April 10th - December 23rd
William Morris: "Ministering to the Swinish Luxury of the Rich," an exhibition by David Mabb
In 2003 The Whitworth Art Gallery at the University of Manchester invited David Mabb, a well established and widely exhibited artist, to spend time 'behind the scenes', working with the
Gallery's extensive permanent collection of William Morris textiles, wallpapers, drawings and designs to create an exciting installation which blurs the boundaries between a historical museum display and a contemporary art show, between authentic Morris & Co textiles and wallpapers and contemporary mass produced copies of the same, between interior decoration and art.
David Mabb is a visual and installation artist whose work appropriates that of other artists and creates contemporary work based on it. His recent work has explored the life and work of William Morris, but his interest in the designer extends beyond Morris's pattern-making. Mabb is fascinated by the political beliefs of a man who made his living creating luxury goods for the upper middle classes while campaigning for the liberation of the common man.
In addition to The Whitworth's collection of William Morris material, the exhibition includes loans from the John Rylands Library, the Labour History Archive, the Working Class Movement Library and Manchester Metropolitan University. For further information, visit http://www.whitworth.man.ac.uk/.
April 19th - May 15th
The Goldsmiths Hall, London EC2. An exhibition of Ecclesiastical Silver and Plate, admission free. This will include Gothic Revival items from the 19th Century and early 20th Century design. http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/.
Wednesday, April 21st, 18.30-19.30
Piety, Passion and Progress: Andrew Marr, AN Wilson, & Michel Faber on the Victorians: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SE1. £7(£5 concessions). The nineteenth century witnessed unprecedented progress, especially in the spheres of science and technology. Yet the period was beset by moral and spiritual anxieties; religious certainty was challenged by new ideas on evolution, and family values coexisted with child labour, poverty, and prostitution. AN Wilson has written books on Sir Walter Scott, CS Lewis and the Victorians. Broadcaster Andrew Marr represented Charles Darwin in the BBC's Great Britons. Michel Faber is author of the bestselling novel, The Crimson Petal and the White, a compelling recreation of 1870s London. Together they consider the complexities and contradictions that characterised the Victorian age. T 020 7887 8888; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
Thursday, April 22nd, 10.30-18.00
The Pre-Raphaelite Interior II: Kelmscott Manor at Tate Britain Studio 1 and Kelmscott. Tel: 020 7887 8687 http://www.tate.org.uk/.
April 23rd - June 23rd
Arabic Calligraphy: The British Museum, Great Russell Street London WC1 is to hold a practical course on Arabic Calligraphy on 12 Friday evenings, 18.30-20.30 from 23 April, jointly with Birkbeck College, cost £90. Book through Birkbeck: T Marie Singha 020 7631 6640; E m.singha@bbk.ac.uk; information@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk; http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/.
Friday, April 23rd, 13.00
Knowledge of the Physical World: Geology and the Pre-Raphaelite Landscape: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SE1, free, no need to book. Lecture by Christopher Newall, co-curator of Pre-Raphaelite Vision. T 020 7887 8888; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
Saturday, April 24th
Ruskin Public History Discussion Group 2003-04: "The restoration of the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals: Heritage, History or Tourism?," Steve Mills. Ruskin College, Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HE (near Gloucester Green bus station). Sessions start promptly at 11.00am and finish by lunchtime. To be placed on the mailing list contact edeeley@ruskin.ac.uk.
May 1st - 3rd
An international symposium, Chairs 2004 will be held in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, bringing together designers, makers, collectors and historians: http://www.chairs2004.org.uk/.
May 8th
"Doing Public History" Day School: Ruskin College Oxford. T 01865 517828; E edeeley@ruskin.ac.uk.
May 12th - September 12th
London: Dulwich Picture Gallery: Henry Moore. A major show exploring Moore’s well-loved sculptural themes, together with a fine selection of his war time drawings. Open Tuesday - Friday, 10.00 - 17.00; weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays, 11.00 - 17.00. Entry to the Gallery and exhibition is £7.00; senior citizens £6.00; other concessions £3.00; children free. 020 - 8299 8711 or http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.
May 13th - 14th
A Sense of Regional and National Issues in the Arts and Crafts Movement Conference: University of St. Andrews, Fife. Speakers will discuss the Russian, Irish, Polish, North American and British Arts and Crafts Movements. E vac@st-andrews.ac.uk.
May 19th
Wakefield Art Gallery: Natalie Rudd, Sculpture Curator, will give an introduction to the collection, refreshments provided. T 01924 305902.
Saturday, May 22nd
Victorian Churches in Brighton & Hove: The Victorian Society. T 020 8994 1019; E admin@victoriansociety.org.uk; http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/.
June 3rd – August 30th
Tate Britain, Millbank, London: Art of the Garden. This exhibition celebrates the Royal Horticultural Society’s bicentenary and is the first major exhibition to examine the relationship between the garden and British art. It brings together over one hundred works from the last two centuries. T 0151 702 7400; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
Thursday June 10th, 1.10 pm
Postcard Photographs/Family Objects: The National Portrait Gallery. Lecture by Elizabeth Edwards, Head of Photograph Collections and Lecturer in Visual Anthropology, Pitt Rivers Museum, about the function of photographs as 'social objects' in family and community narrative. T 020 7306 0055; http://www.npg.org.uk/.
Saturday June 12th
Ruskin Public History Discussion Group 2003-04: "British Vernacular Furniture: The Cultural Diversity of Our Regional Traditions," Bill Cotton. Ruskin College, Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HE (near Gloucester Green bus station). Sessions start promptly at 11.00am and finish by lunchtime. To be placed on the mailing list contact edeeley@ruskin.ac.uk.
Friday, June 18th, 10.00-18.00
Art of the Garden: The Role of the Garden in British Visual Culture: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SE1, £25 (£20 concessions). This conference coincides with Tate Britain's major exhibition, Art of the Garden. It examines the impact of the garden on aesthetic sensibility and the development of British visual culture from the early nineteenth century to the present day. The day is divided into two sessions. The first, entitled Nation, explores the representation of the garden as an expression of national culture. The second session focuses on gardens in relation to aesthetic and cultural discourses surrounding ideas about Nature. T 020 7887 8888; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
June 25th - September 25th
Lucian Freud: Etchings: ABBOTT HALL ART GALLERY, Kendal, Cumbria will link or juxtapose artists who owe a debt to the key figure of Walter Sickert, creating small but powerful shows in the special spaces at Abbott Hall. T 01539 722464; E info@abbotthall.org.uk; http://www.abbothall.org.uk.
Saturday - Sunday, July 2nd - 4th
Weekend in and around Ironbridge: The Victorian Society. T 020 8994 1019; E admin@victoriansociety.org.uk; http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/.
July 7th - October 31st
Off The Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers: The National Portrait Gallery, Porter Gallery, admission free. An exhibition combining portraits of women travellers from the Gallery's collections with some of their souvenirs, ranging from natural history specimens and archaeological finds, to ceremonial artefacts. T 020 7306 0055; http://www.npg.org.uk/.
Wednesday - Sunday, July 7th - August 1st, 11.00-5.00 (Preview Tuesday, July 6th, 6.00-8.30).
Useful & Beautiful: Four Potters in a Living Tradition: Standen, West Hoathly Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex. An exhibition of pots made to be used which owe much to Morris' ideas and Bernard Leach's example. Jonathan Chiswell Jones, reduction-fired lustreware; Tony Dasent, saltglaze; Oliver Dawson, marbled porcelain; Kitty Shepherd, slip-decorated earthenware. Entry Free to National Trust members. There will be an opportunity to visit each of these Sussex-based pottery workshops for a day of demonstration and explanation. Details from the exhibition. T 01342 323029; E standen@nationaltrust.org.uk.
July 9th - October 30th
Walter Richard Sickert: Paintings: ABBOTT HALL ART GALLERY, Kendal, Cumbria will link or juxtapose artists who owe a debt to the key figure of Walter Sickert, creating small but powerful shows in the special spaces at Abbott Hall. The editor can personally recommend this excellent exhibition. T 01539 722464; E info@abbotthall.org.uk; http://www.abbothall.org.uk.
Thursday, July 15th
Evening Walk: Gothic Holborn: The Victorian Society. T 020 8994 1019; E admin@victoriansociety.org.uk; http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/.
July 17th - September 5th
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP: Silver Threads: Celebrating 25 years of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This new exhibition of over eighty historic quilts includes items dating from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries contrasted with modern items from the 1990s. T 01772 258248; E harris.museum@preston.gov.uk; http://www.visitpreston.com/harris/.
July 20th - August 30th
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1: Head to Head. A display in the Turbine Hall includes over 40 ‘heads’, from Auguste Rodin’s Balzac of 1892, to works by Henri Gaudier-Breska, Epstein and more recent video work. T 020 7887 8888; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
July 20th - August 30th
Tate Liverpool, Albert Dock, Liverpool: A Secret History of Clay: From Gauguin to Gormley. Starting with Paul Gauguin, the exhibition unearths a little known international history of the use of clay by groups such as the Fauves, Russian Supremacists, Italian Futurists and CoBrA, as well as by individual artists such as Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Lucio Fontana and numerous modern artists. T 0151 702 7400; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
July 20th - September 5th
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1: Edward Hopper. A major retrospective of the American artist’s work. T 020 7887 8888; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
July 20th - October 31st
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP: Robert Pateson: A Scientific Philosopher: The life and work of an early photographer. One of Preston’s first commercial photographers, Pateson became established in 1853. This exhibition features over fifty original landscape and portrait photographs. T 01772 258248; E harris.museum@preston.gov.uk; http://www.visitpreston.com/harris/.
July 20th - October 31st
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP: Rites of Passage: Christening, Wedding and Mourning Dress in the Victorian Era. This exhibition draws on the large 19th century costume collection at the Harris. Illustrating how the Victorians marked rites of passage such as christenings, weddings and funerals, it also examines how they dealt with the ever-present spectre of death through elaborate mourning rituals. T 01772 258248; E harris.museum@preston.gov.uk; http://www.visitpreston.com/harris/.
July 22nd - October 3rd
The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau: Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This collection of decorative arts was amassed in the 1960s by collector and designer Colin Anderson and is now cared for by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich. Displays will include Lalique and Tiffany glass, Mucha posters, ceramics by Minton and Royal Doulton, furniture, jewellery, textiles, metalwork and design drawings. They should complement the Art Nouveau features in Blackwell's interiors admirably. T 015394 46139; E info@blackwell.org.uk; http://www.blackwell.org.uk/.
August 21st - October 26th
The Glass Circle will hold an exhibition in London devoted to 19th C. glass, in conjunction with The Congress of the Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, Manchester Square, London W1. E martine.newby@virgin.net.
September 2004 - March 2005
The Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University, Cat Hill, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN4 8HT: Woven Splendour: Italian Textiles from the Medici to the Modern Age. For many centuries, Italy has been at the centre of luxury textile production. From the rich silks and velvets woven for noble families such as the Medici in the fifteenth century, to the technical innovations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Italian textiles for domestic furnishing have always been synonymous with style and luxury. This exhibition features a selection of fabulous fabrics chosen from the collections of the Museo del Tessuto in Prato, the Tuscan city at the heart of Italy’s textile tradition. MoDA has recently been twinned with this museum. T 020 8411 5244; E moda@mdx.ac.uk.
September 1st - October 31st
Robert Pateson: A Scientific Philosopher: The life and work of an early photographer: HARRIS MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP. One of Preston’s first commercial photographers, Pateson became established in 1853. This exhibition features over fifty original landscape and portrait photographs. T 01772 258248; E harris.museum@preston.gov.uk; http://www.visitpreston.com/harris/.
September 1st - October 31st
Rites of Passage: Christening, Wedding and Mourning Dress in the Victorian Era: HARRIS MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP. This exhibition draws on the large 19th century costume collection at the Harris. Illustrating how the Victorians marked rites of passage such as christenings, weddings and funerals, it also examines how they dealt with the ever-present spectre of death through elaborate mourning rituals. T 01772 258248; E harris.museum@preston.gov.uk; http://www.visitpreston.com/harris/.
September 1st - October 31st
The Vision of G. F. Watts: THE WATTS GALLERY, Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1DG. Closed on Thursdays. The Watts Gallery celebrates the centenary of Watts’ death with an exhibition of 114 paintings, drawings, sculpture and an early fresco. Highlights include his iconic image, Hope, Love and Life--his message for the Victorian era, presented to the American people - and the marble bust of Clytie (1867-78), which foreshadowed the New Sculpture Movement. T 01483 810235; E wattsgallery@freeuk.com; http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/.
September 1st - December 31st
Saul Bass on Film: DESIGN MUSEUM, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1. Bronx-born Saul Bass was the king of film title design, transforming a drab medium into an art form. In a career spanning some 50 years, he worked with Hitchcock, Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Pat Kirkham, the eminent design historian who has worked on the eighteenth century furniture trade in London as well as Morris & Co, is researching the life and work of Saul and Elaine Bass and some of her own collection of Bass designs is on show. In true Design Museum style, many of the film clips are visually and aurally out of focus, but the exhibition is still worth seeing and there are some beautiful E-types upstairs. T 020 7940 8790.
September 1st - December 31st
The Symbolic Paintings of G. F. Watts: TATE BRITAIN, Millbank, London SE1. Watts is best known as a portrait painter today but in his own eyes his allegorical compositions were what mattered. Through these, he aimed to deliver timeless, universal messages based around his own moral and spiritual ideals. Marking the centenary of Watts’ death, this exhibition is based around his sizeable bequest to the Tate, made shortly after it was established. Many of the paintings relate to an ambitious, unfinished series entitled The House of Life which condemned gambling, materialism and sexual exploitation. Also on show is The Court of Death, which measures 4x2 meters and was originally intended for a chapel in a paupers’ cemetery. T 020 7887 8000; http://www.tate.org.uk/.
September 1st - January 9th, 2005
Matisse to Freud: A Critic’s Choice: BRITISH MUSEUM Great Russell Street, London WC1. Alexander Walker’s collection of 200 pieces of modern art, all bequeathed to the museum. Free; http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/.
September 9th - 13th
Welcombe Barton: The Yarner Trust: Green Oak Building. This residential course gives the opportunity to work with a master craftsman on a small and individually designed green-oak barn. The techniques associated with timber frame building: making oak pegs; using natural curves in wood, and constructing mortise and tenon joints will be learned. £125 or £195 residential. T 01288 331692; E enquiries@yarnertrust.co.uk; http://www.yarnertrust.co.uk/.
September 9th - December 5th
Christopher Dresser 1834-1904: A Design Revolution: THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, South Kensington, London. Christopher Dresser was one of the most influential designers of his time. A contemporary of William Morris, he is widely known as Britain's first independent, industrial designer. At a time when the design of mass–produced items often favoured novelty and availability over taste or rational, Dresser pioneered a new modern style creating beautiful objects for the emerging consumer culture. Dresser's influences included Japanese, Egyptian and Asian art and design, as well as abstract pattern based on his study of botany. A trip to Japan for the V&A in 1876 transformed his style, leading him to focus on the quality of materials and simplicity of form. This exhibition is the first UK retrospective on Dresser and examines the whole spectrum of his work, including metalwork, furniture, ceramics and textiles, from his early more decorative designs to his later streamlined minimalist work. T 020 7942 2000; E bookings@vam.ac.uk; http://www.vam.co.uk/.
September 23rd - December 5th
Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800: THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, South Kensington, London. Encounters explores three hundred years of artistic, cultural and technological interaction and exchange between Asia and Europe. The exhibition shows how East and West have always been fascinated with each other, and how the appeal of the exotic has shaped the material culture of both. T 020 7942 2000; E bookings@vam.ac.uk; http://www.vam.co.uk/.
September 23rd - January 16th, 2005
Kitchen Voices, Still Lives: GEFFRYE MUSEUM, Kingsland Road London E2. Closed Mondays. This exhibition of photography by photojournalist Robert Teed explores the kitchen spaces in a typical London terrace of Victorian houses. It looks at the uniqueness of each space and the individuals within, while drawing attention to both the architectural repetitions and cultural similarities between the spaces. T 020 7739 9883; http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/.
September 23rd - January 16th, 2005
Them Indoors: an Installation by Carl Clerkin, Gitta Gschwendtner and William Warren: GEFFRYE MUSEUM, Kingsland Road London E2. Closed Mondays. Individual interpretations of the domestic environment by three cutting edge designers, complemented by a small exhibition of selected pieces which highlight the range and creative force behind Hidden Art initiatives, which include the innovative Open Studios scheme launched in 1994. T 020 7739 9883; http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/.
October 6th - January 9th, 2005
Old Master Drawings from the Capodimonte Museum in Naples: DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY, Gallery Road, Dulwich Village, London SE21. Items for this exhibition have been selected to complement the seventeenth century baroque collection at Dulwich. T 020 8693 5254; http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/
October 9th, 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Welcombe Barton: The Yarner Trust: Alternative Funerals. This workshop provides practical information about coffins, green burial, cremation, and wills to help with planning a funeral. £19.50. T 01288 331692; E enquiries@yarnertrust.co.uk; http://www.yarnertrust.co.uk/.
October 12th - December 31st
Contemporary Glassware: BLACKWELL, THE ARTS & CRAFTS HOUSE, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. T 015394 46139; E info@blackwell.org.uk; http://www.blackwell.org.uk/.
October 14th - January 9th, 2005
G. F. Watts: Portraits: Fame & Beauty in Victorian Society: NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, Trafalgar Square, London. Admission £7/£4.75. The Gallery's major autumn exhibition showcases portraits by the great Victorian artist George Frederic Watts (1817-1904). Watts was privately commissioned to paint the artistic and social elite of Victorian London. He produced some of the most glamorous full-length portraits of women of the period, in the grand manner of Reynolds and Gainsborough, but rich in colour and detail. This exhibition brings together many of these little known and remarkably beautiful works. Sitters include Dorothy Tennant, Lillie Langtry, Lady Holland and Alfred Tennyson, as well as several striking portraits of Watts's wife and muse, the actress Ellen Terry. T 020 7306 0055; E nationalportraitgallery@npg.pmailuk.com; http://www.npg.org.uk/.
October 16th, 10.30 - 17.00
Christopher Dresser, 1834 – 1904: Designer of Genius: Centenary Symposium. Jointly organised by the V&A and the Decorative Arts Society, this symposium will look at the range of Dresser's work, including his writing. The seven speakers will place Dresser in the context of the wider issues surrounding Victorian design innovation, discussing both his predecessors and the other great 19th century figures in his circle, revealing his lasting legacy. Ticket price: £36, concessions available. The V&A have also organised a number of autumn talks on issues connected with Christopher Dresser, visit their website for details. T 020 7942 2000; http://www.vam.co.uk/.
October 23rd
London: Victoria & Albert Museum: Literature and the Domestic Interior Symposium. Ideas and descriptions of the home figure widely in literature. The domestic interior frequently provides either subject or context of narrative whether in drama, poetry or fiction. Metaphors referring to the domestic interior proliferate, and claims for their significance are widespread. This one-day conference will explore different instances of the literary representation of the domestic interior in writing from 1400 to the present. This event is part of an ongoing initiative at the AHRB Centre for the Study of the Domestic Interior to develop and support an interdisciplinary community of postgraduates and scholars working in fields related to the domestic interior.
T 020 7590 4183; E csdi@rca.ac.uk; http://www.rca.ac.uk/csdi/.
October 30th - November 30th
Caroline Wiseman Modern Art, 34 West Square, London, SE11 4SP: Nicholsons: A Vital Simplicity. The artists William Nicholson and his wife Mabel Pryde founded a family of artists spanning four generations - Ben, Winifred, Barbara (Hepworth), Kit, Nancy, EQ, Kate, Jake, Simon, Rachel. Tim, Louisa (Creed), Rafaele, Jeremy (Kidd) and Aaron (Kasmin). Nicholsons: A Vital Simplicity, held at Caroline Wiseman Modern Art this November to coincide with the retrospective of William Nicholson at the Royal Academy, shows the work of 16 members of the Nicholson family. It includes many works never seen before, including paintings, portraits (often of each other), sculpture, drawings (including early rare ones), textile designs, wall reliefs, installations and family correspondence. The works will be hung throughout the house and a catalogue, designed by Tim Nicholson and with a Foreword by Frances Spalding, will accompany the exhibition.Please ring 020 7587 0747 for opening times or email caroline@carolinewiseman.com.
November 8th - December 23rd
JD Fergusson: Living Paint: ABBOTT HALL ART GALLERY, Kendal, Cumbria will link or juxtapose artists who owe a debt to the key figure of Walter Sickert, creating small but powerful shows in the special spaces at Abbott Hall. T 01539 722464; E info@abbotthall.org.uk; http://www.abbothall.org.uk.
November 29th
Dr. Carola Hicks, FSA lectures on "Stained Glass in Some Cambridge Colleges and Churches (including Morris & Co)" and Jon Catleugh of the DeMorgan Centre will then discuss "The Impact of Islam on Nineteenth-Century Ceramics": Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Tickets £12; cheques should be made out to The Victorian Society Great Eastern Group and sent to Michael Pearson, The Victorian Society Great Eastern Group, Primrose Cottage, Catmere End, Saffron Walden CB11 4XG.
November 30th - January 2nd, 2005
Christmas Past: 400 years of Seasonal Traditions in English Homes: GEFFRYE MUSEUM, Kingsland Road London E2. Closed Mondays. Each year, the Geffrye’s twelve period rooms are decorated in authentic festive style. A perennial favourite, Christmas Past explores the meanings and origins of some or our more common customs, from kissing under the mistletoe to decorating the tree and throwing cocktail parties. T 020 7739 9883; http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/
March - July 2005
International Arts and Crafts: THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, South Kensington, London. This exhibition will set out the story of the Arts and Crafts Movement which laid the foundation for approaches to design in the 20th century. It will be the first exhibition to trace the Movement’s global progress from its origins in Britain to subsequent widespread international adoption, interpretation and development. T 020 7942 2000; E bookings@vam.ac.uk; http://www.vam.co.uk/.
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