Last year in the History of Art Society lectures there was variety, enthusiasm and outstanding expertise from all of the speakers, and this year it can be safely said that we had all of this and more. The kick-off speaker Peter Nahum, famous for his evaluations on the Antiques Road Show and as an art dealer, was gripping in his explanations of the wheeling and dealing which goes on in the purchasing and selling of works of art. The lecture was added to by the fact that he brought along with him paintings by the likes of Rossetti, Holman Hunt and Gainsborough, the transportation of which was exceptionally nerve-racking as we rushed the masterpieces across yard in conditions not unlike those of a monsoon.
Next up was Nicholas Ross, the writer of many books on Renaissance masters who also runs Art History Abroad, which many Westminsters have been on in the past. The lecture was on 'Love and the Renaissance' in which he talked us through some fascinating interpretations of love by Renaissance artists. One lecture on the Renaissance was however not enough and Andrew Graham-Dixon, star of the BBC's Renaissance series, came to talk on vandalism in the Renaissance, from patrons through to artists, resulting in the transformation in the status of the artist from craftsman to genius. But the highlight of the lecture would have to have been his anecdote about how he managed to single-handedly demolish a bishop's bathroom.
The History of Art Society joined forces with the Ben Jonson Literary Society in the 'Romanticism' lecture by Professor Vaughan, which was rather a lot more useful for Art Historians, but clearly showed those who do English what they were missing out on in a lecture which incorporated Friedrich, Delacroix, and the architecture of Barry, Pugin and Walpole.
The final lecture of the year was left to Jennifer Stern, who talked us through the history of 'The Tate Modern: The Gallery for the Twentieth-first Century', or rather 'The Cathedral of Cool', in a lecture which could not have had more enthusiasm packed into it if she tried. By the end of the lecture there was nobody in the room who was not dying to go and see what she had been raving on about.
History of Art at Westminster is thriving as can be seen from the growing number of people attending these lectures, and if this year were anything to go by I would say that next year's Society will be even better and should not be missed by anyone!
Will Matthew LL