The Reigate Decorative and Fine Arts Society

Member Society of NADFAS

26th July 2012                        

The Medieval Art of Love and Life

Patricia Wright, author and lecturer illustrates the myths and contradictions of medieval love and courtship through less familiar art of the period often filled with people doing everyday things, sometimes racily sketched, often filled with humour and romance.

28th June 2012                                   

A Kiss for All the World: Klimt and the Viennese Secession

 Douglas Skeggs, writer, TV presenter and artist explores Vienna in the final years before the outbreak of the Great War, when the haunting paintings of Klimt, the writings of Freud and the music of Mahler gave expression to this brief, often dark but always dazzlingly inventive period of art.
March 22nd 2012

The British Seaside Holiday:
 History, Architecture and Entertainment

Jackie Marsh-Hobbs

The British seaside holiday started in the 18th century when wealthy people began going to coastal towns like Scarborough and Brighton to partake in the seawater cure. Like spa towns it was the health benefits that enticed society, sea bathing became popular as well as promenading along seafront or pier to breathe the fresh air. It was the building of the railways and the earlier steam boat excursions that opened up the seaside resorts to the masses, small towns on the coast rapidly expanded to cater for the ever increasing crowds of visitors.

26th April 2012                       

The World of Graham Sutherland and John Piper

Valerie Woodgate lecturer at Tate Modern and Tate Britain speaks about the surprisingly similar lives of these two artists who produced astonishing bodies of work.  Born in 1903, they were both commissioned as official war artists in World War II and went on to create moving and inspirational works of religious art.

24th May 2012 

                                 

The Ancient Greek Olympics – A Visitor’s Guide

 

Dr Neil Faulkner, writer, archaeologist and broadcaster is our expert commentator on the Ancient Greek Olympics of 388 BC, a vastly different experience to London 2012, and one that was surprisingly well documented in literature, archaeology and art.