From Holbein to the arrival of photography, the English have always kept a special place in their affections for the miniature.  No other country has supported such an unbroken succession of miniatures and flourishing development for so long. More closely bound up with people’s lives than any other art form, these portraits provide, in Sir Roy Strong’s happy image, a ‘keyhole’ into the lives of Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians and Victorians. The aim of this lecture is to provide a tour through three centuries of wonderful portraiture and the changing ages they represent: a tapestry of English history seen through the eyes of its miniaturists.

The Nazis looted over 20% of Western Art during World War II, confiscating art from Jewish families and emptying museums throughout Europe. This lecture will provide an overview of Nazi looting by setting the scene in Nazi Germany, discussing Hitler’s obsession with art and how the Monuments Men recovered art after the war. Several landmark cases will be discussed in detail, including Gustav Klimt’s celebrated Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer and the stash of over 1200 artworks found in possession of the son of a notorious Nazi dealer.

 Shauna Isaac has been active in World War II art restitution for several years and has worked with families and government organisations to recover Nazi looted art. She set up the Central Registry on Looted Cultural Property and served as a member of the Working Group for the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague. Shauna studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the UK and Smith College in the USA. She is a regular lecturer at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Her publications include articles for The Art Newspaper, The Times Literary Supplement and Art Quarterly. She is a contributor to the book Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British Visual Culture.

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 Lidington has been a showman, researcher and teacher for over 40 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 – such as David Walliams’ and Lee Mack’s episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? and most recently with Miriam Margolyes on Channel 4 as part of her programme about Dickensian Christmas. 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. Tony is the author of "Don’t Forget The Pierrots!'' The Complete History of British Pierrot Troupes & Concert Parties, published by Routledge in 2022.

The last two decades of the nineteenth century reverberated with the row amongst gardeners and architects. At a stroke, the problem was solved by the partnership between Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens, so that a house by Lutyens with a garden by Jekyll became an Edwardian ideal. Together they designed gardens with a strong architectural background, softened by luxuriant planting in the natural style advocated by Robinson. Their partnership thrived in the brash, new-moneyed Edwardian era, but the First World War ended that golden afternoon and as Lutyens became distracted by the creation of New Delhi and Miss Jekyll, almost blind, became more and more reluctant to leave Munstead Wood, so the gardens they designed together were fewer and further between. 

James Bolton studied at the Inchbald School of Design 1990 (Dip ISD). He was Head Gardener at The Old Rectory Farnborough 1990-92, Faculty Director, Design History at Inchbald School of Design. He is a Garden Designer and has been a lecturer for The Arts Society since 1995. He organises The Arts Society's garden study days and tours in UK and Europe also tours to the best private gardens in the UK, Italy, France and South Africa. He has published a book on garden ornaments.

Beethoven’s deafness is well known but the psychological impact of this was devastating and also was far from his only problem. Less well known, is the parallel decline in his physical health and failure of many of his organs.  From an unparalleled quantity of documented material, this lecture will describe in his own words the impact of all his challenges and on his phenomenal outputs. The talk is also richly illustrated with extracts of recordings of his works.  As you listen to the short clips and at the same time hear about his declining health, this lecture will be an emotional roller coaster of a life's journey.  Clearly dying, and in the most appalling physical distress, he was able to produce works such as the 9th Symphony, ironically based on the Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ – a contradiction that defies credulity. In a final twist the lecture will show that laboratory analysis in the past 5 years of sampled of Beethoven’s hair have helped unravel the cause of his health problems!

 Alan Silman is a Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and Senior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College Oxford. Prior to this for 8 years he was Medical Director of the charity Arthritis Research UK (ARUK - now called Versus Arthritis). He is an epidemiologist with a particular interest in diseases of bones, muscles and joints.  He has authored over 700 research publications and a number of textbooks.  He is amongst the top 100 published scientists across all disciplines in UK universities. He is passionate about the arts and has researched intensively the medical history of well-known individuals. From these researches, he has developed a series of lectures addressing how the lives and outputs, of such individuals were affected by their health. These talks have been given widely to a number of audiences across the UK to U3A, Probus and other community and professional groups.  In his spare time, he is a lover of theatre and an amateur drama enthusiast, and he directed his first play in 2024! 

At the heart of this story lies desire - a passion felt by a man of legendary power and matchless physical strength for a fragile, delicate, white ceramic material called porcelain. He was Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1670-1773), a self-styled sufferer of ‘La Maladie de Porcelaine’ - the insatiable yearning for the 'white gold' of the Orient. Porcelain was very costly as it was beautiful, exotic, rare and mysterious. Every piece was unique and hand-crafted and the Elector’s collection, displayed at his court in Dresden, was vast.

Anne Haworth has been a lecturer and guide at the Victoria and Albert Museum for more than 20 years and also lectures extensively for organisations including the Arts Society, Sotheby's Institute, SOAS, The Foundation for International Education and for many private groups during their visits to London's museums. She was a lecturer for the British Museum and the Royal Collection Trust for 14 years, including 10 years guiding private tours of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. In her earlier career, after studying Modern History at Durham University, she trained she became a senior specialist in ceramics at the head offices in London of Christie's Fine Art auctioneers (1987-1995) and also Bonhams (1981-1986). From 1995 to 2002, she was resident in Shanghai, China and gave lectures on the history of the China trade and European Chinoiserie to the international community of diplomats and expatriates in Shanghai and Beijing. She is currently a member of the Heritage Advisory Panel for the Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington, Lancashire. 

Spain is perhaps most often associated with holidays, a land of sunshine, rioja and a relaxed pace of life, but Spain’s sometimes forgotten tumultuous history gave rise to some of the most astonishing artworks in European history. These works, often overlooked in favour of those created by Italian and Northern European painters were often ignored, or even dismissed.  Spanish artists produced some of the most powerful and arresting art works created anywhere in the Western Europe, and these have shaped and influenced the wider art world. This lecture, study day, or series of lectures will be structured around 5 key Spanish painters and their contemporaries, across half a millennia, and we will consider how they responded to the seismic shifts in wider Spanish society over the course of their careers, and how their works have framed our understanding of their homeland.

Ed Williams is based in the North West of England, as an Oxford educated Art Historian, he is passionate about sharing his love of the History of Art to a range of audiences. He works at TATE Liverpool, delivering tours and talks of the collection and special exhibitions he is also an official Green Badge Tour Guide for North Wales.  In addition to leading tours Ed teaches the History of Art at the University of Liverpool, where he specialises in teaching adult learners at the Department of Continuing Education. He regularly gives lectures to specialist interest groups and societies as well as U3A and WI groups. He is a member of the International Association of Art Critics and his work has been published in several journals and online publications.

Justinian and Theodora bowed to no man when they ruled the world’s most powerful empire during the 6th century. A former prostitute and exotic dancer, Theodora was a woman with an unsavoury past, while her husband’s roots lay in Balkan peasant stock and yet together inspired some of most beautiful art in the Byzantine Empire. From the sublime mosaics of Ravenna and St Catherine’s monastery to the miraculous architecture of Hagia Sophia - who could forget the most outrageous imperial couple in Byzantine history?   

Geri Parlby's career spans across diverse fields. She started as a news and investigative reporter via Mirror Group newspapers before becoming Head of Press for United International Pictures, handling major blockbuster publicity campaigns from Paramount, Universal, MGM & UA studios throughout the 1980s. She then set up her own London based film and video PR agency which she ran for 8 years before retiring to start a family.  Driven by her passion for art she studied for an MA in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute before gaining a theology PhD from the University of Roehampton. Geri's extensive knowledge and engaging speaking style led her to become an accredited NADFAS/Arts Society lecturer and she has been lecturing both across the UK and internationally for the past 20 years.  

The Devon based artist brought, joy, mirth and honesty to a changing Britain. Many critics did not embrace the vision of working class Britain by the former sea-side land lady. She was an untrained artist who positively portrayed the histories and experiences of often under represented and marginalised folk. She was a Chronicler of a changing Britain. Let us celebrate this artist who finally is being re assessed by critics and welcomed into the painting pantheon traditions of Stanley Spencer, Fernando Botera and Edward Burra.

John Francis is an inspirational speaker who has delivered lecturers and workshops in the USA, Beijing, Malaysia and the UK. Initially trained as a painter, John was awarded the Max Beckmann Memorial Scholarship in painting in Brooklyn, New York and went on to be artist in residence for the state of Texas. Later in his career John produced and directed several short films and animations. He has taught film, art and pedagogy at the University of Exeter, Arts University Bournemouth, University Sains Malaysia, Southwestern College, California, Brunel University, and Kingston University London. 

When Edvard Munch created The Scream in 1893, he was responding to an intense emotional experience. Today, we would call it a panic attack. Crippling and anxious making, this primal cry was also a rallying call: for Munch and for the wider world of art. It gave birth to a movement known as expressionism, showing life not at it is (realism) or as it might be perceived in a fleeting moment (impressionism), but as it is experienced within the unembellished core of our being. Explosive and emotive, the aftershocks of Munch’s vision were felt across the world: in art and music, literature, dance and film. Charting the origins of expressionism and its historical context, this multifaceted talk embraces artists and thinkers such as Kandinsky, Klee and Schiele, Nietzsche, Freud and Schoenberg, pondering the radical ways in which they both reflected and ignited our inner feelings.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster. He appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, was published in 2022; his second, The Gay Apocalypse: Queer Life and Culture in Vienna 1900 will be released in 2027.

Following the AGM at 2.00 p.m.

From those gorgeous 1930s travel posters, through nationalisation of the railways in 1948, with their bright regional colours, to the creation of the famous BR Double-Arrow symbol in the 1960s...it's surprising how British railways have led the way in terms of design. In this lecture we reminisce over those beautiful graphics, bygone days of railway architecture and travel. We'll pay homage to the wonderful Tube map by Harry Beck and look to the future of train and station design. So get your tickets ready for inspection: we're on the right track! 

Mark Ovenden is a broadcaster and author who's sold a quarter of a million books and appeared on many TV and radio programmes. He specialises in the subjects of industrial design and architecture - especially in the world of public transport. Since he became AS accredited in 2018, he's delivered scores of lectures to societies all over Britain and also in Europe. He's worked at the BBC producing programmes for Radios 1's John Peel and Annie Nightingale, in commercial radio as a journalist and newsreader, and in television as a researcher and even for MTV as a music programmer. Mark recently fronted  his own documentary for BBC Four (on the subject of typefaces) and he presented another documentary for BBC Radio 4 on architecture. Other programmes and books are in the works. He is currently the host of the UK's only weekly FM/DAB radio show about transport and design (also a podcast).

E H Shepard loved Christmas, and this lecture describes, including his own words much of the magic and joy of successive festive seasons, from those of his own childhood to others throughout his long life. We see a range of artistic styles from full colour images to pen-and-ink personal Christmas cards, with cartoons, drawings and watercolours, some featuring the iconic images from the Wind in the Willows (the snow in the Wild Wood…) and Winnie-the-Pooh (Pooh and Piglet from The House at Pooh Corner). Many of the images have not been published for over fifty years.

James Campbell has a BA in History and an MA in the History of Art and a particular interest in the work of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist E H Shepard (1879-1976). He has been lecturing for over twenty years, and has lectured across the UK and overseas to Literary Festivals, Art Societies, military museums, and to private clubs and community groups. He has been a Trustee of the E H Shepard Estate since 2010, as was involved in the ground-breaking Victoria and Albert Museum 2017 Exhibition marking the 90th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh. His books Shepard’s War and The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 2015 and 2017 respectively. His new joint biography of A A Milne and E H Shepard - The Men Who Created Winne-the-Pooh: The Lives of A A Milne and E H Shepard - commissioned for the centenary of the Winnie-the-Pooh books was published in September 2025 by Michael O'Mara Books.