Bourton & District

Art Appreciation Programme

Future Dates

Past Meetings

2015:
Jan 14: Trinity HouseVisit to Trinity House Gallery in Broadway Worcestershire. Broadway has a strong artistic tradition. John Singer Sargent's famous painting "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" for instance was produced in Broadway in 1885/6 while he was staying with the painter F.D. Millet who lived in the village. On arrival at the gallery we received a warm welcome from our hosts Steven Beale and David Hamilton. We were given a fascinating and comprehensive tour of the gallery. We saw works by Renoir, Edouard Leon Cortes, Paul Helleu as well as contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, and the microscopic artist Willard Wigan. We saw an example of pointillism, and paintings using a touch of red to enhance the detail.

Jan 6: Art Nouveau: Some of the artists and designers we looked at were:
Buildings
“Hector Guimard” Paris Metro and Castel Beranger also in Paris.
“Victor Horta” Hotel Tassel in Brussels (this is the first AN building in the world)
“Antonio Gaudi” Casa Mild and Sagrad Familia both in Barcelona.
Painters
“Guslav Klint” Life and Death and Hope II.
“Aubrey Beardsley” The Peacock Skirt
“Alfons Mucha” Poster for the play Gismanda and The Dance.
Designers
“Louis Tiffany” Lamps
“Rene Lalique” Jewellery
“Paul Lang-Lurz” Cushion Design and Textiles Design.

2014:
Dec 2: Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Nov 4: French Boudoir Art, JMW Turner and review of the Turner exhibition at Tate Britain

Oct 7: Cubism; Futurism; Boudoir Art

2nd September: Impressionism and Post Impressionism including: Camille Pissarro; Women Impressionist Painters (Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, May Vale); Van Gogh; The Camden Town Group of British Post Impressionists (Walter Sickert, Harold Gilman, Spencer Gore, Charles Ginner etc).

1 July: Impressionism- in more depth; Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

3 June: Group discussions on Art Brut, Dadaism, Impressionism. Also “Looking at Art, What do I see”

6 May: We started the session with a quick review of the Terms "Art and Crafts Movement"; "Art Nouveau" and "Art Deco".
We noted that World Wars had an impact on the prevailing art movement of the time. A presentation on Stanhope Forbes and the Newlyn School of Art followed. We learnt how the Cornish light was conducive to painting "En Plein Air". Among the artists whose work we viewed was Dame Laura Knight, Harold Knight, Elizabeth Forbes and A.J. Munnings.

1st April: Our visit to the Ashmolean Museum, Broadway included a most informative and lively guided tour. As well as learning about the pieces on display we gained an insight into the behind the scenes work that goes into mounting exhibitions and the challenges involved working in a 17th century listed building. We heard about the history of the building (Tudor House) and how Broadway once had 33 coaching inns! Among the paintings we saw was "Elizabeth Woodville Queen of Edward IV" English school circa 1500; Elias Ashmole by John Riley and "Two Calves Grazing by a Hedge" by A.J. Munnings.

4th March: Group Discussion on the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, including a more detailed look at The Lady with an Ermine.

February: Visit to the Art Collection at Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh and a talk by Mick Kernan on the representation of Fire Fighters in Art. The first picture we viewed in the reception area was Saved by Charles Vigor.(1860-1930) The painting was donated to the Fire Service College by Southport Council in 1974. We also viewed the specially commissioned sculpture "Phoenix" by Robert Adams.(shown on the right). It depicts a phoenix, the mythological bird that can be reborn from its own ashes. Modern Sculpture

We made a short visit to view the exhibits in the Twin Towers room, many of which had come from the United States.

Mick gave a fascinating illustrated talk about fire fighters and art, showing pictures held in other fire fighting museums. The four paintings of Paul Dessau (1909-1999) collectively entitled Menace, and named individually as "Overture, Crescendo, Rallentando and Diminuendo show the development of the threat and power of the smoke and the flames to the eventual success of the fireman. Other paintings by Dessau were "And So to Bed" and "September Nightmare" . "Driving By Moonlight" by Mary Pitcairn showed the concentration on the face of Gillian "Bobby" Tanner as she drove in convoy, whilst Reginald Mills portrait of Geoffrey Vaughan Blackstone shows the look of authority of a determined and successful man. (He was the chief fire officer of Hertfordshire and the father of Baroness Tessa Blackstone.)

Following coffee, we visited the Heritage Centre to see some original works of art and historical artefacts connected to fire fighting through the ages.Fire Fighters in Art