Upcoming Events › Art and Photography Events

William Hogarth has been described as the father of English painting but over the course of his career he came into conflict with many people. This talk will explore some of Hogarth’s most high profile conflicts with contemporaries on everything from art theory to social campaigning and more. John Collins is the Senior Manager for Historic Houses at the London Borough of Hounslow and has overseen Hogarth’s House since it reopened to the public after a major refurbishment in 2011. See…

Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. Since the brutal murder of the last tsar and his family in a Siberian basement, these eggs 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. After going missing in the Revolution, most of the eggs re-emerged in the storerooms of the…

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 be drawing live. Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the Eskimo brothers said in The…

Originating in the Italian Renaissance courts in the C15th, Ballet came to the French court in 1533, when Catherine Medici an Italian noblewoman married the French King Henry II. A century later, King Louis XIV, a passionate dancer, popularised and standardised the art form and in 1661 he founded the Royal Academy of Dance, The popularity of ballet soared in Russia in the late C19th with Russian choreographers and composers taking it to new heights and in the early C20th,…

Murder, poison, corruption and incest: all perfect ingredients for sensational popular culture. But in an age known for its brutality and church corruption were the Borgias really so bad? This lecture reveals the real family that dominated the Papacy and Italian politics during the last decade of the C15th: the charismatic figure of Pope Alexander VI, living inside his sumptuously decorated apartments, the career of his son, Cesare - Cardinal, General, employer of Da Vinci and the model for Machiavelli’s…

Howard Smith has a background in Graphic Design, an art form for the 20C. His talk on  The birth of documentary films in the 1930’s is both nostalgic and entertaining. It will be lavishly illustrated by vintage film clips such as the experimental  Soviet era  Battleship Potemkin. In a mere seven years the GPO Film Unity produced 129 films, including the iconic Night Mail with poetry by WH Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. An extraordinary period which saw immense…

This lecture explores how the New York heiress, Peggy Guggenheim - the poor little rich girl - came to play such a pivotal role in the making of mid-century Modernism. Friends with so many cultural figures of the day – from Cecil Beaton to Scott Fitzgerald, Barbara Hepworth to Igor Stravinsky and so many more iconic artists. What prompted her to start collecting contemporary art in the 1930s? And what was the impact of her galleries in London and New York…

One of the most well-known and admired historic buildings in England, Blenheim Palace is an uncompromising monument to English military ambition and one family’s self- importance. The story of its construction is a fascinating catalogue of excess and outrage, the result is both monstrous and utterly sublime – according to our lecturer this evening. The effect on the generations of Marlboroughs is revealing and within this ‘cauldron’ a Churchill was born – recently voted The Greatest Briton of All Time. This lecture…