Lectures

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Friday 24 February 2023 – Vienna- the Melting Pot of European Culture

Lecturer: Peter Medhurst

Despite the enormous political challenges that Vienna faced between 1780 and 1830 – including major wars against Napoleon, – the city thrived, culturally. In fact, it could be argued that Vienna never had a finer moment in terms of its artistic achievements. It was a period of outstanding writers, poets, architects and painters, but above all, it was a period of great composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert who made Vienna the musical capital of the world. The lecture explores the history and the arts of Vienna in the late Classical and early Romantic eras.

Friday 24 March 2023 – Happy and Glorious – the evolution of the coronation ceremony

Lecturer: Barbara Askew

“Happy and Glorious” – A Celebration of the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6^th 2023
The crowning of the sovereign is an ancient ceremony rich in religious significance, historical associations and pageantry.
This lecture looks at the evolution of the coronation ceremony from Saxon times to the present day, gives an account of fascinating incidents, ill omens and memorable mishaps that have occurred at coronations throughout the centuries and ends with a description of how the coronation of King Charles III might differ from that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Friday 28 April 2023 – The Antiques Roadshow – Behind the Scenes and Great Discoveries

Lecturer: Marc Allum

A first hand insight behind the nation’s most popular antiques programme by Marc Allum – specialist on the show for over 20 years.

Friday 26 May 2023 – Percussion: Use and Abuse

Lecturer: Nigel Bates

From calling ancient armies to battle to signalling the audience to stand for the National Anthem, drums and percussion have been a part of history well over and above their musical contributions. Often the icing on the cake and alas sometimes the bottom of the dustbin, we explore how the design, sound and awareness of percussion instruments and the demands of modern composers have developed almost out of all recognition in the last hundred years. In addition to performance video clips, this lecture contains rare footage from the orchestra pit at the Royal Opera House.

Friday 23 June 2023 – Every Picture tells a Story

Lecturer: Grant Ford

Grant will discuss some of the great pictures he has handled during his extensive career in the art world, from incredible masterpieces by the Pre-Raphaelites to Lord Leighton and Modern British works. Why did certain works fall out of fashion at a certain point in time, only to spring back and set new world records many decades later? He will explain changes in the market place and his experiences with sellers and buyers. This talk will be focused on the international art market, but will specifically look at some of the great British artists and their work within the global art market arena.

Friday 28 July 2023 – Splendours and Secrets of the Royal Collection

Lecturer: Jacky Klein

The UK’s Royal Collection contains over a million objects – paintings and works on paper, tapestries, furniture and jewels, photographs and decorative arts, carriages, weapons and armour, clocks and musical instruments, manuscripts and books. This talk reveals the dramatic histories, plots and intrigue of some of the most unexpected and spectacular objects that make up one of the world’s most important art collections. We’ll delve into the back stories of a tiara smuggled across revolutionary Europe, an Italian masterpiece accidentally rediscovered, the world’s most extravagant doll’s house, Fabergé eggs made for the Russian Imperial family, porcelain pheasants from China that once decorated Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, a royal coach containing precious fragments of the Mary Rose and Canterbury Cathedral, and a grasshopper wine cooler at the very cutting edge of modern design art.