Programme 2026
On this side you can see our lectures and events of the 2026 season.
To get more information about each lecture or event (and to register for a lecture or an event), please click on the picture of the lecture or event or click on the button „More Information„.
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The life and work of May Morris, “a remarkable woman“ [Zoom only !!]
Towards the end of her life May Morris (1862-1938) - designer, craftsperson, and younger daughter of William Morris – wrote, ‘I’m a remarkable woman, always was, though none of you seem to think so’. Overshadowed in her lifetime by the achievements of her illustrious father, thankfully today May Morris is recognised as a leading figure in the Arts & Crafts Movement. Excelling in the field of embroidery, she was Head of Embroidery at Morris & Co. by the time she was twenty-three.
19th Century Travellers in Scotland
This lecture focuses on the travels of artists, musicians and writers in Scotland during the period when the romance of the Highlands, fostered by the tales of Ossian, made Scotland a destination for those such as Turner, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Dorothy and William Wordsworth and Coleridge. The talk is illustrated by the music of Chopin and Mendelssohn. The routes of the travellers and the highlights (including Fingal’s Cave, the Falls of Clyde, the Trossachs, etc.) are shown by means of slides of paintings and drawings (including Mendelssohn’...
The Glories of Ancient Rome
Rome, as we all know, was not built in a day. It took centuries to construct the eternal city, and Rome’s glorious monuments and those who created them are the focus of this talk. It is sometimes hard to see beyond the ruins of today, so using masterpieces of Roman art and reconstructions and with the Emperors as our guides, we’ll go on a journey through Rome in its golden prime: from the splendid civic hubs of the great Imperial Forums to the beautiful, soaring temples of the gods, the dazzling gleam of marble and mosaic in the great publi...
London, New York, St Ives: The Avant Garde in Cornwall 1939 to 1964
The arrival of Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo in St Ives at the beginning of the Second World War marked a significant moment, both for them and for the artists already living and working in the small Cornish town. These three artists were key players in British modernism and soon challenged the status quo of the existing artists’ colony, established at the end of the 19th century. They inspired and, in Hepworth’s case employed, a younger generation of artists before they too were challenged by new ideas. This lecture will ch...
Alfred Hitchcock’s London: Shaping a City for Suspense
In this lecture we will learn how the great film director Alfred Hitchcock used London, and how it influenced his life and his art. Still both instantly recognisable and widely acclaimed over 40 years after his death, Hitchcock’s greatest and bestremembered movies are usually selected from his Hollywood days. However, he spent almost exactly half his life in London and Essex, and the influences of these formative years on his later work were enormous. From his inventive use of London locations in the 1920s and ‘30s in classics such as The L...
Oh No, Dear, That’s Not Funny: Cartoonists on Cartooning [Members only! No Zoom!]
Join award winning cartoonist Harry Venning as he escorts 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 covered include rejection, procrastination, deadlines, artificial intelligence, professional envy, censorship, and the cartoon community's response to the Charlie Hebdo murders of 2015. Harry will also be drawing live on an A1 flip chart, the images ...
The Car in Art and the Car as Art
Speed! Technology! Destruction! The battle cry of the Futurists WWI heralded the appearance of the car as a powerful symbol in avant-garde art. Soon the Art Deco masterpieces of the great car builders came to epitomise style, luxury and craftmanship, works of art in their own right. The romance of speed continued to be a major theme in how cars were depicted in art, but, since the 1950s the car has become art, used as a canvas for artists as celebrated as Peter Blake, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. This lecture will showcase the beautiful and th...
Bottoms Up! A History of Wine, Its Rituals and Its Vessels
This light-hearted talk examines the history of wine, an elixir that has sustained much of humanity for almost 10,000 years. Essentially little more than fermented grape juice, this extraordinary and contradictory liquid has caused wars and riots, has helped broker peace and more commonly, served as an aphrodisiac. It has been personified in the form of Gods and been the principal catalyst in civilised entertaining and dining rituals. Wine is based on ethanol, a potent alcoholic poison and depressant. Yet, when consumed in moderation, its effec...
Blenheim Palace – Christmas Past and Present
Antonia joined Blenheim Palace in 2008 as a member of the Education Team, later becoming the Palace’s Social Historian and Digital Content Creator. Both roles have involved her curating or co-curating a number of Palace exhibitions including A Passion for Fashion – 300 Years of Blenheim Style upon which her recent book is based. An experienced public speaker, both virtually and in person, Antonia has delivered a ‘Conversation’ at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, been ‘In Conversation’ with fashion editor Caroline Issa, designers Stephen ...