Before the Normans invaded in the 11th century, Sicily had been colonised by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Visigoths and Islamic tribes from North Africa. This lecture looks at the island’s historic role as the crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East – and how the different cultural strands were woven together by the Normans during their remarkably enlightened rule, which saw Palermo become one of the most important cities in Europe. 

Richard Whincop is a professional artist who graduated in English and Art History from York University in 1986. From 1988-1994 he lectured at the adult education departments of Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, and then went on to become a full-time figurative artist, executing large-scale public commissions, and exhibiting widely throughout the UK. He now lives and works in Chichester, West Sussex.

Venue: This Special Interest Day is being held in person in the Gurkha Museum, Winchester and is also available to watch online. 

To book please click HERE

Splendours of Ancient Mexico and Peru 
Chloe Sayer Monday 16th March 2026

Ancient burial grounds in Mexico and Peru have yielded up dazzling goldwork, fine ceramic vessels, and some of the richest textiles in the world. Before the Spanish Conquest of 1519, numerous civilisations rose and fell. The Olmecs, the Maya, the Mixtecs, the Zapotecs and the warlike Aztecs all forged their own unique and splendid art styles on Mexican soil. In Peru, the Incas developed one of the greatest planned societies that the world has known. Today the descendants of these once-great peoples carry on many ancient traditions. Chloë Sayer will display contemporary textiles and other items from her collection.

Book HERE

The Arts Society Hampshire and Isle of Wight Area 2026 Spring Series _ Following on from last year's spring theme, we are presenting another 3 study days with expert tutors on the theme Ancient Worlds; New Horizons
Live in-venue in Winchester, Hampshire, UK, also on Zoom and recorded for your viewing convenience.

Ancient Worlds; New Horizons

Mughals and Rajputs: Courts and Palaces of India
Sue Rollin Friday 13th February 2026

A look at the art, architecture and magnificent royal courts of the Mughal emperors of India, whose creative building culminated in that most sublime of monuments, the Taj Mahal, constructed by Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved queen. The Rajput rajas and maharajas, subject first to the Mughals and then the British, were well rewarded for their loyalty and service. They built majestic fort-palaces in their state capitals where they held glittering courts and sponsored artists and craftsmen who created distinctive styles of art. 

Sue Rollin works as a tour guide and lecturer on India, Central Asia, the Mediterranean and Middle East, and as a freelance interpreter for international organisations including the European Union and United Nations. Formerly staff interpreter at the European Commission in Brussels and tutor and lecturer in Assyriology and Ancient History at the Universities of London and Cambridge, she has worked as an archaeologist. Publications: Blue Guide: Jordan and Istanbul: A Traveller's Guide.

Book HERE

The Arts Society Hampshire and Isle of Wight Area   
Next Series of Study Days                    Art in Miniature

Each autumn, the Area team presents the Jean Bolton Memorial Study course, which runs over 5 consecutive weeks in-venue at the Gurkha Museum in Winchester and is also live-streamed via Zoom.  By kind permission of our tutors a recording of each event will be available for 7 days following each event.  This year's theme is Art in Miniature

Art in miniature can be found throughout history and cultures from the
earliest of times. This series will explore the varied techniques, styles,
forms and qualities of “miniature” or very small forms of imagery.

Small is Beautiful: The Art of the Miniaturist in the Middle Ages Dr Sally Dormer                                    Thursday 30 October 2025

Precious, Portable, Private: Miniature Art in the Renaissance Dr Paula Nuttall                                       Friday 07 November 2025

https://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/Special/FutureSpecial.aspx

Art in Miniature in the 17th and 18th Centuries Clare Ford Wille                                                              Frida 14 November 2025

The Nightingale and the Pearl: The Russian Arts in Miniature Dr Rosamund Bartlett                      Friday 21 November 2025

Worlds in Miniature – the Microcosm in 19th-Century Art Dr Kathy McLaughlan                                   Friday 28 November 2025

Venue: The Gurkha Museum, Peninsula Barracks, Romsey Rd, Winchester   and online via Zoom    10.30am - 3.30pm plus recordings  Art in Miniature
Five superb days with Arts Society
accredited lecturers.
30 Oct - Dr Sally Dormer
7 Nov - Dr Paula Nuttall
14 Nov - Clare Ford-Wille
21 Nov - Dr Rosamund Bartlett
28 Nov - Dr Kathy McLauchlan

Tickets
£35 live in-venue      (includes coffee & lunch)
£15 per household online     Buy at Ticket Tailor
https://buytickets.at/theartssocietyhampshireandisleofwightarea
More information is on their website
https://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/Special/FutureSpecial.aspx

Hampsire Area Study Days

    Ancient Worlds; New Horizons   Price: £35 per day in venue, to include coffee/tea, light lunch with wine or soft drinks; £13 per session for online attendees.       

Monday 17 February 2025

Japanese Art and the West: from Namban to Japonaiserie with Marie Conte-Helm

Monday 24 March 2025

The Art of Ancient Egypt with Lucia Gahlin

Monday 28 April 2025

British Landscape Views of India with Prasannajit de Silva

See Details and how to book HERE

The Jean Bolton Memeorial Study Course

1 ) Precious Treasures: sacred and secular textiles of the Middle Ages.

More details and how to book are HERE

2) 8th  Nov - Dr Paula Nuttall - Woven, Stitched, Worn: luxury textiles in the Reniassance.

3) 15th Nov - Clare Ford-Wille - From Tapestry and silk to stumpwork and embroidery: the wonders of textiles in 17th and 18th Century art.

4) 22nd Nov - Dr Kathy McLauchlan - Material Matters : the role of textiles in 19th and early 20th century art.

5) 28th Nov - Dr Rosamund Bartlett - From Folk embroidery and Imperial dress to avant-garde costume and Constructivist fashion: textiles in Ukraine and Russia.

At The Gurkha Museum Winchester

£35 per day including coffee, lunch with wine

or £13 on Zoom

more information is on the Hants Area website

https://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/Special/FutureSpecial.aspx

Hilary Guise - Thursday 18th April 2024

Venue - St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8RY and online via Zoom

Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

Flowers in the Art of the Great Masters

Flowers comfort with their inexhaustible variety and beauty. From ancient times, empresses and kings decorated their palaces with Secret Gardens painted on their walls. The Egyptians painted gardens ‘in the afterlife’ with lily ponds and fish. In the Middle-Ages the concept of the Secret Garden was transformed into a person, a much-revered woman. She, who is The Virgin, is the Mystic rose. The sacred geometry of the Gothic rose windows describes her character. The troubadours sang of courtly love in the Walled Garden around an over-flowing fountain.  In the golden age of the 17th century Italian fruit baskets take on an allegorical rôle in the hands of Caravaggio, while the Dutch masters immortalise many species of flowers, all buzzing with insects.  The Victorians adopted the language of flowers and Manet uses flowers to tell about the women of Paris. Van Gogh pours out his heart in his dying Sunflowers and is later treated with the poisonous foxglove. Monet’s purest joy was his garden at Giverny where he could drift away on the surface of his water lily pond.  The Secret Garden - from ancient Rome to the Medieval Walled garden The Language of flowers - from the 17th century ‘Vanitas’ to the Victorians. Flowers for Healing, Consolation and Cure – from Manet’s courtesans, & Monet’s water-lily garden to Irma Stern’s Cape flower sellers.

St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8RY                

And online via Zoom.  

Recordings will be available for 7 days after each event for online subscribers.

Attendees will be treated to 3 superb sessions each day delivered by our lecturers on the theme Nature in Art.  

Study Day Fees

The cost is £35 per day in person to include morning coffee and a light lunch.

A Zoom option is available at £13 per day. 

How to book

Bookings can be made via Ticket Taylor, our preferred method of booking.  The link is in large font below.  There is no additional charge to subscribers via Ticket Tailor which conveniently accepts credit and debit cards.

Click this link for bookings via Ticket Tailor

If you experience trouble booking via Ticket Taylor please click below for our old-fashioned booking form which contains details of how to book and pay by online bank transfer or cheque. It also contains the organiser’s contact details for queries.

Booking form in Word format

Booking form in PDF format

Steven Desmond - Thursday 21st March 2024

Venue - St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8RY and online via Zoom

Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

An Image of Liberty:  the Origins of the English Landscape Garden

When Joseph Addison observed that a spacious Horizon is an Image of Liberty, he was expressing the beginnings of a collective desire to break free from the corset of the French baroque garden with its emphasis on state and parade. Landowners became increasingly interested in the idea of the garden as a political emblem, and one in which they could function not only as gentlemen farmers but also as men of taste familiar with the scenes and texts of classical antiquity. Thus, the Georgian garden, at first sight a pleasant stroll through undulating greenery, is revealed as a hotbed of ideas: the paintings of Claude Lorrain, the journeys of mythical heroes and the theories of Hogarth and Burke are drawn together to present the British landowner as the modern Roman, conferring freedom under the law on his happy tenantry. All these ideas are explored through illustrations of period gardens and artefacts compared with their sources. 

St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8RY                

And online via Zoom.  

Recordings will be available for 7 days after each event for online subscribers.

Attendees will be treated to 3 superb sessions each day delivered by our lecturers on the theme Nature in Art.  

Study Day Fees

The cost is £35 per day in person to include morning coffee and a light lunch.

A Zoom option is available at £13 per day. 

How to book

Bookings can be made via Ticket Taylor, our preferred method of booking.  The link is in large font below.  There is no additional charge to subscribers via Ticket Tailor which conveniently accepts credit and debit cards.

Click this link for bookings via Ticket Tailor

If you experience trouble booking via Ticket Taylor please click below for our old-fashioned booking form which contains details of how to book and pay by online bank transfer or cheque. It also contains the organiser’s contact details for queries.

Booking form in Word format

Booking form in PDF format

The Spring Study Course 2024

Nature in Art

Bookings are now open

Nature has always played an important place in art and having been included in man's paintings whether as the main focus of a picture or to convey depth or perspective.   Depictions of nature can also be symbolic of the deeper meaning of a work of art.  Nature provides a central theme in the work of many artists.     

Detailed synopses of each day are further down the page.

Clare Ford-Wille  - Friday 9th February 2024

The History of Trees in Art from Giotto to Klimt

Steven Desmond - Thursday 21st March 2024

An Image of Liberty:  the Origins of the English Landscape Garden

Hilary Guise - Thursday 18th April 2024

Flowers in the Art of the Great Masters

Venue: 

St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8RY                

And online via Zoom.  

Recordings will be available for 7 days after each event for online subscribers.

Attendees will be treated to 3 superb sessions each day delivered by our lecturers on the theme Nature in Art.  

Study Day Fees

The cost is £35 per day in person to include morning coffee and a light lunch.

A Zoom option is available at £13 per day. 

How to book

Bookings can be made via Ticket Taylor, our preferred method of booking.  The link is in large font below.  There is no additional charge to subscribers via Ticket Tailor which conveniently accepts credit and debit cards.

Click this link for bookings via Ticket Tailor

If you experience trouble booking via Ticket Taylor please click below for our old-fashioned booking form which contains details of how to book and pay by online bank transfer or cheque. It also contains the organiser’s contact details for queries.

Booking form in Word format

Booking form in PDF format

Bookings for all 3 days are now open 

Clare Ford-Wille –Friday 9th February 2024

Venue - St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8RY and online via Zoom

Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

The History of Trees in Art from Giotto to Klimt

Lecture 1:  From Dead Trees to Living Trees in Medieval and Renaissance Art

Lecture 2:  The Tree Triumphant in 16th and 17th Century Painting 

Lecture 3:  The Diversity of the Tree in 18th and 19th Century Art

Steven Desmond - Thursday 21st March 2024

Venue - St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8RY and online via Zoom

Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

An Image of Liberty:  the Origins of the English Landscape Garden

When Joseph Addison observed that a spacious Horizon is an Image of Liberty, he was expressing the beginnings of a collective desire to break free from the corset of the French baroque garden with its emphasis on state and parade. Landowners became increasingly interested in the idea of the garden as a political emblem, and one in which they could function not only as gentlemen farmers but also as men of taste familiar with the scenes and texts of classical antiquity. Thus, the Georgian garden, at first sight a pleasant stroll through undulating greenery, is revealed as a hotbed of ideas: the paintings of Claude Lorrain, the journeys of mythical heroes and the theories of Hogarth and Burke are drawn together to present the British landowner as the modern Roman, conferring freedom under the law on his happy tenantry. All these ideas are explored through illustrations of period gardens and artefacts compared with their sources. 

Hilary Guise - Thursday 18th April 2024

Venue - St. Peter's Pastoral Centre, St. Peter's Church, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8RY and online via Zoom

Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

Flowers in the Art of the Great Masters

Flowers comfort with their inexhaustible variety and beauty. From ancient times, empresses and kings decorated their palaces with Secret Gardens painted on their walls. The Egyptians painted gardens ‘in the afterlife’ with lily ponds and fish. In the Middle-Ages the concept of the Secret Garden was transformed into a person, a much-revered woman. She, who is The Virgin, is the Mystic rose. The sacred geometry of the Gothic rose windows describes her character. The troubadours sang of courtly love in the Walled Garden around an over-flowing fountain.  In the golden age of the 17th century Italian fruit baskets take on an allegorical rôle in the hands of Caravaggio, while the Dutch masters immortalise many species of flowers, all buzzing with insects.  The Victorians adopted the language of flowers and Manet uses flowers to tell about the women of Paris. Van Gogh pours out his heart in his dying Sunflowers and is later treated with the poisonous foxglove. Monet’s purest joy was his garden at Giverny where he could drift away on the surface of his water lily pond.  The Secret Garden - from ancient Rome to the Medieval Walled garden The Language of flowers - from the 17th century ‘Vanitas’ to the Victorians. Flowers for Healing, Consolation and Cure – from Manet’s courtesans, & Monet’s water-lily garden to Irma Stern’s Cape flower sellers.

Click this link for bookings via Ticket Tailor

If you experience trouble booking via Ticket Taylor please click below for our old-fashioned booking form which contains details of how to book and pay by online bank transfer or cheque. It also contains the organiser’s contact details for queries.

Booking form in Word format

Booking form in PDF format

Email questions to Lucy Tew at tewlucymargaret@gmail.com

A Tour of St. Alban’s Cathedral
Friday January 12th 2024
10:30 – 12:00 approx.
£10 per household 1) Pay Tas Sarisbury Green by BACS
Bank acc.no 00060271 sort code : 40-52-40
or send cheque to B P Jones at 7 Cowdray Park, Hillhead,
Hants PO14 3SA
2)Register with Barb Bromley Jones:
vicechair.tassarisburygreen@gmail.com
A Virtual Tour of
St. Alban’s Cathedral with Liz Fotheringham
This tour is a one off.
Liz is doing it especially for us.
St. Alban’s Cathedral in Hertfordshire is the oldest site of continuous Christian
worship in Britain. It stands over the place where Alban, the first martyr, was
buried after giving his life for his faith over 1700 years ago. The story of St.
Alban’s Cathedral is one of change and continuity spanning centuries from a
small church to a great cathedral.
The Venerable Bede , an Anglo Saxon historian , said in 741
“ A beautiful church worthy of Alban’s martyrdom was built where sick folk
are healed and frequent miracles take place to this day. “

You are welcome to join a series of 5  lectures -  Hampsire and IOW Arts society Special Interest Days - held on Zoom - in November and December.

These are the Jean Bolton Memorial Lectures - Making the Invisible Visible

Dr Sally Dormer  - 2 Nov 2023

Venue - Online via Zoom                  Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

Making the Invisible Visible in the Middle Ages

Clare Ford-Wille – 17th Nov 2023

Venue - Online via Zoom      Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

Making the Invisible Visible in European Painting and Sculpture of the

Dr Rosamund Bartlett – 24th Nov 2023

Venue - Online via Zoom      Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

Making the Invisible Visible: Uncovering The Women Artists of European

Dr Kathy McLauchlan – 1st Dec 2023

Venue - Online via Zoom      Time - 10.30am - 3.30pm

An Age of Progress? Peasants, Workers and Slaves in 19th and early-20th century art.

 more information is at

https://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/Special/FutureSpecial.aspx

The Arts Society Sarisbury Green would like to welcome you to their upcoming SID on the morning of Friday 3 November, in Sarisbury Green.
 
We present two complementary lectures by the entertaining Colin Shindler. We are repeating the successful format of last year, with two lectures separated by a coffee break. Coffee and biscuits are included in the ticket price of £20 pp.

• 60 Years On - Life In Britain As Seen In 1960's Films
• Screening The Novel: Books Into Films

Colin Shindler is a BAFTA award winning writer, film, television and radio producer, and lecturer.

There are four elements to this lecture. The first is a look at the emergence of the 'North' in films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Room at the Top, A Taste of Honey, and This Sporting Life.

Then we will consider the concept of 'Swinging Britain' for example Julie Christie in Darling, Michael Caine in Alfie, the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night and the James Bond movies.

Next we will scrutinise films which examine the last days of Empire, as seen in Tony Richardson's Charge of the Light Brigade, Zulu and, comically, Carry On Up the Khyber.

Finally we shall study the drastic change in the depiction of sex from Dirk Bogarde in Victim (1961) to Alan Bates and Oliver Reed famously wrestling nude in Women in Love

Screening The Novel: Books into Films

How do you turn War and Peace into a 2 hour film?

Why do some novels make the transition so much better than others?

Is there any difference between one adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and any of the others?

From Dickens to Austen, 'classic' novels will constantly reappear as movies. We will unpick some of the ideas behind these questions and consider a case study, focusing on the successful Gone with the Wind compared to the disastrous Bonfire of the Vanities.

Programme Timings: - Friday 3th November 2023

9.50-10.00 Registration/welcome 

10.00 – 11.00:   Sixty Years On:  Life in Britain as seen in 1960s films.  

11.00 – 11.30: Drink and comfort break

11.30 – 1.00:  Screening the Novel:  Books

Cost:  £20 per person.  Friends and family are most welcome to join us

Payment by BACS; payable to Sarisbury Green Decorative and Fine Arts Society account number 00060271 Sort Code 40-52-40  Mention your name  and the event when accessing BACS.  (Cheques: see Treasurer) either pay at a meeting or post to Kay Kimmett, 230 Bridge Road, Southampton S031 7ED  (Indicate SID when paying.)  Tickets are non-refundable.

After booking please e-mail Kay at sids.tassarisburygreen@gmail.com to confirm you’ve paid and record your details.  In the unusual event of the lecturer cancelling, full refunds will be made.

CANCELLED - DUE TO POOR UPTAKE

ENTERTAINING ANGELS UNAWARES

1. ANGELS IN MUSIC AND ART

2. FAIRE IS THE HEAVEN

SPECIAL INTEREST DAY  with   Chloë Sayer

The Splendours of Mexico and Peru

Ancient burial grounds in Central and South America have yielded up dazzling goldwork, fine ceramic vessels, and some of the richest textiles in the world. Today -- nearly 500 years after the Spanish Conquest -- the descendants of ancient civilisations carry on many of the traditions of their ancestors.

1 The Incas of Peru: Predecessors and Descendants

 The Incas developed one of the greatest planned societies that the world has ever known. Their vast South American empire was achieved after AD 1200 through human mastery over almost incredible global extremes. Inca engineers and stonemasons created magnificent cities like Cuzco (their imperial capital) and Machu Picchu. The Incas inherited many of their cultural traits from their predecessors.

 The Moche and the Chimú were great gold-workers. The people of Paracas, on the southern coast of Peru, created magnificent textiles:  preserved by the desert for well over 2,000 years, these display a wealth of woven and embroidered designs. Today, at the start of the 21st century, textiles are still a vital part of life in many regions. The modern Quechua carry on the textile traditions of their ancestors, giving Peru the longest continuous textile record in the world.

 2 Mexico: Ancient Civilisations, Modern Cultures

 Few countries in the world offer such a rich and varied cultural heritage as Mexico. Before the Spanish Conquest of 1519, numerous civilisations rose and fell. The great cities of the Maya were peopled by muralists, sculptors in stone, ceramic artists, jewellers, weavers, and painters of sacred books. The Aztecs of central Mexico have been described as warlike and bloodthirsty, yet their creative achievements were breathtaking. Military might was accompanied by exceptional developments in art and architecture.

 Colonisation brought Christianity to Mexico: exquisite churches and vast cathedrals were built to celebrate the new faith. Despite the devastation that marked the Spanish Conquest, nearly sixty indigenous languages are still spoken in Mexico. Textile and ceramic traditions, mask-carving, dances, festivals and religious celebrations all have their roots in the distant past.

 Chloë Sayer

Chloe is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Has curated exhibitions, and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. Has made collections in Mexico and Belize for the British Museum, and is Research Associate in the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum.

In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Ohtli medal by the Mexican government for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture.

Her many publications include Mexican Textiles (British Museum Press, 1990), Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1990), Focus on Aztecs and Incas  (Watts Books, 1995), The Incas - The Ancient World (Wayland, 1998), Textiles from Mexico (British Museum Press, 2002), and Mexico: Clothing and Culture (Royal Ontario Museum, 2015). Has also published articles in travel guides, newspapers and magazines.

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-staff/chloe-sayer

SPECIAL INTEREST DAY  with   Chloë Sayer

POSTPONED

The Splendours of Mexico and Peru

Ancient burial grounds in Central and South America have yielded up dazzling goldwork, fine ceramic vessels, and some of the richest textiles in the world. Today -- nearly 500 years after the Spanish Conquest -- the descendants of ancient civilisations carry on many of the traditions of their ancestors.

1 The Incas of Peru: Predecessors and Descendants

 The Incas developed one of the greatest planned societies that the world has ever known. Their vast South American empire was achieved after AD 1200 through human mastery over almost incredible global extremes. Inca engineers and stonemasons created magnificent cities like Cuzco (their imperial capital) and Machu Picchu. The Incas inherited many of their cultural traits from their predecessors.

 The Moche and the Chimú were great gold-workers. The people of Paracas, on the southern coast of Peru, created magnificent textiles:  preserved by the desert for well over 2,000 years, these display a wealth of woven and embroidered designs. Today, at the start of the 21st century, textiles are still a vital part of life in many regions. The modern Quechua carry on the textile traditions of their ancestors, giving Peru the longest continuous textile record in the world.

 2 Mexico: Ancient Civilisations, Modern Cultures

 Few countries in the world offer such a rich and varied cultural heritage as Mexico. Before the Spanish Conquest of 1519, numerous civilisations rose and fell. The great cities of the Maya were peopled by muralists, sculptors in stone, ceramic artists, jewellers, weavers, and painters of sacred books. The Aztecs of central Mexico have been described as warlike and bloodthirsty, yet their creative achievements were breathtaking. Military might was accompanied by exceptional developments in art and architecture.

 Colonisation brought Christianity to Mexico: exquisite churches and vast cathedrals were built to celebrate the new faith. Despite the devastation that marked the Spanish Conquest, nearly sixty indigenous languages are still spoken in Mexico. Textile and ceramic traditions, mask-carving, dances, festivals and religious celebrations all have their roots in the distant past.

 Chloë Sayer

Chloe is a freelance specialist in the art and culture of Latin America. She has lectured in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Has curated exhibitions, and assisted on TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. Has made collections in Mexico and Belize for the British Museum, and is Research Associate in the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum.

In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Ohtli medal by the Mexican government for her long-standing commitment to Mexican culture.

Her many publications include Mexican Textiles (British Museum Press, 1990), Arts and Crafts of Mexico (Thames & Hudson, 1990), Focus on Aztecs and Incas  (Watts Books, 1995), The Incas - The Ancient World (Wayland, 1998), Textiles from Mexico (British Museum Press, 2002), and Mexico: Clothing and Culture (Royal Ontario Museum, 2015). Has also published articles in travel guides, newspapers and magazines.

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-staff/chloe-sayer

This colourful lecture is based on two decades’ personal experience of a unique art colony. Nowhere else in the USA have Native American, Spanish and Anglo cultures grown side by side as they have here, and this diversity, along with the glorious light of the high desert, has attracted artists since the early days of the railroad. The history of this still-thriving colony is rich, strange and full of remarkable characters, including British visitors like DH Lawrence and famous American artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe. Having spent five years selling art on the city’s Canyon Road – think Bond Street with cowboy hats – I can offer an intimate picture of Santa Fe: it’s inspiring, funny and occasionally scandalous. 

Having studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, James Russell enjoyed a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that inspired him to begin writing and lecturing on 20th century art. Of his dozen or so books, one was a Sunday Times book of the year, while his writing has been described by critics as 'insightful', 'informative' and 'enjoyably readable'. The curator of two major exhibitions at Dulwich Picture Gallery, James has lectured across Britain and beyond. He prefers to lecture without notes, drawing on wide-ranging original research, and on in-depth knowledge of the subjects that fascinate him. 

Image: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

This Special Interest Day celebrates the 200th Anniversary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who were first cousins and born just three months apart  in 1819.  Their shared enthusiasm for art and music endured throughout the twenty-two years of their marriage.  Theirs was a partnership of patronage by a monarch and her consort which is unique in the history of the British monarchy. After Prince Albert's untimely death in 1861, Victoria devoted herself to perpetuating Albert's memory  in  commissioning  and unveiling memorials  and monuments  throughout Britain.

Barbara Askew

Historian and London Blue Badge Guide since 1988. Lecturer, Examiner and Course Director on Blue Badge Guide Training Courses and an acknowledged expert on Royalty and Windsor Castle. A rota guide for the Albert Memorial and British Museum. Has conducted tours for American museums and alumni groups for the past 25 years. Offers guided visits and walking tours linked to her lectures.

ATTENDANCE:  Members of other Arts Societies, friends and other members of the public are welcome to attend these event days on contacting the Membership Secretary or using the contact us form.

Image:Wikiart Public domain

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at home at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England

Edwin Henry Landseer

FAKES AND FORGERIES IN SILVER

A Study Day presented by Ian Pickford

Ian Pickford was born and educated in London and is a Freeman of both the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the City of London. He is a very familiar face on Antiques Roadshow and is the Editor of Jackson’s Silver and Gold Marks.

There have in all areas of life always been those who have tried to cheat the system and silver is no exception. This illustrated talk will examine what the lawbreakers have been up to with forged marks, duty dodging and altered pieces. It will also look at how illegalities are detected and dealt with.

If members would like to bring a piece of silver or plate if time prevails Ian will then identify and discuss the pieces.

Booking in  February

CONTRASTS and COMPARISIONS

(Three Study Days with a linking theme)

Monday 25 February 2019 'Four Great 20th Century British Artists'
Lecturer: Linda Smith
Friday 15 March 2019 'The Sistine Chapel Before and After Michelangelo'
Lecturer: James Lindow
Monday 1 April 2019 'The Royal Opera House: An Inside View'
Lecturer: Nigel Bates

At the Walton Suite, Guildhall, High Street, Winchester SO23 9GH
Time 10:30am - 3:00pm (Coffee served from 10:00am)
Cost £38 (includes coffee, buffet lunch and a glass of wine)

•         Monday 25 February 

Four Great 20th Century British Artists –

 Augustus John, Gwen John, Paula Rego, Rachel Whiteread

                          with Linda Smith

His work has been called brash and shallow, and hers dismissed as fussy and spinsterish.  These assessments are not really fair to either artist, and this lecture takes a careful look at their lives, in parallel, up to the point of Gwen’s death in 1939.  At that time, she had no public reputation whatsoever, and her brother was enjoying enormous professional and critical success.    By the time he died, however, the positions had been reversed, and the talk will consider the reasons why.

Lecture 2 looks at the life and work of Paula Rego, who is a British artist of Portuguese origin best known for her depictions of folk tales and strikingly unusual images of women. 

Married to the British artist Victor Willing (1928-88), Paula Rego settled in this country permanently in the 1970s, but her career in Britain had effectively begun in the early 1960s, when she exhibited with artists like Frank Auerbach and David Hockney.  Over the following twenty years her career and reputation built steadily, and in 1990 she was invited to become the first Associate Artist at the National Gallery.  Her well-known series of paintings and prints based on nursery rhymes emerged from this residency, as did another series of large scale paintings which is currently displayed in the National Gallery restaurant.

In her early days Paula Rego experimented with many different styles, including abstraction, and was very much influenced by Surrealism, but her mature style places a strong emphasis on clear draughtsman ship and the human figure.  She produces works which suggest complicated narratives full of psychological tension, drama, and emotion.   Frequently she depicts women and girls in disturbing or ambiguous situations and poses, which has occasionally caused some controversy, but her insistence on the physicality of her female figures, and her refusal to idealise or revert to cliché, has earned her global recognition and many prestigious awards. She was made a DBE in 2010. 

Lecture 3 - Rachel Whiteread is a Turner Prize winner, and one of the most important and respected British artists working today >

In 2005 she provided one of the series of impressive site-specific sculptures for the enormous Tate Modern Turbine Hall.  Her preoccupation with the hidden spaces in between things has resulted in an extraordinary range of objects which form a series of eloquent tributes to the silent and overlooked.

This lecture gives an account of her career to date, showing examples of how she has used ordinary domestic objects to create enigmatic and evocative works of art.  The range in scale of her works is huge: from tiny objects derived from light switches or hot-water bottles, to multi-component installations, to an entire house.  In every case, the finished works reveal unexpected associations, and can be extremely moving.  It was this quality which won her the prestigious commission to design a Holocaust Memorial for the city of Vienna, one of her most demanding and difficult assignments to date, but also one of the most successful.

•         Friday 15 March      

  The Sistine Chapel Before and After Michelangelo

                             with  James Lindow

While the Sistine Chapel is synonymous with Michelangelo, what is not so familiar is the contribution made by other contemporary artists to its decoration. During the 1480s Pope Sixtus lV commissioned a team of Florentine artists to decorate the newly built chapel with scenes from the Lives of Christ and Moses. After Michelangelo had finished the ceiling for Pope Julius ll (1508-12) his successor Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael in 1515 to ‘complete’ the chapel by designing tapestry cartoons to hang beneath the earlier frescoes. This lecture examines these less familiar contributions, setting them within the context of their respective patrons’ tastes and the Chapel’s unique position as the centre of the Catholic Church.

•         Monday 1 April May   The Royal Opera House:

     An Inside View – with Nigel Bates

An expanded version of Tantrums & Tiaras, with in-depth looks at the history and architecture of the building in addition to discovering the way that daily performances and rehearsals of opera and ballet and much else besides all fit into this elegant Victorian theatre. – the flagship of the British arts world and the workplace of more than a thousand people.  Includes several performance video clips and additional focus on costume and set design, production values and how the digital age has been embraced by the opera and ballet worlds.

£38 per day includes coffee, finger buffet and a glass of wine

 Click here to download the booking form http://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/DocumentStore/Booking%20form%202019.pdf

Click here to download The Guidelines http://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/DocumentStore/Area%20Study%20Day%20Guidelines.pdf
Further information and booking form are available at www.theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org

or contact:  Marilyn Wright email marilyn.studydays@gmail.com/phone 01256 322661

Tuesday 6th November 2018

THE SHAKERS:

THEIR BELIEFS, ARCHITECTURE AND ARTEFACTS
A Study Day presented by John Ericson

Study Days commence at 10.15am and close at 3.30pm. Lunch, wine, soft drinks, tea and coffee are now included within the ticket price.

John was formerly a lecturer at the University of Bath. He has worked extensively overseas as an educational consultant and has given lectures all over the world.

John tells the extraordinary story of the Shakers of North America, exploring their beginnings, what they believed and how they lived their lives before examining examples of their wonderful buildings and furniture. For it is only with such an understanding of their devout faith and way of life that we can begin to appreciate their intriguing legacy.

Ticket Price   £35.00
including coffee, lunch & a glass of wine.

The day will consist of three lectures focusing on Venetian Art of the Renaissance. Following a short historical introduction to the city themes investigated will be the function of art as a means of reflecting Venice’s political harmony. We will look at the development of Venetian architecture with particular focus on palace and church building, exploring masterpieces by Mauro Codussi, Jacopo Sansovino and Andrea Palladio.

And finally in the third lecture Sian will concentrate on Tintoretto and the Scuola di San Rocco;

2018 marks the 500th anniversary of Tintoretto’s birth and this lecture will be the highlight of the study day.

The Venetian scuole were semi-religious confraternities or guilds bound together by profession, nationality or devotion and the Scuola dedicated to St Roch was one of the wealthiest and most prestigious, enabling its members to fund the construction and decoration of a splendid new headquarters.
The vast canvases which cover the walls and ceiling of this elegant Renaissance building represent one of the most ambitious artistic projects of the 16th century and one of the greatest achievements of their creator, Jacopo Tintoretto, a project encompassing around 60 paintings to which he dedicated well over 20 years of his life.  We examine how Tintoretto was able to secure this celebrated commission, and explore the genesis and development of the series. The lecture assesses how these moving and dramatic paintings reflect the teachings and activities of their patrons, and considers their impact and influence on subsequent generations of artists including Rubens, Velázquez and El Greco, who famously praised Tintoretto’s Crucifixion as being the greatest painting in the world.

Siân Walters is an art historian and a lecturer at the National Gallery. She also lectures for Surrey University, NADFAS and many other art societies in the UK and Europe, and leads art and architecture tours abroad for many companies and organisations including the Royal Academy, Kirker and NADFAS.  Siân runs her own company, “Art History in Focus” which organises regular lectures, study days and art holidays abroad and was named a Highly Commended finalist in the World’s Best Guide Awards in 2016.

Her specialist areas are 15th and 16th century Italian Art, Spanish Art and Architecture, and the relationship between Dance and Art (she is an honorary advisor to the Nonsuch Historical Dance Society). She has given many especially commissioned lectures on this topic for the National Gallery, including one in conjunction with the gallery’s recent “Leonardo: Painter at the Court of Milan” exhibitions.  Recently she was asked to represent the National Gallery at the international Hay Festival where she gave a number of presentations on the gallery’s recent Titian acquisitions. Siân studied at Cambridge University where she was awarded a choral exhibition and a 1st for her dissertation on the paintings of Arnold Schoenberg. She has lived in France and Italy where she worked for the eminent Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon and for the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice.

PRESTIGIOUS SCANDINAVIAN ART and DESIGN
(Three Study Days with a linking theme)

Venue: Guildhall Winchester, High Street, Winchester
Time: 10:30am - 3:00pm (Coffee served from 10:00am)
Cost: £37 (with coffee, buffet lunch and a glass of wine)
Contact details: email: marilyn.studydays@gmail.com   phone: 01256 322661
Booking Form: see websites
 
1. Date: Monday 26 February 2018
Title: The Splendours of Scandinavian Art
Lecturer: Ann Clements

First Morning Lecture: The Golden Age of Danish Painting
Second Morning Lecture: Nordic Pioneers
Afternoon Lecture: Carl and Karin Larsson and the IKEA   Effect

2. Date: Friday 9 March 2018
Title: Nordic Spirit: Grieg, Ibsen and Munch
Lecturer: Anne Anderson
 

First Morning Lecture: Nordic Spirit: Grieg- Mountains and Peasants
Second Morning Lecture: Nordic Drama: Ibsen in context
Afternoon Lecture: Nordic Angst: Munch-art for the 21st century?

3. Date:Monday 14 May 2018
Title: Scandinavian Glass of the 20th Century
Lecturer: Charles Hajdamac

Please see full details at the Hants website

http://hantsiownadfas.org.uk/Special/FutureSpecial.aspx

The booking form is also on our DOCUMENTS  page

Clive studied  History and Egyptology at Cambridge and then spent a season excavating at Saqquara, having been awarded an Egypt Exploration Society scholarship. He joined the staff at Charterhouse to teach History and remained at the school for thirty years, becoming a Housemaster, Deputy Head and Acting Head. Clive now lectures widely.

Clive will take us on a journey to the Valley of the Kings where we will learn about the discovery by Howard Carter of both the antechamber and the final resting place of King Tutankhamun. The tomb is considered the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

The lecture starts with an overview of the Valley of the Kings and the history of Egypt immediately before Tutankhamun. It then jumps forward in time to Howard Carter's search and discovery and it then describes the contents of the tomb and their significance.

In the 18th Dynasty, fourteen hundred years before Christ, Ancient Egypt reached an astonishing height of wealth and power. By an extraordinary chance, a treasure trove from this time survived untouched until 1922 when it was mercifully discovered by Howard Carter. The Tomb of Tutankhamun remains world famous, and this lecture looks at the circumstances of its discovery, surveys the contents in all their splendour, and seeks to examine their background.

• The first lecture will deal with the Valley of the Kings.
• The second will focus on the discovery of both the antechamber and the burial procedures.
• The final lecture will look at the contents of the tomb and the treasure contained therein.

The day will begin with coffee at 10.30am and close at 3.30pm. Please bring a packed lunch for yourself. Coffee, tea, wine and soft drinks will be provided within the ticket price.

Price £28 per ticket (non refundable)
 Tickets will be sold at September and October 2017 meetings

AMERICAN ART - From Dependence To Independence.

A Study Day Presented By Eveline Eaton.

This thoughtful lecture traces the development of painting and sculpture from long term reliance on European prototypes towards artistic originality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Eveline will take us from indigenous Hudson River Art and evocative Luminism , via the Ashcan School to Abstract Impressionism.

Examples will range from Copley and West via Church, Homer and Whistler: Singer-Sargent and Hopper to Pollock and Warhol.

Eveline Eaton grew up in in Berlin. Since 1973, she has lived, studied and worked in the UK. She has a degree in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, as well a Diploma from the Study Centre for the History of Fine and Decorative Arts. Since the 1980s, she has worked as a free-lance lecturer for Surrey University, the Art Fund and for NADFAS. She frequently guides art-trips to Berlin/Dresden, Munich and Bavaria, the Cote d'Azur, Normandy and New York. She is a member of Weybridge DFAS.

This story of design related to the Ocean Liner will be told through three distinct lectures.

• The first will deal with the origin and evolution of the Ocean Liner and will feature the remarkable vision of the ‘Brilliant Brunels’ that were engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc.
• The second will illustrate the ‘Floating Hotels’ by telling the story of the competitive race to build the fastest and most luxurious Liners.
• The final lecture will describe the ‘Lure of the Ocean’ with examples of the ingenious art of promoting Ocean Liner travel through the Art Deco

James Taylor MA FRSA
Lecturer, Curator, and Ships' Historian

James Taylor is a former curator at the National Maritime Museum. In this Special Interest Day he explains how the father of the Ocean Liner industry was Isambard Kingdom Brunel; he decided to extend the railway from London to Bristol to connect with an Ocean Liner sailing from Bristol to New York. This service commenced with The SS Great Western in 1838.

The talk will include many paintings and photographs featuring liners such as the Great Western, Great Britain, Lusitania, Mauritania, Titanic and the celebrated Cunard Liners.

The lecture contains some striking Art Deco posters, and many interesting facts about the Ocean Liners and their problems.

The cost for this Study Day is £25.00 per person.

This study day examines the way artists, with direct experience of war, attempted to depict the conflict in the face of strict official censorship and how each side responded to the aftermath of war.