Venue: The Trinity Arts Centre, Gainsborough
LECTURES
1.45 pm, first Thursday of the month - February to June and September to December
Note: no meetings in January, July and August
2024
Summary of lectures for 2024 - for fuller details see below
February 1 - Simon Whitehouse - Wilde about Oscar: famous for being famous & (IN)famous
March 7 - Lydia Bauman - Looking for Georgia - my travels in Mexico in the footsteps of Georgia O'Keeffe
April 4 - Tim Stimson - Sun and Snow - Nordic Landscape Painting
May 2 - Pamela Campbell-Johnston - From Claridge's Hotel to the London Underground: the life and work of textile designer, Marion Dorn
June 6 - Barry Venning - Art after Windrush: Post-Colonial Artists in Britain since 1948
September 5 - Caroline Walker - The Gill Brothers
October 3 - Brian Stater - World-Famous Photographs: Images that shaped our culture
November 7 - Paula Nuttall - David: from Donatello to Michelangelo
December 5 - Peter Medhurst - Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht: the story of the world-renowned carol
September 5, 2024 
Caroline Walker
I've always been aware of my close family ties to the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill, a fascinating but controversial character. In 2006, however, a family history project drew me into an exploration of the life and work of his younger brother. MacDonald 'Max' Gill was an architect, mural painter and graphic artist, famed for his humorous pictorial map posters for London Underground and the alphabet he designed for the British military headstone. Although my main profession has been English teaching, I now spend much of my time researching the Gill brothers and championing the work of the lesser known of the pair. I've co-curated numerous exhibitions including Out of the Shadows: MacDonald Gill at the University of Brighton and Max Gill: Wonderground Man at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. In 2016 I co-organised a series of events in the capital to celebrate the centenary of the author Eleanor Farjeon's delightful collection of verses entitled Nursery Rhymes of London Town and illustrated by Max Gill. I've contributed articles to a range of publications such as Country Life, the TAS journal and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. I've given talks for organisations including the National Archives, the Art Workers' Guild, Christie's, Friends of Kettle's Yard and the National Trust and was thrilled in 2016 to become an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society. I run the MacDonald Gill website and am the author of MacDonald Gill: Charting a Life.
Lecture Title
The Gill Brothers
October 3, 2024 
Brian Stater
Brian Stater lectured at University College London for 25 years, retiring in 2021 as a Senior Teaching Fellow. His principal academic interest lay in the appreciation of architecture and he has a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He therefore offers lectures to The Arts Society on each of these subjects. He has written on architecture for a wide range of publications and an exhibition of his own photographs was held at UCL. He is a member of the Association of Historical and Fine Art Photography and he works with a pre-War Leica camera, as used by his great hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and many others. Brian is an engaging and amusing speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.
Lecture Title
World-Famous Photographs: Images that shaped our culture
This lecture examines a series of iconic photographs that are embedded in our collective memory. They range from records of historic events, to fabulous portraits and scenes of emotional release and joy. The talk analyses the power of these images, traces the fascinating stories of how they came to be produced, and places them in the context of our appreciation of art.
November 7, 2024 
Paula Nuttall
Specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004). Has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent, 2020). Former Director of the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Year course, and lecturer at – among others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence.
Lecture Title
David: from Donatello to Michelangelo
From Donatello to Michelangelo the Davids by Donatello and Michelangelo are two of the most famous sculptures of the Florentine Renaissance, yet although they depict the same subject, they could scarcely be more different: one in delicate bronze, enigmatic and introspective; the other in marble, monumental and heroic. Looking at their groundbreaking style and treatment, patronage, and their historical and artistic context, this lecture offers insights into these Renaissance masterpieces.
December 5, 2024 
Peter Medhurst
Peter appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Lecture Title
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht: the story of the world-renowned carol