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Click here for future lectures

08 September 2026Hokusai’s influence
09 June 2026Carausius, Allectus and the First Brexit
12 May 2026Mirror Image: Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun in Paint and Prose
14 April 2026The Creation and the Early Years of the Newlyn School
10 March 2026Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites
10 February 2026Architecture + Photography = Art
13 January 2026The Century of Deception: The Birth of Hoax in the Eighteenth Century
09 December 2025 A Christmas Special: Michael Praetorius
11 November 2025Pugin and the Gothic Revival - A Celebration
14 October 2025Francis Bacon – Nihilism and Hope
09 September 2025Carnations, Tulips and Hyacinths: The Story of Turkey’s Iznik Ceramics
10 June 2025From Claridge’s Hotel to the London Underground: The Life and Work of Textile Designer, Marion Dorn
13 May 2025Masterworks of 20th Century Photography
08 April 2025Gold of the Gods: Treasures of South America and the Search for El Dorado
11 March 2025The Golden Age of Danish Painting
11 February 2025‘Knights in Silver and Gold’ Saint George and the Origins of Chiaroscuro Print
14 January 2025 Tintoretto “Il Furioso”: painter for the People
10 December 2024ROBED IN DREADFUL MAJESTY’ - music, poetry, & traditions of the Advent season
12 November 2024 The Painter’s Craft
08 October 2024Why the Romans could not afford to lose Britain
10 September 2024La Serenissima-The Golden Era of Music in Venice
11 June 2024From Negative to Positive: Photography’s Long Road to Recognition
14 May 2024Chinese Painting from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty
09 April 2024European Art 1944-1960: Reactions to World War II, the Holocaust and the Atomic Age
12 March 2024A trip along the Thames in 1749
13 February 2024THE ART 0F TRICKERY: HOW MAGICIANS ARE SEEN IN PAINTINGS, PRINTS AND CARTOONS
09 January 2024 GOYA: WAR AND PEACE, REVOLUTION AND EXILE
12 December 2023A Tudor Christmas
14 November 2023Walter Sickert: an artist of modern life
10 October 2023‘The Irritating and Influential Mr. Whistler’    
12 September 2023The Impressionist Landscape
13 June 2023Entertaining Angels Unaware-Angels in the Bible, Music and Art
09 May 2023Durer: Graphic Artist of Pure Genius
11 April 2023Babylon: Art and Legend
14 March 2023The Art of the Shell, an object of wonder from the natural world.
14 February 2023The Magic of Pattern
10 January 2023Cubism Explained
13 December 2022The Curious History of Christmas Food
08 November 2022Paul Nash and the Landscape of Mystery
11 October 2022Velazquez-Genius at the Court of Philip IV
13 September 2022Berthe Morisot ‘Une Finesse Fragonardienne’
14 June 2022Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin: An Introductory Lecture
10 May 2022With Just a Thread and a Needle
12 April 2022WILLIAM KENT: ARTIST, ARCHITECT AND GARDEN DESIGNER
08 March 2022ALFON MUCHA AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS
08 February 2022Caravaggio: Murderer or Genius?
11 January 2022THE QUEEN OF INSTRUMENTS-THE LUTE WITHIN OLD MASTER PAINTINGS
14 December 2021Christmas at Covent Garden: 300 years of Christmas Shows at One of London’s Great Theatres
09 November 2021SIR STANLEY SPENCER: AN AUTOBIOGRPHY IN PICTURES
12 October 2021Lawrence Alma-Tadema: at home in Antiquity
14 September 2021Painter of Light: Joaquin Sorella
08 June 2021A Concise History of our Great British Public Parks
11 May 2021AUSTRALIAN IMPRESSIONISTS-THE HEIDELBERG SCHOOL, FONTAINBLEAU AND THE ZENITH LANDSCAPE
13 April 2021 THE OTTOMAN SULTAN AND HIS ARCHITECT: SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT AND SINAN
09 March 2021CLOISTERS, REMARKABLE CATHEDRAL SURVIVORS
09 February 2021 THE MAGIC OF VERMEER
12 January 2021FRIDA KAHLO AND DIEGO RIVERA: THE GOLDEN AGE OF MEXICAN PAINTING
08 December 2020THE MAGIC OF PANTOMIME
10 November 2020MAD TRACEY FROM HARROGATE-THE WORK OF TRACEY EMIN
13 October 2020AMADEO MODIGHLIANI AND BOHEMIAN PARIS 1906-1920
08 September 2020UNRAVELLING THE SILK ROAD: A TEXTILE JOURNEY
10 March 2020SALVADOR DALI:20TH-CENTURY RENAISSANCE ARTIST
11 February 2020THE FASCINATING WORLD OF PLAYING CARDS
14 January 2020ROYAL JEWELS AND THE AMERICAN HEIREWW. ANTIQUE TREASURES . FOR THE NEW WORLD
10 December 2019CHRISTMAS WITH GILES, GRANDMA AND THE FAMILY
12 November 2019REPTON AND THE PICTURESQUE
08 October 2019THE PAINTINGS AND WIT OF WINSTON CHURCHILL AND NOEL COWARD
10 September 2019THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY-THE WORLD'S OLDEST COMIC STRIP
09 July 2019AVM CURIOSITIES:FOOD,ART AND HISTORY
11 June 2019GEORGIA O'KEEFFE AND HER UNIQUE ARTISTIC VISION
14 May 2019Tamara de Lempicka: Mistress of Art Deco
09 April 2019Adventures And Misadventures In Museums
12 March 2019Royal Copenhagen Porcelain and its place in history
12 February 2019Votes for Women! Art, Suffragettes and Female Politicians
08 January 2019No Lecture- Hall Refurbishment
11 December 2018From Opera to Oratorio - How George Frederick Handel changed the musical life of Britain
13 November 2018Art UK: Uncovering the Nation’s Hidden Oil Painting Collection
09 October 2018Wabi and Sabi: The Beauty of Imperfection
11 September 2018As Good as Gold (NADFAS Jubilee lecture)
12 June 2018The Splendour of Colours: Painted Vessels of the Maya
08 May 2018Pleasure Palaces and Patriachs: the Golden Age of the Russian Country House
10 April 2018Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture.
13 March 2018Masquerades, Music Lessons and Monkeys.
13 February 2018Votes for Women: Art, Suffragettes and Female Politicians
09 January 2018 American Glamour: 150 years of Tiffany and Co’s jewellery
12 December 2017Will the real Santa Claus please stand up.
14 November 2017 Women behind the Lens
10 October 2017 Painting the Modern Garden. Monet to Matisse
12 September 2017The Remarkable Collections of Isaac and Moise de Camondo
13 June 2017‘Peeled’ The Art of the Still Life
09 May 2017Hockney at 80
11 April 2017Dale Chihuly – The World’s foremost glass artist
14 March 2017The Extra-ordinary life of Misia Sert. Queen of Paris 181872-1950
14 February 2017The Imperial Easter Eggs of Carl Faberge – after the Revolution
10 January 2017Not so shabby chic – Juxtaposing works of Art from Antiquity to the Present Day
13 December 2016Deck the Hall – Yuletide Customs and Traditions
08 November 2016Flowers of Impressionist Youth in WW1 and their remembrance.
11 October 2016English Church Silver – 500 years of change
13 September 2016Lord Leighton’s Palace of Art. Artists’ Studio Houses in London
14 June 2016Inessential necessities in 18th Century England:
10 May 2016Edward Seago Perfectionist and Royal Favourite
12 April 2016Great Tarts in Art: High Culture and The Oldest Profession.
08 March 2016Tulipomania: Bloom and Bust
09 February 2016Thomas Heatherwick – The Modern Leonardo!
12 January 2016In the bleak Midwinter – Artists’ responses to Snow
08 December 2015The Old Vic: The story of a great theatre
10 November 2015Charles Dickens and the Imagery of Christmas
13 October 2015Treasures of the Black Tent (Tribal Rugs)
08 September 2015The Two Elizabeths: Bookends of the Empire
09 June 2015Red Vibrations - The Aesthetic and Emotional Significance of Red in Western Art
12 May 2015Art Inspired By Wine
14 April 2015A Royal Wardrobe Unlocked – The Surviving Garments of Queen Alexandra
10 March 2015Up the Nile with Amelia: a Victorian Voyage
10 February 2015The Fine Art of Crime
13 January 2015Baron Haussmann’s Paris, Capital of Modernity
09 December 2014Dresden Today – Art and Architecture
11 November 2014‘A Child of Six could do it’ – Cartoonists and Modern Art
14 October 2014The Turner Prize Explained
09 September 2014Buried Textile Treasures – Discoveries from Medieval Egypt
10 June 2014A View from the Plinth - A Review of Public Sculpture Today
13 May 2014Treasures and Curiosities from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle
08 April 2014The Destruction of the Monasteries: The Greatest Act of Artistic Vandalism in English History
11 March 2014A.G.M. Followed by Mystery and Meaning: The Arnolfini Portrait
11 February 2014The Art of Seduction
14 January 2014The Perfume Bottle- Cleopatra to Jean Paul Gaultier
10 December 2013Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Wish
12 November 2013The Georgian House Around The World
08 October 2013The Delectable Art of Deception: Trompe L'Oeil Ceramics for the Dining Table
10 September 2013"Pevsner and his World”: Nikolaus Pevsner in Essex

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Hokusai’s influence Sarah Jaffrey Tuesday 08 September 2026

This lecture provides a short introduction to art and life of Katsushika Hokusa, looking at his diverse career and artistic impact.

In the first part, we will introduce his fascinating life as an artist, from storyteller to teacher, from performance painter to the landscape artist we know him to be - coming to his Great Wave and its historical context. Then, we look at Hokusai’s unprecedented influence on Western art by examining some of the artists inspired by him. These include Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh. The hope is to give a full picture of Hokusai, his Great Wave and beyond.