Gauguin’s Discovery of the “Primitive”

Gauguin the painter was in flight from urban society.  From the mid 1880’s he sought somewhere “unspoilt” by modern civilization, and this search took him to Brittany,  Martinique and the South Pacific.  This lecture concentrated on the work Gauguin produced in Brittany in the late 1880s and early 1890s, most notably The Vision after the Sermon.  Making comparisons with other artists working in Brittany during this period, the lecture considered how Gauguin turned his escape from the city into an aggressive rejection of modernity, setting up the “primitive” as alternative ideal in art, and adopting a new, bold pictorial language to express his vision of a simple and unspoilt way of life.

This was a most fascinating insight of Gauguin's life and work, teaching us about more than his work in Martinique.

Kathy McLauchlan

A lecturer specialising in 19th-century art history, she is currently a course director at the Victoria & Albert Museum, organising courses and study days on the history of art and design.  She teaches at several institutions, including Art Pursuits.  She is a graduate of Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute, with a PhD on French 19th-century painters in Rome.  Kathy is available for both individual lectures and study days.  The subjects she can cover include: 'Sketch and Finish in 19th-century French Painting', 'Montmartre fin de siècle', 'Mucha and the Slav Epic' and 'America and the Sublime Landscape'.

Introduction

Because he had ‘no faith in coteries’ Brown refused to join the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood but nevertheless was responsible for some of the most powerful paintings of the period such as Work (1852-65), The Last of England (1852-55) and the haunting ‘Take Your Son, Sir!’ (1851).  This lecture looks at the life and work of this influential artist, his family relationships and his relationship with the P.R.B.” 

Alan Read

Alan has a master’s and a first-class honours degree in History of Art from Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a gallery guide at Tate Britain and regularly lectures at both London Tates. For twenty years he was a gallery guide and lecturer at the National Portrait Gallery and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He also works as a London Blue Badge Guide.

Introduction

An exploration of the magnificent embroidery known as the Bayeux Tapestry, the most important work of narrative art of the eleventh century and one of the major sources of Anglo-Norman culture.  We attempted to unravel the great story it tells of the Norman conquest in the light of contemporary art and literature, especially the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Dr Sam Newton 

Sam was awarded his PhD at the University of East Anglia in 1991.  He published his first book, The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia, in 1993, and his second, The Reckoning of King Raedwald, in 2003.  He has also published several papers, some of which are available on his website or on Academia.   

He has lectured widely around the country and abroad for over thirty years and has contributed to many radio and television programmes, especially Time Team (now back in business as Time Team Digital).  He is Director of Wuffing Education and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.   

Introduction

‘The Night Watch’ of 1642 is Rembrandt’s greatest painting and the most famous painting in the Netherlands.  But why is it so special?  It has become an icon of the Golden Age and of the modern Dutch Nation.  Why? How was it commissioned and constructed?  How did Rembrandt paint it and where has it been hung throughout its life?  Who are the characters represented?  Why is there a lone woman and what is meant by the dead chicken trussed up in her waistband?  What does this all tell us about changing Dutch society? 

This work redirected how group portraits were conceived.  The traditional Dutch “schutterstuk”, a military group or shooting piece, became majestic and grandiose in Rembrandt’s hands.  ‘The Night Watch’ has had a chequered history physically : it has hung in a “doelen” , a Town Hall and in Dutch museums.  It was hidden in a cave in Maastricht in 1942, attacked with a knife in 1911 and 1975, then sprayed with acid in 1990.  So, how has it survived as a masterpiece?

In her very clearly delivered lecture Hilary gave us the answers to these many questions. She certainly lives up to the high regard which our North Kent audience has for her.   

Hilary Williams 

Hilary was formerly a Curator and Print Room Superintendent at the British Museum, now Art History Education Officer in the Department of Learning & National Partnerships at the Museum.  Lectures for British Museum and Wallace Collection.  Founding Artistic Director of The Arts Society of North Kent (Evening).  Specialist in 17th Century art and has published on Rembrandt.  Hilary has vast experience of giving gallery talks, of lecturing and of leading art history tours in UK, Europe, New York and Boston.  For the Royal Collection Trust, she has guided Special Interest Private Tours of the State Apartments at Buckingham Palace.   

Introduction

Paintings are a wonderful source for the jewellery historian.  This talk explores what jewellery was worn and how it interacted with dress, as well as what jewellery was worn by particular people and how this changed over time.  Paintings can show us lost jewels which have been destroyed or stolen.  But should we trust paintings?  In this lecture, we will look at whether jewels in paintings reflected real life use or were artistic inventions.  We will also look at some iconic surviving jewels, like the pendant given by Elizabeth I to Sir Francis Drake.  Jewels in paintings can send a message, whether it is the gold chain worn by Renaissance artists or the diamond ring on the little finger of an eighteenth-century gentleman.  Looking at jewels in paintings enriches our understanding, not only of jewellery but also of art.

Rachel Church

Rachel is an independent writer, curator and lecturer. She is the author of Rings (V&A / T&H 2011, 2017, 2024) and Brooches and Badges (V&A / T&H 2019) alongside many shorter articles and contributions to catalogues. She writes on jewellery for specialist publications as well as The Times Luxx. She worked as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum for over twenty years and helped to redisplay the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery in 2008 and 2018. Her website www.thelifeofjewels.com looks at the stories and history behind jewellery.

Introduction

Whistler’s monumental and enigmatic painting, Symphony in White, No 1:The White Girl (1862) is a celebrated painting.   Although its size recalls traditional portraits of esteemed figures depicted on a grand scale, Whistler’s painting technique and treatment of the subject is strikingly modern.  His depiction of the face and red hair of the model, Joanna Hiffernan, contrasts dramatically with his depiction of her ethereal clothing and pallid backdrop. 

Whistler’s treatment disrupts our reading of the painting as a straightforward representation of a young woman.  So how can one interpret this painting? This very interesting lecture considered the role of Joanna Hiffernan in both Whistler’s art and his life. 

Joanne Rhymer

Jo is a freelance lecturer with over 20 years’ teaching experience in prestigious gallery and museum learning departments, and was previously Head of Adult Learning Programmes at the National Gallery. She teaches for a range of institutions including the V&A and the Wallace Collection. She is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, and a panel tutor for the Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge. She is particularly interested in 19th-century French art and the skills associated with slow looking at paintings.   

Introduction

Had his older brother Henry not died in 1612, Charles I would never have been King. Had Van Dyck not arrived at the Stuart Court the stiff body language of Jacobean portraiture may never have been enlivened by the introduction of Renaissance values, giving rise to the splendour of Baroque. 

Van Dyck transformed the awkward and ungainly Charles; through his portraits the tiny King (and his even tinier wife) seemed to grow in stature.  Jacqui explored the way in which Van Dyck’s male sitters exuded elegance, and why – with his depiction of sumptuous satins and shimmering silks – he was hailed as “the first that ‘ere put ‘ladies’ dress into a careless romance’. This was a fascinating study of court costume and artistic portrayal of 17th Century  sitters for portraits.

Jacqui Ansell

Jacqui read History of Art and Theory at the University of Essex then gained an MA from the Courtauld Institute, specialising in C17th and C18th Art and Dress History. Formerly an Education Officer at the National Gallery, London, a tutor and writer for the Open University, and Senior Lecturer at Christie’s Education she has authored and presented numerous courses on art history, design, the art market and women artists, as well as undertaking a successful lecture tour of New South Wales. Now fully freelance she lectures regularly on the public programmes of the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Wallace Collection. She has an in-depth knowledge of the collections and history of these museums, as well as her specialist original research areas focusing on Court Dress, Grand Tour Portraiture, Welsh Costume and the links between Fashion and Furniture. She is an expert on dating and decoding dress in portraits and has contributed specialist essays on this topic for the Wallace Collection, and Philip Mould. Jacqui has contributed to numerous National Gallery podcasts and appears on their Youtube channel lecturing on 'Love' (amongst other things). 

Carole Souter is currently Chair of The Heritage Alliance, Sulgrave Manor Trust and the Fabric Advisory Committee of Salisbury Cathedral. She is also a Trustee of the London Emergencies Trust, and has previously been a Trustee of many other heritage organisations, including Historic Royal Palaces, where she was interim Chair from July 2022 to December 2023.

From 2016 to 2022 she was the Master of St Cross College, Oxford. From 2003 to 2016. She began her career in the civil service and has over 20 years’ experience of policy formulation and operational management in the Departments of Health, Social Security and the Cabinet Office.

Carole has a BA in PPE from Jesus College, Oxford, an MA in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck, University of London and is a Fellow of the  Society of Antiquaries. She is an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and St Cross College, Oxford, and was awarded the CBE in 2011 for services to conservation.