Page 14 - Oundle Life August 2022

THE ARTS SOCIETY
Summer Report
We were delighted to resume live lectures at Barnwell Village Hall in May, when Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe, one of the Society’s foremost lecturers, gave a stunning lecture to 80 members, “ The Overshadowed “ - brilliant artists unlucky enough to be eclipsed as contemporaries of the likes of Leonardo or Rembrandt. The June lecture was by Susan Owens, “ The Golden Age of British Landscape Painting, 1750 to 1850 “ from Gainsborough and Constable, through Turner to the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood. It was streamed simultaneously by Zoom, which we will continue to do next season, but nothing beats a live performance, whatever the event.
Our 2022/23 programme has just been booked and confirmed by Programmer Gunta Krumins, promising to live up to the excellence we have come to expect. Gunta will step down next year, but in the meantime she is being shadowed by new Committee member Julia Clay and current Secretary Lidia Douglas. They will take over during the year. The new programme starts on Friday 16th September, preceded by the AGM, when Caroline Holmes will present her lecture
“ The Painter and Plantsman Cedric Morris: Irises and Beyond “. Irving Finkel, a most celebrated and entertaining lecturer, will continue the programme in October with “A Curator Speaks: What are Museums For?”
The rest of the lectures will be published on the website and in members’ Programme Card; the range and variety is mouth-watering, with a musical lecture at Christmas, the Grandes Dames of Impressionism, the art of Constantin Brancusi and Paula Rego through to Bruegel, Van Gogh and Hockney, with a lecture on The Whole Art of the Book for good measure! Just the programme for our updated audio-visual equipment and screen, including an LED projector which provides super high definition bright images on what is a much enlarged screen.
Chairman Nigel Harper introducing the June lecturer Susan Owens
Julia Clay has also booked two Study Days for November and March, which involve three lectures punctuated by lunch. In November, Chris Aslan Alexander will lecture on
“The Silk Road”, while Chloe Sayer will present “The Art of Mexico” in March, incorporating the Mayans, Aztecs and their descendants in modern Mexico. Details of these will be on the website.
Membership is due for renewal from June for 2022/3, with the subscription being held at £40 for 10 lectures – fantastic value since this figure was set around 2005! We welcome new members and anyone wishing to join should contact Membership Secretary Tony Batchelor, details on the website, www. theartssocietyoundle.org.uk
Guests introduced by members can attend lectures for £10 - good value in itself but making the subscription even more attractive! I should have been a salesman!!
We look forward to seeing you at lectures next season.
Nigel Harper, Chairman
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