Lectures Membership year 2024-25 Doors will open at 10.15am when free tea/coffee and biscuits are available. The meeting is called to order at 10.50am for the chairman’s welcome and notices followed by the lecture from 11am-12noon. 2 April 2025 Joanne Rhymer Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) – Painting in Paris Mary Cassatt was the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists in their independent exhibitions. When the artist, Edgar Degas, persuaded her to stop exhibiting work at the Paris Salon - the official art exhibitions in the capital - and to exhibit instead with his artistic colleagues, she stated that, ‘I accepted with joy… I hated conventional art.’ Cassatt went on to make outstanding contributions to four of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. Like her Impressionist colleagues, Cassatt represented modern life, but the subjects suitable for a ‘respectable’ woman such as Cassatt were limited. 7 May 2025 Rosamund Bartlett The Culture of Ukraine – Art, Literature, Music and History This lecture tells the multifaceted Ukrainian story through the shared culture which binds its diverse people together, including the sacred art and architecture of Kyiv inherited from Byzantium, the rich legacy of the Cossacks, and a treasury of poetry, painting and song. We will also look at the key role played by folk culture in the years before Ukraine's emergence as an independent nation, whether "red icons" on glass or the country's remarkable embroidery tradition, which had a surprising influence on avant-garde art. Photo; Copyrighted Rosamund Bartlett 4 June 2025 Sue Jackson The Cultural Heritage of the Huguenots The Huguenots came to England in huge numbers in the late 17th century bringing a wide variety of skills - as silk weavers, silversmiths, clock makers, opticians, bankers, gilders, iron workers, horticulturists etc. Names such as Paul de Lamerie, Samuel Courtauld and Jean Tijou spring to mind. In virtually all areas, they were innovators and more advanced than the English who were forced to improve their own skills or go out of business. Although the majority settled in London, others found their way to East Anglia, Macclesfield and Canterbury. This talk examines their lasting legacy. Photo: Copyrighted Sue Jackson 2 July 2025 Georgina Bexon Australian Indigenous Art – 50,000 years ago to the present day The Australian indigenous people possess probably the oldest continuous culture on our planet. From the extraordinary early rock and cave art to the modern oil painting, these artists are great storytellers, passing their mystic culture and sense of the sacred nature of the landscape down the generations. This talk investigates the early beginnings of this fascinating art and traces its development to the modern day where it is exhibited in international galleries and sells for high prices on the world art market. Photo: Copyrighted Georgian Bexon (AGM: please be seated by 10.30am )