We are still living amongst the infrastructure created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 19th Century. He changed the face of the English landscape, with his ground-breaking projects including railways, bridges, tunnels, ships and grand buildings, such as the magnificent Paddington Station. Merging art, engineering and science he was a pioneer and revolutionary. He was…
The Judgement of Paris is one of the most enduring stories in art. It is featured on Greek vases from the 6th Century BC and inspired painters from Lucas Cranach the Elder to Botticelli and Rubens, through to Cezanne and Salvador Dali in the 20th Century. The idea of a beauty contest of three goddesses…
Throughout the history of European Art, the tree has been of great importance as a punctuation mark within a composition, to create perspective, to draw attention to the figures, to offer a framework or to give meaning to the subject of the painting or sculpture. Dead or broken trees can symbolise death, a living tree…
Jean, Duc de Berry, born in 1360 and a younger brother of Charles V, Valois King of France, was one of the foremost patrons of the late Middle Ages. He commissioned priceless manuscripts, reliquaries, altarpieces and jewellery. Some items survive from his collections and these will provide the starting point for an exploration of Jean’…
This lecture uses art of the 19th Century to tell the story of the westward expansion of the United States from the first explorations and contacts with native Americans to the near extermination of the buffalo. Artists were never far behind the explorers who opened up the west of America. They have left us a…
This strange noise that opera singers make, is it really necessary? And if so, how do they make it? An exploration of the origins and development of the opera singer, with explanation of why and how the extraordinary noise that they make has come about, using sound, video, live demonstration and anecdote. We will also…