Peggy Guggenheim was the 'poor little rich girl' who changed the face of twentieth century art. Not only was she a woman ahead of her time but also one who helped to define it. She discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. Through collecting not only art, but often the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.

The first time the word Cartoon was used in the sense that we know it today was in 1843 in Punch magazine. But the employment of satire, caricature, speech bubbles and the writing of captions had been around long before then. In this talk Ian tracks the early stages of cartoons and how, through the works of William Hogarth and James Gillray, they gradually evolved. 

A pictorial history of drinking gasses through the ages, studied through images of actual objects and through paintings. The lecture will focus particularly on the development of the wine glass, but will also look at glasses designed for other beverages such as beer, cider, ale, cordial etc. It will consider the drinking habits of different countries and the types of  glass associated with those countries e.g. the Venetian wingstemmed glass, the German roemer, the Dutch flute and the English balusterstemmed glass; and will discuss the association of fine drinking vessels with feastimg and conviviality

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of Spain and sunlit water.

Investigating Canary Wharf, hailed as a totally new concept which revived London's docklands. Or was it? This lecture takes you back to the foundations of the West India Docks with their magniificent warehouses and follows through to the glittering high-rise commercial hub of today. It shows how history has repeated itself - from the unprecedented scale of development with buildings to marvel at, to the re-use of derelict space in an 'island' setting, the innovative transport connections, the private security systems, and the opposition of the City of London.

This illustrated talk focuses on the role of printmaking within Rego's overall practice and offers a unique insight, gleaned from such a close working relationship, into how these prints came into being. The talk will explore broad themes around Rego's prints including her relationship to graphic traditions, her changing working methods and the importance she placed on her prints. Rego's prints are singular works, essentially pictures fully realised through the medium of print.

Having never left the Russian nor Soviet empires in his lifetime, this Kyiv-based artist can only have heard about the new tendencies in Western Art through magazines or publications. Nonetheless, Bohomazov managed to create masterpieces no less exceptional or goundbreaking than those of his European contemporaries. A difficult, at times tragic, life, shaped by a passionate love story on a background of major historical upheaval - Oleksandr Bohomazov was an artist of reolutionary ideas and unique style. James Butterwick examines the legacy of the genius who many consider the national artist of the Ukraine and how his work is finally moving into the light.

2027 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Guiseppe Arcimboldo, one of the strangest and most intriguing artists of all time. He captivated his contemporaries with his depictions of the human face composed of objects such as fruits, flowers, fish and books. After centuries of obscurity, he was rediscovered in the 19th century and then revered by the Surrealists who saw him as a pioneer for their mining of the subconscious.  Arcimboldo worked at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, one of the greatest collectors in history who acquired masterpieces by Bruegel, Titian and Durer. He also assembled hundreds of artists, wizards and alchemists at his castle in Prague.

This lecture explores an artist whose work, inventiveness and ability to catch the zeitgeist is still admired a century after her bold 'Bizarre' wares were launched in 1927. These Art Deco masterpieces are the products that most vividly signify Clarice Cliff's legacy. She spent a lifetime innovating. Born in 1899, she was a working professional whose lifespan covered the period when women broke through the barriers of the art world. While the Royal Academy barred women from accessing the full training and privileges of their male counterparts, the pottery industry was one that had traditionally offered female artists the opportunities to excel.