Lectures

Was Napoleon killed by his wallpaper? 

This story begins in 1775 with a German chemist and his experiments with Scheele's Green (from arsenic). The resulting powerful green reached its height of popularity when worn by "Queen of Fashion", Empress Eugénie. It was printed on wallpaper by Morris & Co. and was a favourite of plein-air artists, such as Monet, Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh, keen to capture the freshness of nature. But a century later, it was rebranded as rat-poison.  

Lynne Gibson is an independent art historian whose interests have encompassed art history, theory and art making. She has found the conventional disipline of art history can be limiting, and her over-riding concern now is how we view, understand and enjoy art in its stylistic, historical and social contexts.

When the Wallace Collection was bequeathed to the British nation in 1897 it was believed that it contained twelve paintings by Rembrandt. In the following decades, however, most of these paintings were re-attributed to other artists, to the extent that by 1992, when the last full catalogue of the Collection’s Dutch paintings was published, it was thought that there was only one genuine work by Rembrandt - the wonderful portrait of the artist’s son Titus. Since then further work on four of the other paintings has suggested that they are also wholly or partly by the master. This talk tells the fascinating story of how connoisseurship changes and the impact this has on how we look at works of art. 

Educated at New College, Oxford, and formerly Senior Curator of the Wallace Collection where he had particular responsibility for exhibitions and nineteenth-century paintings, Stephen has given countless tours of the Collection for visiting groups and many lectures on its art and other related subjects. His latest publication, The Discovery of Paris, is a book on early nineteenth-century watercolour views of Paris by major British artists.

The source of the stuff of dreams, the poppy is a beautiful, fragile flower with immense power. Opium (from the greek ‘opion’ – poppy juice) is a hypnotic bringer of sleep, delightful lethargy and relief from pain. It is also highly addictive.

Greed led to the introduction of this hugely desirable substance first to China, and then to Europe. The beguiling seduction of its effects led to its use to quieten troubled minds and calm agitated children and babies. Its use – often by those with troubled minds – led to the creation of great works of art in music, art and literature. Social and art history meet as this lecture unfolds.

Amanda read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge and became a Curator at Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1718 to present day, exhibitions, lectures, booklets, broadcasts.  From 1988 she moved with family to Japan, lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. In 1995 she returned to the UK; fundraising for arts companies, writing, lecturing and guiding tours to Japan. Her most recent publications are on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West.

The lecture concentrates on the height of Scandinavian Modern design in the 1950s, when it took America and Europe by storm.  But lurking in the shadows was a Nordic project to change consumer taste and shape the model citizen using scientific experimentation and social engineering.  The talk traces the functionalist and ideological roots of Scandinavian Modern in the 1920s and 1930s and discusses how it became a key tool of the Nordic social democratic project until well into the 1960s. It explains how Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway broke away from Bauhaus and International Style to create softer, more organic furniture and graceful ceramics, glassware and textiles. But, using IKEA catalogues from the period, it also shows how consumers were resistant to state-sanctioned clean lines. 

Featuring designers such as Bruno Mathsson, Josef Frank, Astrid Sampe, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, Tapio Wirkkala and Alvar Aalto, the talk explores just how ‘democratic’ Scandinavian design really was and asks whether our conception of it is based on a marketing myth, concealing hidden treasures and regional variations. Using two ground-breaking 1950s exhibitions (Design in Scandinavia, USA and H55, Helsingborg) the presentation also considers how conceptions of Scandinavian Modern were completely different in the United States and the domestic Nordic region. Finally, it asks why these designs came back into fashion and are so highly sought-after today.

James Vaux is a researcher and lecturer on Nordic arts, culture, design and history. He has presented extensively on diverse topics throughout his career to demanding audiences across the globe, including CEOs and government ministers. His talks now focus on understanding artistic achievements through their historic, cultural and political context.  He was a solicitor before becoming head of Rothschild, and setting up their Nordic operations. Subsequently he has studied designs, music and literature mostly relating to Scaninavia and Iceland.

Scottish architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh is now a well-known name and a major draw for the tourist industry in Glasgow, with several of his buildings still existing, as well as his designs for Tea Rooms.  However, his work was not always so well received and, following some early success, which included his architectural masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art, his prospects floundered.  His work was increasingly unfashionable as Glasgow turned to Neoclassicism and he found himself struggling to secure commissions.  In this lecture we track him from that early success in his native Glasgow, through the years of doubt and struggle, ultimately to the South of France where he enjoyed the last few years of his life travelling with his wife and collaborator, Margaret, and reinvented himself as a water colour painter.  With a wonderful array of beautifully designed buildings, furniture and interiors to enjoy along the way, we explore how such early promise turne to disappointment and Mackintosh became the archetypal misunderstood artist.

Rosalind is an experienced guide for Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Royal Academy and Greenwich. She lectures at the Tate, to independent arts societies and on cruises, and leads art appreciation holidays.