A Morning of Special Interest

Wednesday 8th July 2026

Join us and enjoy

A ROYAL MORNING

IN CELEBRATION OF THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Presented by Barbara Askew

There will be 2 lectures

The development of Windsor Castle from an 11th Century Fortress to the Magnificent Palace it is today

And

The Artistic Tastes of King Charles I, King Charles II and King Charles III.

Join us for registration at 9.30am

The first lecture will be at 10.00am followed by

Coffee and delicious cakes

Second lecture will be at 11.45am

Cost £27.00

To Book either at the April and May lectures

or by emailing Julie Griffiths at juliedgriffiths@btinternet.com

Payment by Bank Transfer to:

The Ashridge Decorative and Fine Arts Society

Sort Code: 30-92-93 Account Number: 66041960

Payment Reference: Your Name 

Simon, a performer, lecturer, and Blue Badge guide, delves into Oscar Wilde's rise and fall, exploring The Importance of Being Earnest - its wit, themes, satire and role in Wilde's ultimate downfall.

Stubbs' paintings were based on formidable scientific method and investigation, leading him to become the country's greatest animal painter and being decsribed as 'The English Leonardo'.

Carole, an experienced guide, combines art and storytelling to describe Notre Dame's enduring symbolic power. She explores the artefacts, history, and legends including Quasimodo's role in saving the cathedral from earlier destruction.

This lecture will trace Banksy's journey from tagger in Bristol to becoming world-renowned, looking at the reasons behind his incredible rise, some of his stunts and his influence on the art market today.

Jo is an art historin with experience at a number of leading gallaries. She explains how 'looking slowly' deepens our understanding of impressionist paintings, enhancing our appreciation of their colour, texture, and those transitory images captured by artists

An opportunity to 'travel' to New York, to visit its premier modern art museum and to tour the collection, giving us a chance to experience exciting works by both modern and contemporary artists.

                     (Zoom meeting)

Timothy, a distinguished botanist, and former Director of the Oxford Botanic Gardens, shows how Christmas folklore ignores plants and will use The Twelve Days of Christmas to highlight their true place in festive tradition.

This lecture will examine the ingredients of different types of musicals; allowing speech, song, dance and story to co-exist in an onstage world that can feel so real, yet is defined by artifice.

Ray, an art historian, unveils Britain's most favourite artworks and reveals the ones that came close. He will ask the audience to submit their favourites and show how popularity is not necessarily matched by artistic merit.

In seventeenth century France, chateau design owed much to one man, the enigmatic Nicolas Fouquet. Carole’s lecture explores his innovative architecture and garden design and tells the story of how his apparent invincibility was undone by one grave error.

In this lecture, we will look into the history and beauty of the crowns, sceptre, orb and other royal jewels used during the coronation ceremonies of British kings and queens for

hundreds of years.

Justin shows how human emotions such as happiness, sadness and curiosity are essential to art.  He examines the difference between the  robotic imitation of the physical world and the creation of human art which enhances our lives.

Using an extraordinary fourteen-foot-long printed panorama of the north bank of the Thames created in 1749, Peter’s lecture will take us on a journey along the early Georgian river from Westminster to the Tower of London.

You will remember Stuart for his virtual tour of Rome in 2023.  Today he’s here in person to talk on Raphael and how his works have influenced artists for centuries.  We will learn about his patrons, his love life and his untimely death.

The Mauritshuis is one of the most beautiful art galleries in Holland, whose collection of 17th century Dutch paintings is considered one of the top four in the world. Jane’s tour will

make you feel as if you are there in person.

N.B. This will be a zoom meeting.

Dickens has been proclaimed as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and his books have done much to foster the festive spirit. Today Bertie will present a Dickensian Christmas complete with conjuring tricks.

Angels are all around us, we just need to look.  In this lecture Alexandra will reveal some of those that are hidden within the City of London, appearing as public art, on memorials and monuments.

Stradivari’s violins are the most highly prized instruments in the world; their tone and beauty being legendary. Toby, who has written a highly regarded book on Stradivari, will use recordings to unveil the secret of his genius.

A writer and historian, Simon specialises in the architecture and heritage of sport and recreation. Although this seems an unlikely subject for an Arts Society lecture, we will soon learn that Simon’s themes are architecture, design, heritage and popular culture.  In 2024 Paris will host the Olympics and, while most onlookers will focus on sport; art and design will also play a part, as they have since the games began nearly three thousand years ago. Every four years modern day hosts unveil dazzling new architecture and from nudity to Nike and from sand to synthetics, the Olympic story offers art lovers pure gold.

When we receive a letter or Christmas card we often recognise the handwriting.  Recognising the hand of an artist requires much the same skill.  This lecture looks at a wide range of artists and puts into words what it is that tells us a picture is by Rubens rather than Rembrandt or Van Dyck. Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989 and is a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions. She’ll show us how to look at a painting and have the enormous satisfaction of instantly recognising the artist.

James, who is a former curator of the National Maritime Museum, will show us how Grace Darling’s courageous rescue of steamship passengers off the Northumberland coast in 1838 brought her international fame.  In this talk, timed to coincide with the bi-centenary of the founding of the RNLI, we will see how Grace was the first woman to be awarded the Institute’s medal for gallantry and became their ‘poster girl’.  James will also tell us of the many artistic contributions that served to keep her in the public eye.

As well as being an Arts Society lecturer, John also lectures at SOAS and is a regular contributor to British and Indian media.  In this lecture, he will show us some of the stunning buildings and gardens constructed by the Mughal Emperors whose architecture fused Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian traditions and gave rise to some of the most iconic buildings in the world. From the Jama Masjid in Delhi to the Taj Mahal in Agra to the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, this lecture will visit some of India’s greatest buildings and provide insight into the historical contexts and colourful personalities involved in their construction.

After an entertaining Zoom lecture last year, Sophie joins us in person to tell the story of a remarkable book, In Chaldaicam Lingua, published by Theseo Ambrogio in 1539.  Ambrogio, the Pope’s enforcer of doctrine, also happened to have an uncle who invented a new kind of bagpipe.  Sadly, no version of the bagpipe was ever made so, not wanting his uncle’s legacy to be forgotten, Ambrogio included the designs in his new book of prayer.  Sophie will play  a reconstruction of the Uncle’s Bagpipe and she will tell us of a seance Ambrogio held with the devil; complete with the devil’s answer.

Mark is a theatre critic, editor, feature writer and freelance journalist who will introduce us to the principles of arts criticism and show you how to put these into practice. The lecture will take us from the present day into the past and along the way we will learn lessons on how to think about the arts.  Mark will ask questions about the place of the artist, the role of the critic and the ways in which we can discuss the art we enjoy in a productive and creative way.

Note This lecture will be on ZOOM

Peter is a musician and scholar, giving recitals, delivering illustrated lectures and leading tours on music and the arts. He is a returning lecturer whose most recent lecture for us was our first on Zoom.

He will show us how Vivaldi is the one Baroque composer whose music is a direct reflection of the city in which it was composed. Listen to a Vivaldi concerto and you are transported directly to the heart of eighteenth-century Venice. Against this luxurious backdrop and with live musical performances, this lecture explores the amazing world of Vivaldi’s music; music that is as intrinsically Venetian as the canvasses of Canaletto. 

As well as being an Arts Society lecturer, Charles works as a London tour guide and is passionate about his home city.  In this lecture he introduces us to the astonishing range of buildings different faiths have established in London. He will show how new arrivals have left their imprint on the city and how eight different religious communities can each point to a special place, enriching our city with a synagogue, a chapel, a gurdwara, a monastery, a couple of cathedrals, a temple and a mosque.  Although their differences stretch across cultures and three hundred years of persecutions and economic crises their similarities are also striking.

We start the season with Tyler Butterworth who grew up in a theatrical family and spent many years as an actor working in film, television, theatre and radio. He now works as a voice actor, recording audiobooks, documentaries and voiceovers and producing walking audio guides. In this lecture  he speaks of the pains and pleasures of a career in the theatre; taking us through the various intricate processes of putting on a play from the actor’s perspective, all the way from the casting session to the curtain call, revealing how props can let you down at crucial moments, how actors survive when out of work and how to deal with stage nudity😊

Opera is an art form enjoyed by many but it can also be a mystery to those who are not familiar with it.  This lecture will unpack some of opera’s idiosyncrasies – the huge voices, big gestures and bizarre plots.  Sarah has spent her working life in the theatre and she also broadcasts regularly on BBC Radios 3 and 4.  In this talk she will cover practically everything, and everyone involved in putting on a show. The singers, obviously, but also the orchestra, dressers, armourers, stage crew, sound effects and the utterly essential percussionist who bongs the specially tuned gas pipes for Tosca.  

The National Gallery's contains works from the early 13th century through to masterpieces by the Impressionists of the 19th.  But none of these pictures was produced to hang on the walls of a gallery - they have all lived other, often surprising lives. 

Linda, who is an art historian and author will reveal her ten favourite paintings and, although they may not be  the best known and they do change from time to time, she will tell us how  looking into these paintings, asking them questions and reading their stories will help us to understand our own favourites and possibly discover new ones.   

In the aftermath of The Second World War, Britain’s culture changed radically.  Cities were redeveloped in modern brutalist ways and angry young men gave us new forms of drama.  Gentle Ealing comedies were replaced by social realism.  Rock and roll changed the music scene for ever and, in fine art, Hepworth and Heron, Bacon and others were forging bold new directions. In this lecture, Russel, a trained actor, will take you from the end of WWII to the dawn of the Swinging Sixties and tell us how The Festival of Britain showcased a brighter future for all, raising expectations of a new, Elizabethan age that would be a world of unlimited possibilities.  

We tend to think of St Pancras International or New York Grand Central as special places, promising excitement and adventure but there are dozens of equally glorious stations in the UK and abroad. Today, Ian with his passion for architecture, will show us to some of the most evocative and splendid stations in the world, looking at the magnificence of their architecture and their brilliant engineering.  We will also discover numerous artworks within the stations and examine many depictions of stations in art – like Monet’s Gare St Lazare or Frith’s Paddington. It may sound a bit anoraky, but it’s definitely not. It’s lavish, colourful and fun.

Sophie makes and plays a variety of early woodwind instruments including the recorder and  little-known instruments such as the shawm, rauschpfeife, crumhorm.  She will show us how these instruments have played a strong role in symbolism in art and demonstrate what the instruments looked like and the social context in which they would have been played.  Sophie explores the instruments used in selected works and then gives live performances on replicas of the instruments depicted. 

This is a ‘first’ for ADFAS and, to cheer up the dark days of January, we have arranged a virtual tour of the Rome.  Our guide, Stuart has lived in the city since 2003 and, today, he will take us on a ‘stroll’ through the heart of the Eternal City to discover some of the most iconic monuments.  In an area less than a square mile we can admire monuments from twenty-eight centuries of history, from ancient Roman temples to baroque churches. Splendid fountains adorn magnificent piazzas, and we will see how the twentieth century monumentalism of united Italy adds a modern touch to this beautiful city.  

Sometimes called Britain’s greatest ‘Art Form’, Pantomime has been a popular form of entertainment for over 300 years. In the early 18th century, the word was used to describe the performances at Drury Lane Theatre based on the Italian Commedia dell’arte. It was also seen as an opportunity for political satire but it is during the 19th century that the now-familiar, fairy-tale story plots were established.  Malcom, who is a theatre historian and broadcaster will show how, over the years, extrovert Music Hall entertainers have created the traditions that we recognise as the Christmas pantomime of today.

Following last year’s popular lecture,  Nicholas will take us from the Tudor era into the Protestant age and its impact on church design.  We will hear of the wanton destruction during the time of the Commonwealth and how this was followed by restoration and a new approach to worship; how the largely forgotten Georgian period of church architecture was followed by the great gothic revival of the Victorian era and the associated innovations of the Oxford and Cambridge movements. Finally, there is a brief look at how contemporary changes continue to influence church buildings as the English country church continues to reflect the passing of the ages.  

An American artist, living in London, James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a leading proponent of the idea of ‘art for art's sake’. He signed his paintings with a stylized monogram of a butterfly with a long stinger for a tail – as much a symbol of his love of Japanese art as his assertive and sometimes combative nature.  In this lecture, Julia, a graduate of The Courtauld Institute of Art, will tell us how Whistler created a distinctive post-Impressionist style as his art became more abstract and sparked a renaissance in printmaking.  

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art.  Whereas, landscapes had previously been a decorative backdrop, in Bruegel's hands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus. Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, our speaker, Gavin, a respected writer and broadcaster, explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within it. 

Faber and Faber is the last of the great publishing houses to remain independent. Since 1925 the company’s reputation as one of London’s leading publishing houses has been largely due to its insistence on good design and illustration.

This lecture traces the history of Faber and Faber through its illustrations, covers and designs.

Ceremonial music will be to the forefront of celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee, due to take place later this month.  Dr Jones enjoyed an impressive career in military music and is the ideal person to explain how the military prepare for such events.  

This talk will focus particularly on the Grand Union Canal and will examine the unique buildings and structures associated with the UK’s canal network, with its vast array of distinctive designs, landmark features and unusual artefacts.

The Sistine Chapel is a wonder of the modern world. It is a sacred building where mysterious elections take place and thousands visit daily. This lecture will look at the decoration of the ceiling by Michelangelo and concentrate on some of the more unusual inclusions in the Old Testament scheme.

Lavishly illustrated with manuscripts, tapestries, ivories and pieces of goldsmiths’ work, this lecture will explore the origins and development of Courtly Love, which was seen as a phenomenon restricted to the leisured class of wealthy medieval nobility. 

Anna will offer insights into the process and drama of putting together a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition, and open the door on to the inner workings of a museum.

To start our seasonal celebrations, Sandy will present a selection of the world’s finest festive music including excerpts from The Nutcracker and an illustration of the English carol tradition at its finest. 

Nicholas will tell us how the architecture and art of many of our older country churches reveals the development of our social values from the pre-Christian era to the sixteenth century and the Tudors, a period of great architectural and structural change.

Born in Paris, Aliki studied Fine Art in Oxford and London.  This lecture shows how the necessary clutter of daily life came to be used by artists as a language of its own, symbolising complex and invisible ideas.

Sophie’s lecture focuses on Rembrandt’s portrait paintings and follow his story through these portraits.  It will show how his paintings changed and developed over time, and how his portraits became less glamorous and more introspective.

Henry Moore established his unique approach to sculpture from the 1920s based on Michelangelo, Cubism, abstraction, and central and south American Aztec and Mayan cultures. Caro was Moore’s studio assistant for two years, but after meeting with American abstract artists he changed his approach and publicly criticised Moore.

Our lecturer traces the careers of both Moore and Caro, describes their time together, their falling out and their respective impacts on modern sculpture. This lecture will be a useful preparation for our planned visit to Henry Moore’s house and garden in July.

In 1938, Hulton Press brought out their groundbreaking weekly magazine, Picture Post which was the start of photojournalism.  Every aspect of life was covered, and the creation of the arts featured strongly.

This lecture covers the art of the Festival of Britain and its logo by graphic designer Abram Games. Contemporary film clips and period advertising make this lecture a fascinating nostalgic reminder of life in the 1950s.

Tasha Marks is a food historian.

In this lecture Tasha takes us on a whistle stop tour of the history of food as artistic medium, focusing particularly on desserts, from sixteenth century sugar sculpture to 3D dessert printing. 

The topics include the origins of dessert; the crossover between sugar and art; architecture and desserts; sugar and spectacle; food as artistic medium; and the future of food. 

This is a lecture bound to appeal to those with a sweet tooth!

Gertrude Jekyll wrote that we should ‘remember that in a garden we are painting a picture’   

As a watercolour artist she was familiar with the principles of using colours, but felt in gardens these principles had been neglected. 

This lecture looks at how to apply these principles in designing a border and looks at how the work of artists of the period – Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollock and David Hockney evolved in parallel with ideas of what a garden should look like.

Nigel is the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet and has been a performer for nearly forty years, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist at the Royal Opera House.

In this lecture, he looks at backstage life and the pressures faced by performers, be they singer, dancer, conductor or musician. 

We will also see some of the highs and try to understand some of the lows that have been the fortune of this world-class performing venue over the years.

ADFAS is very pleased to welcome back in 2021 this excellent presenter of the Arts.  Nicola specializes in British Art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was recently seen on Andrew Marr’s Great Paintings of the World.

Turner was arguably the greatest practitioner in watercolour the world has ever seen, yet there are few written records of his processes. 

This lecture examines his practice in detail, unlocking the mysteries of his exceptional effects and showcasing the diversity of his achievements, looking at his approach to techniques and some of his tools and materials.

A review in the Guardian said ‘Stella has a passionate interest in art history, drawing three-dimensional human stories and experiences from the two-dimensional canvass’. Today she shows how Christmas has provided centuries of artists with a chance to add colour and light to their works.

Stella tells the Christmas story through a series of well-known images including those by Giotto, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Jan van Eyck and Caravaggio.

Known as the 'poor little rich girl' who changed the face of twentieth century art, not only was Peggy Guggenheim ahead of her time but she was the woman who helped define it. 

She discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art.

Through collecting not only art but the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.

Ms Alexandra Epps

Official Guide and Lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery. Pallant House Gallery Lecturer. Qualified Guide to the City of London, offering lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association. Co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015). Alexandra’s background is in design having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years. BA Saint Martins School of Art, MA London College of Printing.

Antony Gormley is best known for his ‘Angel of the North’ but this is just one of many memorable pieces he has created. 

Anna has known Gormley since he was a student at the Slade and, having written two books about his drawings, she is able to review his work from a unique perspective. 

In this talk, she examines his fascination with the body and its interaction with its surroundings.

We are very pleased to welcome again Peter Medhurst as our first speaker in this year's ADFAS Mornings talk.

Peter’s new lecture has been developed specifically to be delivered remotely. With his musicologist’s eye he views, discusses and analyses a range of paintings which combine music and art; complementing the paintings discussed with a selection of period music sung and played by him on the harpsichord, the virginals and the organ.

ADFAS are offering Membership for the 2020/2021 annual series of Morning presentations for a one-off fee per person as set out on our website.   Please contact us on info@ashridgedfas.org.uk for further details and application forms.  

This is the Society's preferred approach as it allows us to support our charitable giving via Gift Aid recovery to both local schools and individual arts students progressing their studies.

However if you want to have a 'taste' of what ADFAS have to offer, then you can contact the Secretary or Membership Secretary to gain access prior to the event.

Reminder:    Your Annual ADFAS Membership fee is now due and your ADFAS Treasurer is happy to receive payment from you today electronically if you have not already provided this!

Preceded by the ADFAS AGM

Today's Speaker:  Raymond Warburton

We are very pleased to welcome for the first time Raymond who has studied art history at the Open University and the University of Buckingham.

A Guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, where he leads public tours of all the permanent displays and also undertakes exhibition tours.

Raymond is a very experienced public speaker who has given presentations and lectures on a range of themes to diverse audiences over many years.

Our Lecture Today:   The Sculptures of Henry Moore and Anthony Caro

Henry Moore established his unique approach sculpture from the 1920s based on Michelangelo, Cubism, abstraction and central and south American Aztec and Mayan cultures.

He often sculpted family groups and reclining figures, and was a great believer in taking art into public places.

When Anthony Caro studied sculpture in the 1940s he was taught by traditional sculptors.

Seeking to be modern he became Moore’s studio assistant for two years and made Moore-like sculptors. In 1959, Caro met with American abstract artists, and in consequence changed his approach, relying on sheets of steel to produce non-figurative sculptures.

Subsequently Caro publicly criticised Moore for being a showman and thwarting younger talent.

Moore took it badly and relations between them never fully recovered!

This lecture traces the career of both Moore and Caro, and describes their time together, their falling out, and their respective impact on modern sculpture.

We have been promised by Raymond that this lecture will be jargon-free with audience engagement.

Our Speaker Today:   Peter Medhurst

We are extremely delighted to welcome back Peter to Potten End to give our ADFAS Morning lecture.

Peter appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts.

He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.  

The Lecture Today: The Genius of Beethoven

Famously, every morning of his adult life, Beethoven measured out exactly 60 coffee beans for his breakfast.  

A man who is capable of such discipline over a cup of coffee, can surely apply that exactness elsewhere in his life; and in Beethoven’s case, it was applied to his compositions.  

In fact, the detail found in his music is often so subtle, that most people don’t even know it’s there.  

This lecture explores Beethoven’s genius as a writer of music, at the same time setting his extraordinary story against the backdrop of 19th century warfare, revolution and dramatic social changes.  

Beethoven will be 250 years old on 17 December 2020.  

Our Lecturer Today: Timothy Walker

Timothy tells us that since 1986 he has given over 1,500 public lectures!  This was originally part of his work as director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014.

Botanic gardens are often described as living museums, and garden curators lecture about them in the same way as museum curators talk about their collections.

Since 2014 I have been a college lecturer and tutor at Somerville College Oxford so has an ideal background for his talk. 

The Lecture Today:    The Use and Role of Colour in English Garden Design

Gardens are often thought of a place where science and art meet on equal terms.   Timothy's lecture investigate this relationship.

In 1888 Gertrude Jekyll wrote a short but seminal article in The Garden in which she urged the readers to “remember that in a garden we are painting a picture”. 

As an accomplished watercolour artist, Miss Jekyll was familiar with the principles of using colours, but she felt that in gardens these principles “had been greatly neglected”. 

This talk looks at how to apply these principles in designing a border, but it also looks at the ways in which a border is different from a painting. 

However, it goes further than this and looks at how contemporary work of the likes of Turner, Monet, Rothko, Jackson Pollack, and Hockney evolved in parallel with ideas about what a garden or border should look like.

Today's Lecturer:   Guy Rooker

With us today, we are pleased to welcome Guy who admits to being a panel lecturer with The Arts Society not with a background in the arts but from the world of science in general, and surgery in particular.

He describes himself as a retired surgeon with a lifelong passion, fascination, and admiration for the work of Leonardo da Vinci.

Guy considers that the contribution Leonardo has made to both the world of art and the investigation of scientific concepts to be quite unique and extraordinary in the way that so many of his pioneering investigations have contributed to the understanding of our world today.

Today's Lecture:   Leonardo da Vinci: Five Hundred Years On

If you want to have a 'taste' of what ADFAS have to offer, then you can contact the Secretary or Membership Secretary to gain access by paying at the door for the appropriate Morning session.

Today's Lecturer:  Dr Caroline Shenton

We are delighted to have Caroline with us today.  She is an archivist and historian.

She was formerly Director of the Parliamentary Archives in London, and before that was a senior archivist at the National Archives.

Her book The Day Parliament Burned Down won the Political Book of the Year Award in 2013 and Mary Beard called it ‘microhistory at its absolute best’.

Its acclaimed sequel, Mr Barry’s War, about the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster, was a Book of the Year in 2016 for The Daily Telegraph and BBC History Magazine and was described by Lucy Worsley as ‘a real jewel, finely wrought and beautiful’. 

Caroline was Political Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library in 2017, has appeared at the Cheltenham, Hay and Henley literary festivals and on BBC radio and TV.

Today's Lecture:    The Day Parliament Burned Down

In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs.

In front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses, the great conflagration destroyed Parliament's glorious old buildings and their contents.

This Morning's Lecturer:  Valerie Woodgate

Our speaker today lectures at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern, also at many other London galleries.

Val is a former member of the teaching team at Dulwich Picture Gallery. She also runs courses at the Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.

Lecture topic:   Picasso and His Women

Pablo Picasso told his biographer, John Richardson, that his work was like a diary – “To understand it, you have to see how it mirrors my life”.

This lecture examines the way Picasso’s emotional life influenced what he painted and how he painted it. His response to each new love in his life can be seen in the different styles in which his many women were represented.

When he fell out of love, that fact would be revealed first in his paintings.

In this lecture, Val concentrates on the seven most important women in Picasso's life (two of whom he married).

ADFAS are offering Membership for the current annual series of Morning talks for a one-off fee per person as set out on our website.   Please contact us on info@ashridgedfas.org.uk for further details and application forms.  

This is the Society's preferred approach as it allows us to support our charitable giving via Gift Aid recovery to local schools and individual arts students progressing their studies.

However if you want to have a 'taste' of what ADFAS have to offer, then you can contact the Secretary or Membership Secretary to gain access by paying at the door for the appropriate Morning session.

Our Facebook presence

We are going to be using Facebook more to promote ADFAS lectures and events, and would encourage you to please like/follow our page, if you are a Facebook user:              

         www.facebook.com/Ashridge DFAS

or search Facebook for 'Ashridge DFAS - Art Lectures & Events'

Look out for the ADFAS image for this event on this and other what's on websites plus a large number of flyers for members to distribute!  

Please also share the Facebook page with any friends that might be interested in what we do.

After the Talk

Val Woodgate provided us with another excellent talk on the seven women who had varying influences on Pablo Picasso over the many years of his life.

The eyes of Picasso are a common theme in these images of the man.

From his time in Paris as a young man thought to his final years, these particular women had a great impact on him (and more besides). Val described each in turn with their varying relationship with the artist both in terms of photographs together with Picasso's interpretation of each as appearances in his paintings.

In summary, an excellent lecture professionally carried through without resorting to any notes! A fascinating example of a typical ADFAS talk.

We are very pleased to welcome Linda Smith to ADFAS Mornngs.    Linda holds two first-class degrees in Art History.

She has a broad knowledge of art historical subjects, but specialises in British Art and twentieth century art.

A very experienced lecturer and guide, especially at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Linda has lectured to a wide variety of audiences in different venues, including school and university students, and independent arts societies Both in the UK and overseas.

This Morning's Lecture:  Paula Rego - Painting Women on the Edge, and Telling Tales of the Unexpected 

Linda's talk at the life and work of Paula Rego, who is a British artist of Portuguese origin best known for her depictions of folk tales and strikingly unusual images of women.

Married to the British artist Victor Willing (1928-88), Paula Rego settled in this country permanently in the 1970s, but her career in Britain had effectively begun in the early 1960s, when she exhibited with artists like Frank Auerbach and David Hockney.

Over the following twenty years her career and reputation built steadily, and in 1990 she was invited to become the first Associate Artist at the National Gallery. Her well-known series of paintings and prints based on nursery rhymes emerged from this residency, as did another series of large scale paintings which is currently displayed in the National Gallery restaurant.

In her early days, Paula Rego experimented with many different styles, including abstraction, and was very much influenced by Surrealism, but her mature style places a strong emphasis on clear draughtsmanship and the human figure.

She produces works which suggest complicated narratives full of psychological tension, drama, and emotion.

Frequently she depicts women and girls in disturbing or ambiguous situations and poses, which has occasionally caused some controversy, but her insistence on the physicality of her female figures, and her refusal to idealise or revert to cliché, has earned her global recognition and many prestigious awards. Paula Rego was made a DBE in 2010. 

Today's speaker is Christopher Bradley who 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 the Middle East and Asia.

Christopher has written extensively on Arabia and is the author of The Discovery Guide to Yemen, Insight Guide to the Silk Road and Berlitz Guides to Libya; The Red Sea; Cairo; Abu Dhabi and Nile Cruising.

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 Christopher has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4. 

Our Lecture:  Treasures of the Silk Road - from China to the Mediterranean

The Silk Road extended for over 8,000 kms, acting as a highway for beliefs, ideas, inventions and art, whilst silk was just one of the many products traded for 1,400 years.

Buddhism spread throughout Central Asia and there are wonderful paintings from the Magao Caves at Dunhuang and the 'Caves of the Thousand Buddhas' at Bezeklik. Samarkand and Bukhara are the beginning of the great Islamic buildings that continue through Persia and Syria.

Along the way we see traditional murals, ceramics, statues, carpets, architecture, mosaics, tile-work, rock carvings and of course, silk itself. 

This will be a fascinating talk with many parallels with today.

ADFAS are offering Membership for the current annual series of Morning talks for a one-off fee per person as set out on our website.   Please contact us on info@ashridgedfas.org.uk for further details and application forms.  

This is the Society's preferred approach as it allows us to support our charitable giving via Gift Aid recovery to local schools and individual arts students progressing their studies.

However if you want to have a 'taste' of what ADFAS have to offer, then you can contact the Secretary or Membership Secretary to gain access by paying at the door for the appropriate Morning session. 

Reminder:    Your Annual Membership fee is now due and your ADFAS Treasurer is ready to collect payment from you today if you have not already provided this! 

We are very pleased to welcome Ian Swankie as our first speaker in this year's ADFAS Mornings talk.

A Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue.

He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations.

Since 2012 Ian has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London.

He is also a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

Our Lecture:  Pots and Frocks – The World of Grayson Perry - From Essex Punk Potter to Superstar National Treasure

Best known for his outlandish appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego, Claire, Grayson Perry is now a core part of the art establishment, a Turner Prize winner, Royal Academician, popular broadcaster and colourful character.

Grayson Perry is possibly one of the world’s best-known contemporary artists.

His works of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and prints are highly sought after. Often controversial, Perry tackles difficult subjects in a poignant yet witty way and holds a mirror up to society.

This talk will examine Grayson Perry’s work, his exciting and thought-provoking exhibitions, and the unique character inside the flamboyant frocks. 

ADFAS are offering Membership for the current annual series of Morning talks for a one-off fee per person as set out on our website.   Please contact us on info@ashridgedfas.org.uk for further details and application forms.  

This is the Society's preferred approach as it allows us to support our charitable giving via Gift Aid recovery to both local schools and individual arts students progressing their studies.

However if you want to have a 'taste' of what ADFAS have to offer, then you can contact the Secretary or Membership Secretary to gain access by paying at the door for the appropriate Morning session.

Reminder: Your Annual Membership fee is now due and your ADFAS Treasurer is ready to collect payment from you today if you have not already provided this!