In 1943, the German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. Forty-seven women and girls were drafted into a hurriedly-assembled band that would play...

Before he was a famous artist - or indeed an artist at all - Vincent Van Gogh was a disgruntled art salesman, a failed suitor, and a would-be teacher. We glimpse Vincent's life through...

This lecture takes the audience on a tour of some of the extraordinary images that existin some 400 churches in England. The art form was in vogue mainly from C13th –C15th and rarely includes...

Georgians of all classes dined out in pubs, coaching inns, French ordinaries andconfectioners. They also ate all kinds of street food and had an almost insatiableappetite for buns. On a journey through London, we...

Beethoven’s deafness is well known but the psychological impact of this wasdevastating and also was far from his only problem. Less well known, is the paralleldecline in his physical health and failure of many...

Shoes have provided essential protection for our feet ever since ancient times but theirdesign has rarely been inspired simply by comfort or necessity. Beautifully decorated,hand-crafted and employing expensive materials, they have also represented importantmarkers...

John Ruskin (1819–1900), whose life spanned the Victorian era, became the mostcelebrated and influential art critic of his age. Author of countless books and a gifteddraughtsman, he was a polymath whose interests ranged from...

Art Deco has the reputation of being the most glamorous and popular style of the 20thcentury which was prevalent during the 1920s and 1930s. We will review thedevelopment of the style within the context...

MacDonald 'Max' Gill, younger brother of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill, was anarchitect, graphic designer and letterer, best known for his pictorial maps, especiallythose for the London Underground. He also created painted maps...

Monet was the driving force of Impressionism. Ambitious, determined and stubborn, hewas gifted with an astonishing technical ability and a precision of observation that fewartists have rivalled. Brought up on the Seine estuary he...