding her to look upon him. In the painting, Psyche shows her two sisters the gifts she has received from her lover, and moved by jealousy - a Fury appears in the sky above the sisters - they persuade her to uncover Cupid's identity and thus wreck her happiness. This  is an early work by Fragonard, completed when he was only 21 years old. An immediate success, it was exhibited with other paintings at Versailles in 1754, but later passed into obscurity with an attribution to Carle van Loo, a Dutch artist who settled in Paris in 1734. At some date it was cut down along the top and left sides. Mysteriously it appeared on the market and the National Gallery bought it in 1978. Fragonard is chiefly known for erotic canvases like The Swing c 1766 but he also painted children and family scenes. Fragonard’s portraits of Madame de Pompadour are regarded as his masterpieces. He rarely dated his work but his paintings helped to sum up the era. However times changed and Neo-Classicism became the new style. Sadly he was ruined by the Revolution and died in poverty.

Born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson in 1721, the Marquise de Pompadour was a member of the French court, best known as Madame de Pompadour. She met King Louis XV at a masked ball at the Palace of Versailles and soon became his official mistress living in her own apartments in Versailles. She became a valued aide and advisor to the King and being an intelligent woman took care not to alienate the Queen.  She was a major patron of architecture and decorative arts, and very influential in every aspect of her life.  She funded the Sèvres china factory and made designs for Gobelin tapestries. Women in England were desperate to know what the latest fashions were in France, and dolls were made dressed in exactly her style, and sent to England where the styles were copied by their dressmakers. Pictures show that she was not only a beauty but had accomplishments – play reading, music, reading, letter writing, plays and novels. She was an adornment to the King’s apartments. A François-Hubert Drouais portrait of 1764 shows her at age 43, with fashionably grey hair – by now she was an older woman- sitting at her tambour frame doing embroidery, the epitome of a virtuous woman, surrounded by her books and music. She is pictured wearing a dress of Chinese painted silk, and hand-made lace which would have taken one woman 15 years to embroider. This portrait was finished after her death in 1764 and can be seen in The National Gallery.

The scene of the 'Adoration of the Magi' is central today to our image of the Christmas story, so it may come as a surprise to learn that their number, names and ethnic origins were all later additions to the biblical account. Shirley Smith has an honours degree in the History of Art, specialising in Italian Renaisance Art and Architecture. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

RESUME BY ANGELA DAVIES

Excess baggage- the journey of the Magi from St Matthew to the Medici.

In St Matthew’s gospel we have the bare facts about the Magi story; there were wise men from the East, they carried gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, there was a star and they visited Herod. So began Appleby Arts Society’s first zoom lecture to its members last Wednesday. The speaker was Shirley Smith, a specialist in Italian Renaissance Art and Fellow of the Royal Society. She showed us a collection of the most deeply colourful and interesting images as she told her story.

Among the first depictions of the Magi story are the glorious sixth century mosaics in Ravenna which show them wearing cloaks, tunis and pointed, Phyrigian (eastern) hats and they are named as Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. In Giotto’s 13th century frescos they have acquired haloes, become kings, and there’s a comet and a couple of camels. It’s clear that Giotto has never seen a camel as they look more like modified horses.

From this early Renaissance and forward the images acquire more people, animals, a black king Caspar from Northern Europe and an ever increasing number of symbolic items.

For example Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Adoration of the Magi (1475) shows the Nativity set among classical ruins which is a signal that the old order has gone. There is a phoenix on black Caspar’s gift, a bird like the peacock which denotes everlasting life, and a dog meaning fidelity. Even the Shepherds have crept into this one, warming their hands on the nativity fire. Others incorporate scenes of normal life and mode of dress. A lovely and very informal one, by Giovanni di Paolo (1460) shows one king with his arm around Joseph, another about to doff his cap, all the kings’ horses and a pastoral scene in the background of a shepherd herding goats.

As one would expect from a Breughel, Pieter the Elders Adoration of the Magi (1474) comes with hundreds of people in it including a shepherd playing a bagpipe (signifying  lust),  people having conversations in Dutch dress, and a real camel.

Then, at the height of the International Gothic style, which is courtly and decorative and crammed with figures, there are the Medici family in Florence. In their chapel each King has a wall to himself all the better to show the Medici family in all their finery riding amongst the entourage towards the infant king. The scenery is pure Tuscan and the characters Florentine.

When did the Big Apple take over? was it after WW2 when Surrealists had fled the Old World? Or had the takeover begun before the Great War? Rich New Yorkers were collecting cutting-edge works and founding major museums throughout the 1930's. In the 1940's Continental Europe could only try to catch up.

Image: Georgia O'Keefe: New York Skyscrapers

THIS LECTURE HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED - PLEASE SEE OUR HOME PAGE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Ralph's interest is mid-eighteenth century English Rococo silver. He brings with him the pieces he is going to talk about for the listeners to handle and examine, together with a comprehensive collection of powerpoint images with close ups of features of interest. The Huguenot influence on this most decorative period is discussed, where new silver smithing techniques fused with new designs together with methods of manuafacture, interpreting the engraved heraldry of the items and social context.

Ralph makes the talk entertaining as well as informative by taking the audience on a journey to uncover the original owners by tracing the heraldry, showing portraits of them and reveals their sometimes tragic family circumstances, adultery, gambling stints in the Tower of London!

THIS LECTURE HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED - PLEASE SEE OUR HOME PAGE FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Wednesday 8th April 2020 at 11 am at Appleby Market Hall.

Nigel worked as a performer for over 30 years in and out of London's Royal Opera House as Principal Percussion with the Orchestra. In the course of over 6,000 performances, broadcasts and recording he has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry. He was producer for the BBC's 'Maestro at the Opera' and in 2012 was appointed to the position of Musical Administrator for The Royal Ballet.

In this lecture, Nigel takes a look at the life backstage at London's Royal Operal House, Convent Garden and the tribulations and triumphs of working with The Royal Ballet Companies. Nigel looks at the way artistic inspirations, the people involved and the unique building all function together to create world class opera and ballet in a unique environment.

Wednesday 11th March 2020 at 11 am at Appleby Market Hall.

This lecture will present in detail the historical, cultural and artistic aspects of that unique masterpiece, The Bayeux Tapestry which provides posterity with such a startling testimonial of peoples lives in the late Viking Age.

Eveline Eaton is a freelance lecturer in Fine Arts and a tour guide for Berlin, Dresden and Munich. President of The Dresden Trust and oversaw the creation of a 'peace garden' in Dresden. Eveline has lecturered to us before in April 2016 - "Dresden Today" and members enjoyed her lecture immensley.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall on the 8th April 2020 at 11 am.

Hampton Court is best known as the main surviving Palace of Henry V111 (1509-47). But how much of Hampton Court did he really create? The King had lost the principal royal seat of Westminster to a fire in 1512, and in 1528 he adopted Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court, which had been planned anew in 1515.This talk explains the European cultural background in Wolsey's magnificient creation and presents reconstructions of lost interiors, and shows how much of the credit for Hampton Court was due to the ambitious cardinal before his reputation was shattered and his achievements defaced by the infamous King he had served.

Dr Jonathan Foyle was Chief Executive of the World Monuments Fund Britain for 8 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 writer for the Financial Times on issues of architecture, history and craft. A presenter of numerous TV series including BBC4's "Henry V111: Patron or Plunderer?" and BBC2's "Climbing Great Buildings".

RESUME OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES - 24TH FEBRUARY, 2020

Dr Jonathan Foyle, The Architectural historian and broadcaster talked to Appleby Arts Society at February's monthly meeting about Hampton Court which he curated for eight years.

It was an unusual building for the time, mostly thanks to Cardianal Wolsey, Chancellor of England and mentor to the young Henry the V111.

Built in six years from 1515 it introduced to Britain to the new Italian Renaissance-Classical style, with embellishments of the Caesers in huge medallions, and cheeky cherubs supporting the escutcheons. Unusually for us at that time too, the outside buildings of the Palace were built first and the most important, the central hall and chapel, were built last, on the premise that the further you go inside the Palace the better it became. The inside door were all aligned so that Wolsey could see through from one end to the other, and on the walls wererare tapestries and paintings. We saw beautiful illustrations of all of this throughout the lecture.

He also built it big and with a moat so that no-one would dare invade it. He built it big enough to house Henry and Queen Katherine. He built it in a style that would please his Catholic superiors, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, so that they would feel at home there. Wolsey also put red limewash all over the brick so that it looked pink, like Italian buildings.

Future owners of the Palace added their bit. Henry took it over in 1529 to replace the burned out Palace of Westminster. He built a tennis court and a bowling alley for his young son Edward there, and his other wives have their escutcheons about the building. In 1689 William of Orange and Queen Mary enlarged and remodelled some of it in Georgian style. Queen Victoria in 1839 opened it up to the paying public and over the Victorian era Hampton Court was gradually restored and is how we see it now.

Wednesday 8th January 2020 at 11 am at Appleby Market Hall.

The 14th century artist Cennino Cennini recommended using "the chicken bones that you will find under the dining table" for making charcoal bone black to paint with. His treatise, 'The Artists Handbook', describes some of the surprising materials artists had to master, such as the tail of a squirrel to make paintbrushes. These difficult materials influenced the appearance of paintings long before industrial processess changed the artists world.

This lecture will explain why 15th & 16th century paintings may seem odd to our modern eyes. Our lecturer, has an MA in The History of Art from Edinburgh. She has 40 years experience as a lecturer and has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine & Decorative Arts since 1989 and as a freelance lecturer for a number of Art Societies.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on Wednesday the 11th December 2019. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

The Christmas tree presents us with over five centuries of art and meaning. Vital to both Paganism and Christianity, it was and still is, shrouded in legend. The forest fir first made the transition from Viking carvings to German Romanticism and Scandinavian naturalism before taking its place in the modern festival of Christmas. This lecture tells us about its hidden significance and the ways in which it has been used to celebrate Christmas.

Dr Claire Walsh has worked at the Victorian and Albert Museum and lectures at the University of Warwick, she also lectures for the Open University.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on Wednesday the 13th November 2019. Members are free there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

This talk will provide a whistle-stop tour of the history of food as an artistic medium starting with 16th century sugar sculpture and venturing all the way to a 3D desert printing and beyond.

This exploration into the realms of dessert as a spectacle includes an accompanying display to illustrate and enhance the historic subject.

Tasha Marks is an award winning food historian and artist, who explores the relationship between food as an artistic medium, with projects ranging from museum style exhibitions and sculptural installations to interactive lectures and limited edition confectionary.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall on Wednesday the 9th October 2019 at 11 am. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

This lecture will explore a range of images buildings, objects and art forms from across the British Empire. Beginning with a broad view of the Empire and imperial art in the 19th and 20th centuries and will also go on to focus more clearly on Imperial India. The lecturer will discuss the arts and architecture of the vibrant city of Calcutta, the "second city" of the British Empire throughout the 19th century.

Dr John Stevens is a research assistant at SOAS University of London and a member of the academic staff at the SOAS, South Asia Institute. His Phd in History is from the University College London. He teaches British Imperial history, Indian history and the Bengali language and is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh.

Report of the lecture by Angela Davies

The audience at the Appleby Arts Society meeting in October received an illuminating and comprehensive run down on the political and social history of the British Empire.

Using a series of images Dr John Stevens, Lecturer at the School of Asian Studies UCL showed us how, for instance, Josiah Wedgewood's medallion of a Slave in chains influenced the cause for the Abolition of Slavery when widely distributed in the 18th century.

One of the paintings he showed us depicted Queen Victoria bestowing a Bible upon a devoted African prince, presumably Pagan. This is at a time when Britain governed a quarter of the globe. The painting expresses, visually, liberal imperialism. If properly converted and educated black people can be humanised and civilised.

Paintings following the Indian Lucknow Rebellion in 1857 helped to influence people at home of the justice of British brutality by depicting women as victims - though it didn't prevent the Raj happening in 1858 which undertook not to intefere with Indian customs or religion.

A Punch cartoon in 1892 shows a British soldier bestriding the African Contienent from Capetown to Cairo like a Colossus and images of Brittannia appeared on everyday items like Colemans Self Raising Flour bags as evidence of our success in the Empire.

We saw an enormous composite photograph from 1911 of Coronation Park in Delhi covering 83 acres to celebrate the Coronation of George V. Each of the eighteen native Indian states were encamped, each one required to send a representative to swear alliegiance to their new King. Over 50,000 watched the spectacle of the King and Queen and Maharajahs in full finery (shown to us in detail) and all sang the National Anthem. Not all were happy to do so and not long after this Gandhi sucessfully lead the Movement for the end of the Empire, though the images of refugees during mass migration at the partition of India reminded us painfully of troubles in our world today.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on Wednesday the 11th September. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

Charles Mackie was educated in Edinburgh and his studio was located in Roseburn. His travels took him to France where he met Gaugin, Vuillard and Les Symbolistes. Hornel welcomed him to Kirkcudbright and he gave painting lessons to Laura Knight (you might remember our February 2018 lecture was about her) during his time in Staithes he worked in an impressive range of media, oils, watercolours, murals, woodblock prints, tooled leather and sculpture.

This lecture will give an overview of his life, work and contribution to Scottish and British Art.

Pat Clark is a retired head teacher with a passion for Charles Mackie, a neglected figure in Scottish Art.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 8th May 2019. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

This lecture looks at the lute and other musical instruments as devices to express various aspects of the human character throughout the ages. Painters of the Italian Renaissance depicted golden haired angels plucking its delicate strings; in the 16th century it became a pastime for educated courtiers as seen in paintings by Holbein and Titian. Throughout the 17th century the lute continued to emphasize the intimate and debauched and transient pleasures of interior scenes by Jan Steen and portraits by Frans Hals. There will also be a live music performance by the lecturer.

Adam Busiakiewicz is an Art Historian, lecturer and lutenist. After compleing his Bachelors Degree in History at UCL in 2010 he held the position of Head Curator at Warwick Castle. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in Art History at Warwick University after winning a CADRE Postgraduate Scholarship in 2017.

REPORT OF LECTURE BY ANGELA DAVIES.

Young Man playing a lute by Caraveggio: What does this painting sound like?

What does this painting sound like and what would a painting sing? These were the weird and wonderful questions asked of the audience by Adam Busiakiewicz at the May Appleby Arts Society Meeting entitled The Queen of Instruments: The Lute within old Master Paintings.

Adam is an accomplished lute player in addition to his Fine Art qualifications. He first showed us a painting by sixteenth century Danis Master Reinhold Timm entitled "A party in the open" in which there was much frolicking by gentry and peasant alike and a musician at one side strumming his lute. As we gazed at this, Adam played three short, jaunty dances of the period and the painting came even more alive - how those party goers danced. We were beginning to understand at least what one painting sounds like.

The Lute arrived in Europe from the East in the 13th century, and with some modifications - more strings and frets - became the most used individual instrument from the 15th to the 17th centuries, except for the voice which was the King of Instruments, the Queen being the lute. Being able to play it and sing well was a big part of what it meant to be a true creative artist and gentleman. Leonardo da Vinci originally came to the court of Florence as a musician which shows how much more art and music were interwined in those days. Our own Tudor court was alive with its music and Henry the eighth had 27 lutes at his death. It also became an object of beauty in itself when constructed of ivory or gilded in brass and Albrecht Durer used the lute as illustration for teaching the art of perspective.

A painting by Caraveggio shows a young man playing the lute. Our lecturer was able to identify and play the chord of music from the book below the player. The sound coming from the painting is a lament of love and sadness. In a second Caraveggio canvas "Learning the Art of Love" Adam played the exact music shown there which was a Toccata No 6 by Kapsberger whilst we listened and gazed in admiration.

In the 16th Century it was fashionable for the Elizabethan young man to be described as melancholic, which meant serious and creative then. John Dowland wrote equally melancholic music for lute and voice. To the plangeant strains of his "Flow my tears" we heard how the painting of a lovely sad youth by miniaturist painter, Nicholas Hilliard sounded.

The lute fell out of favour as it was insufficiently loud for the more operatic voices of the eighteenth century and languished for two hundred years to be rediscovered at the start of the 20th century. In the 21st century members of The Appleby Arts Society now have some idea of what those Old Master Paintings sound like thanks to Adam Busiakiewicz.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on Wednesday the 10th April, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

The Riverbank adventures of Mole, Ratty, Badger and the incorrigble Mr Toad have now taken their place among the earliest memories of at least four generations of children.

The beauty of Kenneth Graeme's prose is widely acknowledged but the story is so full of wonderful imagery that it almost demands to be illustrated - despite this when first published in 1908 it was without pictures. The book has been in print ever since but what is less well known is that it has now been illustrated by more than 90 artists making it the most widely illustrated book in the English language.

The "Wind in the Willows" is notable for its mixture of adventure, camarderie, morality and mysticism. It is however a far more interesting book than its popular and often young audience might appreciate. It deserves recognition as a novel in which adult readers will find not just humour and entertainment but wisdom and meaning. Quite intruigingly academics continue to argue as to whether it is a book for children or for adults, a theme the lecture will expand upon.

This lecture is to be held at 11 am on Wednesday the 13th March 2019 at Appleby Market Hall. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

Walnut was much favoured by the Elizabethans and became extensively used for fashionable furniture well into the 18th century. Its use coincided with advances in furniture design and construction - largley thanks to the continused influx of continental craftsman, styles and improved construction techniques resulting in some of the most pleasing furniture ever produced as the lecture will show. Expensive veneering and lavish marquetry characterised the magnificient pieces of this age and the lecture will illustrate the techniques involved.

Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski is a freelance lecturer and researcher in English furniture history and an antique dealer. While studying for a degree, he worked part-time in an antiques shop, which he came to take over as the proprieter. Such was his interest in collecting that Janusz became known as the dealer who bought but never sold! His lectures seek to explain furniture in terms of skills and materials employed in its design and construction and also its socio-economic significance.

REPORT OF THE LECTURE - Angela Davies

According to Dr Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski speaking at The Arts Society Appleby in March on the subject of The Age of Walnut, there were two reasons for the great flowering and development of furniture in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The first was the Restoration which brought Charles the Second back to England from the Continent and with him the ideas and craftsmen that weren't English. The second event, surprisingly, was the Great Fire of London which removed everyone's furniture in one go causing great demand for something new to replace the fire damaged goods. What an opportunity for the joiners and craftsmen of the time!

The Walnut tree is not native to Britain, so its wood had to be imported in earlier times. It is prized for its hardness and lovely rich nutty brown decorative patina. The Elizabethans loved it for its rarity value as well. It was enormously expensive to cut due to its toughness therefore you used walnut to show how rich you were as well as for display. During the post restoration period it began to be used as a veneer which was cheaper and the terms burr, book matched and oyster cut walnut veneer entered the vocabulary as it was crafted onto table tops, sideboards and tallboys. As more exotic timbers arrived here inlay and marquetry techniques were developed, and there was a fashion for painting on wood called floral marquetry in the 1680's and from 1700 onwards walnut furniture with inlay coloured with vegetable dyes was popular.

Chairmaking became a specialised craft at this time. Chairs were no longer square mortice and tenon-jointed objects put together by a joiner, but lovely carved, curved and dovetailed-jointed works of art made by craftsmen. Dynamism, the art of putting movement into static objects became fashionable as techniques for bending and shaping wood grew. The craftsmen, many of them Huguenot refugees, made barley twist legs for thge first time, carved ornate backs with foliage and introduced rattan seats which were popular because they were more hygenic than flea ridden upholstery. We were shown very many beautiful pictures of these engaging developments throughout the talk.

The invention of the circular saw in 1780 made veneer cutting easier, though only the best operators could cut thin tangential one eighth slices, and today it is done with lasers. The best Lee Enfield rifles use walnut as its hardness reduces recoil, and synonymous with luxury, walnut veneer is used in the interior fascias of Jaguar cars. In 1999 Jaguar sponsored the planting of 2,000 English-grown walnut trees in the National Forest, to replace the Italian and American walnut trim in the cars of the future...but it will take another 20 years for the first walnut wood to be ready. Here's hoping the 21st century becomes the newest age of walnut.

This lecture is to be held on Wednesday the 13th February at 11 am at Appleby Market Hall. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

Following the changes that came about through the auspices of the "Peredvizhniki" or "Wanderers" movement, the focus of Russian painting changes from academic rigour to the many moods and characteristics of the Russian landscape itself. No longer would this merely provide a background to lofty themes, but would itself take centre stage, capable of telling its own story as powerful and as moving as any historical or mytholical drama. Artists such as Savrasov and Levitan, Shishkin and Kuindzhi to name but a few, found a haunting and elegiac beauty in this hitherto neglected but vast subject matter. From her majestic forests and moonlit marshlands, her snow bound villages, gigantic skies, endless horizons and unstoppable rivers, artists such as these from the latter half of the 19th century distilled the very essence of the Russian landscape and gave it a voice we only have just begun to appreciate.

Brian Healey has always loved art and painted but studied and taught foreign languages. Later in life he studied for a diploma in interior design and eventually in 2003 decided to focus on his first love of painting. Brian has had a number of solo and shared exhibitions and has exhibited widely from Devon to the Lake District.

Image is of painting by Savrasov - View of The Kremlin from Krymsky Bridge in inclement weather.

Lecture Report by Gillian Stoddart.

Brian Healey, lecturer for the February meeting of The Arts Society Appleby-in-Westmorland, said his love of Russia had sprung from his cruises to the Baltic Sea. He was clearly deeply interested in and knowledgeable about Russia and her art, and held the interest of his audience from start to finish.

Up until the early 19th century, Russian painting consisted almost entirely of academic styles and subject matter dominated by the West, Paris in particular. Czar Nicholas 1's promotion of 'national trends' began to change the focus towards more home grown themes, such as the status of the Russian peasant. By then the serfs had been libeated and by mid 19th century the class sysem and village structure, dominated by the landowner and the orthodox church, were under critical scutiny. Vasily Perov, whose 'Easter Procession in a Village' showing drunken clergy and peasants, was considered so shocking a view of modern Russia that he was nearly jailed for it. 'Peasant Holding a Bridle' shown above, was painted by Ivan Kramskoi in 1883. Kramskoi was one of many artists now painting smaller pictures that could easily be transported to Russians in the countryside, and showing real life figures - the peasant in the picture was Mina Moiseyev, who was often used by the artists. Kramskoi regarded the creation of collective images of the common people as one of the most important tasks of modern art.

In the latter half of the century the focus of Russian painting changed to the many moods and characteristics of the Russian landscape. Changes came about through the auspices of the 'Peredvizhniki' or 'Wanderers" movement. The Wanderers were a group of painters specializing in archetypal Russian views such as pine forests, wheat fields and water meadows. The dramatic landscape now took centre stage, telling its own story. Artists such as Savrasov and Levitan, Shiskin and Kuindzhi, showed their love of Mother Russia in their portrayal of its forests, snowbound villages, huge skies and endless horizons; Of all these artists Isaak Levitan is considered to be the one who most captured the character of Russian landscape.

Brian Healey revealed the fascinating insight into this moving story by showing us the paintings of more than a dozen superb artists, whose work is still relatively unknown in the West.

This lecture is to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the Wednesday 9th January. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to guests. Everyone welcome.

This really is a fascinating insight into the history of one of our greatest ever institutions - our great British public park. We have all enjoyed them at some time in our lives but what do we really know about them? Their origins? Did they really start in the Victorian period or do they go even  further back? This talk illustrates their origins, talks about the need for parks, the Victorian hey-day, what makes a great park, with examples of lodges, lakes, bandstands, fountains and floral displays, to their great decline in the sixties and seventies. However their subsequent revival has led to a major shift in interest in our parks and once again we are much in love with them. This is also a highly illustrative talk accompanied by slides with examples of parks from across the UK and their designs and architecture.

Paul Rabbitts has spoken to a wide range of community groups and organisations over the years. This has ranged from Womens Institutes, Church Groups, U3A, Museums. Paul Rabbitts is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society.

LECTURE REPORT - ANGELA DAVIES

Kings created our first parks as they loved hunting and wanted managed areas near their Royal Palaces. Thus Henry V111 was responsible for Kensington Gardens and St James, Regents and Hyde Parks and Charles 1 for Richmond Park, the largest of them all. The locals weren't always pleased about the King appropriating their patch as was shown by an 18th century painting of a group of them breaking into the grounds at Richmond.

So began the illustrated lecture 'A Concise History of our Great Public Parks" by Paul Rabbitts, Landscape Architect, Gardens Manager and expert on Bandstands at The Arts Society Appleby-in-Westmorland's meeting. He told us it was the Prince Regent who began to beautify the Parks when he employed John Nash to create classical buildings and terraces in Regents Park and being a plantsman, Nash added flowers. In addition. Rotten Row, the King's Walk from Kensington Palace to Hyde Park became the place for bawdy enterntainments.

However, until Victorian times Parks were largely private playgrounds, but with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the migration of people to the cities, MP's began to agitate for the opening of Parks to the Public in order to diminish the death rate. "The Public Houses are open but the Parks are shut" complained one MP, and another approved their opening "provided they (the public) wore a decent coat" and so in 1841 Regents Park became the first one to open its doors to everyone and others followed.

The Public Health Act 0f 1875, paved the way for the creation of even more parks everywhere as places with trees and grass, boating lakes, sandpits, skating ponds and lovers lanes for recreation and bandstands for entertainment. Bitts Park in Carlisle and Kelvingrove in Glasgow were amont the many created for the public good by benefactors, philantropists and City Councils alike, and they were popular. A park in Blackburn attracted an audience of 50,000 to listen to a brass band concert in 1881. Birkenhead Park was copied by an American architect in 1857 and became Central Park in New York.

The lecture to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 12th December, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

Early Christians celebrated Christmas at the same time as the ancient Romans were feasting and partying for that pagan Saturnalia festival. Many of the Pagan habits were therefore absorbed into our Christian traditions, present giving, holly and even party-hats! All have their origins in this 2,000 year old party.

This talk will revel in artwork that is ancient and modern as we unwrap the images and stories behind our festive season.

Gillian Hovell is an Award winning writer, Lover of Latin, Classical historian, Prehistorian and Muddy Archaeologist!

The lecture to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 14th November, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

In recent years the concept of 'plant blindness' has been coined to identify our tendency to overlook plants. Yet plants are the dominant aspect of the natural world around us, few of us notice London plane trees on our way to work. Conversley, we often talk of our own cultural identities in terms of language framed referring to plants - thus the English Oak is a symbol of national endurance and steadfastness. Or we use motifs based on plants such as Acanthus to decorate our public spaces. The plants we place around us denote our emotional state of being, ie white lilies for mourning or laurel for celebrations of victory.

The lecture to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 10th October, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

Legendry American artist Georgia O'Keefe (1887) lived in and painted the New Mexico desert over five decades, calling it "my backyard". In September 2017 I travelled in her footsteps to find the iconic landscape motifs O'Keefe made her own.

The art historian in me wanted to deepen my understanding of her work. The artist in me needed to challenge my own landscape painting practice.

This lecture is an account of acclaimed artist Lydia Baumann's journey, adventures, insights and artistic challenges in her journey through Georgia O'Keefe's footsteps.

Lydia Bauman our lecturer will be bringing some prints of her "Georgia work" with her and has agreed to offer them for sale at the lecture. She has been selling these prints for £50. but is offering our members/visitors a special price of £35.00. The money raised is going towards financing a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in February.

The lecture is held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 12th September, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

This lecture looks at some buildings short-listed for the annual RIBA Stirling Prize by addressing such terms as: Neo-Modernism, Deconstruction and Biomorphic architecture. At the other end of the scale, the lecture looks at little known classical country houses designed by Quenton Terry and other leaders in Classical Design.

Anthea Streeter studied the Fine and Decorative Arts in London and continued her studies at Havard University where she became interested in 20th century architecture. Since returning from America, she has taught on courses in Oxford and London as well as private groups. She has a special interest in architecture and design of the 20th century.

The lecture to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 9th May, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

The modern study of Japanese aesthetics only started a little over 200 years ago in the West. The Japanese aesthetic is a set of ancient ideals that include wabi, (transient and stark beauty), sabi, (the beauty of natural patina and aging) and yugen, (profound grace and subtlety). These ideals and others underpin much of Japanese culture and aesthetic norms on what is considered tasteful or beautiful. Thus whilst seen as philosophy in Western Societies, the concepts of aesthetics in Japan is seen as an integral part of daily life. (Wikipedia)

Dr Meri is a senior teaching fellow in the Department of Art and Archaeology at SOAS and principal tutor for the Japan and Korean module of the Diploma in Asian Art Courses.

The lecture to be held at Appleby Market Hall at 11 am on the 11th April, 2018. Members are free, there is a small charge of £8.00 to none members. Everyone welcome.

Matthew Parker was a trusted , rather dull and earnest and utterly reliable member of the Clergy who was appointed by Henry V111 to be Master of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. Here he developed his great passion for printed books, many of which he collected and donated to the library. From Cambridge, Parker was appointed to be chaplain to Anne Boleyn. Even at this time he had leanings towards the views of Martin Luther which were encouraged by the new Queen. These views were not much favoured by Henry's successor, Queen Mary, he was demoted and fled the country. However, when Elizabeth became Queen she appointed Parker to be Archbishop of Cantebury!

Come and listen to this fascinating and hilarious talk which encompasses both elephants and Archbishops and gives a thought provoking look at the history of the Church of England at the time of the reformation.

Dr Christopher de Hamel is one of the World's leading experts on medieval manuscripts. Between 1975 - 2000 he worked at Sothebys in its Western Manuscripts Department. Dr de Hamel has a number of published historical works, including "The Rothschilds and their collection of Illuminated Manuscripts".

Many artists have discovered that humour is the key to winning the hearts of the English! Caricature, satire and the cartoon have given pleasure, satisfaction, amusement and relief, whilst drawing down censure and puncturing pomposity across class divides since the 18th century. From the witty and genteel to the viscous and scurrilous, these pithy encapsulations of the recognisable, continue to have relevance today. They are miniature masterpieces, ephemeral yet enduring through time. This lecture will trace the history of cartoonery in British public life as a means of observing and commenting upon society and the politics of the day.

Tim Stimson has delivered lectures for the University of Cambridge, The Arts Society and many other organisations.

Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) is generally regarded as the greatest British Female artist of the 20th century. Evelyn Dunbar (1906-1960) is far less known but has become more popular following an exhibition at Pallant House Gallery in 2015/2016. Laura Knight's subjects were wide ranging, ballet to circus, portraits of gypsies and the aristocracy, as well as the Nuremburg trials. Evelyn Dunbar, was the only official female War Artist, specialising in views of the Womens Land Army. Who was the greater artist?

What was once a refugee camp on the coast of the Adriatic became a trade centre and then a wealthy republic with its own empire. A link between East and West, it produced some of the finest art, architecture and music in the World. Founded in the 6th century Venice was never part of the Roman Empire but initially came under control of Byzantium until it gained indepenence in the 8th century and was ruled by a succession of Doges.

The lecturer Hugh Ellwood, has devoted his life to architecture and the arts. He studied philosophy in Rome followed be a degree in architecture at the university of Manchester. For some years he was an external examiner in architecture at the University of Manchester and has lectured to various societies and organisations on art and architecture.

Before the introduction of printing to Western Europe during the mid 15th century all books were written by hand. The most luxurious manuscripts were illuminated, lit up by decorations and pictures and brightly coloured pigments and gold leaf. Masterpieces such as the Lindisfarne Gospels are famous but for every one of these "stars" there are thousands of less elaborate manuscripts. Each tell us something of the faith, politics and economics that underpinned daily life from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Reformation.

Mrs Ford-Wille is an independent art historian. She has led study tours in Europe and lectured in European Art, architecture and sculpture for more than 30 years primarily for the University of London but also the National Gallery and the V & A.

Gustave Caillebotte (1849-94) is one of the least know but one of the most important members of the rebellious Impressionists, his continued support ensured their survival as a group. Through his own paintings, he created a distinctive and enlightening vision of contemporary Paris, but was a passionate gardener, a philatelist, keen designer and sailor of yachts.

The wealth and ambition of the Viking Age is visible to the powerful sculptures and intricate designs of gold and silver artefacts. However, on decline of the Viking Age, Norway sank into a centuries long darkness, ruled by Denmark. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to Sweden, which marks the point when Norway began its long road to nationhood again through art, literature, music, science and polar exploration. Led by Johann Christian Dahl, Norwegian artists studied abroad, returning to their homeland to portray the landscape and people. The second part of the 1880's saw the emergence of a distinctive style, artists such as Adelsteen Normann, Gunnar Berg and Otto Sinding built on Dahl's work, celebrating the scenery and exploring to great effect the clarity and magical quality of the ever changing light.

Dr Fenella Bazin graduated from London Univerity in 1966 and worked in continuing education with Birmingham and Liverpool Universities. She has trained "blue badge" guides and has worked extensively with archaelogists, historians and musicians.

The Public Catalogue Foundation was set up in 2003 to catalogue every oil painting in public ownership in the UK. This ambitious project involved visiting 3000 collections across the country and photographing over 212,000 paintings. These paintings are reproduced in an acclaimed series of 85 hardback catalogues entitled "Our Paintings in Public Ownership". In 2010 the PCF joined the BBC to create the "Your Paintings" website (www.bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings) on which oil paintings in our National collection are now available to view online. This lecture offers an insiders view of the project and describes some unusual collections visited, intriguing paintings uncovered and detective work involved.

Mrs Rivett-Carnac gained a 1st class honours degree in History of Art and English Literature and an MA in Victorian studies from the Royal Holloway University. She is a volunteer guide at Dorich House Museum, the studio/home of Russian sculptor Dora Gerdine and a Turner's house in Twickenham. Since 2007 she has worked for the Public Catalogue Foundation.

The great landscape painter, Thomas Moran deserves to be as well known here as he is in America. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire, emigrated with his family to Philadelphia but returned to study Turner's paintings. Explorer as well as artist, he was a member of the first expedition to the Yellowstone and accompanied John Wesley Powell to the Grand Canyon. His great paintings of these extraordinary places were purchased by Congress and for the first time showed the grandeur and the colour of the West, helping Americans to understand and appreciate their heritage.

Roger Mitchell studied history at Oxford and Fine Arts at Leeds. He was awarded a Churchill scholarship to travel and study in the USA. Roger is a former college vice principal and now lectures at the University of Liverpool and adult residential colleges.

Kevin Karney studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge Uiversity. He has beena VSO teacher in Borneo and worked across the world as a petroleum engineer. He is presently 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.

The lecture is split into four time periods:

a) Ancient to medievil times: this was the period of unequal hours (12 hours between sunrise and sunset).

b) The Islamic Flowerting and the Renaissance: This was the period of equal or scientific hours.

c) Enlightenment to the Industrial Revolution: The need for precise timekeeping by navigators introduced the age of "mean hours".

d) Modern times: The age of atomic hours, when mechanical clocks and sundials had become things of interest rather than serious timekeepers.

Due to its historical and geographical diversity Spanish Architecture has drawn from a host of influences. Mark will be discussing Roman, Medieval and Resnaissance Spain. Roman architecture began when the Romans conquered the Spanish Penninsular and with them brought their fantastic expertise in civil engineering.  They built a network of roads that linked many of the major Spanish cities and built many bridges and aqueducts. The Spanish Gothic Architecture is the style of architecture prevalent in the late medieval period that started as a result of Central European influences in the 12th century. The rennaisance period was heavily influenced by South Italian architecture, sometimes from illuminated books and paintings mixed with gothic tradition and local idiosyncrasy.

Although excellent as a "stand alone" lecture this  is not to be missed if you are visiting Madrid, Toledo and Segovia with our Society in September.

Mark Corby is a member of the Institute of Classical Studies & The Royal Archaeological Institute. He has been a freelance historian for the last five years. He is also a researcher and presenter of TV historical documentaries

With the advent of the Arts and Craft Movement bookbindings became works of art in themselves. Dominic is one of a small number of bookbinders working today who create design bindings for collectors. This lecture shows a range of these contemporary bindings, explaining how each design grew from a response to the text and illustrations of the printed book.  Dominic studied at the London College of Printing and has worked in London, New York and San Franscisco. Dominic's design bindings are in collections worldwide.

Dominic Riley is an internationally renowned bookbinder, artist and teacher. He specializes in the restoration of antiquarian books and the creation of contemporary fine bindings.  He teaches bookbinding both in the UK and USA and his prize winning bindings are in collections world wide including the British Library and the Ryland Library in Manchester.

The monastery at Jarrow, where Bede was a monk had stained glass - the earliest known in Britain. Tracing the development of the art from the 7th to the 21st centuries, 'Painting with Light' offers and introduction to the techniques of making stained glass and goes on to look at styles and subjects.

Technical improvements, like the introduction of yellow stain and of flashed glass. led to new ways of designing windows in the Middle Ages, but also led, by the 17th century, to the decline of true stained flass when enamel colours could be painted on clear glass.

After earlier attempts at a revival in the 18th century, notably be William Peckitt of York, the 19th century saw a real renewal of the art, and the talk introduces some of the main manufacturers and designers of glass in that era, including Clayton and Bell, Charles Eamer Kempe and Morris and Co.

In the 20th century artists like Douglas Strachan, Harry Clarke, Evie Hone and John Piper produced high quality, imaginative stained glass. This talks looks at their work and that of some of their latest successors.

About the Lecturer: David Winpenny lives in the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire and works as a freelance lecturer, writer and public relationship consultant. He is the author of newspaper and magazine articles, guide books and books on walks. He lectures on many subjects including architecture, stained glass, follies and landscape gardening.

A formidable French woman, the illegitemate daughter of a financier exiled for fraud, the mistress of King Louis XV for 21 years which gave her huge political influence. Madame de Pompadour spent fortunes on the decorative arts and was responsible for the development of the porcelain manufactory in Sevres which became one of the most famous in Europe.

About the lecturer: Nicholas Merchant's career has mirroed his abiding interest in antiques. He has worked for some of the major auction houses in London and in the provinces as well as running his own succesful reference book business devoted to the decorative and fine arts with which he exhibited in Europe and America.

What does jewellery mean to different societies? This lecture covers a number of concepts about jewellery: as body decoration; protection against evil spirits; statements of wealth, occupation, religion, ethnicity or sentiment; and as an art form. The collections of the British Museum will be used to show how jewelllery has been worn and used from ancient burial ornaments to the big names of the modern world.

About the lecturer: Judy Rodoe FSA is a curator and author. She works at the British Museum having joined them in 1974 specializing in jewellery, In 1984 she took over the newly created modern collection to extend the existing holdings of metalwork, ceramics and glass into the 20th century. In2005 she assumed reponsibility for the European collections from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

The great period of landscape painting coincided with the flowering of romantic literature. This fascinating talk explores some of the common themes in Turners painting of light and the sublime with the odes of Keats and Shelley whilst Constable's determination to paint the working landscape reflects concerns akin to Wordsworhty and Colerige's desire to write in language really used by the common man.

About the Lecturer

Ms Stopford is a guide and lecturer at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Sarah studied history as part of her first degree at Havard. After a further degree in English at Cambridge and a career as a teacher of English literature in both the United States and England she has returned to the world of art-history where her special interests are in Britain and post 1900 art as well as connections between literature and the visual arts.

This lecture is by Dr Helen Clifford and is all about a discovery she made with one of our members following one of her lectures to our society.. We had heard that there were some articles of antiquity in the attic of the Moot Hall but nobody knew quite what they were or any of their history or value.  Knowing that Dr Clifford was an expert in silverware we mentioned these articles to Dr Clifford who became very excited and she gained permission  to visit and explore the attic. With anticipation and excitement Dr Clifford and two of our members spent the day amongst the cobwebs discovering many historical artefacts including portraits, maps, doscuments, boxes of photographs and a complete military uniform. Dr Clifford has obtained permission to bring some of these pieces to the Market Hall so we will all have chance to not only hear about their history but also view them. A lecture not to be missed!

Eric Ravillious was an English painter, designer, book illustrator and wood engraver and is particularly known for his water colours of the South Downs.  Ravillious served as a War artist and died when the aircraft he was in was lost off Iceland.

About the Lecturer

James Russell writes and lectures about art illustration and design, often the 20th century. He also curates exhibtions and has exhibited watercolours by Eric Ravillious at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He has also written books on Paul Nash, Edward Seago and Peggy Angus.

The city of Dresden celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2006. Renowned as the "Florence of the North", its eighteeenth century buildings have been faithfully restored. The famous Green Vaults display an array of dazzling artefacts. The Old and New Masters Picture-Galleries are among the finest in Europe. Superb oriental and Meissen procelain are on view in the historic Zinger Palace, a jewel of Rococo architecture. Not far from Dresden, we shall also look at the charming town of Meissen and its famous factory as well as the Saxon rulers hunting lodge at Moritzburg and the Decorative Arts Museum at Pillnitz on the Elbe.

About the Lecturer

Eveline Eaton is an experienced lecturer and art-historian. Eveline grew up in Berlin but studied art-history in London. Eveline is the Chairman of the "Dresden Trust" an organisation helping with the re-building of Dresden.

In an influential essay "The Painer of Modern Life" (1863) the poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire described his ideal artist going out into the city to seek out new subjects for art: a 'flaneur' or 'passionate spectator' rejoicing in the experience of the crowd. Taking Baudelaire's essay as a starting point this lecture explores celebrated paintings of Parisian life by artists including Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Mary Cassat.

About the Lecturer

Dr Lois Oliver is an art historian with extensive experience as a lecturer, curator and exhibition organiser. She studied English literature at Cambridge University and the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute. Dr Oliver has spent a decade working in museums initially at the Havard University Art Museum before joining the curatorial team at the V & A and then the National Gallery. She is currently Associate Professor in the History of Art at the University of Notre Dame (USA) in London. Dr Oliver has also appeared on a number of TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 5.
 

This lecture (with particular reference to Harewood House) will use specific case examples and will discuss how interiors have altered in line with changing tastes.

Melissa Gallimore has worked with country house collections for over 10 years and has worked as Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at Harewood House.

Discover how Leonardo Da Vinci transformed this ordinary housewife and mother of two into an icon of mystery.