• Henley DFAS

Past lectures

Sarah Kelly Thursday 19 January 2017

Lecturer: Sarah Kelly


Changing Faces: 700 Years of Portraiture

Portraits are great survivors.  Of all the art forms current in the fifteenth century, portraiture is the one that is stioll popular today.  This lecture will focus on a range of portraits, some by

Anne Sebba Thursday 16 February 2017

Lecturer: Anne Sebba


Les Parisiennes: How Women Lived, Loved and Died in Paris 1939-1949

Les Parisiennes is a story about women's lives during the dark years of Nazi occupation and beyond.  It includes British and American women caught in Paris as well as native born resisters who were

Janet Robinson Thursday 16 March 2017

Lecturer: Janet Robinson


Eight Great Frescoes: A Frescoholic Tour of Italy

A whistle-stop tour of eight of the greatest fesco cycles in Italian art.  We begin with the ground-breaking St Francis cycle in the Upper Church of San Francesco in Assisi, then travel to Padua, S

John Benjamin 40th Anniversary 2017 AGM on Wednesday 5 April at 10:30 in the presence of Lady Camoys, Henley DFAS President, and June Robinson, NADFAS National Chairman

Lecturer: John Benjamin


At the Sign of the Falcon: The Fascinating Life of Jazz Age Goldsmith Henry George Murphy

Harry Murphy served his apprenticeship under Henry WIlson, probably Bitain's greatest designer goldsmith of the Arts & Crafts era.  He worked from premises in Marylebone known as the Falcon Stu

Caroline Rayman Thursday 20 April 2017

Lecturer: Caroline Rayman


Three Great Families and their Gardens

This is the story of three very different, but hugely successful families, the Sackville Wests, the Astors and the Rothschilds.  The Sackville Wests have been part of the establishment since the Co

Timothy Wilcox Thursday 18 May 2017

Lecturer: Timothy Wilcox


Paradise Regained: the Life and Art of Samuel Palmer

The early watercolours and ink drawings of Samuel Palmer evoke a rural idyll, a vision of a secure village life seemingly far removed from the harsh realities of modern industrial Britain.  But whi

Thursday 15 June 2017

Lecturer: Anne Anderson


Rene Lalique: Master of Art Nouveau Jewellery and Art Deco Glass

Although Lalique is best known for his Art Deco glass of the inter-war years, his career began in the early 1890s as the designer of the finest Art Nouveau jewellery, creating stunning pieces from

Catherine Wallace Thursday 21 September 2017

Lecturer: Catherine Wallace


Dod Procter RA (1890-1972): A Forgotten Newlyn Painter

Only the second woman after Laura Knight to be made a full Royal Academician in 1942 Dod Procter was famous in her day but has been sadly neglected and largely forgotten since.  This lecture looks

Simon Rees Thursday 19 October 2017

Lecturer: Simon Rees


Art, Design and Opera - The Role of Art & Design in Opera Productions

This lecture will look at the important part art and design has played in the staging of Opera over the last 400 years and how staging and settings have become key elements in productions of this u

Christopher Bradley Thursday 16 November 2017

Lecturer: Christopher Bradley


Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

This is one of the most famous legends used by storytellers and artists alike, with Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar becoming universal symbols and representations, such as the three ages and races o

James Wright Thursday 18th January 2018

Lecturer: James Wright


Historic Graffiti

This fascinating lecture by the architectural historian James Wright looks at some of our ancient English Castles and Great Houses through the eyes of the artisans and stonemasons that built them. 

Peter Medhurst Thursday 15th February 2018

Lecturer: Peter Medhurst


The Music and Life of Johann Sebastian Bach
A much anticipated visit by a very popular speaker.  Through the telling of Bach’s story and through the exploration of some of his finest music, Peter Medhurst attempts to unravel this most comp
Marilyn Elm Thursday 15th March 2018

Lecturer: Marilyn Elm


For the love of Flowers
Flowers with their infinite variety of perfume, colour and form have always provided such joy for the human soul and an inspiration for art and design over the centuries.
James Taylor Wednesday 4th April 2018 – AGM

Lecturer: James Taylor


Brilliant British Humour in the forgotten Art of the Picture Postcard:
Artist-drawn postcards were the most popular art form from the Edwardian era to the outbreak of World War II.
Pamela Campbell-Johnston Thursday 19th April 2018

Lecturer: Pamela Campbell-Johnston


Celebrating the Royal Academy 1768 – 2018
Britain’s oldest fine arts institution will be celebrating its 250th Anniversary in 2018.
John Ericson Thursday 17th May 2018

Lecturer: John Ericson


The Wind in the Willows Revisited through its illustrators
The beauty of Kenneth Grahame’s prose is widely acknowledged but the story is so full of wonderful imagery that it almost demands to be illustrated – despite this, when first published in 1908 it
Nicholas Henderson Thursday 21st June 2018

Lecturer: Nicholas Henderson


How to ‘read’ the English Country Church (Part 1)
A summer’s afternoon walk, the typical country church.  This lecture will help you look at the architecture outside and inside, the church furniture, those mysterious nooks and crannies, high and
Leslie Primo Thursday 20th September 2018

Lecturer: Leslie Primo


The Sublime in the Everyday: Vermeer and the Delft school of painting
This lecture will begin by tracing Vermeer’s origins, his early training and influences and how he came to the genre of painting domestic interiors.
Tony Faber Thursday 18th October 2018

Lecturer: Tony Faber


Indians, Buffalo & Storms – The American West in 19th Century Art
Artists were never far behind the explorers who opened up the west of America in the C19th century and they have left us a powerful, if romanticized, record of the country and the people that the
Claire Walsh Thursday 15th November 2018

Lecturer: Claire Walsh


Jane Austen’s Christmas
Before the Victorians reinvented it, the traditional Christmas was a very different affair.

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