The Rise of Women Gardeners in the 20th century
The Rise of Women Gardeners in the Twentieth Century. This course focuses on the influential garden-making of four ‘working amateurs’ – Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish and Beth Chatto – as well as the growth of professional training for women gardeners. … More details …
Reading Paintings: The Victorians
READING PAINTINGS: THE VICTORIANS Explore the links between art and literature, from The Angel in the House to The Death of Chatterton. Discover the stories behind famous paintings; meet Rossetti’s elephant; find out why Van Gogh loved the social realists. A) … More details …
Hollywood and Politics
Hollywood and Politics An account of how Hollywood has portrayed the world of politics and responded to political issues. Included will be reference to the Depression/New Deal and the Cold War/McCarthyism. John Raisbeck
More details ...Who is the “I” in this poem?
Who is the “I” in this poem? Explore the way poets use their own personal experience to create their work, introducing such concepts as ‘persona’ and ‘poetic voice’, but focusing primarily on the pleasure of reading poetry. What is autobiographical … More details …
The Elizabethan Theatre
Elizabeth Theatre Between the building of the first English theatre in 1576 until the death of Elizabeth in 1603, some of the greatest plays ever written were produced and acted in London. We will consider how the theatres were built, … More details …
Spencer’s World: The Art of Stanley Spencer
Stanley Spencer is one of the most enigmatic painters of the 20th century. He was a painter of imaginative and religious subjects, of landscapes and portraits and an official war artist of both World Wars. His phenomenal output is considered … More details …
Looking at Old Churches
This Study Day is designed to encourage a systematic approach when confronted with an old building which may not be familiar. It is often helpful to ask a set of questions, which when completed may help to provide a reasonable … More details …
The Tragical History of Dr Faustus
The legend of Dr Faustus has inspired some of the greatest works of art ever since it first appeared in the 16th century Playwrights, poets, novelists, film directors and composers have all interpreted the story. We will consider its different … More details …
The Life and Work of Grayson Perry
An introductory look at the work of Grayson Perry. This study day will be an examination of the multi-disciplinary artist best known for his ceramics, tapestries and cross-dressing. Along with the Julie Cope tapestries, we shall discover his pottery and … More details …
Reading Paintings: Genre Pictures
From Jan Steen to Johannes Vermeer, some great artists painted genre scenes (pictures of everyday life). This course analyses some of the finest examples, including tavern scenes, brothel scenes, and servants at work. These paintings tell us an enormous amount … More details …
“The Rhyming Peasant” John Clare
John Clare, the ‘rhyming peasant’: poetry of dwelling and displacement in the late Romantic period. We shall explore Clare’s unique voice in English poetry through a reading of select poems about nature and his local environment in the first half … More details …
Reading Paintings: the Dutch Golden Age
The 1600s saw some remarkable developments in painting, with the rise of the portrait and the still life. This course traces the changing tastes of the day, with a special focus on the links between art and social history, including … More details …
Caravaggio and his legacy
One of the masters of the Baroque, Caravaggio redefined the visual image and changed painting forever. His legacy will be examined through the work of many different painters from the Baroque to the present day – the day’s key word … More details …
‘A Man who used to notice such things’: the poetry of Thomas Hardy
Concentrating on Claire Tomalin’s selection (Poems of Thomas Hardy) we shall consider the themes into which Hardy’s poems are grouped and discuss individual poems in more detail.
More details ...Period Instrument Performance (3)
Original instruments make their way into “modern” music. The influence of the past on the present is seen in Stravinsky, Schoenberg and composers such as Pärt and Tavener, leading to synthesis and the way forward in the 21st century.
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