ADFAS

Monday 6 October 2003

The Art Deco Style

Anthea Streeter

This lecture traces the style from its 'de luxe' beginnings in Paris before the First World War, to the introduction of streamlining by American designers during the Depression years. Many influences are evident in Art deco, from Cubism to the Orient, from the Ballets Russes to the Bauhaus. With its associations with the Jazz Age, the Art Deco style forms one of the most exciting chapters in the history of the decorative arts.

Monday 3 November 2003

Cathedrals and Palaces of Moscow and St. Petersburg

Alan J. Bott

This lecture was chosen to coincide with the celebration of the foundation of St.Petersburg three hundred years ago.
The lecture looks first at the defining foreign influences on Russian architecture - Constantinople and Rome. The cathedrals of Novgorod (c.1100) and the Golden Ring (Vladimir, Suzdal & St.Sergiev) are examined; these form the background to the great C15th and C16th architectural flowering in Moscow, the mighty Kremlin wall and gold-domed cathedrals within. In St.Petersburg the lecturer explores the Fortress founded by Peter the Great on the banks of the River Neva & the Winter Palace (Hermitage) of his successor, Catherine the Great. Finally, a look at the summer palaces of Tsarskoye Selo and Petrodevorets.

Monday 8 December 2003

The Antwerp Hilton Lecture

The Christmas Story in Stained Glass

Peter Gibson OBE

The speaker is a world authority on the conservation of stained glass. This lecture was inspired by a visit to the Holy Land, where he lectured in St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem and gave an address, with stained glass as his theme, during a service held in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The accompanying colour slides combine those taken in the Holy Places traditionally associated with the Nativity with others taken of stained glass of all ages, illustrating the Nativity story in historic buildings in many parts of the world.

Monday 12 January 2004

Klimt, Schiele & Kokoschka

The Vienna Secession 1898 - 1918

James Malpas

The heyday of Habsburg Imperial Vienna c.1900 saw the flourishing of a new stylish art that combined Impressionist, Byzantine and Oriental influences in an elegant, eloquent range of landscapes and portraiture. Gustav Klimt, leader of this breakaway group, nurtures the 'young turks' Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka who introduce a new dynamism and verve, whose presiding spirit was Van Gogh. The First World War doomed these developments, which now speak of the glories of a bygone age, opulent and sensitive at the same time.

Monday 2 February 2004

Meeting Chopin:

Parisian Artistic Life in 1847-8

Jeremy Barlow

A family story that an ancestor knew Chopin led eventually to the discovery of a diary kept by the lecturer's great great grandmother, Fanny Erskine. She stayed with friends of Chopin in Paris and the composer himself auditioned her as a suitable singing pupil for the renowned Manuel Garcia. Fanny met Chopin on several other occasions, along with other leading figures in Parisian artistic and musical society in 1847-8. The lecture includes slides of Parisian life and art, together with music by Chopin and his contemporaries.

Monday 1 March 2004

Art & Architecture in Armenia and Georgia

Clare Ford-Wille

Despite a chequered history, much remains of the rich artistic past of Armenia and Georgia, from the glorious examples of gold jewellery dating from the pre-Christian era, to the little known but vibrant painting of the modern period. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity in 301AD and churches built during this period exhibit highly sophisticated experiments in dome construction and masonry techniques. In Georgian churches something of the extraordinary richness of wall painting remains. Sculptural reliefs, khatchkars (carved crosses, unique to Armenia) & some of the earliest manuscript illuminations, glowing with vivid colours, all feature in this lecture.

Monday 5 April 2004

The Sketches of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Elaine Grogan

Mackintosh sketched constantly and a number of his sketchbooks survive. Essentially private, these works provide a unique glimpse of one of the early 20th century's most important designers. We follow his footsteps on various sketching tours, to share his study and enjoyment of buildings and flowers - in his native Scotland, in Italy and in Belgium. We see what he considered important enough to record and, occasionally, later use in his own designs. In this way these early sketches allow privileged access to significant moments in Mackintosh's development and a clearer understanding of his genius.

Monday 10 May 2004

Ceramics of the Islamic World

Sarah Searight

The lecture begins with an introduction to Islamic art in general, essentially a two-dimensional decorative art, and develops the theme through the brilliantly colourful and extremely skilful medium of ceramics, from 8th century Mesopotamian/Iraqi wares to 16th century Iznik wares from Ottoman Turkey. The Islamic potter introduced the world to blue and white decoration on pottery and to lustre, a technique which has travelled all over the world ever since its first appearance in 9th century Iraq.