Special Interest Day

Tuesday 17th March 2026

11.30 - 3pm at The Blue Ball, Sidford

The Art and Culture of fin-de-siecle Vienna by Gavin Plumley

Booking Form and Bio available here

10am – 1pm at Sidmouth Rugby Football Club
A Portrait in Stone: 
The Great Cathedrals of Medieval England
A two-lecture special interest morning by Mark Cottle

Details
Booking
Bio

SPECIAL INTEREST MORNING

THURSDAY 29th MAY

10.00 am - 1.00 pm

A STUDY OF SCULPTURE: THE CLASSIC TO THE MODERN

BY DAVID WORTHINGTON

David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied fine art in London, Barcelona and New York.  He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors, and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan. His work is in the museum the Creative Cities Collection Beijing China. He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2009. He has had solo shows at the Lefevre Gallery, Horatio’s Garden, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera,  and at the Lightbox Gallery Museum, Woking. 

August Rodin and 19th Century Sculpture

Rodin is one of the heroic figures of 19th century art history and was internationally celebrated during his lifetime. But after his death his reputation slipped and there were questions about his use of the female image. Now that is very much being reassessed and he is seen as having in one career taken sculpture on a revolutionary path equivalent to what the Realists, Impressionists and Post Impressionists did with many careers. This lecture surveys his work showing why he is one of history’s greatest sculptors and looking at his work in relationship to 19th century sculpture as well assessing his continuing relevance.

 Constantin Brancusi and 20th Century Sculpture

Brancusi was the son of a peasant from a mountainous province of Romania, yet he became an internationally famous artist and is now seen as one of, if not the, most important sculptors of the 20th century. How did this happen and what is so special about his work? Brancusi combined the Romanian wood working tradition with a Belles Arts fine art training. He also had an intuitive an understanding of the significance of engineered products. A great friend of the inventor of Conceptual art Marcel Duchamp, Brancusi is an enigmatic contradiction, and this will be explored in this lecture, along with his relevance to 20th century sculpture.

Booking Form available here

CHANTAL BROTHERTON RATCLIFFE

The Forensic Eye: find your inner connoisseur

How do dealers, auctioneers and museum staff determine whether a piece is by one painter or another? What role does the signature play, and what are the key clues to look for when deciding who painted the picture? Artists before the 18th century usually worked with a number of assistants around them, who were trained to reproduce the style of the master as closely as possible. How can we study these workshop productions, distinguishing between master and pupil, master and copyists? In these 2 lectures, we consider clues, weigh up their relative usefulness, and learn some of the tricks of the connoisseur. 

Biography:

MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. With 40 years' experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.

Booking Form and details here

Special Interest Morning at Kennaway House. £25 pp

10.30 - 1.30 A two-Lecture morning on 'Art, Beauty, Church & Destruction:  the fortunes of High Renaissance Rome, at the turn of the 15th Century. £25 pp

This new format without lunch will be Lecture, coffee, lecture and Q&A

1. Lecture on the Borgia Pope and his family, sorting out the truth from the encrustation of centuries of gossip.

And 

2. The story of how a Medici Pope played politics with the king of Spain and triggered the devastating Sack of Rome in 1527.

This study day is now FULL.
Please contact catherinebech10@gmail.com to be put on a waiting list

Details and Form available here

From Magic Lanterns to Metro Goldwyn Mayer - the Birth of the Silver Screen and the Artists it Inspired.

Geri is a former Fleet Street journalist and film PR. She has a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute and a Theology doctorate from Roehampton University. She has been lecturing for the past 14 years both in the UK and internationally. She is also principal lecturer on The Arts Society South West Area’s History of Art course and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Roehampton University.

The moving image has been a powerful source for imagination from the first moment a magic lantern flickered into life in the 17th century. In this lecture we will be looking at how the Motion Pictures industry first developed throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. How it then went on to change the face of entertainment and inspire the imaginations of some of the greatest artists of the early 20th century.

Booking Form available here.

Colour and the Artist's palette - Seeing Red, Feeling Blue, The Peril of Yellow.

Now working as a freelance lecturer in the History of Art, Lynne originally trained as a fine artist and has taught painting, drawing and printmaking in higher and adult education. She lectured as an art historian for the universities of Sussex and Bristol Gives talks, lectures and guided tours to a wide range of organisations and institutions including ARCA colleges, the National Trust, National Gallery, art museums and art societies. She has worked as a professional artist specialising in oil painting and etching.

Red is the colour of love and lust, royalty and ceremony, anger and danger, worn by scarlet women and the Madonna.

Blue is the colour of heavenly skies and the Virgin’s gown. It is the haze of distant mountains. It is spiritual and moody.

Sunny yellow has, paradoxically, been the most poisonous colour on the artist’s palette. Its happy, golden appearance belies the perils of using, and making, it. This study day will look at the significance and use of these three colours.

The cost of the day including coffee and a light lunch will be £34 per person

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Anthea Cridlan  19 Sanditon, Station Road, Sidmouth EX10 8LL  

antheacridlan@gmail.com    01395 577489

Please reserve ….. places at £34 each for the Study Day on 23 November  I enclose my cheque payable to The Arts Society Sidmouth. 

Name:             

Email:                                                                             Phone no:                        

If you would prefer to pay by BACS, the account details are:

Sort code: 40-52-40   A/C: 00060214     Name: The Arts Society Sidmouth

In this case, please email to tell me you have paid (and include your bank details so we can refund you in the unlikely event of cancellation).

Area Spring/Summer
Special Interest Day.

Douglas Skeggs will be presenting 3 lectures on The Great Magicians of Spanish Art - Velazquez, Goya and Picasso

on Monday 20th June at
Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre.
The cost of the day including the 3 lectures, coffee on arrival and a 2 course buffet lunch is £43.

For any further details do contact Sarah  sarah.swstudydays@gmail.com 
or on 01398 341973

Mary has thirty years' experience as a lecturer, and a BA in History and History of Art and a MA with distinction in History of Art from University College London. Her experience includes public lectures in museums, tutoring for the Open University, visiting lecturer at Christie's Education in London, museum curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of Costume, Manchester. She is now a freelance lecturer to various arts, heritage and antiquarian societies. She also worked in Pentagram design consultancy in London and New York, organising conferences and special events. Author of various articles on design and visual awareness issues, her background combines an unusual blend of academic and visual communications skills. Lectured for ADFAS Australia and New Zealand in 2011, 2013 and 2016. Mary is an enthusiastic member and President of The Arts Society Glaven Valley.

A stimulating and enjoyable Special Interest Day exploring how and why the city of Paris has acted as both a magnet and cauldron of talent for aspiring artists and designers. Discover more about the key events and personalities shaping the 'City of Light' during the first half of the twentieth century. Looking beyond  the mainstream, we will identify the creative individuals, including newly emerging female talents, who shaped the Parisian concept of 'modernity' in art, design, interiors, fashion, and photography.

Whether strolling along Haussmann's new boulevards, ascending the magnificent staircase of Garnier's Opéra House, calling into an artist's studio, cafe, nightclub, or couture fitting, we will recreate the sense of 'being there'. Literary descriptions by Zola, Stein, Cocteau, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald will accompany the sumptuous visual details photographed especially for this purpose. Comparisons between the international Paris exhibitions of 1900, 1925 and 1937 will shed light on changing social/cultural issues, rapid technological change, and the key role of couture and fashion in French identity, especially during the German  Occupation, and immediately after the Liberation.

This new Special Interest Day 'Why Paris?' has evolved by popular request from many societies who have enjoyed my 'New York New York'  SID. A similar inclusive and exploratory approach is used with location maps, using both contemporary and old photographs of the city, various art and design media, to share many of the questions which have fascinated me over the years. Whether you know the city well or not at all, there will be new and exciting discoveries for everyone.

Session One : La Belle Époque - city of pleasure and reinvention 1890s - 1914

Session Two: Partying into the Future 1920s and 30s

Session Three: Paris Exposition 1937, Occupation and Defiance

I will bring a selection from my personal vintage postcard collection, advertisements, fashion plates, and historic exhibition catalogues for your enjoyment.

The venue is the Blue Ball at Sidford and the booking form is in the docs/forms page under "about us". Click here.

Anthony has travelled much of the world, combining painting with tour lecturing - principally to American university students on bespoke tours. He spent six years as a consultant for Luke Hughes and travelled the country advising on the furniture needs of prestigious buildings, including museums, palaces, schools and cathedrals. Now based in London, he spends much of his time lecturing and undertaking research, while assisting at the British Museum with outreach events and visiting lecturers. As an advocate of non-violence, he is the author of the book 'Evolving the Spirit - From Democracy to Peace'.

It is often argued that Britain possesses the finest collection of ‘living’ stately homes in the world. It is harder to deny that they represent one of the country's greatest assets and its greatest contribution to the decorative arts worldwide. This lecture goes back in time to explain their origins in British history, the changing nature of society and the way country houses have evolved. This journey through their history illustrates the most magnificent examples in all their grandeur and beauty, while considering the impact they have had on society and its development. Consideration is given to changing roles and if they can still exert a powerful hold on society. How should we look on them today and how are they to survive and evolve in the future? 

Session 1 - The Power and Glory of our Country Houses – their Evolution and Changing Role.

In outlining their development in England, this lecture shows how we evolved as a society, and the function and intent behind these great buildings. But just as much, it is a chance to enjoy and compare our extraordinary stately home heritage, possibly unequalled anywhere & to consider not just the architectural development but also their contents and the colourful families who brought them to life.

Session 2 - Blenheim Palace – The Agony and the Ecstasy.

Possibly the most admired historic English building outside London, Blenheim Palace is an uncompromising World Heritage monument to English military ambition and one family's self- importance. The story of its construction is a fascinating catalogue of excess & outrage, while the result is both monstrous & utterly sublime. But it is in the effect that its perceived spirit has had on consecutive generations of Marlboroughs, that is most revealing.

Session 3 - “Our Dwellings Shape Us” – followed by Discussion.

With a famed Churchill quote in mind; “we shape our dwellings and then our dwellings shape us”, we consider the social impact of these houses on us today, described by Sir Roy Strong as now a ‘classless cult’. We also consider how they are coping in these changing times & what should best be their function in the future. It is also an opportunity for others to consider their favourites and have a bit of  Q & A and discussion.

The venue will be the Blue Ball Inn at Sidford and the booking form can be found here.

Christopher is an expert in the history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. As a professional tour guide and lecturer he has led groups throughout the Middle East and Asia. Has written extensively on Arabia and is the author of The Discovery Guide to Yemen, Insight Guide to the Silk Road and Berlitz Guides to Libya; The Red Sea; Cairo; Abu Dhabi and Nile Cruising. As a photographer has pictures represented by four photographic libraries. A broad range of lecturing experience, including to the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Institute of British Architects. As a film producer and cameraman he has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4.

The Silk Road is the greatest trade route the world has ever known. It extended over 8000 kms from China through Central Asia to the Mediterranean. With the Greek invasion of Alexander the Great, early Persian routes spread east towards India, until stability finally allowed the Chinese to trade silk, jade and ceramics in exchange for horses, pearls and gold. Silk was just one of the many products traded for 1,400 years. The route also acted as a highway for beliefs, ideas, inventions and art. Buddhism spread throughout Western China and there are wonderful paintings from the Magao caves at Dunhuang and the 'Caves of the Thousand Buddhas' at Bezeklik in the Flaming Mountains. Central Asia was the main link with the West where many trading cities became wealthy and important centres for the arts. Samarkand and Bukhara are the beginning of the great Islamic buildings that continue through Persia and Syria. The Roman Empire was the destination of silk and all the other commodities which eventually arrived at the Mediterranean coast. Along the way of this great journey we will see traditional murals, ceramics, statues, carpets, architecture, mosaics, tile-work, rock-carvings and of course silk itself.

The three sessions are:

Session 1: China and the East

Session 2: Central Asia

Session 3: The Levant and near East

Note that this study day will be held in the Sidholme Music Room and the booking form can be found here. 

Cambridge Fine Arts. Writer, Artist, TV Presenter. Lecturer to many London art courses. Director of the New Academy of Arts. Author of 6 Novels.

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family.  Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles.  And yet without them we wouldn’t have Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello's “David” or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici chapel.  The Platonic Academy wouldn’t have been founded and the doors for the Baptistry would never have been cast.

This Study Day, composed of three talks, looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family.

 Session 1: Bankrolling the Renaissance

Under the guidance of Cosimo Medici, the family became the unofficial rulers of Florence and leading patrons of the arts.  This inevitably aroused fierce jealousies, which boiled over in the attempted assassination of Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo.

Session 2: Popes and Patrons

With Florence gripped by the apocalyptic preaching of Savonarola, the Medici were exiled from Florence.  But they re-emerged triumphantly as Popes in Rome.  Here their decadent and eccentric rule led to the Sack of Rome and ultimately opened the door to Luther’s Reformation of the Church.

Session 3: From Riches to Royalty

Although the Medici were a spent force in Italy, an ingenious marriage had put Catherine de Medici on the throne of France, to be followed, shortly afterwards, by Marie de Medici. This last talk looks at the impact these two formidable queens had on the shape of French history. 

The study day will be held at Kennaway House on November 26th 2019.  Booking forms can be found here.

Linda holds two first-class degrees in Art History. She is an experienced guide and lecturer at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. She lectures to secondary school audiences and independent arts societies.

This study day aims to explain the often bewildering and controversial world of modern and contemporary art. It covers all the key developments in painting and sculpture during the twentieth century, and examines how they relate to the major social changes and historical events of their times. The baffling list of ‘isms’ is explained, and the huge post-war expansion away from traditional painting and sculpture into areas like Land Art and Performance art is also examined.

Session One: 1900-1930: The day starts by covering all the key early developments in painting and sculpture including Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism, Neue Sachlichkeit, Dada, Primitivism, and ‘Call to Order’ Classicism. Links between painting and sculpture are explored, and how it all relates to major social change and historical events of the period. It is chiefly concerned with art in Europe and Britain.

Session Two: 1930-1960: This session starts with Surrealism, and the tensions created between it and different kinds of abstraction. It then moves on to look at art produced by the totalitarian regimes of the thirties and how that affected ideas about art after the war. The focus then shifts from Europe to the United States to look at Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Minimalism. British art, which was particularly strong in figurative painting in the post-war period, is also covered.

Session Three – art since the 60s: This section explains the likes of Land Art, Body Art, Performance Art, and how they relate to the counter-cultures of the 60s and 70s, and demonstrates how those artists were reviving techniques used by the early avant-gardes before the First World War. It also looks at the impact of feminism, the rise of film and video techniques, neo- expressionist painting of the 1980s, the Turner Prize and Young British Artists of the 1990s. 

Please note the change of date since the membership cards were issued. This study day has been rearranged for 2019 following its cancellation due to snow in March 2018. It will be held in Kennaway House and the booking form can be found on the Docs/Forms page of this site.

Marie-Therese holds BA & MA English, Toulouse University; BA in Oriental Art, Sophia University, Japan. MA in Art History, Maryland University, USA. She is a course organiser and tutor in Japanese Art History, Temple University Japan (1990-1999), a guest lecturer for the College Women's Association of Japan, Sotheby's, Christie's, V&A, Asia House and the Japan Society. Chair of the Japan Society Art Circle (2003-2007). Course tutor for the Diploma in Asian Art, British Museum/School of Oriental and African Studies (2002-2008).

The day includes 3 digital presentations, a display of Japanese objects and of members' treasures.

A survey of Japanese art throughout history reveals surprising similarities but, above all, fascinating contrasts with Western art of the same periods. Three sessions explore Japanese approaches to painting, architecture and crafts in comparison with Europe and address the influence of society, environment and materials on the artistic responses of different cultures. The day includes 3 digital presentations, a display of Japanese objects and of members’ treasures.

Session 1: Prehistoric art in Japan and Europe. 7th to 10th centuries: early approaches to religious art 

The earliest pottery in the world was developed in the remote Japanese islands, contemporary with cave paintings in Europe. Halos are found around images of both the Buddha and of Christ. Both architecture and sculpture are influenced by Japanese use of wood and European use of stone. Different writing scripts develop in different cultures.

Session 2:11th to 16thcenturies: architecture, manuscripts and landscape paintings 

Fear of the end of the Christian world around 1000CE and similarly fear of the Buddhist Mappo led to the creation of Romanesque churches and Japanese temples in the 11th century. Illustrated paper hand-scrolls compare with illuminated vellum manuscripts. Abstract landscapes in ink contrast with Renaissance scientific perspectives and Zen rock gardens, with Elizabethan formal designs. 

Session 3: 17th to 19th centuries: architecture, arts and crafts, popular prints. East meets West 

Imperial villa in wood-and-paper contemporary with Versailles. Decorative versus realistic approaches to painting. Beauties in pleasure quarters versus classical nudes. Urban taste and popular art in crafts and prints. In late 19th century, East meets West in Europe and ‘Japonisme’ revolutionises Western Art. 

Marie-Thérèse welcomes members bringing Japanese work such as ceramic ware, lacquer, prints or some textiles that they may have had in their families or collected themselves. 

Application forms can be downloaded here.

Antony Penrose is the son of the American photographer Lee Miller and Roland Penrose, surrealist artist and biographer of Picasso, Miró, Man Ray and Tàpies. He grew up in his family home, Farley Farm House, in Chiddingly, East Sussex which he describes as being ‘a continuous arts congress’. Many of the great figures of modern art were visitors – Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Henry Moore and Eileen Agar were part of this unique crossover of painting, sculpture, literature and drama that helped to shape modern art in Britain. Antony presents an intimate, witty and highly personal account of the lives of his parents and their friends using illustrations that draw on many of Lee Miller’s photographs and paintings by Roland Penrose as well as works by the many friends of the family now held by the Penrose Collection. The day of special interest presents three themes:

The Legendary Lee Miller

The life of Lee Miller, told with reference to those with whom she exchanged creative inspiration, such as Man Ray, Roland Penrose, Pablo Picasso,

Roland Penrose – The Friendly Surrealist

Back-stage at the Lee Miller Archives

A behind the scenes look at the creation of the Lee Miller Archive which houses more than 60,000 negatives of her work, 10,000 vintage prints plus manuscripts and ephemera. We see how Lee Miller’s family conserve and disseminate her work and that of Roland Penrose and their home Farley Farm House, now  a museum, from which the archive produces a constant stream of books, films and exhibitions.

The venue will be the Blue Ball Inn, Sidford, which has ample parking.  The Inn has a pleasant room fully equipped for talks with generous space for eating and moving about. A hot 2 course meal is included in your fee and will be served at our tables.  A choice of menu will be sent in the autumn to those who have booked a place.  Doors open for registration at 9.30am. The first lecture will begin at 10.0 am, followed by a break for coffee at 11.00. A second lecture will precede lunch which will be served at 12.30. The final session will be from 2.00 until 3.00.

 The cost of the day will be £28 and the booking form can be found on the documents page by clicking here.

Daniel Snowman describes himself as a professional lecturer on social and cultural history and has written several books on the subject.

He has degrees from Cambridge and Cornell, lectured at the University of Sussex and was a Chief Producer at BBC Radio.

Daniel later became a senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research at the University  of London and heads frequent music tours to many of the world’s capitals.

This Day of Special Interest takes us to Covent Garden, the first great square in London. It is an Italianate ‘piazza’ with colonnaded arcades, has a Palladian church by Inigo Jones and was a meeting centre for Pepys in the 17th century and Handel, Hogarth and Garrick were celebrated here in the 18th century. J.M.W. Turner was born here and Voltaire resided here yards from where Boswell first met Dr Johnson.

In the 19th century the famous opera house burned down twice.

Over the centuries Covent Garden has embodied all that is characteristic of British cultural life.

This day takes us from the 17th to 20th century looking at architecture, people and music. A lecture not to be missed.

The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth and the doors will open at 9.30 am for coffee. A light lunch will be served at 12.30 pm and the day will close at around 3.00 pm.

The cost of the day will be £28.

Booking forms can be found on the docs/forms page here.

You can now leave feedback for this study day on our feedback form by clicking here.

Mary holds a BA in History and History of Art and a MA with distinction in History of Art from University College London.

She has thirty years experience as a lecturer in the History of Art and Design, including public lectures in museum galleries and as a summer school tutor for the Open University. Also she is a former Assistant Curator at Platt Hall, the Gallery of English Costume, Manchester. Mary is a freelance lecturer to various antiquarian societies and organisations, including Christie’s.

Education in London since 1996, National Trust Associations and NADFAS. 

Mary’s lecture on New York, New York is to take you on a time travel of this city where we will discover the personalities of the artists, designers, patrons and social climbers who shaped this extraordinary and ever-changing city.

This is not simply a tour of the art galleries but about the people,visions and fortunes which created the great art collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, the Guggenheim and MoMA.

We will consider the influence new money had on art and hear the voices of Henry James in Washington Square, Edith Wharton in Gramercy Park and F Scott Fitzgerald.

The aim will be to create a sense of ‘being there’ and to capture the vibrancy and energy of the city, whether today or travelling back in time in the Vanderbilts’horse drawn carriage up Fifth Avenue.

 The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth and the day begins with coffee at 10.00a.m. There will be a soup and sandwich lunch at 1.00p.m. and the afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30p.m.

The cost of the day will be £28.

Details and the booking form can be found here.

Please note that the day is now fully booked, but please contact Ann Postlethwaite if you would like to be on the waiting list.

Most music lovers maintain that they know almost everything about Mozart – from the wonder child born in Salzburg in 1756 to the genius who died too young in Vienna in 1791. 

However, Janet will explore the many influences the two cities had on his musical development, sharing with us her experiences gleaned from her many years as a woman conductor in Vienna. 

Janet Canetty - Clarke B.Mus (London) : G.R.S.M. : L.R.A.M : A.R.C.M. is a charismatic speaker whose lectures successfully combine art and music. 

She trained at the Royal Academy of Music and lectures for NADFAS in the UK, Australia and South Africa. 

In 2010 she gave pre-performance talks before Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House.

 The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth and the day begins with coffee at 10.00a.m. We will break for lunch at 1.00 pm and the afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30 pm.

The cost of the day will be £28.

The Wallace Collection was built up by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, son of the fourth Marquess. Wallace’s widow bequeathed the collection to the nation in 1897.

Its quality is superb and there are paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Hans Hals and Valazquez.

The eighteenth century French paintings, porcelein and furniture are particularly splendid but there are many other objects and this lecture will give an informed overview of the collection.

Hilary Williams lectures at the Wallace Collection as well as at the British Museum, where she is Art History Education Officer and NADFAS liaison officer.

She also guides Special Interest private tours of the State Apartments at Buckingham Palace.

The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth and the day begins with coffee at 10.00 am There will be a soup and sandwich lunch at 1.00 pm and the afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30 pm.

The cost of the day will be £28.

The booking form is available in the "Docs/Forms section.

The day is now fully booked, but please contact Ann Postlethwaite (01395 512983) if you wish to go on the waiting list.

***PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS DAY IS NOW FULLY BOOKED***

The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth on Tuesday 25th November 2014.The day begins with coffee at 10.00am and there will be a soup and sandwich lunch at 1.00pm.The afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30pm.The cost of the day will be £28.

The speaker is Mr Frank Woodgate who is a lecturer and guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, lecturer at Dulwich Picture Gallery and script writer for The Living Paintings Trust (Art for the blind and partially-sighted).The art of the three main 'Bloomsbury' artists (Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Roger Fry) cannot be separated from their astonishing lives. They, along with their literary and other intellectual companions (Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey and John Maynard Keynes, amongst others) were part of a movement, the popular name for which became widely used only after the death of around half its members.This Study Day looks at their work and reviews the multi-faceted relationships between Bell and Grant, Bell and Fry, Grant and (inter alia) Lytton Strachey, and several others. In addition, it covers what many consider the most important contribution of the group to the visual arts in Britain, the so-called 'Art-quake of 1910', when Roger Fry, assisted by Virginia's husband, the art critic and writer, Clive Bell, mounted the Manet and the Post-Impressionists exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in London.To print off a booking form go to Docs/FormsFor more information please contact Ann Postlethwaite or email info@siddfas.org.uk

This event is now fully booked, but if members would like to be placed on the waiting list, then please contact Ann Postlethwaite The venue is Kennaway House in Sidmouth and the day begins with coffee at 10.00a.m. There will be a soup and sandwich lunch at 1.00p.m. and the afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30p.m. The cost of the day will be £28.

The speaker is Mr Oliver Everett, a former Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales and a former Private Secretary to the late Princess of Wales.He will be entertaining us with stories of the greatest royal collectors.The Royal Collection is the last great European dynastic collection to survive in royal ownership. It comprises over 485,000 objects collected by members of the royal family over the last 500 years. It includes a large number of the best examples of many forms of art from paintings to Old Master drawings, from sculpture to ceramics, from furniture to clocks, from jewellery and gold and silver objects to books, manuscripts and watercolours.The Study Day seeks to illustrate the works of art, their position in the history of art and the personalities of the royal collectors, starting with King Henry V111 and finishing with Queen Elizabeth 11.Mr Everett was Librarian and Assistant Keeper of the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle from 1985 to 2002. During those seventeen years working with the Royal Collection he gained a deep and detailed knowledge of the Collection and the history of the Castle and its occupants.He has written several articles about the Royal Library. He wrote the official guide to Windsor Castle, made the audio tour for visitors, taught a course on the history of the Castle and advised on a television film on it. He is working on two publications on aspects of the Royal Collection and on a history series for television. Mr Everett lectures widely, both in Britain, abroad and on cruise ships.He was in the British Diplomatic Service, 1967-81. He was Assistant Private Secretary to Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, 1978-80 and Private Secretary to Diana Princess of Wales, 1981-1983. Booking forms will be available at the January 2014 meeting or you can download one from this website by clicking on Docs/Form.If you require further information please contact Ann Postlethwaite on 01395 512 983

A Day of Special Interest took place on Tuesday 26th November 2013 for the first time at Kennaway House. The audience were treated to a fascinating day on Theatrical Personalities of the Twentieth Century by the speaker Frances Hughes who was assisted by her daughter Sarah. Frances in depth knowledge on this subject gave the audience an insight into the character of great actors such as Olivier, Gielgud and Evans. Her presentation made for an entertaining and enjoyable day which passed very quickly.

Lecture 1 - Women Artists in Wartime 1874-2007. Lecture 2 - Britain at War 1939-45 as seen through artists' eyes. Lecture 3 - The Romantic and the Amused : Eric Ravilious and Edward Ardizzone as War Artists. N.B. This Study Day will be held at the Tiverton Hotel

Dr Anthony Kelly has an MA and PhD in History of Art from the University of London, as well as a BA Hons in French and English. He has worked as a University Lecturer in French and has lectured on art history to a variety of audiences. Interpretations of war art are informed by practical experience as a reserve officer with UK Commando Forces. He has publications on literature, Dutch and Flemish painting, war art and travel posters, and has given papers at academic conferences in Britain, Continental Europe and the USA.

Let there be light. Imagine a world without light - impossible. Light brings life and animation to our world. The lectures celebrate the many ways in which light animates our lives and art through colour, movement, illumination, reflection and shadow. We will consider ideas about colour from the medieval period - most spectacularly revealed through their love of stained glass windows - through the paintings of Rembrandt, Turner, and Constable, the impressionist and contemporary artists such as Bridget Riley and James Turrell.

Michael Howard. Michael is Programme Leader for MA in Visual Culture at School of Art History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is President of Bolton NADFAS and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. As well as being an art historian, he is a practising painter, printmaker and ceramicist. He has published widely on European Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries. His books include 'L.S.Lowry : A Visionary Artist'. He and his wife Ghislane run a studio gallery in Glossop where they run weekend and one day courses.Venue : The Conference Centre, St Cuthberts, Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast TQ11 0EETimings :10 am Coffee10.45 am Lectures begin12.45 pm Buffet Lunch2.00 pm Afternoon Lecture3.30 pm Day endsCost : £30 including lunch and coffeeTo print off a booking form, click on Docs/Forms

Jane Gardiner trained at the Victoria and Albert Museum and went on to become a Research Assistant and Lecturer in the V&A Education Department.She was invited to join Sotheby’s Institute as a tutor, going on to become Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of Sotheby’s U.K.Jane has lectured for universities both here and in America and organisations including the National Trust and the Wallace Collection.

In this Study Day we will be looking at early experiments into porcelain making in England, concentrating on Chelsea, Bow, Derby and Worcester.It will examine the different pastes developed in an attempt to achieve both whiteness and strength, consider the influence of both silver and continental porcelain on shapes and decoration, and look back at Chinese and Japanese export ware as a source of inspiration.In addition the Study Day will show ways in which porcelain was both displayed and used and discuss the fashion for porcelain figures.Towards the end of the day, Jane will be bringing items of her own for discussion and will look at any pieces that members have brought along.The venue is St Francis Church Hall in Woolbrook and the day begins with coffee at 10.15a.m. There will be a soup and sandwich lunch at 1.00p.m. and the afternoon lecture should end at about 3.30p.m.The cost of the day will be £25.To print a copy of the booking form, please click on Forms/Docs page.