Previous Lectures
We will be archiving the lectures as we go through the year, so you can look back on
lectures, perhaps look at some of the links associated with them.
9th June 2022
John Benjamin
At the Sign of the Falcon:The Life & Works of Harry Murphy Goldsmith, Silversmith &
Unique Englishman
H G Murphy’s greatest misfortune was to die just before the start of the Second World War. The
designs and inspirations of the pre-war era were simply seen as passé and totally out of keeping
with the new spirit of modernism which quickly grew after the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Harry Murphy served his apprenticeship under Henry Wilson, probably Britain’s greatest designer
goldsmith of the Arts and Crafts era. Here he learnt a wide range of skills and techniques including
enamelling, gem-setting and polishing, niello, engraving and hammering.
From 1928 until his death in 1939 he worked from retail premises in Marylebone, London, known as
the Falcon Studio where he designed and created a prodigious amount of silverware for the
corporate, civic and private sectors as well as some truly startling gold, silver and enamel jewellery
inspired by nature, architecture, the Ballet Russes and the vibrancy of the Jazz Age.
12th May 2022
Rupert Dickens
Through a Glass Darkly - Vermeer & The Camera Obscura
The tranquil and meditative paintings of Johannes Vermeer are among the best-loved artworks in
the world. Relatively little is known about the master from Delft but that has not deterred a torrent
of publications about him, both fictional and scholarly. One of the most hotly debated topics in
Vermeer literature is his supposed use of the camera obscura.
We will tackle this controversy head on by investigating the history of optical devices in art and
examining the latest theories on Vermeer’s technique. It will be a great opportunity to look at
Vermeer’s beguiling body of work afresh through a different lens.
14th April 2022
Ian Swankie
Pots & Frocks - "The World of Grayson Perry - from Essex Punk Potter to Superstar
National Treasure”
Best known for his outlandish appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego, Claire, Grayson Perry
is now a core part of the art establishment, a Turner Prize winner, Royal Academician, popular
broadcaster and colourful character. He’s possibly one of the world’s best-known contemporary
artists. His works of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and prints are highly sought after. Often
controversial, he tackles difficult subjects in a poignant yet witty way and holds a mirror up to
society. This talk will examine Grayson Perry’s work, his exciting and thought-provoking exhibitions,
and the unique character inside the flamboyant frocks.
10th March 2022 7.30pm
James Wright
Busting Medieval Myths
I thought that I ought to give you some advance notice that the Speaker for our March Lecture has
changed from Annelie Talent to James Wright because Annelie cannot come to us for family reasons.
Annelie has been rebooked for May 2023. James Wright is coming to us again from Nottingham at
short notice.
Many of you will remember the lecture he gave us under similar circumstances in June 2019: “The
story of the masons, carpenters, cooks, clerks, servants, stable-hands and lower status visitors to
great castles.” This was incredibly interesting and well received; we later rated it as Outstanding.
In his Busting Medieval Building Myths, James will look at some ten common myths about medieval
buildings and discuss how they arose, and give us the correct answers, insofar as they are known.
10th February 2022
Christopher Newlands
Lancaster Priory: 2,000 Years of History in Stone, Wood and Glass
The mother-church of the City and County of Lancaster, this site of this ancient Priory
Church reveals elements of the Roman fort on the site, a Celtic burial site, a Saxon
church, a Benedictine Monastery, and a historic parish church. Its history tells the story of
this city covering wars, plagues, and the Kings and Queens of England who have held the
title 'Duke of Lancaster'.
13th January 2022
Linda Smith
Great Tarts in Art
A mixture of art-historical analysis and scandalous anecdote, this lecture takes a generally
light-hearted look at changing attitudes to sexual morality down the ages, by examining
the portraits and careers of some of history’s most notorious mistresses and courtesans.
It also charts the rather complex and ambiguous attitudes of art and society towards the
numerous anonymous working girls at the lower end of the scale, by investigating how
they have been represented in art at different times and places from the 17th to the 20th
century.
December 9th 2021 7:30
Roger Askew
A Right Royal Christmas: How our Royal Families have celebrated Christmas
through the ages.
Our royal families have celebrated Christmas throughout their long history, from William
the Conqueror making sure of his claim to the English throne by being crowned in
Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. Feasting on a spectacular scale characterised
medieval Christmases – we read of extraordinary culinary delicacies served to Henry II,
crane’s flesh, peacocks and herons. Present-giving always marked the season, from the
extravagant – the City of London presented Richard II with a camel and a pelican – to the
witty – Mrs. Thatcher sent the Queen a pair of yellow washing-up gloves having seen Her
Majesty doing the dishes without any.
The Royal Christmas Broadcast is now an established part of our celebrations and we shall
hear extracts from George V’s, George VI’s and our present Queen’s addresses.
November 11th 2021 7:30
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.
October 14th 2021 7:30 at our normal venue
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'.
Note from our Chairman:
On 14th October we were again back in our normal venue in Quorn at 7.30pm to hear
Roger Butler give his lecture on Canal History & Heritage
This lecture provided a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland
waterway network and looked at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and
engineering vernacular This ranged 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', and the art was indeed striking.
At the end of his main lecture, he gave us an additional ten minutes on our own local
canals with entrancing photos taken some 60 years ago, these were compared with
present day views of the same scenes. We found ourselves looking at them completely
afresh!
September 9th 2021 7:30 at our normal venue
Howard Smith
Eagle & Dan Dare – The Art of Frank Hampson
This is the extraordinary story of a million selling boy’s magazine
created by a vicar and an art student in 1950. 20% of the readers
were girls. This is the backstory of why and how they created this
ground-breaking magazine and then sold it to Hulton Press.
The lead story of Dan Dare was the only one to have its own full
studio producing the weekly double-page spread. See how this
studio worked and the graphic tricks artist Frank Hampson used to
create reality.
Why did the Ministry of Defence order six copies each week and
what prize did David Hockney win in 1950? All is revealed in this
lecture which obviously has some space elements in it – but it is
really an amazing story of achievement, with artwork, ephemera and vintage film clips.
DAN DARE. Situated on the corner of Lord Street and Cambridge Arcade is this bronze bust. The Plaque reads:-
DAN DARE, Eagle Magzine's most famous character, dedicated to, Marcus Morris, Frank Hampson, creators of the
children's weekly. Eagle Southport. Donated by the Eagle Society 2000. CC Peter Hodge
*June 10th 2021 7:30
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.
May13th 2021 7:30
Geri Parlby
The Subtle Art of Fake News
Fake News has been around since the time of the
Egyptian Pharaohs and art has always been one of its
favourite media.
In this talk I will be uncovering the subtle art of spin
and propaganda in art from the glories of Ancient
Mesopotamia to the Norman Conquest and then onto
Elizabethan England and the dark days of Nazi
Germany.
Every picture tells a story—whether it is true or not is
an entirely different matter.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International license.
April 8th 2021 7:30
Jennifer Toynbee-Holmes
The Art of Dance
Since the birth of the earliest human civilisations, dance has been an important part of
ceremony, rituals, celebrations, a method of healing and a means of expression and
entertainment.
Using stills and video clips we take a look at dance as an art form from its earliest
beginnings; through the birth and rapid development of ballet throughout Europe, the
explosion of modern dance in the early 20th century a time of unprecedented creative
growth for dancers and choreographers and with the growth of post-modernism from the
1960s the expansion of street dance, hip-hop, break dancing and rock dance.
March 11th 2021 7:30
Lars Tharp
The Captain, The Duchess & their 23,000 Children: London’s Great Foundling
Hospital
In the early 1700s, shipwright Thomas Coram gave up his business in Massachusets.
Returning to London he was appalled to encounter babies regularly abandoned in the
streets. He began to lobby for the provision of a hospital for ‘foundlings’ and for babies at
risk of infanticide.
The great and the good weren’t interested. But Coram persisted; and the result was the
Foundling Hospital in what came to be known as “Coram Fields” near Tavistock Square
which is well worth a visit.
Click here for the Foundling Hospital website.
February 11th 2021 7:30
Monica Bohm-Duchen
Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe & British visual culture.
Despite the traumatic nature of their dislocation and the obstacles they often encountered
on arrival in the UK, those who fled here from Nazi-dominated Europe in the 1930s and
1940s made a deep, pervasive and long-lasting contribution to British culture.
Focussing on the visual arts, this lecture will examine the nature of this contribution,
embracing not only familiar names such as Gombrich, Kokoschka, Moholy-Nagy,
Schwitters and Heartfield, but also lesser-known figures such as Albert Reuss, Josef
Herman and Marie-Louise von Motesiczky.
January 14th 2021 7:30
Ian Swankie
Great Railway Stations-Evoking the Spirit of Romance & Adventure.
If you think of St Pancras International or New York Grand Central you imagine long
romantic journeys. You know they are special places promising excitement and adventure.
But there are dozens of other glorious stations in the UK and abroad. We will take a
journey around some of the most evocative and splendid stations in the world.
We will look not only at the magnificence of the architecture and the brilliant engineering
but will discover numerous artworks within the stations and examine many depictions of
stations in art – like Claude Monet’s Gare St Lazare or William Powell Frith’s Paddington. It
may sound a bit anoraky, but it’s definitely not. It’s lavish, colourful and fun.
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