The Arts Society Sedgemoor
Lecture programme 2019/20
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Tosca in Rome (followed by the AGM) Simon Rees Wednesday 05 February 2020
Lecture starts at 2.15 pm
Simon Rees, formerly dramaturg at Welsh National Opera, has worked on several productions of Puccini’s Tosca, and illustrates his lecture with musical examples and with photographs of the buildings, and of the costumes and sets which the opera has inspired.
This lecture will be followed by the (short) AGM, an opportunity to learn a little more about your society.
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JANE TAPLEY Wednesday 01 April 2020
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
By following the career of possibly the greatest female author of all time, we will journey through one of the major literary periods and learn about the new-style novel's rise in popularity. We shall hear about Jane’s quiet, private upbringing and her struggle for independence.
Jane Tapley is currently Special Events Organiser at the Theatre Royal Bath. She interviews visiting actors, writers and directors and lectures regularly to theatre going societies, NT, history and fine arts groups. Jane is a West Country Tourist Board Registered Blue Badge Guide and Lecturer and an author and researcher of theatre programme notes on Hamlet, Sheridan's The Rivals and Jane Austen's Emma. In her spare time Jane is a theatrical landlady, a home economist and a consultant to various TV productions of Jane Austen adaptations relating to food in the 18th and 19th centuries. She hosts and cooks period meals in her Regency house in Bath for the Jane Austen Festival and other literary groups.
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
Note earlier starting time
Stonehenge is the most celebrated and sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the British Isles. This lecture explains why Stonehenge must be regarded as architectural in its layout and construction, embodying techniques that for centuries convinced antiquarians that it could not have been built by ‘primitive’ ancient Britons but must be a product of ‘sophisticated’ Romans.
We then explore how, over the last two centuries, this iconic structure has inspired painters, potters and poets including Blake, Turner, Constable and Moore who have all been drawn to this magnificent ruin, resulting in a diverse catalogue of images and impressions. Finally, we will look at Stonehenge as a global icon and how it’s instantly recognisable stones now grace tea towels in Wiltshire, phone cards in Japan and stamps from Bhutan.
Julian studied archaeology at Reading University and has since worked as a professional archaeologist, in commercial archaeology, for English Heritage, for the BBC and as an independent. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992 and is being awarded an honorary doctorate. He has been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education, to groups and societies and to special interest tour companies. A career in broadcasting involved Julian in researching and presenting Meet the Ancestors and Blood of the Vikings for BBC2, and Mapping the Town for Radio 4. He is the author of a number of English Heritage publications on Stonehenge, including the previous and current guide books to the monument and landscape. Guest curator of Wish you were here, an exhibition of his own extensive collection of 'Stonehengiana' is currently on display at the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre. He also curated an exhibition for the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, in 2016.
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
Rodin is one of the heroic figures of 19th century art history and was internationally celebrated during his lifetime. After his death his reputation slipped and there were questions about his use of the female form. That is now being reassessed and he is seen as having in one lifetime taken sculpture on a revolutionary path equivalent to what the Realists, Impressionists and Post Impressionists collectively did over many years. This lecture surveys his work showing why he is one of the greatest sculptors ever, looking at his work in relationship to 19th century sculpture as well assessing his continuing relevance.
David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied fine art in London, Barcelona and New York. As well as being a maker he also curates and writes about art. He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009.
David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors, and was Vice President in 2010-13.
He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan. His work is in the museum of the Creative Cities Collection in Beijing. He has had solo shows at the Lefevre Gallery, Sladers Yard, Horatio’s Garden, the William Bennington Gallery, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and in October 2017 at the Lightbox Gallery Museum, Woking.
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
Betty Joel, born Mary Stewart Lockhart, ran a furniture making and design business. At its peak, in the 1920s and 30s, Betty Joel Ltd employed 50 craftsmen and had showrooms in Knightsbridge. With no formal training, she created, through a flair for branding and marketing, the leading furnishing company of the day in London. The talk explores her early life and marriage to David Joel, and her exhibitions, and projects. Her clients included royalty, high society, politicians, banks, hotels (such as the Savoy in London) as well as film companies and theatres. The style and glamour of 1930s' design is brought to life and retells the story of a determined woman in a world still run by men.
Clive studied on the Sotheby's Works of Art course and has now been working in the fine art world for 40 years. Managing Director of Woolley and Wallis, the UK's leading regional auctioneers in Salisbury, he has been a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow for over 20 years. He has also lectured on cruise ships as well as for many other groups, and recently published a major article in the Journal of the Decorative Arts Society on Betty Joel.
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
The Pre-Raphaelite painters were rebels both artistically and in their conduct which often shocked their Victorian contemporaries. Most indulged in romantic affairs with beautiful women whom Rossetti called ‘The Stunners’. Julian will examine the roles of Fanny Cornforth, Lizzie Siddall, Annie Miller, Janey Morris, Maria Zambaco, Alexa Wilding and Effie Ruskin in the private lives of the painters. Millais’ elopement with Ruskin’s wife broke up the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was a notorious scandal in Victorian Britain. Finally I show how these women were very modern in their attitudes and their dress and how the Pre-Raphaelite concept of beauty has endured.
Julian Studied History of Art at Cambridge. Formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art, his publications include Venice - the Artist's Vision (1990, 1995), The Art of Diana Armfield RA (1995), Dictionary of Scottish Painters (1990, 1998, 2001, 4th edition 2010), A Hand to Obey the Demon's Eye (2000), Scottish Watercolours 1740-1940 (1986, 1991) and A Private View - David Wolfers and the New Grafton Gallery (2002). He interviews artists for the Artist Magazine and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and The Critics Circle. A practising artist, he was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1994 and appointed Keeper in 2010.
LECTURE STARTS AT 2.15 pm
Over a period of five hundred years the great medieval cathedrals of England were built. In terms of resources called upon, space covered, design and craftsmanship employed, this period marks the greatest single architectural achievement in English history. From Durham to Gloucester the lecture follows the evolution of cathedral building with particular reference to structural and aesthetic details together with some of the fascinating figures and events behind them – portraits in stone as rich as a great East Window.
Mark was born on the Isles of Scilly and educated at Truro School, Cornwall, and Birmingham University. His career has been spent in education and training at home and abroad. He has lectured at Exeter College on Medieval and Tudor history, St Mark's & St John's University College, Plymouth, and at Bath University on Anglo Saxon and medieval England. Currently runs two small companies providing training and study breaks.