Programme New membership year 2023/4 At our new venue: Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall, 50a Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves, LE12 8RZ. 7pm for 7.30pm 11th April 2024 Keith Bonser Caravaggio Painter Extraordinaire, Flawed Genius &…..? Murderer. My presentation is a very personal account of how Caravaggio came into my life. This journey embraces the story of his life and his paintings, and epitomises the ability of Art to inspire anyone. The core presentation is followed by an interactive open discussion on related topics. For example; • The Betrayal of Christ; A painting ‘lost’ for almost 400 years, found by chance in Dublin 1990 • No body, no grave, no record of his death. How did Caravaggio die? • Caravaggio and his models, including himself • Did Caravaggio’s alleged bi-sexuality, trigger a sequence of events which directly led to his premature death? • Malta; A year on the island which promised so much, but ended in disaster • Caravaggio and Costanza Colonna; A bond that helped him throughout his life and very nearly saved him …….., but not quite. A portrait of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio 9th May 2024 Mark Temple A Picture Tour of Woodhouse Eaves and its neighbours. Changes over 100 years House party at Beaumanor Hall, Woodhouse Eaves in 1926. Photo: WikiMedia Commons 13th June 2024 David Rosier Imperial Chinese Court Art & Portraiture. David returns from the Scottish Highlands to present more from his vast collections of Chinese Culture, some of which he will bring. This lecture explores the origins and evolution of the nature and function of paintings created under an Emperor's patronage by artists of the Imperial School of Art. Court art evolved separately from classical Chinese paintings and included portraiture plus scenes of court life and significant State Events. These were used as visual evidence of the political power of the Emperor and the splendour of his court. The lecture concludes by considering the revolution in court art that occured in the 18th century as Emperor Qianlong deployed Western artistic skills and techniques brought by Jesuits invited to the Forbidden City. A Chinese Mandarin by George Chinnery New membership year 2024/5 SEPT Brian MacDonald – “Treasures of the Black Tent.” OCT James Wright – “In Search of Britain’s Oldest Pubs.” NOV Rosamund Bartlett – “The Culture of Ukraine.” DEC Barry Venning – “Giles Cartoons.”

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