Thursday 16th June at Phyllis Court
10.45am repeated at 2.15pm
Lois Oliver
Erotic and exotic, the tale of the man who killed 1,000 Philistines armed only with 
the jawbone of an ass but who was fatally unmanned by the wiles of Delilah has proved irresistible to artists and composers through the ages. Handel’s oratorio on the subject was an instant box-office smash, and later Saint-Saëns produced some of his most alluring and sensuous music for Delilah and the Dragon-worshipping revellers in his opera Samson et Dalila. (Please click on the blue print above to continue reading)
This tale of love and betrayal also inspired virtuoso works by artists including Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck.
Dr Lois Oliver studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and a PhD thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855. She worked at the Harvard Art Museums before joining the curatorial team at the V&A and then the National Gallery, where she curated several exhibitions and contributed to major re-displays of the collections. Currently Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Royal Academy, Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, Lois also writes audio and multimedia tours for clients including the National Gallery, Royal Academy, Royal Collection, and Tate, and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV. Also a keen violinist, Lois plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra.