Monday 1 June from 09.30-1.00pm at The Mercure Hotel

Shakespeare without the words? Composers and choreographers are always using Shakespeare as a springboard, but only the greatest have pulled it off.  Amongst them are Verdi, Berlioz, Britten, Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan with their versions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream. Well-meaning casualties are Rossini, Auber and Bellini. What’s the difference? Sarah will be exploring this using clips from the operas and ballets, and first-hand accounts from the artists themselves.

Sarah Lenton has spent her working life in the theatre. Her principal employers are the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Garsington Opera. She writes programme articles, radio and play scripts, gives lectures and broadcasts regularly for BBC radio.

The morning will comprise two 90 minute lectures, the first dedicated to opera and the second to ballet.  There will be a 30 minute break mid-morning for complimentary coffee, tea and pastries.  

The booking form is available here: https://tasrtw.org.uk/DocumentStore/TASRTW%20Shakespeare%20(2).pdf

This Study Day will offer an insight into the influence of foreign artists in Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries. In lecture 1 – Hans Holbein: his antecedence and legacy - we will look at his involvement with Henry VIII and his paintings of the English aristocracy as well as some of the lesser-known artists who preceded his arrival.  Lecture 2 – The Coming of the Baroque Masters to England - will mainly focus on Rubens, his major works and his most successful pupil Van Dyck. Lecture 3 will look at Peter Lely’s works during the time of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, his intense interest in the classical world, and the careful course he steered during the most turbulent time in English history.

Please click here for the booking form.

This Study Day will look at the evolution of the Coronation ceremony from Saxon times up to the present day.  Lecture 1 examines the stages of the Coronation from the Proclamation through to the Homage and gives an account of the fascinating incidents, ill omens and memorable mishaps that have occurred over a thousand years. Lecture 2 gives an account of the different items of Coronation Regalia, explaining their history, ceremonial significance and liturgical symbolism.  Lecture 3 gives an entertaining insight into the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2nd June 1953, the first witnessed by the people via the new medium of television.

Please click here for the bookng form.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Chris back to Tunbridge Wells with three lectures giving us further insights into the textiles and cultural lives of the people of central Asia. Chris was born in Turkey and spent his childhood in war-torn Beirut before studying Media and Journalism at Leicester University. After university, Chris lived in Khiva, Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving 15th century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town before he was kicked out in an anti-western purge. We will explore how wool, cotton and silk impacted on the history, economy, geography, politics and, of course, fashions of Central Asia and the wider world. Chris will explain the belief in the Evil Eye and the use of emblems in textile design, jewellery and even architecture to protect those fearful of its power. This belief is still widespread across the Muslim world and is particularly prevalent amongst women. Whether adorning a person, a cradle, a house or a yurt, textiles and jewellery have been shaped by a desire to provide spiritual protection. This promises to be a fascinating day learning about lives of these people of Central Asia.

Information and the booking form is available by clicking here.

Paul Chapman is an art historian, a published author and a national Gallery trained guide with many years’ experience of working in education. Paul has also given talks and tours for art associations/societies in museums and galleries in the UK and Europe. Paul will cover Australian painting between 1888 and 1988, a period in which the country transformed itself from a British penal colony into an Independent Asian-Pacific nation.  We will examine the works of five artists illustrating the development of Australian painting over that period.  Session 1 will look at the Heidelberg School (Australian Impressionists) with a focus on the work of Tom Roberts who created a series of paintings known as the ‘National Narratives’. Session 2 will highlight two artists, Grace Cossington Smith (a post-impressionist associated with the ‘Sydney Moderns’) and Sidney Nolan (arguably Australia’s best-known artist).  Nolan had a unique style which blended modern expressionism with naïve folk-art style. The final session will consider two more artists - John Brack who came to prominence in the 1950s with colourful works of post-war Melbourne with insights into the complexities of urban and suburban society, and Brett Whitely, Australia’s ‘Rock Star’ painter.  Whitely created paintings with a sensuous line and deep saturated colours. His landscapes contain a languid beauty while his self-portraits show a brutal honesty of self-expression.

To book your place on the Study Day, please click here for full information and the booking form.

This Study Day has been cancelled

Dr. James Grant is a retired country doctor with a lifetime working within the NHS both in hospitals and in rural practice. He is passionate about all aspects of medicine, its history and its relationship to art and artists. He feels very strongly that lecturing should be stimulating, informative and entertaining. The first lecture will be entitled “Doctoring a very fine Art”. This talk looks at artists as diverse as Jan Steen, Rene Magritte and L.S. Lowry who have depicted the various steps in the development of modern medicine. The second lecture will be “The Art of Diagnosis”. The common question put to any physician is “Doctor what is wrong with me?” The ability of doctors to respond meaningfully has progressed from mythology to MRI scans and this talk illustrates how artists as varied as Ghirlandio, Holbein and Goya have depicted this diagnostic journey. The afternoon session will be entitled “Medical Antiques: what is this for?”. It will be interactive and a lot of fun as the audience will be able to participate by trying to identify and value a number of items in photos and some genuine antiques. If any member has small medical antiques they would like to bring along, Dr Grant will be happy to try and identify them.

For over thirty years, Clare has studied and lectured on almost every period of fine art from Charlemagne to the late 19th Century. Clare will enthral us with three lectures detailing the importance of these three cities in the history of European art. Ravenna’s contribution lies in the Early Christian and Byzantine period of the 5th, 6th and 7th Centuries before its inevitable decline in the face of the barbarian invasions. These may well have contributed to the saving of Ravenna's outstanding mosaics and beautiful churches. In the last half of the 15th Century the Duchy of Urbino was a vibrant and exciting centre of the Italian Renaissance under the fascinating Duke Federico Montefeltro; a man of great intellect and taste, with an outstanding library. His palace is one of the most beautiful in Italy. His patronage of the arts included Piero della Fransisco, Paulo Uccello and the Flemish artist Justus van Ghent. The afternoon lecture will be on Rimini, which has one of the most important early renaissance buildings; a church built by the ambitious Sigismondo Malatesta, the so-called Tempietto.

ONLINE STUDY DAY

Our lecturer is Sue Jackson, a Blue Badge Guide and Freeman of the City of London, who loves to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for London and its history. As a London Blue Badge Guide, Sue leads walks and tours all around London, with a wide variety of themes. As a lecturer, she gives illustrated talks to the National Trust, the City Literary Institute, arts societies and historical societies. Sue is a published author and a Fellow of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain.

Lecture 1 (virtual walk): THE HUGUENOTS OF SPITALFIELDS – from riches to rags

The name Spitalfields is a corruption of hospital fields and refers to the priory hospital that was built there in the middle ages. After its closure in the 16th century, the fields were used for artillery practice, and then became home to a series of immigrants.  Many of the early 18th century houses that line the streets today were built for immigrant Huguenot master silk weavers, their survival the result of a sustained campaign in the 1970s.  As we walk today’s wonderfully vibrant area, we will learn how the houses were built, lived in and adapted in desperate times for industrial use.  We will see how the trade was structured, and Sue will tell the story of its wildly fluctuating fortunes. We will look inside one of these houses, renovated by Dennis Severs in the 1970s, which evokes the ups and downs of one family across the centuries. Like so many, it was derelict when saved by the Spitalfields Trust. 

Lecture 2: HUGUENOT PATTERNED SILKS AND THE AGE OF ELEGANCE

Huguenot craftsmen brought innovations and new techniques as silversmiths, clockmakers and of course silk weaving and design, absorbing influences from far-flung countries and inspiring others. Such was their reputation that everyone who could afford it would endeavour to be dressed in the latest patterned silks and commission the highly expensive silver tea, coffee or chocolate vessels to serve the newly introduced and equally expensive hot drinks.  And of course you would want everyone to be fully aware of this: hence the many ‘conversation pieces’ which typically show a family carefully posed wearing Spitalfields silk and enjoying a tea party laid out on an elegant table!

Without a doubt, Huguenot craftsmen were drivers in what has been called the Age of Elegance and in this second talk, Sue will expand on the silk trade, designs and designers, patrons and rivals.

Timings and booking

Because of the virtual format, the Study Day will be shorter than normal. The timings for the morning will be as follows:

10:30 am       First Lecture
11:15 am       Short Break
11:35 am       Second lecture

The second lecture will end at approximately 12:10 pm after which there will be time for questions.

The cost of the Study Day is £20 per Member. This fee is to cover our costs only and any surplus made will be donated to the Trinity Theatre. 

To book your place, please email Marilyn Glover at studydays.tasrtw@gmail.com. Regarding payment, we would prefer you to make a direct payment to our bank account. If you wish to pay by cheque, please make it payable to "TASRTW" and send it to Marilyn. Our bank account details and Marilyn's address are shown in the email sent to all members on 1st February.

You will be sent the Zoom link to join two days before the Study Day.

Online study day

Nicola is an independent art historian specialising in British art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Formerly a curator and researcher at Tate Britain, Nicola will enlighten us on the epic rivalry between the two giants of British art, as unlike in background and temperament as their paintings were in style. These two creative geniuses transformed the art of landscape paintings during the 19th century. The morning sets them head-to-head and examines their differences and their similarities, such as when considering Turner’s watercolours and pencil studies and Constable’s oil sketches. The morning also provides an enjoyable overview of the British art world during the 19th century. Nicola traces their life stories, and their revolutionary approach to sketching landscapes. Finally, the showstoppers, a comparison of The Hay Wain vs The Fighting Temeraire in terms of style, reputation and legacy.

Because of the virtual format the Study Day will be shorter than normal. The timings for the morning will be as follows:

10:30 am       First Lecture
11:15 am       Short Break
11:35 am       Second lecture

The second lecture will end at approximately 12:10 pm after which there will be time for questions.

The cost of the Study Day is £20. To register, please email info@tasrtw.org.uk.

Venue for all study days (once Covid-19 restrictions lifted): Village Hall, Langton Green, Tunbridge Wells TN3 0JJ. There is free car parking at the venue. For further information, go to: langtongreenvillagehall.org.uk.