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La Marchesa, Isabella D’Este

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Charming online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the life of Isabella D’Este, the Renaissance patron of the arts. Sarah Dunant, introduced her new novel on Isabella, based on her extensive research in the archives in Mantua which holdover 30,000 of her letters. She took us thorough Isabella’s life with readings from her book. Given her audience, Dunant, concentrated on Isabella’s art collecting and building projects including her studiolo. She explained how she liked a bargain and would look further afield that Rome to buy ancient artefacts. Since listening to the talk I have read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d been looking for a good biography of Isabella for a while and this format felt accurate and a novel format made it more approachable to read. I loved the way she gave Isabella a voice, both from using the real text of her letters and making her a ghostly voice in the archive. This gave Dunant the chance to also look at changing approaches to history and to Isa...
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The Chapel of Carlo Spiafame, 'Native of Lucca', in Avignon Cathedral

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Intriguing online lecture from the London Art History Society focusing on a specific chapel in Avignon Cathedral. Geoff Nuttall led us through this chapel and specifically the fresco outside it from around 1430. He told us about the family to whom it was dedicated and specifically about the father, Carlo Spiafame who had come to the city in 1385 from Lucca as part of a banking family, to service the papal court which was based there at the time. He talked about how the court brought Italian artists to the city but he thought the fresco was by a French artist who was influenced by them, possibly Jacques Iverny. He also speculated that they may have seen the Belles Heures de Duc du Berry as the Baptism scene is very similar and the Spiafame family had been involved in valuing his possessions on his death. He discussed the strange iconography of including donors in a scene of the Baptism of Christ and said this was the only example of that that he knew. He also pointed out that don...
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Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape : Members' Book Club

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Enlightening online discussion from the National Gallery around Nicola Moorby’s book on Turner and Constable. Matthew Morgan interviewed the author examining her argument that the two landscape artists were not the rivals they have been made out to be. She argues that there were very different characters who would not have been friends but that the perceived competition between them actually encouraged them to become better artists. She chose a series of pairs of paintings to compare the two artists and to examine their different approaches. There was a lively Q&A session at the end covering their relative fame at the time, their approach to the slave trade and why Constable did full scale sketches for his 6ft paintings.
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Treasures from the World of James VI and I

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Interesting online lecture from the Royal Collection introducing an exhibition on James VI of Scotland and I of England at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Kate Anderson, from the National Galleries of Scotland, talked us through the narrative of the show and highlighted some key exhibits with an emphasis on items lent by the Royal Collection. The show divides into the king’s time in Scotland and England and his influence in Europe and the world. She talked about his regency, as he came to the throne of Scotland aged just 13 months when his mother was forced to abdicate, and there were some touching exhibits from his childhood such as a letter from him aged about 6 to the Countess of Mar. I was most excited to see that the portraits of his children, Prince Henry, Charles I and Princess Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia, by Robert Peake have been reunited and that seems to be just one of many reasons to try to get to the show.
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One Painting, One Story : Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

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Delightful lecture at the National Gallery on Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. This was the first of a series of member talks based on a new set of books on individual paintings in the gallery to mark its 200th anniversary. In this event Aliki Braine interviewed the art critic Martin Gayford about his work on this painting. The started by asking why he chose this work and he described how, when writing a book on Van Gogh and the Yellow House, he had come to the gallery and sat with the paintings from that period including this one. They discussed how Van Gogh had journeyed south to find new light to paint and how sunflowers may have symbolised this to him. They also talked about how this series of paintings were received by Gaugin for whom they’d been painted for his arrival at the Yellow House and what the hang of them might have looked like. Finally they looked at how the work has been viewed since and why it has come to symbolise the artist to many viewers. This was my f...
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Liverpool Biennial 2025

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Eclectic exhibition at various venues around the city of Liverpool of contemporary art taking inspiration from the bedrock of the city. OK I admit I am slightly cheating on this one! I was in the city for a Springsteen concert and left on the day before the show opened however I saw a couple of previews and some of the works which had already gone up in the streets so I am allowing myself to blog it! My first find was a sculpture by Anna Gonzalez-Noguchi outside the Open Eye Gallery referencing exotic plants which were imported into the city. I loved their tactile element with pieces which turned and dangled. At the Walker Art Gallery I loved Isabel Nolan's wall carpets in bright colours but my favourite pieces were Cevdet Erek's models of football stadium shown like picture frames. As I'd been at Anfield the night before and am fascinated by frames this pushed my buttons. I also liked Leasho Johnson's dense colourful paintings. Thanks to a chat to a gallery as...
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Vivienne Westwood: Designer in Focus

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Fun exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery looking at the work of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. There were just two display cases but they featured a good cross section from her collections over the years including a suit worn by Holly Johnson. As they were at the end of the design gallery the display was quite cramped and it was hard to step back and look at the outfits or to read the labels. Closes 17 October 2025
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