Past Meetings
23 June 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University, 
Diego Velasquez 1599 – 1660.
Douglas Skeggs
Born into a prominent family he originally studied philosophy and language to become a lawyer like his father but his talent for drawing encouraged his career in art. He was the leading court painter for the Spanish nobility and remains a major influence to the present day. 350th anniversary of his death.
Click here for further informaltion on Velasquez
To view many of his paintings click here, to enlarge the paintings click on them
26 May 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University, Lancaster Road
Tibet – The Roof of the World
Zara Fleming
An overview of Tibetan history from the time of the great Tibetan Empire (6th – 9th century) up to the present day; explores their fascinating culture inspired by Buddhism, introduced from India in the 7th century. The lecture also gave an insight into the current situation.
28 April 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University, 
Lancaster Road
Lalique
Dr Anne Anderson
René Jules Lalique was born in Ay, a small village in the Marne region of France on April 6, 1860, and died May 5, 1945. He was a glass designer, renowned for his stunning creations of perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks and in the latter part of his life, automobile hood ornaments. The firm he founded is still active today.
Known as a designer of the finest Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewellery and decorative items, his skill and craftmanship is unrivalled.
Illuminated automobile hood ornament in the form of a rooster by René Jules Lalique
Click here for background information on Rene Lalique and examples of his work
Click here for a Collectors and Enthusiasts web page
Click here for some of the gorgeous jewellery
24 March 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University,
Beds and Bedtime in the Tudor and Stuart Period
David Bostwick
David Bostwick who will talk about how the need for warmth, comfort, display and the avoidance of bird droppings gave rise to the four poster bed. This lecture looks at bed styles ranging from the Great Bed of Ware to the fantastical confections of Francis of Lapierre.
David Bostwick BA Hons MA PhD ALA AMA – Lecturer and consultant in the Cultural History of the Medieval, Tudor and Stuart periods. Specialist in medieval imagery and interior furnishings and decoration 1400 – 1700. Former Keeper of the Social History Collections, Sheffield City Museums.
Click here to see three photographs of Tudor beds for rich and poor at Plas Mawr
Click here for the Melville Bed at the V&A
Click here for the Great Bed of Ware at the V&A
Click here for a Francis Lapierre bed
Click here for information on the fabrics used in these magnificent four poster beds
24 February 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University, Lancaster Road,
The Turner Prize
Barry Vennings
This lecture looks behind the hype and examines the significant winners and losers of the prize that has raised the profile of contemporary British art from early 80s neglect to twenty first century prominence. A less than reverential look at the Turner Prize and the candidates past and present. The winner for 2009 was…..
Click for a link to the Turner Prize web site
27 January 2010 – Henry Wellcome Building, Leicester University, Lancaster Road.
The Kings Mother, Margaret Beaufort and her Properties in the Midlands
Angie Smith
Lady Margaret Beaufort was mother to Henry Tudor whom she bore at the age of 13. She was a woman with money and status. The talk considered the material culture that she left behind including illuminated manuscripts and the building projects with which she was associated.
To read more about the fascinating woman click here
2009
25 November 2009 – Leicester New Walk Museum
Gourmet Art? Cheers! Food and Beverages in Art Through the Ages
Libby Horner
A light hearted romp through the food and drink depicted in art over the ages, exploring the associated symbolism and offering glimpses of the contemporary society and artists who created the works.
28 October 2009 – Leicester New Walk Museum
The Careful Collector: Fakes, Forgeries and Reproductions
David Battie
A talk covering the wide range of spurious works of art which have been created over the last two hundred years, fooling expert and tyro alike. It explains the differences between the terms and points out warning signs to the collector.
23 September 2009 – Leicester New Walk Museum
Linley, the Continuing Tradition
Nicholas Merchant – “David Linley has established himself as one of the leading furniture designers of our day. His furniture is inspired by the past, reinterpreted for the 21st Century.”
Click here to link to David Linley web site
22 July 2009 at New Walk Museum Social Evening
Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion: The History of Magic through Art and Pictures
Bertie Pearce
Bertie’s grandparents -Derek and Martha Hill in 1939
To quote Bertie’s web site, Bertie “inherited the interest and skills in conjuring from his maternal grandfather Charles Derek Hill (1906 – 1979).
24 June 2009
Lee Miller and Picasso: Illustrated with Lee Miller’s Photographs and Picasso’s Paintings
Anthony Penrose (Lee Miller’s son)
Cover of Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose.
Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller, Lady Penrose (23 April 1907 – 21 July 1977) was an American photographer.
During the Second World War, she became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine covering events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.
The famous photogragh of Lee Miller in Hitlers private bathroom. That morning Lee had been walking around a concentration camp in those boots!
During the 1950s and 1960s, Farley Farm (her home in England) became a sort of artistic Mecca for visiting artists such as Picasso, Man Ray, Henry Moore, Eileen Agar, Jean Dubuffet, Dorothea Tanning, and Max Ernst.
Farley Farm is open to the public click here for their web site
Click here for more information from Wikipedia on Lee Miller
May 2009
Classic Ground: The Renaissance Gardens of Italy by Steven Desmond
Iran, Land of Great Kings, Shahs and Ayatollahs by John Osborne
Francis Bacon by Linda Smith
The Medieval Menagerie: Animals in the Art of the Middle Ages by Chloe Cockerill
Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka:The Vienna Secession 1898-1918 by James Malpas
2008
Home Sweet Home: Design and Decorative Art during the Interwar Period by Marion Hundleby
The Fine Art of Crime: The Trail and Repatriation of Stolen Art by Malcolm Kenwood
Woman: Subject or Object? Representation of the Female Body in Classical Painting by Nirvana Romell
From Blood and Sawdust to Lycra: 200 Years of Plastics in Art and Design by Colin Williamson
The Scottish Colourists by Vivien Heffernan
Andrea Palladio: His Palaces and Villas in the Veneto by Elizabeth Gordon
25th Anniversary Celebration Lunch at Beaumanor Hall with lecture by Helen Clifford: Behind the Acanthus, the NADFAS Story
Sculpture from the archaic to the classical by Charlotte Clements
Creating the English icon: the materials and techniques of Tudor and Jacobean portraiture by Sarah Cove
We Three Kings: music, art, legends and poetry inspired by the Magi by Peter Medhurst
2007
The Art of the Russian Lacquer Miniature by Cherry Gilchrist
The Pick of Ceramics from the Leicester Collection by Lars Tharp
The Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean by Alan Bott
Magnificent Splendour:Court Dress through the Ages by Claire Walsh
Signs and Symbols – the Hidden Message in Paintings by Valerie Woodgate
Caillebotte, the Unknown Impressionist by Margaret Davis
Carmen: Fatal Attraction by Jonathan Hinden (social evening)
Paintings in Newlyn 1880-1914 by David Evans
The New Berlin, Art and Architecture by Eveline Eaton
The Christmas Story through Paintings in the National Gallery by Caroline MacDonald Haig
2006
Trompe l’oeil: The Art of Illusion by Tom Errington
Women in the Pottery Industry by Louise Irvine
Japanese Architecture, Gardens & Tea Culture by Suzanne Perrin
Romancing the Stone: History of the Diamond by John Benjamin
Rembrandt: The Inner Light by Warren Hearnden
How to look after your Antique Furniture by Christopher Chanter
My House Guest, Dr. Johnson by Karin Fernald (social evening)
The History of the Skyscraper by Anthea Streeter
Poland: the Survival of its Art and Architecture by Alicia Salter
Inspired by winter colour, Brueghel to Cezanne and beyond by Vivien Heffernan