Hobart

Monday 5 August 2024
FROM ENCAUSTIC TO ACRYLIC: HOW PAINT MADE ART
Presented by Lynne Gibson
Venue & Time: Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay 6.00 pm

Painting is an illusion made from a skin of paint! Buon fresco allowed artists to decorate vast Christian basilicas, Renaissance palaces, and civic halls while tough egg tempera was ideal for altar panels. Rich gouache was perfect for illuminations on vellum and paper, and without oils the Mona Lisa would not be mysterious. Modern manufacturing processes enabled Impressionism with its vibrant use of colour and Jackson Pollock could not have ‘splashed and dripped’ without industrial car paints. This talk explains the significant role materials and their techniques play in our understanding and enjoyment of art.

Lynne Gibson is a freelance lecturer in History of Art, and in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking. She has worked at the Universities of Sussex and Bristol and has conducted lectures, courses and guided tours for organisations including Art Galleries and Museums, The Art Fund, The National Trust and The Arts Society. She is a professional artist specializing in oil painting and etching, has been exhibited widely, and her work used in a range of publications.

Monday 2 September 2024
PARADISE LOST AND RESTORED – 400 YEARS OF GARDEN DESIGN IN OXFORDSHIRE
Presented by Timothy Walker
Venue & Time: Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay 6.00 pm

The history of English garden design can rarely be told “through the lens” of one garden. The Oxford Botanic Garden, founded at the beginning of the 17th century, bears all the design hallmarks of that century.  Over 400 years successive head gardeners have changed the features, reflecting the art of gardening, and occasionally the science of botany. This talk looks at how the art of gardening has changed and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects modern garden design. The title of the talk refers to the fact that one motivation for garden design is to create paradise on Earth.

From 1988 to 2014 Timothy Walker was the Director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.  Botanic gardens are often described as living museums, and garden curators talk about them in the same way as museum curators talk about their collections. Gardens are often thought of as places where science and art meet on equal terms, and Timothy’s lectures investigate this relationship. Since 2014, he has taught Plant Biology at Somerville College Oxford.

Monday 21 October 2024
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S SENSE OF PLACE
Presented by Deborah Jenner
Venue & Time: Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay 6.00 pm

Unlike Europe’s International Style, Wright’s architectural designs are site-specific. Ecologically ahead of their time, they exploit local materials and provide shelter from local weather. From Falling Water, a millionaire’s residential retreat in Pennsylvania, to affordable – even prefab – urban housing in Milwaukee, each construction is married to its unique setting. His all-on-one-level Prairie houses spread out over Mid-West farmland, while the ascending spiral ramp in the Guggenheim Museum in New York completely redefined gallery spaces. Not only are Wright’s buildings America’s icons of 20th century architecture, they also offer the key to novel solutions for the new millennium worldwide.

An American-born art historian and member of the College Arts Association, Deborah Jenner has resided in Paris since 1990. She has worked at the Ecole du Louvre, the Sorbonne, the Catholic Institute, and the British Council. Her Doctorate thesis proved non-western influences in Georgia O’Keeffe’s art. Deborah’s publications include catalogue essays for Musée d’Orsay and Centre Pompidou, scholarly papers and gallery critiques. She gives public talks, guided walks, museum tours, and study-abroad programs.

Monday 18 November 2024
THE AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE FROM GLOVER TO OLSEN
Presented by Dr Nick Gordon
Venue & Time: Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay 6.00 pm

It’s often said that the Australian landscape – its colours, the intensity of light, the strange forms of its mountains and flora – posed unique problems for artists trained in a European tradition. But the history of Australian landscape painting is far more complex. In this lecture Dr Nick Gordon shows how Australian landscape painters helped craft ideas of Australianness, from a specifically Australian national identity in the 19th century to a confident cosmopolitanism in the 1960s.

Nick Gordon has a PhD in history from the University of Sydney. He has taught European history, the history of political thought, and architectural history. He has lectured regularly on art and history topics, and has led art-focused tours since 2007, principally to Europe and Australia. He is also an artist and brings his deep knowledge of materials, techniques, and the insights of his “artist’s eye” to his analyses of art in his lectures.