The Arts Society
Woking Talk Programme 2018
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| All Speakers are carefully chosen
based on their reputation for attractive
and well-presented talks with good
pictures. Talks take place on the
second Wednesday of each month except
July and August. |
| Talks commence promptly at
10.30am at
The Lord Roberts Centre,
Bisley Camp,
Brookwood,
Woking
GU24 0NP |
| This
website includes an
Interactive map. |
| Coffee and biscuits are served from
9.45am. |
| Members may bring a visitor, but
the same person may not be a guest more
than twice a year. While we do not
charge a Visitors fee, Visitors may want
to make a donation to the Society of
(say) £5. |
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For the 2019 Talk
Programme, please click here |
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January
10th 2018 |
Talk:Rebel on the Run –
Caravaggio’s Final Years
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Sian
Walters MA (Cantab) |
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Speaker at the National Gallery
and Surrey University. Siân was
awarded a 1st at Cambridge for
her dissertation on the
paintings of Arnold Schoenberg. |
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Left: “Medusa” by Caravaggio
(1571 – 1610) | Right:
Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni
(1578 – 1630) |
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Caravaggio was
the definitive bad boy of art
history – determined and
ambitious yet irascible and
highly volatile. In 1606 his
life was to change forever
following a particularly violent
and bloody brawl in which
Caravaggio, himself badly
injured, ended up killing
Ranuccio Tommasoni with his
sword. This talk will explore
in particular the remarkable
stylistic transformations that
took place during the last four
years of Caravaggio’s life, a
period of restlessness and yet
extraordinary creative activity
when the artist was forced to
leave Rome, realising that his
own life was now on the line.
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February
14th
2018 |
Talk: “Bestriding the
World like a Colossus”- the Life
and Work of Sir Joseph Paxton
(1803-1865)
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Speaker: James Bolton BA (Hons)
MBA Dip ISD |
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James is a Garden Designer who
trained with the Direction des
Parcs et Jardins in Paris. |
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Visitors came from afar to see
THE GREAT EXHIBITION (1851) in
Hyde Park.
The exhibits were displayed in
the CRYSTAL PALACE which was
designed by SIR JOSEPH PAXTON |
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Joseph Paxton was the ultimate
Victorian example of rags to
riches; he was the child of a
Bedfordshire farm labourer and
through a combination of good
fortune, immense natural talent
and sheer hard work, he rocketed
through nineteenth century
English society to become MP for
Coventry, director of several
railway companies, creator of
The Crystal Palace, knight and,
most significantly, a boon
companion of the Duke of
Devonshire. |
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March
14th 2018 |
Talk: A Thousand Miles up
the Nile with Amelia B. Edwards
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Writer, artist, musician,
collector, Amelia Edwards in
1873 travelled the length of
Egypt and drew, and recorded,
her impressions of all she saw;
publishing 'A Thousand Miles up
the Nile' to great acclaim.
Clive will follow her on her
remarkable journey. |
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Speaker Clive Barham Carter |
Clive studied Egyptology in
Cambridge 30 years ago and Stage
Managed the University Theatre.
He became a housemaster and
later Deputy Head then Acting
Head of Charterhouse.
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April
11th 2018 |
Talk: The Founders and
Treasures of the Wallace
Collection
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Speaker: Stephen Duffy |
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Stephen read History and
History of Art at New College,
Oxford and, after working in
marketing, he joined the Wallace
Collection where he has been a
curator and then Senior Curator
for twenty years from which he
retired in 2014. |
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Left: “The Laughing Cavalier” by
Frands Hal (1582 – 1666)
| Right: “A lady At
Her Mirror” by Jean Raoux (1677
– 1734) |
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The Wallace Collection, a
national museum containing an
outstanding array of paintings,
furniture, porcelain, arms and
armour, and other works of art,
was brought together by five
generations of one family
between about 1780 and 1880.
This talk tells the
fascinating story of the Wallace
Collection’s formation, and also
presents many of its finest
treasures. |
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May
9th 2018 |
Talk: A Voyage of
Discovery - The Paintings of
George Raper,
Midshipman on the First Fleet to
Australia in 1788-1792
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Speaker: Clive Stewart-Lockhart |
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Clive studied on the Sotheby's
Works of Art course and has now
been working in the fine art
world for 40 years. He is
Managing Director of Woolley and
Wallis, the UK's leading
regional auctioneers, in
Salisbury, and has been a
specialist on the BBC Antiques
Roadshow for over 20 years. |
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The pictures above depict George
Raper’s arrival with the First
Fleet in Botany Bay, Australia
and also two of his naturalist
painting |
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George Raper
set sail on HMS Sirius with
convicts and crew to a largely
unknown world where he painted
exquisite watercolours mostly of
exotic birds and flowers . |
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June
13th 2018 |
Talk: Brilliant British
Humour in the forgotten art of
the picture postcard 1840-1950.
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Artist
drawn postcards were the most
popular art-form from the
Edwardian era to the outbreak of
World War II.
They were for entertainment but
also to bolster morale, inspire,
instruct, motivate and persuade.
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Speaker: Dr James
Taylor
James is a former
curator at the National Maritime
Museum |
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July
2018 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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August 2018 |
No Talk (Summer
break)
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September
12th
2018 |
Talk: Meet me at the
Waldorf: the extraordinary story
of two iconic
hotels built on
Astor feuds, fortunes and art
patronage.
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This talk recreates the
stunning interiors of both
hotels and the personalities who
created them and of those who
enjoyed them. It was at the
Waldorf where Marilyn Munro
first met President John
Kennedy. |
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Speaker: Mary Alexander MA |
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Mary trained as an art historian
and graduated with a B.A. Hons
in History and History of Art,
and an M.A. in History of Art
with Distinction from University
College London. |
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This photo, taken by Cecil
Beaton, is ranked as one of the
best images of the iconic
Marilyn. |
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October
10th
2018 |
Talk: “The Road to
the Crown”- Great Britain & the
Hanoverian Dynasty
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This talk explains how the
ruler of a relatively small
German state came to be crowned
King of Great Britain in 1714
and examines the union between
the two countries which lasted
until 1837 as well as the
cross-cultural transfer in art,
music, literature and
horticulture. |
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Speaker: Barbara Askew BA
(Hons) Dip Ed MITG |
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Barbara is an acknowledged
expert on Windsor Castle and the
surrounding area. She is the
Site Liaison Representative at
Windsor Castle for The Guild of
Registered Tourist Guides. This
is her second visit to Woking,
the first being when she gave us
a much enjoyed talk on The
Great Fire of London. |
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The Hanoverian coat of arms and
King George 1V |
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November
14th 2018 |
Talk: Pots & Frocks-the
world of Grayson Perry CBE
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Known
for his feminine alter ego,
Claire, Perry’s works of
ceramics, textiles, tapestries
and prints are highly sought
after. Perry won the Turner
prize in 2003 and was voted as
being in the top 100 most
powerful people in British
culture. Grayson gave the 2013
BBC Reith talks to great
acclaim as one critic put it “I
defy anyone to listen to Grayson
Perry's first talk in a
series entitled "Playing to the
Gallery" and not to be
entertained, or entranced, or
illuminated, or provoked.
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Speaker: Ian Swankie |
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Ian is a guide at Tate Modern,
Tate Britain, Guildhall
Art
Gallery and St. Paul’s Cathedral |
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This photo is of Grayson Perry
with one of his trademark vase
art pieces. |
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Talk: The Journey of the Magi:
1,700 years of the Three Kings
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This talk tells and shows us how
artists across the centuries have
represented the Magi. |
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Speaker: The Rt. Revd. Christopher
Herbert MPhil PhD |
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Christopher, formerly Bishop of St.
Albans, talks at galleries,
universities, churches and cathedrals
around England. Now in retirement he
serves as an honorary assistant Bishop
in the dioceses of Guildford, Salisbury
and Winchester. |
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This picture of “The journey of the
Magi” is from “The Catalan Atlas” 1375 |
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Prior Year's Talks |
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To see the activities in
previous years, click on the
year;
2024
/
2023
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2022
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2021
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2020
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2019 /
2018 /
2017 /
2016 /
2015 /
2014 /
2013 /
2012 /
2011 /
2010 |
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Disclaimer |
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The Arts Society Woking cannot be held responsible for any personal accident, loss, damage or theft of members' personal property. Members are covered against proven liability of third parties. |
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