|
Previous Lectures
2009 - 2010
2008 - 2009
2007 - 2008
2006 - 2007
2005 - 2006
2004 - 2005
|
Lectures 2009 -2010
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Collecting the 20th Century
Paul Atterbury
Paul Atterbury has been a member of BBC TV's Antiques Roadshow
team of experts for the last nineteen years, working usually in
the miscellaneous section which gives him ample opportunity to
explore the antiques and collectables of the 19th and
20th centuries. Other television appearances include The Great
Antiques Hunt, and The Antiques Show, as well as
participating in Hidden Treasures on BBC
Radio Four.
During his life he has been a
graphic designer, guide book and travel writer, magazine editor,
lecturer, broadcaster, exhibition curator at the Victoria & Albert
Museum in London and publisher. He has also found the time to
write over thirty books, on ceramics, silver and jewellery, Art
Deco design, travel, local history, canals and railways.
Over the last thirty years, Paul has given over 2000 lectures on
many aspects of the art, architecture and design history of the
19th and 20th centuries. He has lectured to
universities and colleges, antiques societies and collectors’
clubs, NADFAS groups ,Christie’s Education and for the Victoria
and Albert Museum in Britain, United States, Europe, Canada and
Australia.
Photos:
Top: Paul Atterbury with a future collectible.
Middle: The committee of DFAS with Paul Atterbury.
Bottom: Paul Atterbury and DFAS members.
Collecting in the 20th century is both a cultural
phenomenon and a popular pastime. The styles that launched the
century, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, are well established, but the
second half of the century is less familiar in collecting terms.
Starting in the 1940s, this talk looks at the various styles
that dominated European taste and fashion until the 1990s, in
order to identify what is collected now and what may be collected
in the future.
Emphasis is on design, the decorative arts, industrial production and the
domestic interior. The lecturer would be happy if members
attending the lecture brought along items they considered to be
possible antiques of the future.
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Queen Victoria: Success through Portraiture and her Struggle for the Throne
Dr. Kate Williams
Dr Kate Williams is an author and
historian, specialising in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries. She
speaks regularly on Radio 4 and has consulted and appeared on
historical programmes for BBC and Channel 4. She presented
'Camilla's Family Secrets' for the Reveal ed Series on Channel 5 and
the History Channel in July 2008 and a one hour Timewatch special
on 'Young Victoria' on BBC 2 in October 2008.
Kate's biography of Emma Hamilton, England's Mistress: the Infamous
Life of Emma Hamilton was 'Book of the Week' on Radio 4, shortlisted
for the Marsh/ English Speaking Union Prize for best biography
published in 2005-6, chosen by the Times as a Book of the Year and
the Independent as best biography read of the summer 2007.
Becoming Queen, about the Regency monarchy and the passionate youth of
Queen Victoria was published in September 2008, and serialized in
the Sunday Telegraph.
Kate studied her BA at Oxford, her MA at
London and her DPhil at Oxford in 18th century cultures and
narratives of seduction.
Our view of Queen Victoria is often as a
staid, dreary, granite faced monarch, who lived according to strict
moral codes and was never ‘amused’. But in her youth, she was very
different.
In this illustrated talk, the truth about Queen Victoria
will be uncovered, showing she was a wild, vibrant girl, with
passions that often got her into trouble – and a headstrong woman.
Her struggle against her mother for power was the biggest
mother-daughter struggle in history.
Her portraits will also be
explored showing her impact on the visual culture of her age.
Right:
Dr
Kate Williams
|
|
|
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
The Ego Adorned:
A Fascinating Story
Jennie Baeten
Jennie Baeten received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of
Brussels. She is
the Special Events and PR Manager of the Antwerp World Diamond
Centre.
She has organised several exhibitions including “From the Treasury”
in the framework of Antwerp Cultural Capital of Europe, “Living
Diamonds, Fauna & Flora in Diamond Jewellery” in the Antwerp Diamond
Museum, “Diamond Divas”, “Kunst met diamantinspiratie” and “Look
2000” (Diamond inspired art). She is involved in the HRD Awards
which is an international contemporary diamond jewellery design
competition recognized as one of the world’s leading design contests
in creative and innovative diamond jewellery.
 The
Antwerp World Diamond Centre, acts as the spokesman and
coordinator for all activities in the diamond sector. It is the
official liaison with governments (national and international) and
represents the collective interests of the Belgian diamond sector.
AWDC is also the marketing & public relations organisation of the
Antwerp diamond trade and industry, responsible for the promotion
of Antwerp as the world leading diamond centre.
The Diamond
Square Mile, Antwerp’s diamond sector, is mainly active around the
Central Railway Station. It is a multicultural hive of activity,
buzzing with the business of import and export of rough and
polished diamonds, as well as industrial diamond, in every
possible colour, shape or form and quality.
Antwerp has four diamond bourses. Beurs voor Diamanthandel,
Diamantclub van Antwerpen, Vrije Diamanthandel and Antwerpsche
Diamantkring.
They form an
essential part of the commercial infrastructure of the diamond
business, acting as meeting points for buyers from around the
world.
Did you know
that:
• 8 in 10 of
all rough diamonds in the world are handled in Antwerp.
• 1 in 2 of
all polished diamonds pass through Antwerp.
• Antwerp has
the most renowned diamond polishers in the world.
• The highest
international mark of approval for polished diamonds is the “Cut
in Antwerp” label.
• In 2007 the
Antwerp diamond sector realised a total import and export of 42.3
billion US dollars.
• 1800
international diamond companies are located in the Antwerp diamond
square mile.
• 34,000
people are directly and indirectly employed by the Belgian diamond
sector.
Diamond jewellery has been and still is
influenced by deeply rooted religious convictions, economical
changes, technical evolutions, changes in the way of life and less
effected by short-term whims of fashion. Although a diamond jewel is
a "joy of beauty" of its own, it is yet more fascinating to regard
it as a product of its era with all the information it can offer.
Our lecturer from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre will put us in
the holiday mood with this history of diamond jewellery.
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
The Art of the Panorama and Cyclorama:
Nineteenth Century ‘Circlevision’
Prof. Ian Beckett
Professor Beckett who studied at the
Universities of Lancaster and London and became a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society has vast lecturing experience including the
Universities of the US Marine Corps, Salford and Luton, RMA
Sandhurst, various historical societies and cruise ships. He is
currently Professor of History at the University of Northampton. He
is known internationally for his work on the Great War, the British
army, and modern counter-insurgency. His many publications include
Territorials: A Century of Service, The Great War, 1914-1918,
The
Victorians at War, The First World War: The Essential Guide to
Sources in the UK National Archives , Modern Insurgencies and
Counter-insurgencies, and The Amateur Military Tradition, 1558-1945.
Above: Panorama Mesdag in the Hague.
Below: Chairman and lecturer, Professor Ian Beckett.
The 360-degree panorama painting, or
cyclorama as known in the US, was a remarkable 19th century
phenomenon marrying art, mass popular entertainment and
commercialism. Over 300 were painted, 28 remain, with just 16 still
being displayed in rotundas around the world. The talk looks at
their origins, popularity; production, marketing, reception by
critics and audiences; the revival and decline of panoramas in the
last quarter of the 19th century; and its use as a medium for the
projection of nationalism and the continuing production of panoramas
in totalitarian states since 1945. Attention is drawn to some of the
best of the surviving panoramas in Europe and North America.
Below: Chairman Jane Choy handing a DFAS
donation for Panorama Mesdag to director Drs Marijnke de Jong.
Centre picture is the lecturer Professor Ian Beckett.
|
|
|
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Houses and Gardens of the Bordeaux Region
Helen McCabe
Helen McCabe read French at university and
studied history of art and architecture at the École du Louvre in
Paris. She has always particularly loved those parts of France with
close historic links with England, - namely Normandy and the Bordeaux
region (Aquitaine).
She grew up in Cornwall and has now returned to
live in her childhood home. She was commissioned to write a book on
the house and Gardens of Cornwall.
This lecture will cover the wide range of
architecture from medieval castles, 16th and 17th century chateaux,
elegant 18th century townhouses and the famous wine chateaux
themselves to quirky seaside villas all of which reflect the culture
of Aquitaine.
Three gardens will also be examined all showing just
how sophisticated beautiful French gardens can be.
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Splendours of North Africa, - Roman and Islamic Art of Libya, Tunisia and Morocco
Christopher Bradley
Mr. Bradley is an expert in the history and
culture of the Middle East and North Africa. As a professional tour
guide and lecturer he has led groups throughout Africa, the Middle
East and Asia. He has written extensively on Arabia and is the
author of The Discovery Guide to Yemen, Insight Guide to the Silk
Road and the Berlitz Guide to Libya.
As a photographer he has
pictures represented by four photographic libraries. He has a broad
range of lecturing experience, including to the Royal Geographical
Society and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
As a film
producer and cameraman he has made documentaries for the BBC,
National Geographic TV and Channel 4.
The wealth of Ancient Roman is widely evident in
North Africa's magnificent forgotten cities and villas with fabulous
mosaics, while the ports handling the attendant Trans-Saharan trade,
Leptis Magna, Cyrene, Oea, Sabratha and Carthage, became so powerful
that a Libyan, Septimius Severus, even became Emperor in 193 AD.
The
Romans were replaced by the Byzantines, who introduced their own
Christian–themed mosaics into North Africa.
Islam quickly swept in
from Arabia bringing a new architecture and decoration, and has
remained ever since.
In this lecture we will plunder the wealth of
the Bardo and Tripoli museums.
Our lecturer Christopher Bradley and DFAS committee celebrating our 19th anniversary
|
|
|
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
The History of the Long Case Clock
Dr. Colin Lattimore, OBE
Dr. Lattimore, a medical practitioner
trained at University College Hospital, London has had a career in
public health medicine but for many years he has also had a wide
interest in the English decorative and applied fine arts. He has
lectured extensively for extra mural boards of various universities
and written several books on a variety of subjects including silver,
porcelain, heraldry and watercolours.
However his special interest
is in the field of clocks and watches. He is a liveryman and past
master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and is a past
president of the British Horological Institute and chairman of the
Friends of the Clockmakers’ Museum in the City of London. He is an
honorary keeper of locks and watches at the Fitzwilliam Museum in
Cambridge.
He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire for services to English decorative and applied
fine arts and to the community in Cambridge.
The lecture starts with a review of early
timekeepers from sundials onwards. This is followed by the
introduction of mechanical timekeeping using a weight driven
mechanism. The development is traced through turret clocks and
lantern clocks to the long case clock which was in fashion for about
180 years from 1660 – 1840, then coming back into fashion as an
antique in the 20th century.
The story involves the artistic,
mechanical, social and commercial aspects. It relates the
development to the business and social needs of
the period.
|
|
|
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Ocean Liner Art: Ships that Shaped Our Lives 1800-1950
James Taylor
Mr. Taylor is the former curator of
paintings, drawings and prints and co-ordinator of various
exhibitions and galleries at the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, and is also lecturer and ships historian on board cruise
ships.
His publications include Marine
Painting and Yachts on Canvas as well as the catalogue
for the exhibition Rule Britannia! Art, Power and Royalty to mark the
400th anniversary
of Jamestown.
DFAS committee at the last lecture of the season.
The vision and engineering genius of Isambard Kingdom Brunel underpins this global story of hopes and
dreams, disasters and triumphs. This talk features a wide range of
ships, including Great Britain and Great Western, Lusitania and
Mauretania, Olympic and Titanic, as well as arguably the most
popular of all the ocean liners the Queen Mary.
The shipping lines
and personalities behind them will be brought to life through
historic and contemporary artworks.
This is a lively talk with a
diverse mix of images including insights into shipboard design and
striking Art Deco
shipping posters.
|
|
|
|
|
