Activities | Public Lectures
Lectures 2009
Wednesdays, 1.10 pm · Lecture Theatre
Admission is free, but these events are extremely popular and places are limited, so please arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Northern LightsA series of lectures to accompany the exhibition Northern Lights: Swedish Landscapes from the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| 6 May | In The Picture A panel discussion to accompany the exhibition Northern Lights: Swedish Landscapes from the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. What characterizes Swedish landscape painting of the late 19th century? What makes it worth studying in its own right—or should it be seen as largely derivative of movements taking place in France, Germany or even Norway? These and other issues will be discussed by exhibition curator Paul Spencer-Longhurst and a panel of experts, chaired by Director Ann Sumner. |
A Panel Discussion |
Matthew Boulton and the Art of Making MoneyA series of lectures to accompany the exhibition Matthew Boulton and the Art of Making Music |
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| 13 May | ‘How Matthew Boulton marketed his Manufactory’ |
Richard Clay and Val Loggie |
Exotic EccentricitiesA series of lectures to accompany the exhibition Exotic Eccentricities: ‘Petitot's Suite de Vases’ |
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| 3 June | ‘Petitot’s Suite de Vases’ |
Paul Spencer-Longhurst |
Past Lectures in 2009
Lecture-RecitalsUsing historical and modern instruments, renowned pianist and scholar Kenneth Hamilton discusses the agony and the ecstasy of playing Beethoven’s works for piano solo. Programmes to include Beethoven’s Variations in C minor and Sonata in A (op.101), Fantasia (op.77), and Eroica Variations (op.35). |
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| Tuesday 3 February | Performing Beethoven’s Piano Music: I | Kenneth Hamilton piano |
| Tuesday 17 February | Performing Beethoven’s Piano Music: II | Kenneth Hamilton piano |
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| Tuesday 17 February | The Michael Cadbury Memorial Lecture Birmingham and its Workhouses |
Dr Chris Upton |
| The workhouse, one of the abiding symbols of the Victorian age, cast a long shadow well into the 20th century. This lecture will focus on the people who lived and worked in Birmingham’s workhouses: how many lived there? how bad were the conditions? and what was the menu like in the dining hall?! | ||
| Tuesday 3 March | Running the Gauntlet | Caroline Magnus |
| Caroline Magnus had lived and worked in London for over 20 years when one day, without warning, she learnt that she had inherited Stokesay Court in Shropshire. Caroline describes life at the stately home, why she took it on, the problems, challenges and solutions, and why she kept striving to find a viable outcome for what many people considered a hopeless task. | ||
| Tuesday 17 March | Matthew Boulton and the Art of Making Money | Dr Richard Clay |
| At his Soho manufactory just outside Birmingham, Matthew Boulton established an international team and an innovative steam-driven mint to produce tokens and coinage. This lecture will be given by the lead curator for the exhibition of the same title. | ||
| Tuesday 31 March | Conserving the National Trust’s collections | Katy Lithgow |
The National Trust cares for one of the world's greatest fine and decorative art collections. Over a million objects are held and shown in over two hundred historic house museums — historic houses with collections. There are also many historic collections in special museums and displays. Conservation is at the heart of the Trust’s work ensuring that the varied, diverse and, often, unique collections in its care are displayed, as far as possible, in their original settings and only very rarely behind glass. At this lecture, Katy Lithgow will share with us how the National Trust prioritizes the conservation of its collections and the often hard decisions the Conservators have to make to ensure that our visitors and supporters can continue to enjoy the objects in our care. Please note: Due to ill health, Clare McLaren-Throckmorton is no longer able to present ‘The Châtelaine and the Butler’, the lecture originally programmed for 31 March. We are delighted to announce that Katy Lithgow, Head Conservator for the National Trust will be providing a fascinating lecture on how the organization conserves for the vast and diverse collections in its care. |
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The Birmingham Lecture Series 2009Northern LightsA series of lectures to accompany the exhibition Northern Lights: Swedish Landscapes from the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
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| 4 March | ‘The Making of the Exhibition’ |
Paul Spencer-Longhurst |
| 11 March | ‘Art and Nation: Swedish Painting in the Nineteenth Century’ |
Per Hedström, Curator of Prints and 19th-century Art, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
| 18 March | ‘Swedish Landscape in Context’ | Paul Spencer-Longhurst |
New Loans at the BarberTwo spectacular new pictures will be on display in the galleries this spring thanks to generous loans from private collections. Both are landscapes, but they are very different in character. |
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| 25 March | ‘John Brett: A Pre-Raphaelite Landscape Painter’ |
Christiana Payne, Reader in History of Art, Oxford Brookes University |
| 1 April | ‘Eruptions in Art: Joseph Wright of Derby and the Passion for Volcanoes’ | James Hamilton, Curator, Research and Cultural Collections, University of Birmingham |
Sun, Wind and Rain: The Art of David CoxThis lecture complements the exhibition of the same title at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, which runs from 31 January — 3 May, marking 150 years since the death of the British watercolourist David Cox (1783 - 1859). For further details please visit: www.bmag.org.uk |
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| 8 April | ‘David Cox and Landscape’ |
Victoria Osborne, Curator (Fine Art), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
Please click here if you are interested in the 2008 Lectures series.