This lecture tells the story of men's tailoring over the past 200 years, told through the lives of the men who commissioned, created and wore it. Tailors, shirtmakers, hatters and other craftspeople in London, especially around Savile Row & Jermyn Street, have shaped the way men dress since the Regency. The lecture also looks at the wider cultural shifts since the early 19th century to the present day and how they affected the way that men present themselves.

Russell Nash trained and worked as an actor, writer, puppeteer and theatre maker for many years. He is a qualified London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, and now regularly guides the major art galleries and museums in London, including the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tates Modern & Britain, and the British Museum. 

When Jane Austen declared that she wrote ‘only for fame’, she was, of course, being ironic as she published anonymously;  there is no record on her gravestone that she was a writer, and her books fell out of print shortly after her death.  But now, Jane Austen is one of our best loved authors, with legions of adoring fans throughout the world.  Her novels have inspired countless stage and screen adaptations, and even provided solace to soldiers in the trenches.  She is the face of the £10 banknote, and she adorns tea towels and fridge magnets everywhere.  Jane Austen is now very famous indeed.    But how did it all happen? 

Following a career in teaching, Annalie Talent spent several years working on education programmes at museums and literary houses across the UK, including the Wordsworth Trust and Wordsworth House; Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire, and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.  She has worked with the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and Chawton House Library in promoting Austen’s work to young people. 

The Arts and Crafts Movement was one of Britain’s most radical and far-reaching art movements. It was not just about making art and craft, but how and where you lived and how you spent your time. Many makers moved to the countryside to live a Simple Life.  Part of their ethos was the revival of forgotten crafts, customs and festivities to build a sense of community where they lived.  Arts and Crafts designers sought out wassails, mummers plays, and carolling customs, put on Christmas plays, designed exquisite Christmas cards to send to their friends.  We’ll discover how they spent their Christmases, how they told the Christmas story in church art and book illustration, and how they depicted the carols and plays they took part in.

Kirsty Hartsiostis is a Gloucestershire-based storyteller and writer who gives talks on both art history and folklore, her two passions.  She has been the curator of decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham since 2008, and prior to that was the curator and manager of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.  At Cheltenham she looks after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection. She’s curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts.

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848–1939) was a talented and unconventional royal artist who became a widely respected, professionally trained sculptor.  The sixth child of Queen Victoria, she broke royal protocol by attending the National Art Training School (now the Royal College of Art) and went on to produce several major public monuments.  Her most celebrated masterpiece is a large marble statue of her mother, Queen Victoria, now located directly outside Kensington Palace depicting a young Queen Victoria in her 1837 coronation robes at just 18 years old.

Lucinda Hawksley is an author, art historian, public speaker and broadcaster, specialising in literature, art, history and social history from the 19th and early 20th centuries. She is also a travel writer with a love of the environment, cetaceans being one of her passions:  she is a speaker for the Whales & Dolphins Conservation Society.  As a great great great granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens, she has grown up with a keen interest in her family history. For the last decade she has been a Patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

In this talk, our lecturer will explain how engaging with museum collections can shift personal perspective in a number of ways:  how art can act as a functional tool to manage modern stress and improve mental health;  by focusing on masterpieces—ranging from Johannes Vermeer's quiet domesticity to David Hockney's vibrant landscapes—which act as visual prompts to appreciate small, ordinary moments;  and drawing comparisons with different art forms such as sculpture and renowned gardens, to show how these can serve as emotional sanctuaries.

Matthew Wilson Matthew Wilson is a writer, art historian and lecturer.  He has written a number of books focusing primarily on the symbolism within art, as well as contributing to numerous publications including BBC Culture, The Economist, The Spectator, Aesthetica Magazine and Smarthistory).

Lustrous flowing red and auburn hair, full and ripe lips, sumptuous drapery, moral character studies and medieval heroines. These are the images we draw to mind when we think of the women of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. What we less often realise is that beyond being models and wives, many of these women were also exhibited artists in their own right.  With stunning art works, exquisite techniques and rarely seen pieces, this lecture explores the feminine energy and women’s voices within the Pre-Raphaelite movement. 

Anna Bianco is a freelance curator, writer, lecturer, tour guide and art historian.  She has curated exhibitions and displays at The Wallace Collection, The British Museum, The Embankment Galleries and The Southwark Art Collection.  She has been a guest lecturer for Christies Education, Durham University, London College of Communication and the Open University. She has also been a tour guide for Context Travel across London.

Image: Bird of God, 1861 Anna Boyce Wells