Richard Rogers and Norman Foster are the most celebrated British architects of the last 100 years, building around the world in steel, glass and concrete. When Rogers was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture the citation observed that he was “the rightful heir to the traditions of Wren”. And the same could certainly be said of Foster.
The allusion to Wren is startling, but this lecture demonstrates that Wren might very well have recognised Foster and Rogers as kindred spirits.

Examining E H Shepard's artistic journey through the First World War from jocular cartoons in Punch as a civilian, to dark and impactful images of death and destruction on the western front, and how his own artistic style and approach changed and was influenced by the conflict. It shows a range of cartoons, drawings, watercolours, annotated maps and guides for the Intelligence Corps, as well as commercial work for the home market. We see a transition towards the simple economy of line and expression which is exemplified by the Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations started shortly after the end of the conflict. An individual and personal record of the 'war to end all wars'.

 In December 2024, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, often referred to as the Soul of the City, reopened to the public after a devastating fire had threatened to destroy it 5 years earlier.  A seemingly impossible target had been set by the French President to rebuild; yet huge sums of donated money and teams of expert restorers ensured the timescale was met. Such is the symbolic power of this cultural icon in the psyche of the French people and indeed people beyond.

In 402AD Ravenna became the capital of the Western Roman Empire and continued to prosper under Ostrogoth and then Byzantine rule.

This past eminence left Ravenna with a legacy of richly decorated early Christian buildings, which has earned it UNESCO World Heritage site status.

Around 1900 in Finland, some of its most famous painters and writers - and Sibelius - gathered on the shores of tiny Lake Tuusula and built their own country homes. It was an artists’ colony that changed Finland’s soul. Not only was this the golden age of Finnish painting, but a pivotal moment in Finnish history, as these intellectuals forged a cultural identity for the country distinct from its Russian oppressor and set Finland on the road to independence.  Their beautiful lakeside homes are still standing today as national treasures.

London's history is fascinating and full of colourful characters, from William Shakespeare to Dick Whittington's cat!  In this lecture we gallop through almost 2000 years of London's history brilliantly illustrated through the stained glass windows found in the city churches and livery halls.  

Often overlooked, these provide a unique insight into the milestones which have made up London's story.  As well as18th, 19th century and 20th century windows we look at some of the most up-to-date and contemporary glass makers.

 I also provide a list of windows and where they can be found so you and your members can undertake a self-guided walk if you wish!

This lecture will look at the varied artworks of Banksy from A to Z. He first came to prominence on the Bristol graffiti scene in the 1990s. Since moving to London in 2000, he’s used a stencil-based approach to his street art. It’s quicker to execute, with less risk of being detected or apprehended. Some of his most memorable stencilled pieces have entered the nation’s consciousness They include rodents, chimpanzees, girls with balloons, flower-throwing freedom fighters, and housewives who fight back. He sometimes dabbles in ‘fine art’, but usually with the aim of mocking the art market. And he produces installations to bemuse and exhibitions to dazzle.

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the ‘Leonardo of Liverpool’ to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbs of his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766, a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects. This lecture looks at the life and work of this country’s greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British sporting artists of the eighteenth century more generally.

This lecture examines the rise of fall of Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, and his pioneering use of digichromatography, creating stunning colour photographs decades before colour photography was supposedly invented.

Dazzling Russian royalty with his photographs, he was commissioned by the Tsar to traverse the largest continual Empire in the world to document its land and peoples.

He was given permits allowing him to travel in restricted areas and furnished with a whole railway carriage, transformed into a dark-room.

He captured traditional ways of life from as far afield as Samarkand and the desert oases of the Turkmens and Tajiks, soon to be swept away by the Bolshevik revolution.

Harry Venning has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times) as well as for countless more obscure titles (British Journal Of Wound Care). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist Of The Year for his Guardian strip Clare In The Community, which he adapted into a Radio 4 sitcom. In 'The Art Of The Cartoonist' Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Yes, Harry will.

In an age where women had little public power, Isabella d’ Este (1474 – 1539) stands out as a formidable figure. She was one of the first and greatest female patrons and art collectors of the Renaissance. And her court in Mantua was filled with writers and poets of distinction. Her clever, educated and entitled voice sings out from thousands of letters which she composed in her meticulously designed study, and images – from Da Vinci to Titian – bring alive a woman whose eye for fashion was every bit as keen as her eye for art.