2007-08 season's lectures

October 2007

Art Treasures of Barcelona

Frank Woodgate

The beautiful city of Barcelona is a treasure-house for the art lover. Not only are there wonderful displays showing the early works of the 20th century's greatest artists, but also some other less well know but equally fascinating museums. While the lecture is primarily about the works of art, no review of Barcelona would be complete without a mention of its most famous landmark, the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which is still unfinished, or the bizarre Park Güeli and other amazing works of Antoní Gaudí.

Frank Woodgate is a lecturer and guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern and a scriptwriter for the Living Paintings Trust. He also lectures at Dulwich Picture Gallery as well as other cultural, social and educational establishments.

November 2007

Chopin, Delacroix and George Sand

Elizabeth Rumbelow

In this lecture we follow the separate and inter-twined lives of three leading exponents of the Romantic Movement and also explore their individual art: the paintings of Delacroix, the music of Chopin and the amazing output of novels, plays and other writings of George Sand. This lecture is a tale of three Romantics, two of whom were geniuses and one an extraordinary woman.

Elizabeth Rumbelow has an honours degree in both English and Music. Her main career was in teaching and her speciality is the inter-relationship of the arts, especially painting, music and literature. She also edits articles for the Chopin Society of Warsaw web site.

November 2007 - extra lecture

Stained Glass - painting with light

Rod Friend

Rod is a designer artist of stained glass, a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, and has worked for 35 years in the UK He has now established a purpose-built studio in the mountains above Alozaina, where he produces commissioned work for private and public buildings and also offers Courses. His lecture will be illustrated by slides.

December 2007

Inspired by Winter Colour:
Bruegel to Cezanne and Beyond

Vivien Heffernan

Animated village scenes by Bruegel, Turner's evocative depictions of avalanches and snow storms, landscapes under snow by Manet, the impressionists and Cezanne, the winter hardships of Victorian urban and rural workers .... and many, many more. An intriguing variety of artistic responses to winter colour and cold.

Vivien Heffernan is an Art history tutor for continuing education departments of Essex and Cambridge Universities, colleges and adult education organisations. She is a long-standing lecturer with the Open University on art history courses ranging from the early Renaissance to the 20th century and has lectured for NADFAS in Australia and New Zealand. She is also a practising artist.

January 2008

St Petersburg: The Venice of the North

Jane Angelini

Set against a historical background that will add greater meaning to the story, the lecture follows the evolution of the city of St Petersburg from the time of the Peter the Great through to the 20th century. The city that evolved is a remarkably harmonious collection of baroque, rococo, neoclassical and art nouveau buildings. The lecture will look at the architecture and décor of the great mansions and the imperial palaces of the city and environs: the Summer Palace, the Menshikov Palace, the Winter Palace, amongst others. Dubbed the Venice of the North by Goethe, St Petersburg is hauntingly beautiful and the lecture aims to evoke its magnificence.

Jane Angelini is a specialist regarding Russia. Not only does she translate Russian literature for Penguin Books and Oxford University Press but she also leads groups on cultural tours. St Petersburg is one of her favourite places. She last visited us some years ago when she gave a lecture on Byzantine Art. This lecture was so superb that it actually prompted some of our NADFAS members to visit Istanbul to see for themselves!

January 29th 2008 - extra lecture

Flora in the Countryside around Nerja

José Manuel Cabezas

In this lecture José will talk to us about the amazing array of wild flowers and vegetation growing in the countryside around us. Once again we will benefit from the enthusiam and passion José has for the environment around his home. His lecture will be illustrated by slides.

José Manuel Cabezas is a teacher in Nerja; he also lectures, writes and translates and is a member of the American Studies Association.

February 2008

Covered with Diamonds: Queen Charlotte's Jewellery

Judy Rudoe

Queen Charlotte owned prodigious quantities of jewellery, yet today barely a handful of pieces survives. She came from Germany to marry George III in 1761. He gave her the magnificent Hanoverian jewels, which she wore immediately to dazzling effect at the wedding and Coronation. She continued to collect jewellery for the next 60 years and on her death over 1000 pieces were listed. Her contemporaries were amazed by her diamonds but she much preferred the sentimental tokens containing the hair of her children and the jewels with messages of love and affection exchanged between the various members of the Royal Family.

Judy Rudoe has been a curator at the Britism Museum since 1974, specialising in jewellery and in 19th and 20th century decorative arts. She is the author of "Cartier 1900-1939" and organiser of the Cartier exhibition at the British Museum, co-author of the catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift of Jewellery, and contributor to the catalogue of the micro mosiacs in the Gilbert Collection. Miss Rudoe is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths' Company and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

March 2008

Wine-related Antiques

John Ericson

Who could deny that the drinking of wine and the collection of antiques are among the most pleasurable pursuits! As more and more people take an informed interest in wine there has been a corresponding increase in enthusiasm for wine-related antiques. As well as being fully functional, many of these items are intrinsically beautiful and this talk illustrates some of the more popular items such as drinking glasses and decanters, as well as wine labels, funnels, coasters, bottle rings and, of course, corkscrews.

After 10 years as a schoolmaster at Cranbrook, John Ericson left the classroom to do educational research. This led to a career in teacher eduction that culminated at the University of Bath where he specialised in course design and evaluation as well as teaching presentation skills to academic colleagues. He has worked extensively overseas as a consultant and has given numerous presentations at conferences around the world. He is now a freelance lecturer drawing upon his eclectic range of interests and his professional background. He is the author of numerous publications including "A Review of the Concept of Visual Literacy" for the British Journal of Educational Technology.

March 25th 2008 - extra lecture

Santiago de Compostela - Saints, Pilgrims and Holy Places

Helen Sijsling

The fascinating story how the apostle James became Santiago de Compostela and the many different ways of portraying him.

In this lecture we will seek answers to some questions:

What do chickens, shells, Botticelli's Venus and celtic rocks have in common?
How did James become Santiago?
How did the pilgrimage came into being? This involves looking at James historically (what are the facts?) looking at legends, and at miracles. And somehow what have power and politics got to do with Santiago?
In what different ways (9!) is James portrayed and why?
What was the role of holy pilgrims and holy places on the pilgrimage to Santiago?

We will look into Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

A journey through art from the 10th Century to modern times.

A fascinating story which will enrich your visit to Santiago de Compostela and inspire you to do the camino!

April 2008

Vietnam: Ancient and Modern Artistic Heritage

Denise Heywood

This lecture explores the artistic culture of Vietnam, including the architectural legacy of French Colonialism in the cities, especially Hanoi and Saigon. It touches on the vibrant modern culture, revived since the turbulent times of the 20th Century, especially the costumes of Vietnamese women and in contemporary paintings - a fusion of eastern and western influences. It also looks back to the ancient ruins of the Cham empire and, finally, it explores the art of the Nguyen dynasty at Hue.

Denise Heywood is a lecturer, writer and photographer who has lived in France, America and Cambodia, where she worked as a journalist. She lectures on the British Museum's post-graduate Asian Art Course and at universities, schools, art and travel organisations, including the Royal Geographic Society. She leads tours to Asia and France and lectures on cruise ships, incuding Swan Hellenic. She has just completed a book on the temples of Laos and is currently writing on Cambodian dance.

Visit Denise Heywood's website

May 2008

Kokoschka, Klimt and Schiele

James Malpas

By leaving the academic respectability of Vienna's art establishment in 1898, Klimt and his young followers, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoscha, amongst others, initiated an efflorescence of art nouveau-based and post-impressionist vividness in colour few could have predicted. Eighty years on their work is amongst the most easily recognisable and popular of the century. How did this happen? What were its aims? Why did it end so swiftly? This lecture provides answers and richly-coloured illustrations.

James Malpas has been a tutor at Sotheby's Institute of Art since 1986. He is a freelance lecturer at Tate Galleries and the V & A, as well as a broadcaster for BBC Radio 3 & 4 and a book reviewer for the Art Newspaper. He is also the author of "Realism" in Tate Gallery's Modern Movements in Art series.