Our new lecture season has been published; subjects include sculpture, architecture, book conservation, art in prisons, painting and more.

The season programme can be downloaded from this website.

The story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British art, J.M.W.
Turner and John Constable. As unlike in background and temperament as
their paintings were in style, these two creative geniuses transformed the art of landscape. This lecture examines their differences, their similarities, their battles and their shared triumphs.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

So often just associated with school music, the recorder has a long and rich history. A favourite of Henry VIII and composers from Purcell, Bach and Handel through to Paul McCartney.
An illustrated lecture, with live music, on a variety of professional recorders (no plastic in sight!).

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

This lecture offers a behind the scenes insight into the process and drama of putting together a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition. Drawing on her experiences at the Wallace Collection, Courtauld Institute and the British Museum – Anna shares the trials, tribulations and joys of getting from the idea to the opening night.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

AA Milne’s beloved teddy bear, Winnie-the Pooh, first appeared in When We Were Very Young (1924) introducing us to Piglet, Eeyore and the other characters of Hundred Acre wood. This lecture tells the story of the collaboration between Milne and EH Shepard and why their books remain embedded in our hearts.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

An overview of Blenheim Palace’s rich and chequered history; why the Palace took so long to build - and why it was never completed. The Dukes and Duchesses who made positive
contributions to the Estate, as well as those who didn’t and naturally a look at the Palace’s greatest son - Winston Churchill.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo is one of the strangest artists of all time. He depicted the human face composed of objects; fish, fruit and flowers. He worked 500 years ago at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, surrounded by artists, wizards and alchemists. It’s an intriguing tale to tell.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

This 1946 classic is considered one of the most inspirational and beloved movies in American cinema. The story of down-on-his-luck banker George Bailey has become synonymous with Christmas.This lecture examines the historical context of Capra’s work and why this story of the rural idyll resonated with post war audiences.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

This lecture brilliantly illustrates London’s history through the stained glass windows found in its churches and livery halls, providing a unique insight into the milestones which have made up London’s story. As well as 18th, 19th and 20th C. windows, we look at the work of contemporary glass makers.

A list of the windows in the lecture and their locations may be downloaded from this website https://theartssocietyworcester.org.uk/DocumentStore/List%20of%20windows.pdf

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

The story of 200 years of men’s tailoring told through the lives of the men who commissioned, created and wore it. How did men from The Duke of Windsor to Alexander Mcqueen create their looks and influence men’s fashion? We will look at wider cultural shifts since the 19th Century and how they have affected the way men present themselves.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance.

From Henry VII onwards, the Tudor dynasty made unprecedented use of images and objects to promote their rule. We’ll uncover the rich variety of painting, architecture, tapestry and other decorative objects that surrounded English viewers in the 16th century, putting these artworks into their religious, political, social and artistic contexts.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tudor-art-a-new-story-tickets-1652412212409?aff=oddtdtcreator

This lecture will delve into the history and beauty of the Crowns, Sceptre, Orb and other royal jewels used during the coronation ceremony, including details of the diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls used in the royal regalia of Kings and Queens since 1661. Secrets and mystery abound within these priceless jewels.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-british-crown-jewels-every-stone-tells-a-story-tickets-1296283301249

This lecture will focus on the material culture of Jane Austen’s life and consider her writing through the type of objects that were familiar to her during her lifetime and which populate her fiction. From print culture to the decorative arts, this lecture will look at selected artefacts from the period which tell us more about Austen as a woman and as a writer. 

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, a single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College.

In the aftermath of World War II art, architecture, fashion, film, music and theatre changed radically. The Festival of Britain highlighted these artistic communities and showcased a brighter future for every citizen. In fine art, Hepworth and Heron, Bacon and others were forging bold new directions.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brave-new-world-how-the-arts-and-culture-shaped-post-war-britain-tickets-1273766031489

Since it was founded in 1925, the New Yorker magazine has set the gold standard for cartoon humour. Their roster of artists includes James Thurber, Peter Arno, and of course, Peter Steiner, who holds the record for the most reproduced cartoon of the last 50 years, which has earned $250,000 since its publication in 1993.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-new-yorker-magazine-and-its-cartoonists-tickets-1273754045639

Franz Xaver Winterhalter painted portraits of the fashionable courts of 19th century Europe. Charles Frederick Worth was official couturier to the Empress Eugénie, consort of Napoleon III. One depicted luxurious fabrics in paint, the other sculpted these fabrics into gowns for the fashionable elite.

In 1845, William Morris travelled around Northern France to learn the technique of medieval tapestry weaving. At the same time, Edward Burne-Jones, purchased a copy of Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory. The influence of this book culminated in boths finest artistic achievement, a narrative series of tapestries called ‘The Quest for the Holy Grail’.

Visitors are welcome to all our lectures, either in person or online via Zoom.

A single visit costs £9 per person paid on the door at Bishop Perowne College or via eventbrite for online attendance https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-quest-for-the-holy-grail-tickets-1116582090089

From the medieval period to the modern era, this lecture considers imagery of feasts, banquets and intimate dinners whilst examining some fine examples of kitchen design to discover how changes in taste led to changes on the ground in palaces, castles and chateaux.

Born in Bonn in December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven became one of the greatest and most disruptive figures in the history of classical music. This lecture presents an overview of this brilliant, cantankerous visionary; someone who tore up the rule book of classical music and became a ‘poet in sound’.

Visitors are welcome to attend all our lectures, either in person or on Zoom. 

Admission can be paid on the night at the meeting by card or cash, for Zoom attendees please purchase your ticket via eventbrite.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain rose as the great superpower. Its vast wealth, alongside the renewed catholic fervour of the counter reformation kickstarted the Spanish ‘siglo d’oro’, the great flourishing of painting, sculpture, literature and music. This lecture focuses on the work of the greatest painter of the age, Diego Velázquez.

Founded in 1824, the National Gallery houses one of the world’s finest collections of European paintings, including Jan Van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini Marriage’ and Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’. This institution did not begin its life as a royal collection: the Gallery was founded by parliament and remains reliant on public funding.

Guests are welcome to attend our lectures in person or on Zoom for a fee of £9 per lecture.

Zoom admission can be booked online via eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1004447197607

A light-hearted but serious look by a Curator from the British Museum at the business of museums, and collecting, and how easy it is to lose one’s way without introspection, vision and money. Whose stuff is it anyway? And what of the future?

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link.

Sir William Hamilton, British envoy to the Court of Naples from 1764 to the end of the century‚ had a collection which was informed by the study and collecting of Greek vases and a fascination with volcanic activity; encouraged by the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link.

Few artists are as rooted in a place as Stanley Spencer and his beloved home village of Cookham. This Thames-side village was not only his birthplace, his home for most of his life, and even his nickname, but it dominated his imagination and was the inspiration and location for many of his greatest paintings.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link.

‘Follies are joyful little buildings that aim to please’. These delightful buildings often defy categorisation and encompass mausolea and monuments; follies; grottoes; and garden buildings and have been famously described as ‘foolish monuments to greatness and great monuments to foolishness’.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link,

From humble East End beginnings to Royal Palaces, Museums, Cathedrals and private homes and a royal warrant for “decoration and gilding to Her Majesty the Queen”. A glimpse into of some of Peter’s finest projects, watershed moments and fascinating meetings.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/my-mothers-decorator-plasterer-guilder-to-hm-the-queen-by-peter-hare-tickets-740075233947

Sargent was the great society portraitist of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, but he was much more than that. His art was extremely varied and the breadth of his work can still surprise people. As well as his wonderful portraits, the lecture includes examples of his landscape paintings, inspired by the Impressionists, his work as an official War Artist in Word War I and his extremely beautiful and delicate watercolours.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link,

Please not that there has been a change of speaker for this Lecture since our programme was printed. The subject, John Singer Sargent is unchanged.

Starting on Oxford Street’s ‘golden mile’, this lecture offers a cultural tour of the capital’s big stores – from snooty Marshall & Snelgrove, to Pontings, ‘House of Value’; from Kennards’ wart-removal service, to the live flamingos atop Derry & Toms; from Bodgers of Ilford, to Bon Marché of Brixton.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link,

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/londons-lost-department-stores-by-tessa-boase-tickets-740064541967?aff=oddtdtcreator

The saints of the Christian Church begin in the Bible itself. St George and St Katherine may be familiar, but what about St Apollonia or St William of York? St Zita or Little St Hugh of Lincoln? Each has their unique tale, their distinctive symbol and their importance to the lives of the faithful.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link,

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/saints-and-their-symbols-by-nicole-mezey-tickets-739544506527

People were bridging the Thames in the Bronze Age - 1,500 years before the Romans built London Bridge. The last 200 years have seen over 50 new crossings over and under the river. Some are great feats of engineering, some are architecturally elegant. Every crossover changes the city’s genetic code.

Guests are welcome at all our lectures. You may turn up on the night and pay on the door or join us on Zoom via this EventBrite link, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/718567353297.

Frans Hals' paintings demonstrate how, through bold poses, masterly brushstrokes, and emotional connections with his sitter, this virtuoso revolutionised portraiture into something entirely fresh and novel.

Praised for his ability to paint likenesses that seem to ‘live and breathe’, Hals is one of the artists who tells us most vividly about the 17th century Dutch Republic and its Harlem citizens. The cultural flourishing, enrichment and self-confidence of its elite was associated with requests for depictions of status and success. A growing middle and merchant class wanted to celebrate their services to the state and their exceptional accomplishments, with posterity for themselves, their family, and their social group.

Delving deeper, however, the pictorial representation of these achievements and economic prosperity also had disturbing connections to the Dutch East India Company, the transatlantic slave trade, and the ruthless regime in the colonies.

This talk will be tailored to match the content of the major exhibition of Hals's work at the National Gallery in autumn 2023.

TAS Worcester will be running a day trip to this exhibition on Thursday 5th of October. More information and a booking form may be found here.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/frans-hals-a-look-behind-the-joviality-and-sponteneity-tickets-716725755027?aff=oddtdtcreator

This talk looks at the history of auctions from the Roman period, through to the great book auctions of the sixteenth century and on into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and finally considers why at high-end auctions today, paintings sell for such staggering sums of money.

Post WWII fashion illustration offered chic interpretations of the latest looks from the haute couture houses of Paris and London. We explore this genre now thought to be part of a lost school of fine art.

Using actual pieces alongside images the audience is taken on a journey to uncover orignal owners and their stories with a focus on the Huguenot influences on this most decorative period.

"Remember that in a garden we are painting a picture" (Gertrude Jekyll). Applying these principles in designing a border, this talk looks at how works of the likes of Turner and Monet evolved in parallel with garden design.

Can old masters help us understand modern and contemporary works, and have arists' intentions and strategies really changed across the centuries?

The history and characters of the ceramics scene in the South West since Bernard Leach set up his pottery in Cornwall in 1920, and the work of Leach's first pupils, Michael Cardew and Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie.

Using Hogarth's The Harlot's Progress as our pictorial guide, we embark on an extraordinary and eye popping adventure of the low lights and low lifes of 18th century Covent Garden and Soho.

We shall also be guided by Jack Harris, author of the definitive guide to Covent Garden Ladies.

This year we are glad to announce that we are returning to having an informal drinks and nibbles reception before the lecture. This will be starting at 7pm.

Referencing the title of his best-selling book, this lecture describes a life exploring some of the finest illuminated medieval manuscripts and tells of adventures in the art markets and rare book libraries of the world.

Jonathan has written over 100,000 words in the Financial Times Weekend on craftspeople: their passions, skills and materials. Some of them believe they are the last practitioners of their craft. How and why do people transform raw materials into works of art? How do their hands and tools transform raw materials into works of utility and beauty? And how do they see their prospects as inheritors and conduits of hand-crafted tradition in an industrialised world of mass production?

When Howard Carter first peered through a hole into the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 he was asked if he could see anything – “Yes, wonderful things!” was his reply. The tomb itself was poorly decorated but the funerary goods that helped the young pharaoh enjoy the afterlife in true kingly fashion are some of the most exquisite treasures ever discovered. In this lecture you too will discover their beauty, hear about their exciting discovery and the diary entries made by Carter, learn of the symbolism in their design, the materials used with expert craftsmanship and what has become of them.

Eileen has an MA from the Department of Archaeology at the University of London, is a published author and an authority on the ancient cultures of the world. She specialises in the History, Culture, Myths & Legends of the Ancient Worlds and is a keen Maritime Historian specialising in piracy in the Caribbean and the South Seas. She spends her time giving lectures to the Arts Society, on cruise ships and to various local organisations.

Our next season of ten lectures starts in September with “Wonderful Things” Tutankhamun’s Tomb and Treasure” by Lucia Gahlin.
The subsequent lectures cover:
The State of British Crafts
Remarkable Manuscripts
Georgian Licentiousness in Covent Garden (Christmas Lecture)
20th Century Pottery
The Old & New in Art
Colour in the English Garden
Rococo Silver
Fashion Illustration and Art
The history of Auctions

The Romans have left us with a remarkable artistic record of their lifestyle, beliefs, achievements and entertainment in the form of beautiful mosaics. From the best sites and museums in the world we see how they built on earlier Greek traditions; the cities in which they lived; the Gods and myths in which they believed; and the exotic lives of the Romans themselves - from Britain to Sicily, from Morocco to Syria.

This lavishly illustrated lecture uses only mosaics from start to finish, bringing the distant world of the Romans gloriously back to life with vibrant images full of action. This is the rise and fall of the Roman Empire as you have never seen it before – through the eyes of the Roman people themselves and the contemporary mosaics they created to reflect and decorate their fascinating, colourful world.

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. 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; Oman; Cairo; Abu Dhabi and Nile Cruising. As a photographer has pictures represented by four photographic libraries. 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 he has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4.

Between 1885 and 1916, Carl Fabergé made fifty jewelled eggs – Easter presents from Russia’s last two emperors to their wives. They have become the most famous surviving symbols of the Romanov Empire: both supreme examples of the jeweller’s art and the vulgar playthings of a decadent court. Given almost total artistic freedom, Fabergé and his designers had to conform to only three rules: that each year’s Easter present should be egg-shaped, that it should contain some surprise to amuse or delight its recipient, and that it should be different from any predecessor. The result was a series of creations demonstrating ingenuity and creativity for which there are few parallels in any other field. Their styles range from traditional Russian to Art Nouveau, and their materials from carved hardstone to exquisite enamelled gold. Their maker’s relentless search for novelty also means that they provide a fabulously quirky illustrated history of the decline of the Romanovs. Toby Faber wrote Fabergé’s Eggs: One Man’s Masterpieces and the End of an Empire, described by P.D. James as a ‘fascinating story which combines unique decorative art, contemporary culture, history and the murder of the Romanovs with the excitement of a crime novel’. The lecture is illustrated with pictures of the Romanovs and their palaces, and, of course, with photographs of the eggs themselves. 

Toby is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press.

Please note that due to circumstances beyond our control the date for this lecture has been changed. It will now take place on the first Tuesday of April, the 5th. The date given in our published programme is now incorrect.

Did you know that artists, like the codebreakers of Bletchley, were among the unsung heroes of WWII, and crucial participants at the business end of conflict? This lecture is about two military units from WWII: the British Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate, and the American ‘Ghost Army’, both of which were populated by artists, specially recruited to devise deception operations that would foil the Germans. For example, the units created fake tanks and depots to fool German reconnaissance planes and draw their attention away from real Allied attack points. They blurred fiction and reality on the field of battle, for the first time weaponizing artistic skills and making for a literal ‘theatre’ of war. More than this, their ingenious ruses were arguably a critical component of the overall Allied victory against the Nazis.

Matthew Wilson studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute and has taught the subject in secondary schools in the UK for over a decade. As a freelance writer he has also written for numerous publications, including the BBC, Aesthetica Magazine and Smarthistory – the world’s most-used art historical resource. His latest book, Symbols in Art (Thames & Hudson, Autumn 2020), was described by Christopher Lloyd, former keeper of the Queen's pictures, as “masterly … the perfect introduction to a subject that can only heighten the general appreciation of art.” He is currently working on a new title, also on the subject of iconography, due for publication in 2022.

Wool, cotton and silk have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing needed by the great nomadic cultures that were to dominate Middle Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and used as currency, creating a network of trading routes that led to the first outbreak of globalisation. Cotton was the cause of Russian and then Soviet Colonisation and continues to cause controversy today as well as human misery and environmental catastrophe The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of this fascinating part of the world; a meeting place between Mohammed and Marx.

The arrival of Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo in St Ives at the beginning of the Second World War marked a significant moment, both for them and for the artists already living and working in the small Cornish town. These three artists were key players in British modernism and soon challenged the status quo of the existing artists’ colony, established at the end of the 19th century. They inspired and, in Hepworth’s case employed, a younger generation of artists before they too were challenged by new ideas. This lecture will chart the rise of St Ives as a centre for modern art after the war and show that it was not only Nicholson, Hepworth and Gabo who achieved international success but other artists such as Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. This success led to the town becoming a focal point for post-war avant garde art which led the eyes of the modern art world to focus, for a brief period, on St Ives.

Sarah Burles studied History of Art at Cambridge University before doing a master’s degree at University College London. She went on to have a career in museum and gallery education, establishing new services in three different museums before working at the Fitzwilliam Museum for many years.  

Sarah is the founder of Cambridge Art Tours, which runs tours and courses in and around East Anglia. She is also a Tour Director for a travel company and has led tours to Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and America. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Sarah moved her work online, offering art history courses to audiences all over the world. 

Tony has been a writer and director of historic pantomimes throughout England for over 30 years. He has researched its origins and evolution, from the commedia d’ell arte roots, to its first British representation in Georgian England, to the Victorian spectaculars, music hall & variety additions and ultimately into the modern age. Learn about the origins of slapstick and how Britain became the crucible of the pantomime form, independently from the rest of the world. Find-out exactly why pantomime is so popular, what makes it so successful and how it remains such a joyful celebration of all that is quintessentially British.

Tony has been a showman, researcher and teacher for over 35 years: he has run theatre venues, companies, festivals and events for and with a wide range of diverse communities. He specialises in historical popular entertainment forms and their application to contemporary contexts and in 2017, he was awarded a doctorate by Exeter University for his research into itinerant British performance forms and where he is now a part-time lecturer. He regularly broadcasts for both radio and television – most recently for Lee Mack’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? However, he is perhaps best known by families throughout the country, as ‘Uncle Tacko!’ - ringmaster of his extraordinary flea circus and the founder of ‘The Pierrotters’, Britain’s last professional seaside pierrot troupe.

Please note that this lecture is on the first Tuesday of the month.

They’ve adorned our Christmas cards; taken pride of place in our cribs and school nativity plays and provided centuries of artists a chance to add a dash of exotic colour into their mellow scenes of the birth of Christ. In this lecture we will be looking at the oldest images of the Magi from as early as the 3rd century; the legend that links them with the first Christian artist and their metamorphosis into the exotic kings. 

Geri is a former Fleet Street journalist and film PR. She has a first-class honours degree in History and Theology, a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology doctorate from Roehampton University in London. She has been lecturing for the past 14 years both in the UK and internationally. She is also principal lecturer on The Arts Society South West Area’s History of Art course and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Roehampton University.

When you think of fairy tales, you most likely remember bedtime stories heard as a child; however, Grimm's fairy tales were not intended for children, but rather, adults. The German brothers did not actually write the stories but collected them as part of a rich folkloric tradition passed down from generation to generation. Learn about some famous, and some lesser known, tales - most of which are (unexpectedly) twisted and gruesome.

As an art historian, curator, and lecturer with over 20 years’ teaching experience, Jeni is not only interested in historical art movements but also what is referred to as the ‘new art history’ which focuses on non-Western art, new media, aesthetic ideals, and their cultural interpretation(s). Recently, Jeni has authored regular articles on a wide variety of arts-related topics for her local Arts Society’s digital platform and honed Zoom skills to offer lectures and study days on-line.

A graduate from Falmouth University (MA in Art History, and an MA in Curatorial Practice) and gained her doctorate from the University of Plymouth. Jeni served as Chair of Examiners in Art History for AQA and Chair of The Arts Society, Truro. Currently, Jeni is co-presenter for The Arts Society South West Area's art history course.

Please note that this lecture is primarily being given as an on-line presentation via Zoom.

We are trying out a new venue, with a very limited invited audience. Please do not come to our old venue, as we will not be there!

For further information or to attend (on-line) as a guest please contact us; info@artsocwoo.org

Creation myths, which tell about the origin of the world and the gods, are essential features of the mythologies of many cultures, and ancient Greece is no exception. Illustrated with both slides and video, this talk provides a ‘who’s who and how’ of the main divinities of Greek mythology. Moving from the first generation of Ouranos (Sky) and Gaia (Earth) and their monstrous offspring, into the generation of Kronos and Rheia, and ending with the third generation of Zeus and the Olympians, we will explore the bizarre myths, discover fascinating echoes of other mythologies, and establish the definitive iconography of Greece’s key gods and goddesses.

As a Classics Tutor for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Professor of History of Art for the European Studies Program of Rhodes College and The University of the South, he has spent much of the last 30 years travelling extensively in the world of the Greeks and Romans both physically and intellectually. He has published A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (Robinson, 2007) and A Brief Guide to Classical Civilization (Robinson, 2010) and is currently working on A Brief Guide to the Roman Empire.

NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE WILL NOW BE TAKING PLACE ON ZOOM ONLY, NOT PHYSICALLY AT OUR PREVIOUS VENUE.

More details of this decision were emailed to members on Saturday the 4th of September.

Please note that this lecture has been brought forward to the first Tuesday of the month.

Having studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, James Russell enjoyed a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that inspired him to begin writing and lecturing on 20th century art. Of his dozen or so books, one was a Sunday Times book of the year, while his writing has been described by critics as 'insightful', 'informative' and 'enjoyably readable'. James has curated major exhibitions at Dulwich Picture Gallery and for museums around the country. He bases his lectures on wide-ranging original research into the subjects that fascinate him.

Public Art is a contentious subject. It is the most visible art form and therefore is an easy target for hostility and criticism. But how do artworks come to appear in our public spaces?

This lecture tracks the development of public art over the last century and looks at various examples to see why some pieces are loved and others loathed. It also explains the process of procurement from the initial commissioning to the production and installation. Drawing from David's own experience as a practicing artist and using case studies the lecture takes the audience through this process and tries to show why we are all richer with the presence of art on the streets.

David Worthington works mainly in stone, and specialises in kinetic sculptures that members of the public can physically interact with. He is a fellow and member of the council of The Royal British Society of Sculptors. He has curated shows at Woburn Abbey, Glyndebourne, and the Chelsea Physic Garden. His interests range over forms of Public Art from traditional, such as Rodin, to contemporary such as Hirst.

In this popular talk John tells the extraordinary story of the Shakers of North America, exploring their beginnings, what they believed and how they lived their lives before examining examples of their wonderful buildings and furniture. For it is only with such an understanding of their devout faith and way of life that we can begin to appreciate their intriguing legacy.

Formerly a lecturer at the University of Bath where he was Director of Studies in the School of Education with responsibility for the professional development of teachers. He has worked extensively overseas as an educational consultant and this has given him the opportunity to give lectures and presentations at conferences all over the world.
Over the last decade he has been a popular speaker on the Arts Society circuit in the UK and Europe as well as a frequent visitor to the societies in Australia and New Zealand.

This will be at least his third lecture to the Arts Society Worcester.

This lecture offers a fresh angle on some of the greatest masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, from the viewpoint of the fierce and often bitter rivalries that existed between the artistic Titans of the day. Set against the backdrop of Florence, Venice and Rome, with Michelangelo as its protagonist and Leonardo, Raphael and Titian in supporting roles, it draws on contemporary anecdote to evoke personalities and tell the stories behind many of the most iconic works of the High Renaissance, providing an entertaining yet illuminating glimpse into the creation of some of the most iconic paintings in western art. 

Paula Nuttall has been an accredited lecturer of The Arts Society since 1995. She gained her BA and PhD from the Courtauld Institute and is a specialist in Italian and north European renaissance art. She has published widely on artistic relations between Italy and the Netherlands in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, including the book From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500. Paula has collaborated on exhibitions in Italy and America and in 2013 co-curated the exhibition Face to Face: Flanders, Florence and Renaissance Painting at the Huntington Art Collection, San Marino in California.

Paula will be delighted to be able to lecture to our society, having been disappointed when the coronavirus crisis forced the cancellation of her Van Eyck special lecture back in March 2020.

Inigo Jones was court designer and architect to James I and Charles I. Having studied Palladio’s buildings he designed sophisticated Italianate buildings in and around London, such as the Banqueting House, Whitehall, and the Queen’s House, Greenwich. He also designed theatres and costumes for the elaborate masques put on for the court.

Caroline is an architectural historian, trained at the Courtauld and specialising in 16th to 18th century English and Scottish architecture. She lectures at the V&A on year courses and short courses, for the Art Fund, and for the Royal Oak Foundation in the US. She has researched and written a history of Kensington Palace, contributed to a book on the Cecil family, and has written several articles on architectural and social history and the history of travel. In 2009 her book London's Country Houses was published..

In collaboration with The Arts Society Malmesbury, we are giving members of The Arts Society Worcester free access to a lecture on Rosemary Verey the interernationally known garden designer, lecturer and writer who designed the famous garden at Barnsley Hall near Cirencester. We hope this will be of interest to our gardening enthusiasts who I'm sure are looking forward to the Spring.

The lecture is at 2pm on 19th of February. Details of how to join free of charge will be emailed to members of the Arts Society Worcester.

Non-members may join but would need to pay a £5 fee to TAS Malmesbury.

Please note that our lecturer for this event is not accredited by The Arts Society.

This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'.

Roger Butler is a landscape architect and an experienced writer, photographer and lecturer. He has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of our canal network and worked on some of the UK’s major canal restoration projects. He has also acted as a consultant to bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

He regularly contributes to waterway and heritage magazines and writes and provides images for a range of countryside and outdoor titles. Roger is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute. He lives near Stratford upon Avon and lectures to groups such as the National Trust, RSPB, U3A, history societies, etc across the Midlands and further afield.

How stonemasons worked with their patrons to create meaningful imagery upon buildings gives us a unique insight into the mediaeval mind. By looking at both sacred and secular architecture we can begin to understand the fascinating, disturbing and sometimes comedic messages imparted to the viewer. Ideas connected to religious texts, morality, lordship, politics and personal identity are covered as we explore how one simple image may have many complex meanings…

James Wright is an archaeologist and historian based at the University of Nottingham. With over twenty years of professional experience, he has published two books and several popular and academic articles. He is a very proficient public speaker and has spoken to a wide variety of organizations including Historic Royal Palaces, The National Trust and the Museum of London.

A one-time stone mason as well as a published academic he is well qualified to speak on the both the techniques and the meanings of medieval sculpture.

Note that this lecture is now scheduled for the second Tuesday of the month as normal for our lecture series, not (as originally publicised) moved a week because of hall booking constraints.

Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, this lecture tells of its origin and appearance in all societies across the Mediterranean and through Europe. There is rich evidence of the role wine has played in these societies and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity. From the kwevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C., the symposia in ancient Greece, the thermopolia of Pompeii, the hospices of Europe, to the dining tables of fine society wine has been ever present. Drawings, paintings, engravings, buildings, pottery and wine labels themselves all contribute to the story.

David has been a wine retailer, importer and distributor for 30 years, presenting tastings and talks on wine to trade and private audiences. His talk, A Brief Story of Wine, a great subject, and full of rich evidence, going back 7,000 years, in the form of paintings, decorated drinking vessels, buildings and literature that contribute to the story of wine.

Covers surprising attempts to create some graphic unity, even in the 1860s and 70s, expansion of the Underground and the need to create some cohesion between the different operating companies, Leslie Green's architecture and the Arts & Crafts movement, Frank Pick, Edward Johnston's typeface, Charles Holden's architecture and the Streamline Moderne/Art Deco movement, the New Works Programme, post war austerity/design, Victoria Line, loss of Johnston & rescue by Kono, Jubilee Line Extension/architecture, creation of TfL, recent schemes and future works including the Elizabeth Line/Northern Line extension to Battersea etc..

Mark Ovenden is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit.

His first book Metro Maps of the World published in 2003 is a guide to the diagrams, plans and maps of underground rapid transit system including images ranging from photos of the systems to rare and historical maps. Paris Metro Style in map and station design was published November 2008. Railway Maps of the World was published in May 2011 in the USA, a British edition was produced in September 2011. London Underground by Design was published by Penguin Books in January 2013. A celebration of the Johnston typeface centenary and 90th Anniversary of Gill Sans was published in 2016, and in July 2017 Mark fronted a television documentary for BBC Four on the subject of Johnston and Gill and in November 2018 he presented a documentary for BBC Radio 4 on skyscrapers. Others works on graphic design and transport systems are in preparation.

The fan is a curious and complicated article combining utility with artistry. It is a weapon of seduction; it is portable art; it is a fashion statement – hard to categorise, but perfectly described by one particularly enthusiastic 18th-century writer as ‘the noblest invention of the human mind’! From a historical and cultural perspective, it’s significance cannot be underestimated. In East Asia, for example, where both men and women continue to use fans, they function in all sorts of ways beyond practical: given as celebratory gifts at weddings and births; used in Noh Theatre and Chinese Opera; even Samurai warriors and Sumo officials used fans. Today, in the West, fans no longer retain the sort of popularity achieved in the 18th century. They are generally thought of in terms of their functionality, whereas in the past they operated as lavish symbols of status, of wealth, refined taste, learnedness, even political leanings. There is so much we can learn from these objects; when we open an antique fan, we are literally unfurling history. 

Jacob Moss is curator at The Fan Museum, London, where he has worked for almost a decade following the completion of a master’s degree in fashion curation at London College of Fashion.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-54) was queen of the selfies long before Kim Kardashian but instead of using Instagram Frida used a brush & oils to paint her reality. Often associated with the Surrealist movement, Frida denied this insisting she painted life exactly as she had experienced it. Her work is often graphic and unflinching with subjects including murder, suicide, marital infidelity, miscarriage, revolution, living with a disability and death.

Frida’s personal life was tumultuous. Horrifically injured in an accident as a teenager she was dogged by physical pain and suffering for the rest of her life. She married, divorced and remarried the painter Diego Rivera. He was her artistic and political soulmate though an unfaithful husband. This illustrated talk examines Frida’s life and most iconic works. Recognised as one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century, she is known for her originality, bold use of colour, passion and courage and as someone who created life and beauty in the face of great personal suffering and adversity.

Fiona’s interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement, and William Morris in particular, began in her teenage years when she fell in love with Morris’s textile prints. After reading many biographies and publications about the great designer, she fell in love with the man. In 2009 she turned her passion for the Arts & Crafts Movement into a career by starting her own business selling home interiors in the style of the Arts & Crafts era. She has a BA (Hons) in Social Psychology from the University of Sussex, 1989.

This lecture is available online for members of The Arts Society Worcester. Details of how to view it have been mailed to members.

If you are having difficulty accessing and viewing this content, please contact Neil Woolford, digital@artswocwoo.org.

Princess Ksenia’s father, King Nikola, was nicknamed ‘The Father-in-Law of Europe’ having successfully married off his daughters to the royal houses of Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, Serbia and Russia. His eighth daughter – Ksenia - chose a different route, carving out a place for herself as secretary and valued advisor to her father, becoming the first woman in Montenegro to drive, and developing a particular talent for photography (though a contemporary also described her as ‘a courageous and skilled shot with a pistol’).The lecture shares the photographs she took during her years in what contemporary British traveller William Le Queux described as ‘the little city in the sky’, the brand-new Montenegrin capital of Cetinje, where the royal family had their palace before they were exiled to France in 1916. Despite her privileged life of garden parties and tennis, Ksenia’s photographic record also shows how she drove out to take beautiful photographs celebrating ordinary life in Montenegro among its schools, soldiers, fishermen, cooks, horses and villages.

Elizabeth Gowing studied at Magdalen College Oxford before training as a teacher and working in Lambeth, Hackney and Islington. She moved to Kosovo in 2006 and there worked with the Ethnological Museum in Prishtina and co-founded ‘The Ideas Partnership’, a charity working on education and cultural heritage projects. She speaks fluent Albanian and has translated two books (the unauthorized biography of Yugoslavia’s longest-held political prisoner, Adem Demaci, and the memoirs of one of the leaders of the 1912 uprising. She is a regular contributor to Radio 4 (Saturday Live, Excess Baggage, From Our Own Correspondent) and the BBC World Service.

This lively lecture draws on Elizabeth’s research in the archives of Ksenia’s correspondence, and on collaboration with the staff at the National Museum of Montenegro. It gives a face and a human narrative to the history and culture of a part of the Balkans which is just beginning to be visited by British travellers.

This lecture was available online, exclusively for members of the Society until Sunday the 17th of May.

At the turn of the last century, Vienna was the capital of a vast empire and one of the most exciting artistic laboratories in the world. It produced painters such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, architects like Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Looking at these and others figures in the context of the society in which they worked, this talk asks how and why the City of Dreams became a cultural hotbed around 1900.

Gavin is a writer and broadcaster, appearing on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributing to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent talks include the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York, as well as for history of art societies and The Art Fund.

Due to the current coronavirus situation this meeting is cancelled.

However, we have worked with Natalia to produce an on-line version of her presentation which is available to Arts Society Worcester members from Monday the 13th to Sunday the 19th of April. The presentation is hosted here. It is password protected, the login credentials have been emailed to members of the Society.

One of the pioneers of abstract modern art, Wassily Kandinsky exploited the evocative interrelation between colour and form to create an aesthetic experience that engaged the sight, sound, and emotions of the public. He believed that total abstraction offered the possibility for profound, transcendental expression and that copying from nature only interfered with this process. Highly inspired to create art that communicated a universal sense of spirituality, he innovated a pictorial language that only loosely related to the outside world, but expressed volumes about the artist's inner experience. In this lecture we will look at paintings by Wassily Kandinsky and the origins of his first abstractions, as well as other Russian artists, who developed non-objective art in Russia.

Natalia Murray was born in St Petersburg where she gained BA and MA in Art History at the Academy of Fine Arts before taking the PhD course at the Hermitage Museum (conducting research on the XVII century Dutch paintings and British reproductive mezzotint engravings of XVII-XIX centuries, and their connection with the development of artistic tastes in Britain). In 2015 she was awarded PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Her most recent book Art for the Workers. Proletarian Art and Festive Decorations of Petrograd. 1917-1920 was published by ‘Brill’ in May 2018. At present she is a visiting lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art and a senior freelance curator. In 2017 she curated a major exhibition Revolution. Russian Art. 1917-1932 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and is currently working on an exhibition of Malevich and Kandinsky in Paris.

Over the last five years she has taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art Summer and Spring School and conducted an evening lecture course Showcasing Art History, presented study days and public lectures at the National Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, V&A, Art Fund and Chelsea Art Club .

Commissioned by the Bishop of Bayeux who fought at Hastings, executed by skilled English craftsmen, the Bayeux Tapestry is the last survivor of a vanished art form. Rupert Willoughby presents a lively introduction to the tapestry – so much more than the story of Hastings – in which he unravels some of its mysteries, places it in the context of its age and firmly establishes it as a landmark in the history of Western art. With its lively illustrations of languid, party-loving, moustachioed Englishmen, of the cavalcades of noble huntsmen and of the snorting Norman cavalry poised to charge into battle, the Tapestry is the next best thing to a moving picture from the time.

Rupert is a prize-winning historian who specialises in the domestic and social life of the past. A graduate with First Class Honours in History from the University of London, he is the author of the best-selling Life in Medieval England for Pitkin, of guides to castles owned by English Heritage and Hampshire County Council, and of a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen’s Village and Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture. He is an experienced lecturer - and occasional broadcaster - on a broad range of topics, with a particular interest in architecture, interior decoration and costume.

Cleopatra, the woman for whose love’s sake Antony is imagined to have given up the chance to rule the Roman world, has been inspiring painters, poets and (more recently) film-makers for over two millennia. Their gorgeously voluptuous depictions of her offer insights into changing concepts of beauty, and into the racial and sexual assumptions underlying them. Showing images ranging from Roman portrait busts, through medieval illuminations, the glorious works of Renaissance masters like Michelangelo, the splendour of Tiepolo and the exoticism of Gustave Moreau to 20th century film stars (Theda Bara, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and the Carry On team’s Amanda Barrie), Lucy will show how Cleopatra became a screen onto which artists have projected their wildly differing fantasies about exotic danger and erotic bliss.

Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio - which won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the Costa Biography Award - and of Cleopatra and Heroes. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Historical Association, she has reviewed for all of the UK’s serious newspapers and for Radio 3’s Night Waves, judged five literary prizes, and spoken at numerous literary festivals. She teaches Creative Writing at Arcadia University and at Arvon.

Have women been ignored by Art History? In New York in the spring of 1985, seven women launched the Guerrilla Girls in response to the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition ‘An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture’, whose list of 165 artists included only 13 women. The group’s most famous poster posed the question ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?’. This talk considers the changing position of women in art history, and looks at examples of female artists who have pushed the boundaries of this male-dominated discipline.

Stella is a freelance Art History lecturer and speaker represented by Andrew Lownie Literary Agency in London. Stella was recently awarded an MA in History of Art by the University of Warwick and spent three months studying Venetian art in Venice as part of this degree. Stella gained her BA in the History of Art with a 1st class in her dissertation from the University of Bristol (2007-2011). She spent a year studying Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence and attended drawing classes at the prestigious Charles H. Cecil studios.

Stella runs her own art history courses and she is also a regular lecturer on art appreciation holidays in both the UK and Europe. She also lectures to large groups for various art societies and for the National Trust.

The Nutcracker has delighted audiences at Christmas for many decades yet it was deemed a failure at its first performances. We take a close look at how this well-loved ballet now takes its rightful place on stage and how the music of Tchaikovsky along with story-telling, design and dance all come together to make the most magical escape for young and old alike. Includes several performance video clips.

Nigel Bates is the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet and has been a performer for nearly forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House, including seventeen years as Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra. He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC's Maestro at the Opera and Pappano's Classical Voices documentary series. He is a regular contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH. He has given lectures for over twenty years, including arts societies and conservatoires in the UK and across Australia.

Focusing on the role of posters and poster artists in the history of advertising, this global-award winning Creative Director of international advertising agencies has lectured extensively on design, illustration and photographic styles as they have influenced the building of brands. He has himself created posters for major brands including British Airways, Nestlé, Sony, General Motors and Shell. His travel writing and photography has appeared in various airline magazines as well as Time. He has also written and produced several hundred TV and Radio commercials and corporate video programmes. A member of Winchester DFAS.

The Flying Scotsman, Golden Arrows, Belles and Pullmans; no wonder Betjeman still stands in awe at St Pancras. Covering the Golden Age of British Railways, the era of the Big Four 1923 – 1947, this lecture celebrates the most romantic period of our British travel history. You’ll see how the best travel posters connect with your heart and your mind, and how they have closely reflected the evolution of British holidays.

Caravaggio’s paintings inspired many artists during his lifetime and would go on to influence many more, from Orazio Gentileschi to Peter Paul Rubens, Gerard van Honthorst and Rembrandt. Each absorbed a different aspect of his work. His style spread across Europe and gave rise to the international movement known as ‘Caravaggism’. Yet for many, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is famed as much for his criminal record as for his art. Was it the violence of his times or his own violent spirit that inspired the dramatic lighting and intense naturalism of his work? This lecture follows the dramatic incidents of the artist’s life and looks at why and how his influence spread so far.

After obtaining her first degree in Chemical Engineering, Julia Musgrave went on to become a Chartered Information Systems Engineer and IT project manager. In 2008 she felt that life was too short for just one career and decided to become an art historian. She now has a Graduate Diploma in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and an MLitt in ‘Art, Style and Design: Renaissance to Modernism, c.1450 – c.1930’ from the University of Glasgow. She is currently working towards her Ph.D. at the University of York, on the involvement of Roger Fry and the Bloomsbury Group in the development of the Contemporary Art Society from 1910 to 1937. She is a lecturer in Art History at the City Literary Institute (City Lit).

Art historian, author, lecturer, photographer and journalist. Denise has worked in Cambodia in the 1990s and has been a scholar of Southeast Asian art ever since. She lectures for the Art Fund, the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) on their post graduate Asian Art Course and for Madingley Hall (University of Cambridge); also for organisations such as the British Museum, the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, Asia House, the National Trust, the Royal Geographical Society and has lectured worldwide. She writes for many art, literary and travel publications and has appeared on television and radio. Also Denise is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies in the UK, Asia House and the Royal Geographical Society.

Cambodia –the Sacred Art of Angkor and the living Arts

The Hindu temple complex of Angkor in Cambodia is the greatest archaeological site in Asia. Within an area of 400 square kilometres there are dozens of temples, many covered in jungle, but the most important of them all is Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th century, Angkor Wat is the biggest religious monument in the world and measures a square mile. This mystical temple is a recreation on earth of the Hindu cosmos, brilliantly constructed to align with the sun and moon and covered with exquisite carvings. This illustrated lecture will focus on the artistic heritage and religious symbolism of Angkor. It will reveal the historical background and show the evolution of the Khmer empire. It concludes with contemporary Cambodia and the role of Angkor today and the revival of the living arts, especially the classical Khmer ballet performed at the temples in celebration of the gods. Gorgeous dancers in shimmering silk costumes re-enact scenes from the Ramayana as the sun sets. As the last rays touch the sandstone, it turns gold and red, before darkness finally falls and the magnificent structure once more becomes part of the jungle.

Formerly a Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Christ's College, Cambridge, Max now teaches at the University of Manchester and is a recent winner of the university’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ award. He specializes in the cultural history of war and heroism, and is currently writing a new history of British heroes. Public lecturing is Max’s passion. Alongside lectures at Manchester and other universities, he has spoken about his research to public audiences throughout the UK and beyond, from the Isles of Scilly to Hobart, Tasmania.