Newsletter August 2023

My goodness, how fast those years roll by!

Well, here I am enjoying a wedding anniversary cream tea in a magnificent Edwin Lutyens hotel restaurant. This year we decided to celebrate in this rather wonderful property, designed by Lutyens, dating back to 1906. Originally a private house, New Place was commissioned by Mrs A. S. Franklyn in 1904. She had inherited a large early 17th Century mansion in Bristol from which, prior to its demolition, she saved a number of architectural elements that she wished to incorporate in a new property to be designed by Lutyens. Following its use as a private residence it first became a prep school and since the 1980s has functioned as a hotel. We have lived in Hampshire for over 25 years and, considering its size and splendour, and my love of Lutyens’ architecture, we were surprised not to have heard of it until recently. We will certainly visit New Place again! Nice scones!

Lady of the Manor? No chance, just in my imagination!

Live Lecture for August

Victorian Fantasies

Building Castles in the Victorian Era

The Live Lecture:

To be given on Friday 25th August 2023 at 11am and repeated at 7pm BST
 

The British loved building castles, even when the need to ward off invading barbarians had long passed. Perhaps the appeal was their picturesque towers and turrets or the romance of ancient myths and legends such as the Morte d’Arthur. The Age of Chivalry captured the imagination of many during the Napoleonic era, which also witnessed a wave of castle building: Eaton Hall, Chesire, Belvoir, Leicestershire and Eastnor, Herefordshire (below).

Although these grand houses looked the part, they would never have repelled any invaders. They were still playing with Gothic forms for their decorative effect, as first seen in the whimsical ‘Gothick’ style of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham (c.1749-76). This was the first residence to be based on actual historic examples, rather than simply combining the Gothic vocabulary of tracery, castellations, and towers for picturesque effect.  During the Napoleonic era, the Gothic revival acquired greater meaning; it was deemed patriotic, a truly British Christian style as opposed to pagan classicism. This ideological meaning ensured that the Palace of Westminster, destroyed by the devastating fire of 1834, was rebuilt in the Gothic style by Sir Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin.

With the Industrial Revolution undermining traditional ways of life, the Gothic offered the promise of a perfect medieval past, where everybody understood their place and what was expected of them.   The Age of Chivalry offered a code of conduct that provided role models for both men and women. Walter Scott’s Waverley novels, especially Ivanhoe (1819), provided a blueprint for gentlemanly behaviour. William Morris is said to have read all Scott’s Waverley novels while still a child. Like many, Morris was steeped in medieval romance thanks to Chaucer and Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur.

Ivanhoe, the tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Sir Arthur Sullivan composed a romantic opera which premiered at the Royal English Opera House on 31 January 1891. 

Ford Madox Brown, Chaucer at the court of Edward III, 1847-51, Gallery of NSW

As the Gothic revival gathered momentum it became more scholarly. Thomas Rickman tried to unravel the complexities of the Gothic style in Attempt to discriminate the styles of English architecture from the Conquest to the Reformation…with notices of nearly five hundred English buildings (1817). Rickman devised the categories we still use today: Norman (Romanesque), Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular. However, it was Roman-Catholic convert, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who championed the return to correct forms of Gothic architecture. For Pugin, the Gothic embodied the faith and social structures of the Middle Ages.  Thanks to his conversion, Pugin acquired new patrons notably John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, for whom he built Alton Towers, Alton Castle, St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham and St Giles, Cheadle.

John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute was another Catholic convert who loved building castles. As he set about rebuilding Cardiff Castle and Castel Coch, Cardiff’s citizens wryly observed he had been ‘perverted’ to the Church of Rome.  When appointing William Burges as his architect, Bute found a soul mate. Unlike the clerical Pugin, Burges had a wonderful sense of humour; the whimsical decoration of Cardiff Castle’s library, with monkeys quizzically handling books, will bring a smile to your face.

Date and Time

Victorian Fantasies Given live on Friday 25th August 2023 at 11am and repeated at 7pm BST

The cost of this month’s lecture is £10.  

You can book the lecture for either the morning or the evening presentation.

To book your place please email Susan Branfield at susanbranfield77@gmail.com
Please note Susan’s new email address as above.

Please state your preferred time, Morning Lecture or Evening Lecture, for the zoom link as they have different codes.

Once you register and pay, you will be sent a separate email with your link. You will need this link to access the lecture on the day so please do not delete it.

As the lecture will be delivered live by Zoom, you will be able to ask your questions in person at the end. You can also use the ‘Chat’ function.

After the lecture you will be sent another private link so you can access the lecture on my YouTube Channel.

You can pay by cheque or BACS (details will be supplied). Cheques should be made payable to ‘Anne Anderson’.  

Or you can pay by PayPal

What’s New on the Channel

Why not have a look at what’s just been released on our free access channel:  Anne Anderson Art and Design History Channel on YouTube.
 

René Lalique Jewellery and Glass

This video looks at the work of René Lalique, his designs for jewellery and glass and how the former informed the latter. It shows the progress of his designs from the Art Nouveau period around 1900 to his Art Deco designs of the 1920s-1930s, contextualising the material with reference to the changing fashions in design during his productive years. The video represents an extract from a longer presentation on French art and design, investigating the works of Emile Gallé and René Lalique, that was delivered in 2021.

René Lalique Jewellery and Glass This video looks at the work of René Lalique, his designs for jewellery and glass and how the former informed the latter. It shows the progress of his designs from the Art Nouveau period around 1900 to his Art Deco designs of the 1920s-1930s, contextualising the material with reference to the changing fashions in design during his productive years. The video represents an extract from a longer presentation on French art and design, investigating the works of Emile Gallé and René Lalique, that was delivered in 2021.

NOTICE

Do not forget that the Tate Britain Gallery’s major exhibition: The Rossettis , ends on September 24^th

Travel Editions Tours

Some information for those of you who are interested in the art and heritage tours, in the UK and/or abroad, that Scott and I undertake through the Travel Editions company. Following a successful series of UK tours in  2022,Travel Editions is running an interesting range of tours this summer and autumn. Below are listed some of our tours scheduled for later this year, that might be of interest to you.

Pre-Raphaelites in Yorkshire Tour, 6-8 September (based in Harrogate)
Anne Anderson is one of the country’s leading experts on the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Crafts Movement in the UK and has led a host of tours for us over many years. For 2023, her latest tour turns its attention to Yorkshire, home to some of the finest examples of William Burges’s architecture and design. On this tour – with both Prof Anne and Dr Scott Anderson –  find out how a fatal kidnapping led to the building of one of England’s most interesting churches and explore the work of William Burges, whose Gothic Revival style echoed the works of his Pre-Raphaelite friends and peers. During the tour, there will also be the chance to see some fine stained glass by Morris & Co. An added bonus is a guided tour around Newby Hall, one of the finest country houses in Britain. Lectures by Prof Anne Anderson, with her customary wit and enthusiasm, will offer depth and context to the visits.

Art Nouveau and Art Deco in Manchester, 11-14 September (based in Manchester)
This fantastic tour looks at the wonderful architectural world of Art Nouveau and Art Deco through the prism of Manchester, with enthusiast and expert, Prof. Anne Anderson. As with so many other cities around the world, fuelled by the golden age of Hollywood and mass cinema and theatre attendances, Manchester was one of the UK cities that embraced Art Nouveau and Art Deco with the most vigour, leaving a legacy of outstanding buildings, which have survived the post-war building boom, both in the city centre and outlying suburbs. From civic and commercial buildings to churches, cinemas and galleries, Anne will take you on an inspirational journey back to the heyday of Art Nouveau and Art Deco a century ago.

Nancy and the Birth of Art Nouveau Tour, 20-23 October (based in Nancy, France)
The stately town of Nancy – a model of 18th century town planning – enjoyed a second golden age at the turn of the 20th century, when glass maker Emile Gallé founded the Ecole de Nancy, which typifies the Art Nouveau movement in France. This tour explores the history and rich legacy of this productive period with the city’s wonderful collection of Art Nouveau art, ceramics and architecture, in the company of expert and enthusiast Prof. Anne Anderson or Dr. Scott Anderson, with a series of lectures and visits from your base in the heart of the city just 200 metres from the magnificent Place Stanislas, one of the great squares of Europe.

For further details on these and other tours, please visit the Travel Editions website:  https://www.traveleditions.co.uk to check booking details etc.
 

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you know anyone who would like to receive the Art History with Anne Newletter, please ask them to email anne.anderson99@talk21.com with the subject line: ‘Please add me to your mailing list’

Anne Anderson Art and Design History Channel
For a selection of some of my free access lectures please visit my YouTube channel via Google by typing into the search box: Anne Anderson Art and Design History Channel

Thanks to all of you who have watched films on the Anne Anderson Art and Design History Channel and particularly to those who have remembered to press the SUBSCRIBE button beneath the video window. It does not commit you to anything but helps with my stats. Thank you. 

 Please email this Newsletter to a friend either in the UK or Abroad