This lecture will feature some of India’s greatest buildings and provide insight into the historical contexts and colourful personalities involved in their construction.

Illustration - Akbar's Fort, Wiki Media Commons

It is in the realm of portraiture that Renoir created distinctively endearing images of pleasure, comfort and prosperity portraying his subjects vividly and spontaneously.

Illustration - Young People in the Street, Ordupgaard Museum via Picryl.com

The Lunar Society an 18C dining club became an intellectual engine which kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Several leading artists engaged with the Society to produce industrial designs and works of art.

This talk will focus on the most remarkable of these artists, Joseph Wright of Derby.

Illustration -  

The Experiment of a Bird in an Air Pump, Wikipedia

E.L. Vignee le Brun, 1755-1842, was one of the most celebrated artists of her time,
becoming one of only 4 women to be elected to France’s prestigious Academy, only to have to flee during the Revolution.

Illustration - Self Portrait with daughter Julie, Wikipedia

Relish the humour and inventiveness of Heath Robinson’s complex designs for the simplest of tasks.

This lecture charts how Matisse and Picasso vied with each other to be regarded as the greatest artist of the 20th Century.

Illustrations- Self portraits of Picasso and Matisse, public domain area

Samuel Palmer made a unique contribution to British landscape painting, fusing a love of the countryside with a vision of idyllic co-existence between Nature, God and humanity.

Illustration - The Magic Apple Tree, Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge