The Arts Society Kingston

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The Arts Society Kingston

Supporting arts in the borough with lectures, volunteering and young arts projects. Join us!

08/09/2026

NEXT LECTURE
Monday, 14 September 2026 7:30pm

Introduction to Major Exhibitions: Frida - The Making of an Icon
By Lydia Bauman

Groundbreaking Mexican artist, political activist, devoted wife : her art, image, style and persona. An exploration of Frida Kahlo’s transformation into a global brand
At Tate Modern 25 June 2026 – 3 January 2027

Lydia Bauman born in Poland and studied for her BA in Fine Art at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (John Christie Scholarship and the Hatton Award), and an MA in History of Art from Courtauld Institute of Art, London, (19th-20th century art - Distinction for thesis on Matisse's Illustrations to Poetry). She has since divided her time between painting and exhibiting as well as lecturing widely to adult audiences. She has taught at London's National Gallery for more than 35 years, and intermittently at Tate Gallery and National Portrait Gallery as well as collections such as Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Hermitage and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the latter as a guest speaker for travel companies. Since the pandemic began in March 2020 Lydia had devised and delivered a programme of upwards of 180 online lectures to her own group Art For The Uninitiated.

If you would like to join us for this lecture and are not a member there will be a donation of £10. Please contact [email protected]
The lectures are held at the Clattern Theatre at Kingston University
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02/08/2026

Our members enjoyed a wonderful private guided tour of Syon House recently. Syon house is the London home of the Duke of Northumberland, a Grade 1 listed building set in the impressive grounds of Syon Park. Syon Park lies on the banks of the Thames some 10 miles upstream from London on what, in prehistoric times, was an island amid marshes and creeks. In 1415 Henry V laid the foundation stone of what become an Abbey of great influence throughout Tudor times until its dissolution when it passed to the Percy family. In the centuries that followed and up to the present day major refurbishment and redesign of the House and gardens have been undertaken , including the interiors by Robert Adam in 1762 and gardens by Capability Brown.

20/07/2026

NEXT LECTURE
Monday, 20 July 2026 - please note that it’s our AGM before the lecture so please arrive at 7pm.

Brave New World: How The Arts And Culture Shaped Post War Britain
by Russell Nash

In the aftermath of World War II art, architecture, fashion, film, music and theatre changed radically. Through the Abercrombie plan to remake London and create new towns, architects remade cities in modernist, brutalist ways. Angry young men and new forms of musical theatre emerged. In Soho, rock’n’roll was born and artists flocked to the Colony Rooms. After the gentle Ealing comedies came social realism. The Festival of Britain highlighted the artistic communities and showcased a brighter future for every citizen. In fine art, Hepworth and Heron, Bacon and others were forging bold new directions. From buttoned up deference to ‘fings aint wot they used to be’ this lecture will take you from the the end of WWII to the dawn of the Swinging Sixties. Unburdened by the expectations of the past, a new Elizabethan age was one of unlimited possibilities.

Russell Nash trained and worked as an actor, puppeteer and theatre maker for 15 years. He also spent time as a journalist, jewellery business owner and writer. In 2015 he qualified a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Around this time he rekindled his love of art and art history. He now regularly guides the major art galleries and museums in London including the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tates Modern & Britain and the British Museum. He has delivered lectures for institutes and museums, as well as numerous U3A groups and other societies.

If you would like to join us for this lecture and are not a member there will be a donation of £10. Please contact [email protected]
The lectures are held at the Clattern Theatre at Kingston University
image copyright free

12/07/2026

Past, Present and Future

The project was inspired by a tour with Kingston Heritage, where students explored public and contemporary artworks across the borough.
During their visit to Kingston Museum, they were particularly drawn to an artwork that had been divided into sections, inspiring them to create a shared image made up of individual contributions.
The composition is divided around the word "Kingston", repeated three times to represent the three fish featured in the Royal Borough of Kingston's crest.
The repeated text symbolises community, shared identity and the connections between different parts of Kingston.
The artwork combines a sepia-toned background, representing Kingston's past, with bright, vibrant sections created by the students.
Together, these contrasting elements celebrate the borough's rich history while reflecting the creativity, diversity and future aspirations of the young people who study there today.

30/06/2026

Our members enjoyed a wonderful trip to The Royal Chelsea Hospital today!

10/06/2026

NEXT LECTURE

Do We See What They Saw? Experiencing Paintings in the Past
By Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe

Monday 15th June 7:30pm

How does our experience of living with and looking at works of art today compare to the viewing experience of earlier centuries? You may never have given a thought to how you enjoy a painting, or what it is that you value in it, let alone wonder whether that enjoyment was different in the past. This lecture will consider the very different conditions in which paintings were displayed and enjoyed in earlier centuries, as well as the very different responses that they evoked. It draws on the evidence in paintings themselves for the many surprising ways in which people handled, hung, used or responded to the art that they owned. From concealing their paintings with a small curtain, to the lighting by candle or window, and the grouping of copies together with originals, this talk will present some of the more unexpected ways that people responded to a picture.

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, and a PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University. With 40 years' experience as a lecturer, Chantal has taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.

If you would like to join us for this lecture and are not a member there will be a donation of £10. Please contact [email protected]
The lectures are held at the Clattern Theatre at Kingston University
image copyright free

12/05/2026

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The Roots of Jazz
by Emma Johnson
Monday 18 May 7:30pm

New Orleans at the end of the 19th century was a busy port welcoming ships and sailors from all over the world bringing with them many diverse styles of music. It was also one of the few places in America where the music of the slave population was not just tolerated but openly enjoyed by black and white communities alike. In this Creole crucible it was not long before such a kaleidoscope of musical traditions would come together, react, and evolve into an exciting new music, namely jazz.

Jazz’s evolution didn’t happen overnight of course. And in this talk we’ll look at the part African Blues and Cakewalk, American Classical and Vaudeville, Latin American Dance, and Middle Eastern Klezmer all played in the story of jazz. We’ll also enjoy along the way some of the greatest musical artists of the twentieth century: Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington to name but a few.

With 30 CDs to her name, Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinettists to have performed as a soloist all over the world.

She also enjoys giving talks about music - Woodwind Wizardry and The Poet John Milton were both broadcast by BBC radio and she has lectured about composers Gerald Finzi and Malcolm Arnold for the internet company Tonebase, as well as about Schubert and Brahms for Martin Randall Travel.

Emma studied Music and English at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, where she was the first woman to be made an Honorary Fellow. She was honoured by the Queen with an M.B.E. in 1996.

Her charity, the Emma Johnson Music Foundation, gives workshops in primary schools to introduce children to instrumental music.

If you would like to join us for this lecture and are not a member there will be a donation of £10. Please contact [email protected]
The lectures are held at the Clattern Theatre at Kingston University
image copyright free

15/04/2026

NEXT LECTURE
History of Embroidery
by Susan Kay-Williams
Monday 20 April 7:30pm

This talk takes us from some of the earliest embroidery in this country from the 10th century through the height of English work, Opus Anglicanum to the embroidered outfits of our Tudor monarchs through to the seventeenth century when new design ideas arrived from India and China, and new techniques emerged such as raised embroidery, through to the growth in silk shading with the growth in dye shades, then to Berlin wool work in the 19th century and the dawn of art embroidery by the likes of William Morris and Walter Crane in the late 19th century. Finally we reach the period of embroidery artists in the 20th century including Beryl Dean, Constance Howard and Diana Springall to the artists of today including Mr X Stitch. This lecture shows how much embroidery has changed and stayed the same over the last thousand years.

For 17 years from 2007 to 2024 Susan Kaye-Williams was Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in recognition of her work on the history of dyes. Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, The Story of Colour in Textiles (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience across the world as well as for the V&A and across the UK. In 2022 she published An Unbroken Thread: the 150 year history of the Royal School of Needlework, a second edition of which was published in 2024 to include the RSN's work on the coronation. She is currently the President of the Society of Dyers and Colourists. and is now getting back to research into the history of colour in textiles.

If you would like to join us for this lecture and are not a member there will be a donation of £10. Please contact [email protected]
The lectures are held at the Clattern Theatre at Kingston University

Image: A small portion of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the adventure of William the Conqueror in 1066

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Kingston Upon Thames

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+442085498149

Website

https://www.theartssocietykingston.org.uk/

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