The lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a grafitti tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980’s to one of the most famous artists in the world.
Upcoming Events
This lecture traces the beginnings of the abolition of slavery through the eyes of Dido Elizabeth Belle a black woman living in Kenwood House in the late 18th century
This day consists of three lectures.
Part 1: Cook and the Invention of Paradise - Voyages and Discoveries.
Part 2: Omai, the Exotic and Joshua Reynolds.
Part 3: Invention and Re-Invention: Gauguin’s Portraits and the Myth of Paradise.
How did a German refugee from Hitler become the Grand Old Man of English art history.
Through illustrations taken from wall paintings, sculpture, mosaics, pottery, and stone carvings Sarah will explain the fascinating history of the harp and its journey along the Silk Road to Asia, and into Europe.
Food and Art Through the Ages is a whistle-stop tour of the history of food as artistic medium; starting with 16th century sugar sculpture and venturing all the way up to 3D dessert printing and beyond.
The Art of the Automobile.
The Art Deco movement inspired a golden age of car design, including the ‘Great Gatsby era’ when some of the most fabulous cars ever created were produced.
Many of our beloved fairy stories and Disney movies originated from much darker and deeper tales. This lecture will reveal the violent nature of some not-so-happy-ever-afters.
An exploration of how common plants like brambles can be used to help solve serious crimes such as murder, assault or arson.
Following in the footsteps of Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir we analyse what was new about Impressionist landscape paintings: their experiments with colour theory, new synthetic pigments, and, most importantly, the distinctly modern landscape that they chose to depict.
Why did George Joy’s ‘The Death of General Gordon’, a painting dismissed by critics and scholars, become one of the iconic images of the British empire
“The Gentle Art of Making Enemies”
Self assured, affected and irreverent, the owner of a razor sharp wit, Whistler scandalised London society during the 1870's.
In this talk archaeologist and broadcaster Julian Richards will examine Stonehenge as a piece of prehistoric architecture before exploring it's influence on painters, potters and poets over the centuries.
In 2016 Kate Strasdin was given an unusual volume produced in the mid-19th century. It contained over 2000 swatches of fabric pasted into a marbled album but it had no provenance and no known background. Kate spent the next six years uncovering its secrets, discovering its author and the life that she led.