Dulwich Decorative & Fine Arts Society

LANDSCAPE, POETRY AND POWER: BRITISH NEO-ROMANTIC PAINTERS AND WORLD WAR TWO

The British Neo-Romantic painters of the mid 20th century, including John Piper, Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Paul Nash, form a bridge between the landscape traditions of the 18th century and the art of today. They created a vision of the British landscape that was vital to Britain’s self image during the Second World War. Jo Walton has lectured on a variety of periods in art history, guided at Tate Modern and Tate Britain, worked with Christies and set up and runs the Atrium Bookshop in Cork Street. Note: preceded by our AGM at 7.15pm (before coffee).

THE RING FINGER IN EUROPE 1600-1900: A SYMBOL FOR ALL OCCASIONS

This lecture looks at the many reasons why rings are worn – as symbols of love and marriage, wealth and status, mourning and commemoration – and at the variety of designs that occur, their amatory or humorous inscriptions and the sheer technical virtuosity of their manufacture. Since 1974.  Judy Rudoe has worked at the British Museum as a curator specialist in jewellery and 19th and 20th century decorative arts. She has organised and written catalogues for several exhibitions, including Cartier 1900-1939. Her latest book, co-authored with Charlotte Gere, is Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria.

MEDICINE AND THE HUMAN BODY THROUGH THE ARTIST'S EYE

The image of the good doctor has existed in Western art from antiquity to the present day. This lecture explores the association between religion, art and healing, and between science and art in the media of film, photography and painting. Mary Acton was course director of the diploma course in history of art at Continuing Education, Oxford University and is the author of Learning to Look at Paintings, Learning to Look at Modern Art, and Learning to Look at Sculpture.

(This replaces the lecture on artists' mothers, which has been cancelled)
HANDEL, HOGARTH AND CAPTAIN CORAM'S FOUNDLING HOSPITAL FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY

What brought Handel, Hogarth and Coram together? It was their shared concern for the poor of London, especially children. Coram took 17 years to raise the money to build the Foundling Hospital to which destitute mothers brought their babies; Hogarth attracted benefactors by hanging many of his valuable paintings in the building and thereby creating the first London art gallery; and Handel gave fundraising concerts in the Hospital Chapel, which included a special Foundling Anthem and the music of Messiah (this lecture will include music).  Janet Canetty-Clarke is a musician, pianist and conductor. She takes NADFAS groups to Salzburg, Vienna, Venice and Paris. She lectures for the Continuing Education Department of Sussex University, the Workers' Educational Association, the University of the Third Age and Birkbeck College.

WEDDING PRESENTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Though most marriages during the Italian Renaissance were arranged, decorations on wedding and baby presents and frescoes portray romantic love. This lecture looks at 15th and 16th century Tuscan fashions in wedding presents and domestic interiors. Launce Gribbin RA is a painter and a lecturer in history of art and architecture. He has worked at the V&A, the London College of Printing and as a tutor at Sotheby’s Educational Studies.

ARMS AND THE MAN: HERALDRY OLD AND NEW

This lecture unravels what coats of arms, crests, flags and banners can tell us about people, their families and achievements, as well as being decorative in themselves. Apart from being an accountant, Peter Dewar is a genealogist. He is the Editor of Burke’s Landed Gentry of Scotland, a heraldry consultant to Christie’s, and Falkland Pursuivant Extraordinary to the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Edinburgh.

A CRISIS OF BRILLIANCE: YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS 1908-1919

This lectures will cover the lives, artistic education and development of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art, England's leading art school before and during the First World War. Dr David Boyd Haycock, formerly curator of the National Maritime Museum, is currently putting together an exhibition based on his book A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War (2009), to be held at Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2014.

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG: A SOCIAL AND DESIGN HISTORY OF CHILDREN'S CHINA

The lecture explores children's china as it reflects the concept of childhood in the 19th and 20th centuries, including plates encouraging good behaviour and entertaining nurseryware inspired by cartoons, comics and early television. The emergency of the collecting market for china ornaments and miniatures for doll's houses will also be covered. Louise Irvine is a specialist in the history of ceramics, and has written many books on Doulton wares. She has also lectured for Christie's Fine Arts course, the V&A and the Arts Council.