Programme for 2019/2020 membership year (September to June see below) Lectures are held on the second Thursday of the month (excluding July and August). During to the Corona Virus Pandemic, we are being guided by both the Government Advice and the Guidance from TAS HQ. The following planned Lectures for April, May & June have been postponed to 2021 (see its Programme below). April: Howard Smith: “Eagle & Dan Dare – The Art of Frank Hampson” May: Tony Faber: “The Imperial Easter eggs of Carl Fabergé – Before the Revolution” June: Roger Butler: “Canal History & Heritage including Local Canals” Membership Year 2020 extended to December 2020 Thursday 10th September 2020 Jo Mabbutt The Fields of the Cloth of Gold In June 1520 Henry VIII and Francis 1 met to ratify an Anglo-French alliance and celebrate the betrothal of Henry’s daughter Mary to the Dauphin. The two handsome ‘Renaissance Princes’ were in their 20’s with similar reputations in military prowess, sport and patrons of the arts.  Both had imperial ambitions and were eager to display themselves as magnificent nobleman and warrior kings.  Each brought an entourage of 6,000 to a field south of Calais for 18 days of various events and entertainments staged to display the skill and splendour of each King and country.  The logistics of transporting all of this, including, 3,217 horses to Calais is staggering! Our Royal Palaces were virtually emptied of their silver, gold, tapestries and furniture to decorate the temporary palace. 2020 is the 500th Anniversary of this extraordinary event. Thursday 8th October 2020 at 7.30pm Timothy Walker The subtle Science and Exact Art of Colour - English Garden Design In 1888 Gertrude Jekyll wrote a short but seminal article in The Garden in which she urged the readers to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”. As an accomplished watercolour artist, Miss Jekyll was familiar with the principles of using colours, but she felt that in gardens these principles “had been greatly neglected”. This talk looks at how to apply these principles in designing a border, but it also looks at the ways in which a border is different from a painting.  However, it goes further than this and looks at how contemporary work of the likes of Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollack, and Hockney evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like. Thursday 12th November 2020 David Wright A Brief History of Wine Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, and the story tells of its origin and appearance in all civilisations across the Mediterranean and through Europe. There is rich evidence of the rôle wine has played in these societies and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity. From the kwevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C., the symposia in ancient Greece, the thermopolia of Pompeii, the hospices of Europe, to the dining tables of fine society, wine has been ever present. Drawings, paintings, engravings, buildings, pottery and wine labels themselves all contribute to the story. Thursday 10th December 2020 (hopefully with wine & mince pies) Ian Gledhill The Magic of Pantomime (by an actor who understudied Julian Clary, talking about the only British form of theatre) The history of this enduring and peculiarly British institution, from its origins in 16th century Italian commedia dell’arte through the influence of 19th century music hall, to the family shows that are still much loved today.  On the way we examine the origins of some of the stories used in pantomime as well as such traditions as the (female) principal boy and the (male) pantomime dame.  The talk is interspersed with personal anecdotes from the speaker’s years of working (and appearing) professionally in pantomime. Membership Year 2021 (runs from January – June with a reduced subscription) Programme for 2021 Further information on the lectures to follow Jan 14th Ian Swankie – Great Railway Stations-Evoking the Spirit of Romance & Adventure. Feb 11th Monica Bohm-Duchen – Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe & British visual culture. Mar 11th Lars Tharp to be confirmed and topic agreed. Apr 8th Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes – The Art of Dance May13th Geri Parlby- The Subtle Art of Fake News *June 10th Tony Faber The Imperial Easter Eggs of Carl Faberge - Before the Revolution Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. They have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: both supreme examples of the jeweller’s art and the vulgar playthings of a decadent court. Given almost total artistic freedom, Fabergé and his designers had to conform to only three rules: that each year’s Easter present should be egg-shaped, that it should contain some surprise to amuse or delight its recipient, and that it should be different from any predecessor. Their maker’s relentless search for novelty also means that they provide a fabulously quirky illustrated history of the decline of the Romanovs. The lecture is illustrated with pictures of the Romanovs and their palaces, and, of course, with photographs of the eggs themselves *Sept 9th Howard Smith- Eagle & Dan Dare – The Art of Frank Hampson OR Alternative *October 14th Roger Butler Canal History & Heritage This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular with special reference to our local canals. He will range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'. Canal Art Traditional decorated canalware at the Boat Gathering, Guildford 2009. Photo copyright: Colin Smith / Canal Art / November 11th 11.30am MORNING LECTURE Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe Historical Painting Materials & Techniques 15th - 18th Centuries The 14th century artist Cennino Cennini recommended using “the chicken bones that you will find under the dining table” for making charcoaled bone black to paint with. His treatise, The Artists’ handbook, gives us an understanding of some of the surprising materials which any artist had to master before he could begin to paint, such as the tail of a squirrel to make his paintbrushes. But many of these materials were difficult to use and have an effect on the finished look of paintings from the centuries before industrial processes changed the artist’s world. This lecture will explain the techniques and the reasons for some of the features of 15th and 16th century paintings which may seem odd to our modern eyes. Dec 9th Roger Askew-A Right Royal Christmas: How our Royal Families have celebrated Christmas through the ages *Postponed from 2020

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