Rituals and Riches - The History of the Indian Temple

India offers a treasure trove of visual history through its beautiful ancient temples, built by a succession of mighty dynasties. Not only are they magnificently decorated edifies full of spiritual story-telling but they also once acted as the religious, social and administrative centres of thriving communities, employing a cast of thousands - priests, sculptors, engravers, sacred parasol bearers, dancing girls, musicians, administrators and accountants. This talk explores the fascinating Hindu temple tradition of India - a journey of 2000 years.

Koh-i-Noor - The Most Famous Diamond in the World

From an Indian river bed thousands of years ago to the Tower of London the journey of the Mountain of Light is not only intriguing but also full of surprises. Throughout its history this jewel has been, by turns, a subject of desire, jealously, intrigue, passion and political chicanery. We follow the journey of this fabulous jewel from the depths of early Indian history, through the bloody history of the Mughal dynasty, to the power and politics of the British Empire. This fascinating story is illustrated by extraordinary and talented artists who were committed to describing the events and emotions of their time.

Georgina Bexon

Georgina is an art historian specialising in South Asian art who has lived and worked in the UK, USA and Singapore. Her practice includes lecturing, writing, consulting and collecting and she has developed a network of gallery and artist connections in Europe, the USA and India, which she visits regularly.   Consultant Art Historian at the Oriental Club in London and an official tour guide at Tate Modern, Georgina is also a guest speaker on luxury cruise ships for whom she has developed a series of art talks relating to Asian and Pacific destinations. She has been a visiting lecturer at UK universities, presents talks at leading art institutions including Christie’s Education New York and the Museum of Modern Art, Moscow and speaks at international art conferences, most recently in New York, Paris and Lisbon. Georgina holds a BA in Art History from Southampton University, an MA in Arts Management and Policy from City, University of London and an MA in Art History from SOAS, University of London. Georgina is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Asiatic Society.

TICKETS

Timings

Rituals & Riches: 10:15 – 11:15

Coffee & Refreshments: 11:15 – 11:45

Koh-i-Noor: 11:45 – 12:45

Questions: 12:45 – 13:00

Day of Discovery

Today we have three wonderful and inspirational lectures under the title of Mohammed to Marx taking us from our 21st century comfort zones into a fascinating era with a wealth of discovery.

Cotton Pickers and Cosmonauts - Soviet Central Asian Mosaics and Using Public Art as Propaganda

Chris explores the birth of the Soviet mosaic from its Islamic roots and Communist propaganda posters through to the question of preservation in post Soviet Central Asia. Why was Soviet thinking so keen to take art from galleries into public places and how, in an era when Soviet Realism was the only permitted artistic expression, every public artwork had a message and an agenda. 

Banned: Savitsky and The Secret Hoard of Avante Garde Art

Despite the flourishing of Russian Avante Garde Art during the first 30 years of the 20th century, as Stalin rose to power, he banned all the but Socialist Realist expressions of art. Despite this Igor Savitsky travelled the breadth of the Soviet Union, buying, bribing and cajoling until he had amassed the second largest collection of Russian Avante Garde art in the world. He promoted Russian artists sent to Central Asia in exile and the first Central Asian artists to paint their own people. 

May The Eye Not Strike- Magical Protection In Islamic Textiles and Jewellery

Belief in the Evil Eye remains widespread across the Muslim world, particularly amongst women. Whether adorning a person, cradle, house or yurt, textiles and jewellery and even architecture have been shaped to provide spiritual protection. Is there a connection with European culture? Look to the connection between paisley ties, bridesmaid dresses and the Evil Eye!

Chris Aslan 

Born in Turkey Chris spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school Chris spent two years at sea befoe studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. From university to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, he established a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, becoming the largest non government employer in town. Forced to leave with an anti-Western purge, he took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride To Khiva. Several years followed in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for cashmere down. Two years followed in Kyrgyzstan living in the world's largest natural walnut forest establishing a wood carving workshop. Since then he has studied and rowed at Oxford, lived in Cambridge and very recently moved to North Cyprus.

As well as his writing, Chris lectures for the Art Society and leads tours with Indus Experiences to Central Asia - where a large part of his heart remains.

The presentations will be held in the Methodist Church, St Edmunds Church Street, Salisbury. Tmings will be as follow:

10:00 - 10:30   Arrival and coffee

10:30 - 11:30   Lecture 1

11:30 - 11:45   Break

11:45 - 12:45   Lecture 2

12:45 - 13:45   Lunch

13:45 - 14:45   Lecture 3

14:45 - 15:00   Questions and dispersal

A sandwich lunch will be provided accompanied by soft drinks.

Tickets are now on sale online at Tickets or can be purchased from Yetti Dutton at lectures from January 2025.

A MORNING OF DISCOVERY

The morning's two lectures tell the stories of alchemy and adventure behind some of our most colourful paintings.

Death by Wallpaper: Colourful Stories of Chemical Pigments and Dyes      

Was Napoleon killed by his green wallpaper? This story begins in 1775 with a German chemist and his experiments with arsenic. The resulting powerful green reached its height of popularity when worn by "Queen of Fashion", Empress Eugénie. It was printed on wallpaper by Morris & Co. and was a favourite of plein-air artists, such as Monet, Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh, keen to capture the freshness of nature. But a century later, it was rebranded as rat-poison.

Alchemy and Adventure: A History of Exotic Colours and Poisonous Pigments      

In our modern world it’s easy to take colour for granted. Yet before organic chemistry the most desirable pigments were often exotic or poisonous. Merchants supplied pungent yellow ‘purree’ nuggets from India, cochineal ‘grana’ from the holds of Spanish galleons, lapis rock carried by camel train from the mountains of Badakhshan. Alchemists prepared deadly ‘King’s Yellow’ and ‘Ruby of Arsenic’. ‘Moorish Gold’ was concocted, according to a 12th century monk, from basilisk powder ground with human blood!

Lynne Gibson

For the past ten years Lynne has worked as an independent art historian with a busy freelance schedule. She gives talks, lectures, courses and guided tours to a wide range of organisations around the UK and abroad, including ARCA colleges, art galleries and museums, art societies, the Art Fund, the National Trust and The Arts Society.

She also contributes educational material and gallery talks to exhibitions organised by institutions including The National Gallery, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, The Whitworth Art Gallery and The Lady Lever Art Gallery.

Her lecturing experience includes art history courses for Bristol and Sussex Universities, university life-long learning summer schools in art history and painting, teaching in schools and sixth form colleges, and painting, drawing and printmaking courses in art colleges.

She has prioritised art history over recent years, but previously has worked professionally as an etcher and a painter in oils. Solo and group exhibitions have included the RWA, the British Museum, the Guild Gallery in Bristol and London's Barbican. Work is held in private and public collections and has been used in a range of publications, including newspapers, periodicals and for book covers.

Her first degree was in Fine Art and Education, her MA  in 'Language, The Arts and Education' led by Professor Peter Abbs (both The University of Sussex). Her interests always have encompassed art history, theory and art making.

The conventional discipline of art history, with its specialization in periods and artist's oeuvres, did not appeal to her, finding it too limiting. Rather, how we view, understand and enjoy art in its stylistic, historical and social context is her overriding concern.

Please note there will be no coffee on arrival as refreshments will be served at 1130 after the first lecture.

Timings for the morning are: 

1st Lecture: 1030 to 1130

Coffee and Cake break: 1130 to 1150

2nd lecture: 1150 to 1250

Departure: 1300

Tickets are now available online at TICKETS or can be purchased at lectures from July 2024.

A MORNING OF DISCOVERY 

Two illuminating and fascinating lectures by Annalie Talent.  Following a career in teaching Annalie has spent many years working on education programmes at museums and literary houses across UK. At Jane Austen's House in Hampshire she won 2 Sandford Awards for Excellence in Heritage Education; she also worked with the British Library, the Bodleian Library and Chawton House in promoting Austen's work to young people. 

GIRLS BEHAVING BADLY : JANE  AUSTEN'S WICKED WOMEN 

Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy and fearless. 

Jane Austen's novels depict a genteel world of county houses in which everyone is expected to be on their best behaviour. But what happens when this world of manners and morals breaks down?  This lecture explores how far Austen subverted her readers' expectations and rebelled against what was expected of women in her day. From the riotous and rebellious girls that populate her teenage writings to the more famous heroines of her mature works, this is an enlightening and surprising look at the life and work of a woman who once declared 'If I am a wild beast, I cannot help it.' 

JANE AUSTEN AND THE ART OF SATIRE 

For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in turn? 

Jane Austen was a gifted social satirist. Despite the fact that her novels are best known today as love stories, throughout her work she takes delight in lampooning human folly and vanity.  We know that she was inspired by satirical writings of the 18th century, but to what extent may she have been influenced by the satirical art of her day?

This lecture explores links between the visual image and the written word drawing on a range of satirical prints published during Austen's lifetime. How far did these images influence and inspire one of our best loved novelists?

Please note there will be no coffee on arrival as refreshments will be served at 1130 after the first lecture.

Timings for the morning are: 

1st Lecture: 1030 to 1130

Coffee and Cake break: 1130 to 1150

2nd lecture: 1150 to 1250

Departure: 1300

TICKETS

This Day of Discovery focuses on two fascinating men and one brilliant woman who were probably the most famous people of their age. They were very different from one another, but were nevertheless drawn together by politics and war in the case of Napoleon and Wellington, and by love and culture in the case of Napoleon and Josephine. It is split into three lectures as follows:

1. First we'll look at the incredible story of the son of a lawyer from Corsica who rose to become Emperor of the French, conquering much of Europe before finally being defeated and sent into exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. We'll attempt to explain the nature of his genius and assess his achievements and failures, his strengths and his weaknesses. We'll also look at his place in history and at how he was depicted by artists. In some ways it is a very human story, but one which focuses on one of the most remarkable men who has ever lived.

2. We'll then turn our attention to Napoleon’s first wife, the Empress Josephine, who was a passionate gardener, book collector, patron and art collector. Her reputation for generosity, charm and gentleness of manner was of enormous value to Napoleon as a counterpart to the otherwise military and legalistic tenor of his regime. We'll take in the wide range of her cultural activities, including her acquisition of a large and distinguished collection of pictures – among them by far the most important group of works by an entirely new school of painting – the troubadours (who painted beautifully crafted historical scenes). Indeed, among female royal collectors her only superior is the incomparable Catherine the Great.

3. Finally, we'll move to Britain and study Napoleon's nemesis, the 1st Duke of Wellington - also a man of military genius, but utterly different in character from Napoleon who once dismissed him as a 'sepoy general' and left a bequest in his will to a man who had tried to assassinate the Duke. We'll assess Wellington's military talents and also look at his long life after Waterloo which included two spells as Prime Minister. As with Napoleon and Josephine, art will by no means be neglected as the Duke acquired a very fine collection of paintings many of which can still be seen today at his London home, Apsley House and, as we'll also see, both men were often the butt of the scurrilous cartoonists of their time.

MR STEPHEN DUFFY

Educated at New College, Oxford, and formerly Senior Curator of the Wallace Collection where he had particular responsibility for exhibitions and nineteenth-century paintings. He has given countless tours of the Collection for visiting groups and many lectures on its art and other related subjects. His latest publication, The Discovery of Paris, is a book on early nineteenth-century watercolour views of Paris by major British artists.

The presentations will be held in the Methodist Church, St Edmunds Church Street, Salisbury. Tmings will be as follow:

10:00 - 10:30   Arrival and coffee

10:30 - 11:30   Lecture 1

11:30 - 11:45   Break

11:45 - 12:45   Lecture 2

12:45 - 13:45   Lunch

13:45 - 14:45   Lecture 3

14:45 - 15:00   Questions and dispersal

A sandwich lunch will be provided accompanied by soft drinks.

Tickets are now available to book on-line or from Yetti Dutton at our lectures. To book on-line follow the link :  BUY TICKETS Sold Out

Ian Gledhill who gave an outstanding lecture to the Society in December 2022 has been persuaded to return to present a Day of Discovery on Gilbert and Sullivan. The day will consist of three lectures which are summarised below.

1  Sir Arthur Sullivan - The Great Hope of British Music
Arthur Sullivan was without doubt the most famous British composer of the 19th century.  Having won the first Mendelssohn Prize at the age of just 14, and producing a symphony in his early twenties, he was believed to be our answer to the great German symphonic masters like Mozart and Beethoven.  And it was his ambition, too, to be counted as a great serious composer with his orchestral music, his oratorios and grand opera.  But fate led him down a different path, and today he is almost exclusively remembered for the sequence of comic operas he wrote wih W.S. Gilbert.  In this first lecture, we look at his life and the variety of music he created independant of his famous collaborator.

2   W.S. Gilbert - Man of the Theatre
Like Sullivan, Gilbert today is remembered almost solely for the "Savoy Operas", as his work with Sullivan came to be called.  But in his day his influence on British theatre was enormous.  He was for a considerable period far and away the most famous dramatist of his time, and he almost single handedly changed the whole approach to theatre management and stage production in the 19th century, with a legacy that lasts up to the present day.  In this lecture we look at some of his now forgotten output, and consider the revolution in theatre craft he brought about.

3   Gilbert and Sullivan - An Enduring Legacy
Despite the relative success of their respective careers, it is only when Gilbert and Sullivan came together that theatre magic was created.  It is astonishing that what were considered mere popular entertainments in their day are still performed the world over well over 100 years later.  Their enormous success was the springboard for the rise of British musical theatre, but while they encouraged others to enter the field, their continuing fame has overshadowed all their contemporaries.  With examples from each of their shows, we look at the enduring appeal of this unique partnership.

Ian Gledhill has had a very varied career, from designing underground railways as an engineer for London Transport, to appearing in pantomime with Julian Clary. In between he has worked in travel and tourism, music publishing, television, and especially the theatre, where he has been an actor, director, set designer, stage manager and opera translator. His main interests include architecture, history, transport and classical music, especially opera and operetta, and these are reflected in the wide ranging list of subjects for his lectures.

The presentations will be held in the Methodist Church, St Edmunds Church Street, Salisbury. Tmings will be as follow:

10:00 - 10:30   Arrival and coffee

10:30 - 11:30   Lecture 1

11:30 - 11:45   Break

11:45 - 12:45   Lecture 2

12:45 - 13:45   Lunch

13:45 - 14:45   Lecture 3

14:45 - 15:00   Questions and dispersal

A sandwich lunch will be provided accompanied by soft drinks.

BUY TICKETS

Contact: daysofd.artssarum@gmail.com

We were delighted to welcome Brian Healey to our Day of Discovery as we travelled in style, with him,  across the Atlantic to New York. 

Brian has had  an eclectic career and continues to be very much in demand as a lecturer and a guide to many European cities and museums. In the 1980s he was a modern day language teacher whilst pursuing, in parallel, his career as an accomplished artist and interior designer. He went on to become an outstanding lecturer and remains  very much in demand worldwide both as a cruise lecturer and lecturer for the  Arts Society. 

His first lecture sailed us in style by luxury transatlantic liner in the golden days of the Blue Riband. We saw rare archive interior photographs illustrating how changing tastes were met from the the elegance of the French chateau to "streamline moderne".  

His second lecture placed us in New York at the end of the 19th century,  through the eyes of the Ashcan School of American painters who captured both graphically and boldly the daily lives and struggle  of those and their families  who laboured with sweat to help build New York city. 

Our final lecture related the fascinating tale of how Tiffany and Co developed from a small loan and a bric-a-brac store into today's iconic business. We saw the redesigning of the now lost interior of the White House, the manufacture of exquisite glass and the cutting and design of dazzling diamonds as worn by Elizabeth Taylor as well as Audrey Hepburn in the iconic film "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

Brian's knowledge and passion held us captive throughout the day and we look forward to his return soon.

Nearly 600 years since the Silk Road has been used for international trade the routes had a lasting impact on commerce, culture and history that resonates today.

Dr Susan Whitfield will introduce the Silk Road history and cultures; its exploration and discovery and a look at several wonderful pieces of art.

The Reading Room Stratford Sub Castle from 1030 am to 3.00 pm 

Tickets for members: £35 which includes a finger food lunch and glass of wine.

Non members: £38
Limited to 45 seats.
Book Early