The Arts Society Woking's Talk Programme 2013
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| All Speakers are carefully chosen
based on their reputation for attractive
and well-presented talks with good
pictures. Talks take place on the
second Wednesday of each month except
July and August. |
| Talks commence promptly at
10.30am at
Bisley Pavilion, Bisley Camp,
Queens
Road, Bisley Woking Surrey GU24 0NY This
website includes an
Interactive map. |
| Coffee and biscuits are served from
9.45am. |
| Members may bring a visitor, but
the same person may not be a guest more
than twice a year. While we do not
charge a Visitors fee, Visitors may want
to make a donation to the Society of
(say) £5. |
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January
9th 2013 |
A Royal Rescue: Dumfries
House saved and revealed.
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Dumfries House in Ayrshire was
acquired for the nation
following a last minute rescue
in 2007,
largely through the involvement
of HRH the Prince of Wales.
Never before opened to the
public,
Dumfries House is a forgotten
Georgian gem, designed by Adam
and furnished by Chippendale
and others.
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Speaker: Matthew Williams
BA (Hons) Dip. AGMS AMA
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Once a home of the Marquesses of
Bute, Matthew Williams has known
and admired
Dumfries House for twenty years.
The story of its controversial
rescue is both fascinating and
entertaining. Matthew intrigued
us with a talk on Tyntesfield
on his first visit. |
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February
13th
2013 |
Treasures of the Silk Route
from China to the Mediterranean
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The Silk Road is the greatest
trade route the world has ever
known. As well as carrying
precious goods, it was also the
highway for the expanding
religions and new art forms.
Along the way, we will see
murals, ceramics, statues,
carpets, architecture, mosaics,
tile-work,
rock carvings and the silk
itself. |
Speaker: Chris Bradley B.
Eng (Hons) FRGS
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Chris has been travelling and
photographing along the Silk
Road for 25 years but this is
his
first visit to us. |
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March 13th 2013 |
Continuity and Tradition in
Western Sculpture
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This talk will focus on the
changing face of the Classical
Language of Western Sculpture.
Topics covered will include the
study of the human figure and
its interpretations, from the
Greeks to Antony Gormley; the
development of different types
of sculpture and the revival of
interest in the classical
tradition during the Renaissance
and the changes wrought by
artists
such as Donatello and
Michelangelo at that time, and
later, by Bernini in the Baroque
period
and Rodin in the nineteenth
century. . |
Speaker: Mary Acton BA
(Hons) Courtauld Institute FE
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This is Mary’s second visit to
Bisley |
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April 10th
2013 |
Rene Lalique – Master of Art
Nouveau Jewellery and Art Deco
Glass
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Although Lalique is best known
for his Art Deco glass, his
career began in the early 1890s
as
the designer of the finest Art
Nouveau
jeweller. His jewels
were about design and
craftsmanship
rather than vulgar ostentation.
Around 1907, the perfumer Coty
asked Lalique to design some
labels for his scent bottles but
Lalique went one better and
designed a new stopper- he had
created the first customised
perfume bottle. Lalique died in
1945 but his company is still
going and his glass regarded as
some of the finest ever created.
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Speaker: Dr Anne Anderson
BA PHD FSA
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This is Dr Anderson’s third
visit to us. |
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May 8th 2013 |
The Arts of Bloomsbury and
Omega
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The Bloomsbury Group is mainly
associated with their literary
output. This talk investigates
the visual aspect of their
activity: a singular phenomenon
in the British arts at the
beginning of
the 20th century.
Artists like Roger Fry, Vanessa
Bell and Duncan Grant rebelled
against the pretty
superficiality of Impressionists
in favour of a new,
unconventional mode of
expression in line with
continental developments of
Post-Impressionism. Initially
explored in the Fine Arts, these
new ideas were then translated
into the Decorative Arts in
their OMEGA workshop. |
Speaker: Eveline Eaton BA
(Hons) Courtauld London
University
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Eveline returns to us for the
sixth time to give us this new
2013 Centenary talk. |
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June 12th
2013 |
Houses and Gardens of
Normandy
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This talk covers a wide range
of French architecture: 15C and
17C chateaux, quirky seaside
villas in Deauville, an Arts and
Crafts House and Garden designed
by Lutyens and many and varied
gardens including Monet’s
Giverny and two contemporary
gardens. The talk evokes the
Normandy immortalised by
painters and writers alike. The
houses and gardens reflect
France’s history and culture and
reveal the links with our own
medieval past. |
Speaker: Helen McCabe BA
(Hons)
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Helen is returning for the third
time. |
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List of Normandy houses
and gardens mentioned in talk |
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July 2013 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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August 2013 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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September
11th
2013 |
The Aztec Legacy: Continuity
and Change
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The Aztecs of Mexico have been
described as warlike and
bloodthirsty, yet their creative
achievements were breathtaking.
Their shimmering city, built on
a lake, was the Venice of
the New World. Their legacy
includes painted books, poetry,
sculpture, metalwork, turquoise
mosaics and exquisite feather
work. This talk explores the
contradictory aspects of Aztec
civilisation and looks at
cultural survivals today. |
Speaker: Chloe Sayer BA
(Hons)
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We welcome Chloe for the first
time. |
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October
9th
2013 |
Opera Giants: Verdi and
Wagner
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Verdi and Wagner practically
carved up the 19th century
operatic world between them.
They
were both born in 1813 but there
the connection seems to cease.
Verdi, a practical man of the
theatre, actually found a way to
make opera pay, while Wagner (no
less theatrical) demanded
(loudly) that the public should
subsidise his ruinously
expensive shows. Even so there
are more similarities between
the two men than is commonly
acknowledged – as this talk
reveals. |
Speaker: Sara Lenton
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This is Sara’s third visit |
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November
13th 2013 |
Banks, Burgundy and Piracy:
The fifteenth Century Artists of
Bruges
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The Northern Renaissance, that
great flowering of the arts in
fifteenth Century Bruges, is not
very well known. And yet, the
stories of banking, piracy and
painting which interweave this
period have exciting parallels
with our own times. This talk
places artists like Van Eyck and
Memling in their turbulent
context.
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Speaker: Rt Rev Chris
Herbert MPhil Phd
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We are delighted to welcome Rt
Revd Herbert for the first time. |
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December
11th 2013 |
The Art of Christmas
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The theme of Christmas taking us
from the Annunciation to the
Adoration of the Shepherds and
of the three Kings, has inspired
some of the greatest and most
moving works of art ever
created.
The Gospels however, give only
limited information. Over the
centuries, this has been
expanded
into a rich blend of legend and
fact and the talk illustrates
this.
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Speaker: Valerie Woodgate
BA
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We are welcoming Valerie for the
third time. |
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Current Year's Talks |
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To see 2016 activities,
click here |
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Prior Year's Talks |
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To see the activities in
previous years, click on the
year;
2020
/
2019 /
2018 /
2017 /
2016 /
2015 /
2014 /
2013 /
2012 /
2011 /
2010 |
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Disclaimer |
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The Arts Society Woking cannot be held responsible for any personal accident, loss, damage or theft of members' personal property. Members are covered against proven liability of third parties. |
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