History of Art and Architecture

Unless otherwise stated, monthly meetings take place on the first Tuesday of the month, 2.00 – 3.30pm, in the Small Hall at The Ash Centre.   Visits are marked [V].

7 September             An historical tour of the architecture of Reading
                                                Speaker:  Jane Morgan

28 September [V]     A second walk round Reading
                                                Leader:  Jane Morgan

5 October                   DVD : Florence – cradle of the Renaissance

2 November              Japonisme : the influence of Japan on Western Art since 1854
                                                Speaker:  Jenny Murray

9 November [V]        Royal Academy exhibition Pioneering Painters:  The Glasgow Boys 1880-1900
                                   + visit to the Fleming Collection of Scottish Art
                                                 Leader:  Elizabeth Macdonald

30 November            Christmas Lunch at Farnborough Technical College

14 December            John Constable (1776-1837)
                                                 Speaker:  John Burgess

This friendly group meets each month for a presentation on topics which range widely across the subject. Occasionally we have a guest speaker, but most talks are researched and prepared by members, although there is no requirement to do so; you will be made very welcome if you simply wish to look at beautiful pictures, listen to the talks and perhaps ask the occasional question.
Recent topics have included the sculptures of Barbara Hepworth, symbolism in early religious paintings, work by the local artist, William Henry Allen, and a range of architectural subjects from the military churches of Aldershot and the ‘garden’ village of Port Sunlight to the beginnings of Baroque architecture in Rome. Visits to galleries and exhibitions are also arranged, sometimes linked with subjects studied. For example, a talk on Edwin Lutyens was followed by a visit to Munstead Wood, the house he designed for Gertrude Jekyll.
Click here to see a photo of members admiring the Library on a recent visit to Cherkeley Court, once home to Lord Beaverbrook. (photo not available yet).