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Live and Recorded talks relating to:

France

  • Van Gogh's 444 days in Provence
    Van Gogh's 444 days in Provence
    Van Gogh's 444 days in Provence
    Known as his brightest and most expressive period, this is also the time in which he became ill and cut off his ear. This one hour lecture will look at his own personal struggles and ambitions, the art that influenced him and the art he wanted to make. more info below
  • Celebrated Post-Impressionist painters: SEURAT
    Celebrated Post-Impressionist painters: SEURAT
    Celebrated Post-Impressionist painters: SEURAT
    more info to follow shortly
  • Master Pieces: Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
    Master Pieces: Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
    Master Pieces: Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
    Not a public commission, but Ingres’ own invention, this painting is a reference to the cult of Napoleon and the use of every single piece of iconography available to show of his legitimacy as a ruler. Please join this talk on Napoleon, neo-classical art, propaganda, borrowing motifs & more!
  • Picasso's Women: series of 3 lectures together
    Picasso's Women: series of 3 lectures together
    Picasso's Women: series of 3 lectures together
    This bundles a series of 3 lectures Maria gave on Picasso's Women. In the 1st lecture we examine his life & passions. The 2nd session looks at his love affairs and marriage from 1900-43 and the 3rd will cover his partners from 1943-73.
  • PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 3: His muses from 1943 to 1973
    PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 3: His muses from 1943 to 1973
    PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 3: His muses from 1943 to 1973
    This third session on Picasso and the women in his life, will cover his partners from 1943 to 1973. Some were artists themselves, others came from nobility and others were simply young and pretty. Maria unpicks their influence.
  • PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 2: his muses from 1920 to 1943
    PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 2: his muses from 1920 to 1943
    PICASSO:GODDESSES AND DOORMATS; Session 2: his muses from 1920 to 1943
    This second session will look more deeply at the love affairs and marriage of Picasso from 1900 to 1943 and the emotions that connected him to the women in his life and his own artworks.
  • A brief review of Pablo Picasso's life and oeuvre in relation to women.
    A brief review of Pablo Picasso's life and oeuvre in relation to women.
    A brief review of Pablo Picasso's life and oeuvre in relation to women.
    We will analyse Picasso's oeuvre through the emotions that connected him to the women in his life. Some of them lived with Picasso, some of them lived for Picasso. The research was based on diaries and books written by his partners as well as by his descendants.
  • Versailles' Glory
    Versailles' Glory
    Versailles' Glory
    The elevation of LouisXIII hunting lodge outside Paris into the Palace of Versailles -the most magnificent of palaces- was done on the back of Nicholas Fouquet, Superintent of Finances, overstepping his position. See below for more on this talk covering who &what was involved in Versailles' creation
  • Berthe Morisot
    Berthe Morisot
    Berthe Morisot
    In this talk we will trace Berthe Morisot's biography, her influences and the development of her style, and discuss how Morisot was able to thrive within the most radical group of artists, The Impressionists, in 19th century Paris. More info below.
  • Fauvism & La Belle Epoque
    Fauvism & La Belle Epoque
    Fauvism & La Belle Epoque
    After Realism & Naturalism, Impressionism & Post-Impressionism, Henri Matisse will break all the rules by applying furious pure colours deserving the mote “fauve” (wild beast) given by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Please join us to learn what happened in Paris after 1905. more info below
  • The Birth of Cinema: first films, soap-operas and detective stories ever filmed
    The Birth of Cinema: first films, soap-operas and detective stories ever filmed
    The Birth of Cinema: first films, soap-operas and detective stories ever filmed
    The concept of “motion-pictures” later called “cinema” was born during la Belle Époque. In 1892, the first “cinématographe” camera was invented by Leon Bouly. It was able to record, develop & project motion pictures. We will enjoy the oeuvre of those great pioneers in this 1 hour talk more inf below
  • Les Ballets Russes: a Russian flavour in Paris
    Les Ballets Russes: a Russian flavour in Paris
    Les Ballets Russes: a Russian flavour in Paris
    Due to the political instability in Russia, many noblemen and aristocrats had to leave. Among them was the impresario Sergei Diaghilev who will become the father of Les Ballets Russes. A transformative force in music, dance and the visual arts, join Maria to explore! more info below
  • Greatest Female Patrons in History: Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764)
    Greatest Female Patrons in History: Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764)
    Greatest Female Patrons in History: Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764)
    Pompadour wasn't only a well-known patron of the arts but also the owner of a creative mind making various artworks & artifacts with her own hands. She helped usher in the creation of France's first encyclopedia, planned buildings & palaces and established a center for porcelain production at Sèvres
  • LA BELLE EPOQUE RHYTHMS: From waltz to tango
    LA BELLE EPOQUE RHYTHMS: From waltz to tango
    LA BELLE EPOQUE RHYTHMS: From waltz to tango
    Since the Middle Ages, Paris was a centre of music production: choral music, ballets & operas were premiered in Paris. La Belle Epoque will bring a different perspective. Cabarets & bistros, casinos & music halls were opened for those “nouveau riches” who wanted to have fun. more info below
  • Masters of Landscape Painting: Claude Lorraine
    Masters of Landscape Painting: Claude Lorraine
    Masters of Landscape Painting: Claude Lorraine
    Often named in the same sentence as his contemporary Poussin as they are both distinguished exponents of the French classical baroque style, it was Claude who focuses on the study of nature and the exploration of light while minimizing the role humans play in this. more info below
  • Northern High Renaissance and Mannerism
    Northern High Renaissance and Mannerism
    Northern High Renaissance and Mannerism
    North of the Alpes was very much affected by the Protestant Reformation. As Protestantism spread, artists turned away from overtly religious subjects and chose more secular imagery. Genre paintings and Landscape art make their appearance, and the court of Henry VIII introduces new displays of power!
  • Belle Epoque Literature: From Romanticism to Naturalism. the birth of the scientific novel
    Belle Epoque Literature: From Romanticism to Naturalism. the birth of the scientific novel
    Belle Epoque Literature: From Romanticism to Naturalism. the birth of the scientific novel
    Victor Hugo said: “Anyone who contemplates the depths of Paris feels invaded by vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime”. La Belle Epoque will produce writers as dissimilar as Colette & Marcel Proust, inaugurating de so called “modernism” in literature.
  • Futurism and the Belle Epoque
    Futurism and the Belle Epoque
    Futurism and the Belle Epoque
    Futurism is a movement with a manifesto written by poet & journalist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti who will be its engine, attracting many other Italian artists. In Britain, the Futurist movement became the Vorticist. Maria will introduce this often controversial movement. More info below
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