2007 - 2008

ADFAS


Previous Lectures	Season 2007 - 2008 Monday 8th October 2007 The World of Carpets Preceded by AGM Rubenshof, Meet: 19:00 AGM: 20:00, Lecture 20:15 Roderick Taylor Roddy Taylor was born in India. His early education was in Shimla, then, following Partition, in London. At Cambridge he read Oriental Languages, Arabic and Persian, and Anthropology and Archaeology. While travelling on business his passion for textiles was reinforced and he began collecting, although the family story is that he bought his first rug at the age of 10 (he still has it). He now lectures and writes on textiles, carpets and Middle Eastern embroideries. Carpets are found all over the Old World and there are indications that they have been made from before the 5th century BC. The origins of the carpet are however speculative, and the initial impetus unknown. Each producing area developed its own repertory of pattern and technique. We will learn of an initial development, the spread of manufacture and the growth of collecting in the West. Among the many threads within this story are the great historic rugs; the rugs known as prayer rugs, and some that tell a story. A little time will be spent looking at the making process ranging from Turkey and Iran to Morocco and China, embracing treating the wool, dyeing and making, both in the home and in the great sheds. Monday 5th November 2007 Van Gogh and Gaugin Rubenshof, 19:00 for 20:00 Douglas Skeggs Following a Masters degree in Fine Arts at Cambridge University, Douglas Skeggs studied under Kokoschka in Switzerland. He has held three solo exhibitions of his paintings in England and Switzerland, and has lectured on paintings since 1980. He is a writer and television presenter. He has published six novels and a book on Monet entitled River of Light which has sold over 30,000 copies. He is a director of the New Academy of Arts. In the summer of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh left Paris and walked south to the old Roman town of Arles; he was 35 years old and had less than 2 years left to live. In the south of France he hoped to set up a fellowship of artists, and shortly he was joined by Gauguin. It was a disastrous combination of personalities. The two artists at once admired each other and were irritated, maddened and exasperated by each other. Within 2 months Van Gogh broke, his mind giving way under his first attack of madness. Gauguin left for the north and the two men never met again. This lecture reconstructs the lives and works of these two remarkable figures, looks into the motives and ambitions that drove them and examines the few short weeks they spent together. Monday 3rd December 2007 The Art of Photography: 1840-Present The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 Marina Vaizey Marina Vaizey read history at Harvard and Cambridge. She has been an art critic for over 30 years for various publications, including The Financial Times and The Sunday Times. She has curated several exhibitions and written several books. She edited the Art Quarterly and The Review for the National Art Collections Fund and later served as editorial consultant; she is a member of the Arts Council and the Crafts Council, and is currently a trustee of several museums, while she also writes, lectures and travels. This lecture is divided into three sections: 1) "From Then until Now" looks at some of the pioneers of the technical innovation of photography in the 1830s and 1840s, since when it has become the most widely available visual art in the world. 2) “From Today Painting is Dead” examines the French history painter Paul Delaroche’s famous declaration made in 1839, and shows how wrong he was. On the contrary painting has gone from strength to strength and we look at some of the artists who took and take photographs of their own, from Degas to Hockney. 3) "A Primary Medium" looks at artists for whom photography is not just a tool but a primary medium, and whose medium is the photograph, both straight and manipulated. Monday 7th January 2008 20th Century Glass The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 Andy McConnell Andy McConnell has dealt in antiques since adolescence, but served an apprenticeship in journalism. After working in music, film and television, his return to writing was marked by the publication in 2004 of The Decanter, An illustrated History of Glass from 1650. He is the author of the best-selling new book 20th Century Glass, published by Miller’s last August, which has just sold out its initial 8,000 print-run. He writes on a regular basis for numerous newspapers, magazines and guides, appeared frequently on the BBC's 20th Century Roadshow and has recently become the first-ever glass specialist on the Antiques Roadshow. The 20th century witnessed the greatest transformation in the role of decorative glass in 6,000 years. Once the preserve of the wealthy, industrialisation and rising wealth combined to a point where glassware was given away free to motorists. This talk examines the emergence of new but significant glassmaking nations and the stylistic development of what was known as ‘fancy glass’ over the course of the past century. Monday 4th February 2008 Cities of Vesuvius: Art and Everyday Life in Ancient Pompeii The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 Neil Faulkner Neil Faulkner studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and the Institute of Archaeology (University College London) where he is now an Honorary Lecturer. He works as a freelance lecturer, editor, writer, excavator and occasional broadcaster and has lectured in archaeology, ancient history and classical civilisation He is the author of numerous articles, academic papers, and several books. He is currently involved in a project in north-west Norfolk, excavating an Anglo-Saxon village and cemetery, in the Great War Archaeology Group, investigating sites associated with the Zeppelin raids over Britain and with the campaigns of Lawrence of Arabia in Jordan. The evidence of town planning, architecture, sculpture, mosaic and fresco, supported by contemporary literature, will be used to reconstruct something of the fabric of everyday life in ancient Pompeii, Herculaneum and other Vesuvian sites. The contrasts between the world of public affairs, business and aristocratic display (what Romans called negotium) and the more private world of relaxation in elite town-houses and villas (otium) will be examined. Monday 10th March 2008 Pearls Before Swine The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 Jane Kelsall Jane Kelsall is a graduate in English and history, and studied Fine Art and Sculpture at the St.Albans College of Art. She is now a freelance lecturer in Fine Arts, and has been an honorary guide at St.Albans Cathedral for the last 30 years. She describes her life as ‘always scratching around in piles of archives, always happy’. We will hear about the long and interesting journey of a magnificent pearl necklace from its beginnings as a wedding present from Pope Clement VII to his niece Catherine de Medici, who became Queen of France. She later gave it to her daughter-in-law, Mary Queen of Scots. Acquired by Queen Elizabeth, it passed down – in a roundabout way – through the British Royal Family, until careless wording in Queen Charlotte’s will caused a lengthy legal battle between Queen Victoria and her uncle, the King of Hanover over its ownership. Queen Elizabeth II wears some of the ‘Hanover Pearls’ as they are now called. But where are the others? Monday 7th April 2007 Treasures and Curiosities from the Royal Library at Windsor The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 Oliver Everett Oliver Everett is Librarian Emeritus of the Royal Library, Windsor Castle. He was Librarian there and Assistant Keeper of the Royal Archives from 1985 to 2002. During those 17 years, he gained a deep and detailed knowledge of the Collection and of the history of the Castle and its occupants. He has written several articles about the Royal Library and its contents; wrote the official guide book to Windsor Castle, made the audio tour for visitors, taught a course on the history of the Castle and advised on a television film about it. Oliver was in the British Diplomatic Service, serving in India and Spain; Assistant Private Secretary to Prince Charles, Prince of Wales from 1978-80; and Private Secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales, 1981-83. The Library is primarily used by the Queen to show to her guests after dinner parties at Windsor Castle. This is because it is so full of a great range of fascinating objects associated with the history of Britain and the Royal Family. The lecture gives a tour of the Library similar to that experienced by the Queen’s guests. The Library is open to academic researchers but not to the general public. The lecture therefore constitutes a rare opportunity to see its rooms and treasures. These treasures include beautiful and rare books and manuscripts, books with personal royal associations, old master drawing (Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Holbein, Canaletto) and watercolours, jewellery, insignia of Orders of Chivalry, miniature paintings, clocks, fans, maps, the shirt in which Charles I was executed and the Queen’s description of her father’s Coronation in 1937 which she wrote at the age of 11 when still Princess Elisabeth. Monday 5th May 2008 Wine-related Antiques The Church Hall, St.Boniface Anglican Church, Grétrystraat, Antwerp. 19:00 for 20:00 John Ericson John Ericson started his career as a schoolmaster but after ten years in the classroom he returned to his studies at the University of Wales, which led to a career in teacher education and specialisation in course design and evaluation. He has worked extensively overseas as a consultant in teaching and learning, and his ability to relate well to people of all ages makes him an impressive and confident public speaker. He offers presentations on an eclectic range of topics derived from his diverse interests and enthusiasms, such as antique corkscrews and the Shakers. Who could deny that the drinking of wine and the collecting of antiques are among the most pleasurable of 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 in this talk some of the more popular items such as corkscrews, drinking glasses and decanters, as well as wine labels, funnels, coasters, bottle rings and wine furniture will be illustrated.
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