The Art Society lectures
New Visions: the City and Impressionism
Explore images of Paris seen through the artistic lens of Manet, Renoir, and Caillebotte. You will learn how and why the transformation of urban life was an inspiring theme, leading them to develop new motifs and experimental painting techniques that created a new pictorial language.
Mary Cassatt: Painting in Paris
Discover how Mary Cassatt - the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists - broke the mould to create idiosyncratic paintings and prints. Despite the limitations placed on 'respectable' women, learn how Cassatt produced groundbreaking work which significantly influenced the development of modern art.
How to Look Slowly: Impressionism
When we look slowly at an Impressionist painting, touches of paint, punctuations of colour and the varied textures and brushstrokes come alive. Looking at a small selection of works, with particular attention to the innovations of the style, you will develop visual analysis skills and tools for looking.
How to Look Slowly: Post-Impressionism
Can we ever really 'know' a painting fully? What might we gain if we look again - but slowly - at a familiar picture? Discover how to rejuvenate your interest by developing a curious eye and tools for looking, which will reinvigorate your experience of seeing paintings by Van Gogh and Seurat.
The Barbizon Painters: The Forest Pioneers
In the early decades of the 19th century, artists travelled to the Forest of Fontainebleau to immerse themselves in nature and respond to the region's varied motifs. We will explore how painters including Rousseau and Millet, as well as early photographers, responded with new and influential approaches to picture making.
Sargent and the Fashioning of Modern Portraiture
How did John Singer Sargent manipulate fashion in order to create compelling portraits? And how did he harness art of the past as well as that of the avant-garde to depict not only the sparkle of jewellery and the tactility of fabric, but to convey the status and identity of a palpable, living sitter?