The lens through which the discussion is focused will be the 400-year-old Oxford Botanic Gardens and gardens created by the lecturer and his wife. However, other examples of gardens from around Britain and other parts of the world will be included:
During the study day, Timothy will discuss the creation of gardens from medieval times to the 19th Century, he will explore the use of colour in everyday life, gardening and art from prehistory to the present day. Finally, he will examine the process of, and motivation for creating living works of fine art in the garden in the 20th Century.
About our speaker:
Timothy was director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014. Since then, he has been a college lecturer and tutor at Somerville College, Oxford. Gardens are often thought of as a place where science and art meet on equal terms. His lectures investigate this relationship.
Click here to download the booking form.
Many of the great – but smaller – European art collections are tucked away in side streets, country houses and provincial towns, known often only to connoisseurs and local communities. With an eye to important paintings, musical instruments and pictures with musical content, Peter Medhurst explores some of these quality galleries, and examines moments from the Mauritshuis in The Hague, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, the Vleeshuis in Antwerp, and the Ca’ Rezzonico in Venice. The lecture is illustrated throughout with music.
Session One: 10.30 – 11.30
• Burghley House, Lincolnshire, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and The Bate, Oxford
Session Two: 11.45 – 13.00
• the Mauritshuis, The Hague and the Vleeshuis in Antwerp
Session Three: 14.00 – 15.00
• the Ca'Rezzonico in Venice and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
About our speaker
Peter works in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
https://www.theartssocietycotswolds.org.uk/page-content/SID bookform March 2021.pdf
The day starts with a painting of the Thames and Tower of London in 1500. We continue with Dutch views of Tudor Palaces on the Thames in the 17th century, and then look at 18th century paintings by Canaletto and his English rival Samuel Scott, who deserves to be equally well known.
Next, we turn to Constable, Turner and Tissot, including three French Impressionists. The more modern landscapists include Lowry and Stanley Spencer. Artists who portrayed the Lower Thames (below London Bridge) include many who showed Rochester, including Sandby, Cotman, Wyllie, and Turner himself. Several others showed Gravesend. Then there was the dramatic Dutch Raid on the Medway in 1667, painted by many artists.
In the afternoon, we examine in detail some of the one hundred paintings of the Thames when it froze, from the 12th century down to 1814. Activities on the frozen Thames, apart from skating, included musical and theatrical performances set up on the Thames.
About our speaker:
Nicholas Reed, BA (Oxon,) MA (Manc), M Phil (St A) is the author of books on Monet on the Thames, Sisley on the Thames, Pissarro in West London, and Frost Fairs on the Frozen Thames.