Wednesday 5th February 2025

John Singer Sargent: The Private Radical

Gavin Plumley

Whether drawing duchesses or portraying princes, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was high society’s leading portraitist. Flaunting a consummate technique, his luxurious canvases mirrored his subjects’ wealth. Yet beneath the dazzling veneer of works such as Madame X and The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit lurks a much rawer world by far. This lecture will chart the artist’s life and his prolific output, and show that, like the era he came to represent, Sargent was always on the cusp of seismic change.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster, appearing on Radios 3 and 4, and contributing to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely on the culture of Central Europe to organisations such as the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, the National Gallery, the British Museum and the V&A.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN at 11:00m and 2:00pm.

Click here for next month’s lecture.

Wednesday 5th March 2025

Pots and Frocks: The World of Grayson Perry

Ian Swankie

Best known for his outlandish appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego Claire, Grayson Perry is now a core part of the art establishment, a Knight of the Realm, Turner Prize winner, Royal Academician and a popular broadcaster. His works include ceramics, textiles, tapestries and prints. Often controversial, he holds a mirror up to modern society. This lecture will examine Grayson Perry’s work, his thought-provoking exhibitions, and the unique character inside the flamboyant frocks.

With a contagious enthusiasm for art and architecture, Ian Swankie is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN at 11:00m and 2:00pm.

Click here for next month’s lecture.

Wednesday 2nd April 2025

The Mayan Civilisation of Central America

Lecturer: Duncan Pring

The Maya lived in Central America between 1000 BC and 1528 AD, when they were conquered by the Spanish. The peak of their civilisation was between 300 and 900 AD. During that time, they built enormous monuments, produced jade and ceramic items of great beauty, and developed a calendar that was far more advanced than anything in Europe at the time. They had an advanced understanding of mathematics and astronomy and developed a hieroglyphic script which scholars are beginning to decipher, allowing us to understand their achievements much more fully.

Educated at Oxford and London universities, Duncan Pring’s PhD thesis was on The Preclassic Ceramics of Northern Belize. He has published widely on Mayan ceramics.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN at 11:00m and 2:00pm.

Click here for next month’s lecture.

Wednesday 7th May 2025

Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious

Lecturer: James Russell

The name of Eric Ravilious has become familiar over the past decade, but few people are aware that his wife, Tirzah Garwood (1908-51), was a talented and original artist in her own right. A witty observer of the human condition, the youthful Garwood became established as a wood engraver of rare ability. After marrying Ravilious she took up paper marbling, quickly achieving renown for the dazzling originality of her decorative papers. She later turned to oil painting, producing in a few short years a series of strange, beautiful paintings.

Having studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, James Russell enjoyed a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that inspired him to begin writing and lecturing on 20th century art. He has curated major exhibitions for museums around the country. His exhibition devoted to Tirzah Garwood will run at Dulwich Picture Gallery between November 2024 and May 2025.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN at 11:00m and 2:00pm.

Click here for next month’s lecture.

Wednesday 4th June 2025

Silent Lines Like a Cry of Pain: The Art of Kathe Kollwitz

Lecturer: Angela Smith

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945) was one of the most respected German artists of the early 20th century. A painter, sculptor and printmaker, Kollwitz lived most of her life in Berlin, where she documented the effect of poverty and war on the ordinary people. This lecture will offer a survey of her life and work, examining the impact that Expressionism had on the artist and her stubborn refusal to be silenced by the Nazis after 1933.

After gaining a PhD at the Warburg Institute, University of London, Angela Smith has become an established author, lecturer and contributor to television programmes, most recently Digging Up Britain’s Past.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN at 11:00m and 2:00pm.

Click here for next month’s lecture.

Wednesday 2nd July 2025

A Haaaand-Baaaag?: The Importance of Being Oscar (and Earnest!)

Lecturer: Simon Whitehouse

Oscar Wilde’s great literary and theatrical successes began with The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890 and was followed by four smash hits in three years. His greatest play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is one of the funniest, most performed and frequently quoted plays in the English-speaking world. Described as “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”, it was of its time and yet ahead of its time, satirising the shallowness and superficiality of upper-class Victorian society. This lecture will explore some of the hidden elements of which the audience then (and perhaps now) were not aware and discover that, for the
author, this glittering triumph heralded the beginning of his own fatal final act …

Simon Whitehouse is a (recovering) actor, lecturer, Alexander technique and voice coach and an award-winning London Blue Badge guide. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and works as a guide at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery. He specialises in theatre, literature, fashion and art history, but whatever the subject he promises to weave a wonderful story from it.

This lecture, the final one in our 2024/ 25 season, will follow the Annual General Meeting which will start at 10:30am. There will be no afternoon lecture.

All our lectures are held in the Royal Spa Centre, Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN.