Organiser: (0118) 947 2460
Reading Action on Continuing Education
History of art & architecture
Dalila Castelijn MASTERPIECES OF SPANISH ART
The 17th century is called the Golden Age of Spanish painting. This
subject will be explored through the close examination of works by
masters such as El Greco, Velazquez, Zurbaran and Murillo. The
course is linked with the National Gallery exhibition: The Sacred
made real, Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600-1700.
Date and venue to be announced. Email (spelled out) dcastelijn
at yahoo dot com
Dalila Castelijn- Masterpieces of Netherlandish art
The 10 weeks course provides an introduction to works made by Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Bouts and Memling for the splendid Burgundian court, wealthy merchants and pious confraternities in 15th century Flanders. Spring 2010. Venue to be announced. Email (spelled out) dcastelijn at yahoo dot com
Dalila Castelijn- Between East and West- 6 centuries of Venetian art
and architecture
Venice’s location between western Europe and the East produced its distinctive art and architecture. The course provides an introduction to the subject from its origins in Torcello’s cathedral to Palladio’s churches and Veronese’s paintings.
The course aims to examine Venetian art works and assess the ways in which they were influenced in content and function by the city’s links with Northern Europe, Italy and the East.
Early in its history Venice saw itself as heir to Byzantium while forging trade links with both Northern Europe and the East. We shall consider how Torcello’s mosaics, the church of St Mark, the Doge’s Palace and 14th century panel paintings were influenced by such links. By the 15th century Venice was also strengthening its position within Italy. Bellini’s paintings and Codussi’s palaces are typical of the meeting of Eastern and Western traditions. The course will also assess the ways in which great 16th century masters responded to various artistic influences: Giorgione and Titian, Sansovino and Palladio, Veronese and Tintoretto are among the artists whose work will be studied in terms of style, subject matter and function.
Seven week course, Summer 2010. Venue to be announced. Email (spelled out) dcastelijn at yahoo dot com
Day school, spring term. Precise date and venue to be announced. Email (spelled out) dcastelijn at yahoo dot com
Diana Matthews- Rome: the
art treasures of the palaces and villas
This is the third part of a course on Buildings
in Rome, but each part is entirely free standing and we welcome new
students. Autumn term 2009 10 weeks (2 hour sessions), venue tba.
Phone 0118 958 2108.
Diana Matthews-
Churches of Venice: hidden jewels of the great churches
Spring term 2010, venue tba.
Phone 0118 958 2108.
Glenis Kerr Elliott- Introduction to Scottish art and architecture
This course aims to increase awareness of Scottish art and
architecture by drawing attention to artists and architects from the
country from 15th to 21st centuries.
The course will cover the instantly recognisable styles of
Robert Adam and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. portraits by Raeburn,
genre pictures by Wilkie, landscapes by McTaggart. The work of
contemporary artists and architects will also be explored. Spring
Term, 10 x 2 hour sessions, venue and time tba. Contact email
((spelled out) glenis dot kerrelliott at gmail dot com
Glenis Kerr Elliott- The 18th century Grand Tour
This course aims to show the lasting cultural significance of the
Grand Tour. We will
meet young bloods on their "gap year", and will follow the tourists
through Italy to Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice.
They collected portraits and ancient sculpture and ideas for
building new houses in
the Palladian style. Autumn Term, 10
x 2 hour sessions. Venue and time tba. Contact email
((spelled out) glenis dot kerrelliott at gmail dot com
Glenis Kerr Elliott- Horace Walpole and
Strawberry Hill (day school)
Walpole was the most important English collector of the eighteenth
century and created a delightful house by the Thames. Strawberry Hill - Walpole's "little Gothic castle" - is due
to reopen following restoration in summer 2010. There will be an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
to coincide with this.
Summer Term, day school, 4 x 1 hour, date and venue tba.
Contact email (spelled out) glenis dot kerrelliott at gmail dot com
Sandra Smith- British Master Drawings
A Day School to complement the forthcoming exhibition of British Master Drawings from the collection at the Museum of Reading. The day school will look at the idea of making works of art on paper, using pieces included in an exciting forthcoming exhibition at Reading Museum. Examples of the work of Stanley Spencer, David Bomberg and Elizabeth Blackadder are included along with many others. We will explore the work of these masters, looking at drawings, prints and paintings on paper. A guided view of the exhibition is included. There will also be a short practical demonstration by paper conservator Victoria Stevens on the problems and challenges of working with master works on paper. Saturday 17th October 2009 at Reading Museum, 10.30 am – 3.30 pm £15.00 per person. Contact Sandra Smith on (spelled out) sansmithuk at googlemail dot com or 0118 947 3042
Sandra Smith- Turner in Context
A 10 week course on JMW Turner to complement a major exhibition,
Turner and the Masters at Tate Britain in the autumn. Autumn 2009.
Email (spelled out) sansmithuk at googlemail dot com
Sandra Smith- Movements in Modern Art
A 10 week course exploring some of the major and some of the lesser
understood avant garde groups producing art in the 20th Century.
Spring 2010. Email (spelled out) sansmithuk at googlemail dot com
Sandra Smith- The Glorious Baroque
A 7 week course to study some of the major monuments of 17th century
art to include in depth looks at Caravaggio, Bernini and Velazquez.
Summer 2010. Email (spelled out) sansmithuk at googlemail dot com
Sara Gonzalez- Arts and Artefacts of Pre-Columbian America
Sara had planned to offer this 10-week course on Monday afternoons
in Autumn term 2009, but will respond to demand. Venue to be
decided. Email (spelled out) gonzalezcass at googlemail dot com.
Course details:
This course explores the rich and varied cultural production of pre-hispanic
central and south America, which reveals great sophistication and
profound symbolism. We will mainly focus on the Maya, Aztec and Inca
cultures, but, instead of relying on a traditional chronological
division, we will look at a series of topics which are common to the
arts and artefacts of pre-columbian peoples, like the use of erotic
scenes in ceramics, stonework and metals; the symbolic attributions
of gold, silver and precious stones; the adornment of mummies as
live and prominent members of the society; the political symbolism
of textile abstract and figurative patterns; the artistic
representation of human sacrifice; the animal/human hybridism of
shamanic scenes; the cosmological implications of the American
temple; the mystery of the Nazca lines, and the depiction of the
underworld. Venue to be decided. Email (spelled out) gonzalezcass at
googlemail dot com.
Sara Gonzalez- Great Exhibitions: 1851 to the present
Sara had planned to offer this 10-week course on Tuesday afternoons
in Spring term 2010, but will respond to demand. Venue to be
decided. Email (spelled out) gonzalezcass at googlemail dot com.
This aim of this course is to examine the relationship between art,
technology and cultural identities in the context of the world's
fairs. In a series of case studies we will analyze issues of
cultural exchange in the arts, the ambiguity of the permanent and
the temporary in monumental architecture, the dialogue between old
and new materials, and how traditional and avant-garde art are
displayed and mobilized to define a particular society's self image.
The course will offer insights on modern values from
industrialization to ecology; from exoticism to global village.
Course details:
World's fairs, on one hand, served as important sites in the
production of scientific knowledge, as they facilitated crucial
forms of exchange. In this respect, we will study how, till the
1960s, their design and conception reflected the idea of progress,
the world of tomorrow. On the other hand, these events often
contributed to promote the legitimacy of colonialism by presenting
'human exhibits' from 'uncivilized' subjugated lands together with
their 'inferior' cultural production. We will discuss the idea of
the 'exotic' in the context of these events, and how art is used by
the different societies to represent themselves and to exchange
ideas. We will also examine the impact of political events on the
aim and the scope of universal expositions, together with the
growing concern with ecology and sustainable development. This last
issue was best represented in Aichi 2005's pavilions, built out of
recycled and recyclable materials and best testimony of the
ephemeral nature of such celebrations. Examples of fairs to be
studied are London 1851, Paris 1889, St Louis 1904, San Francisco
1915, Paris 1925, Chicago 1933, Paris 1937, New York 1939-40,
Brussels 1958, Seatle 1962, Seville 1992 and Aichi 2005.
Val Pretlove- City of London 1901-1939
This course will continue Val’s study of the City of London. Winter
term 2009. Location tba (perhaps the Reading University museum of
English rural life in Redlands Road). More information from (spelled
out) katrina underscore parker18
at hotmail dot com.
Dr Wendy Bird - History of Art
Wendy is interested in offering a course, probably in summer 2010.
She specialises is Spanish art and the long 18th century, optical
devices and study tours. She may also offer Saturday schools. Venue
to be decided. Email (spelled out) bird dot wendy at btinternet dot
com
British Library
