Yarra
ADFAS Yarra welcomes you.
You are warmly invited to join us at ADFAS Yarra to explore the fascinating world of the Decorative and Fine Arts. Visual and performing arts, history and literature form the basis for the nine beautifully illustrated lectures that are presented during the year by international and local experts. You will be able to share refreshments after each lecture with like-minded members in a convivial and welcoming atmosphere. Regular newsletters will provide you with information on lecturers, art news, optional excursions and enrichment events.
‘Art is everywhere, if only you have eyes to see it.’
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House London
Lectures:
Venue:
Lectures are held in the Glen Eira Town Hall, corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield. Parking, including disabled parking, is available in the Town Hall’s car park and surrounding streets.
Time:
Lectures are on Thursdays at:
Morning lectures: 10 am
Afternoon lectures: 1.30 pm
Program
Find full details of the 2024 program here
Membership:
The joining fee is $40 and the annual subscription for 2024 is:
$160 (singles)
$310 (couples living at the same address)
Click here to join or email: adfasyarra@gmail.com
Guests welcome:
Guests are welcome to attend up to three lectures each year other than the first lecture of the year.
The price for guests is $25 per lecture and prior booking is essential.
For guest bookings please contact Esther Lewin on 0493 433 817
Contact:
For all enquiries please email: adfasyarra@gmail.com
Postal Address: ADFAS Yarra PO Box 51 Elsternwick VIC 3185
ABN: 89 563 628 670
Committee
Chair: Jan Bennellick
Treasurer: Jane Anthony
Secretary: Maggie Moran
Membership: Esther Lewin Ph: 0493 433 817
2024 PROGRAM
Thursday 22 February 2024
ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ETHEL ROSENBERG AND THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN ICON
Presented by Anne Sebba
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
In 1953 Ethel Rosenberg was electrocuted for conspiracy to commit espionage. The US Government knew evidence was weak. Her death left two sons orphaned and led to an outpouring of literature. Novels, plays and paintings used satire to show how women were only expected to be housewives. Since her death, Ethel has become an American icon, a symbol of how hysteria can make governments behave shamefully.
Biographer, historian, and author of eleven books, Anne Sebba lectures in the US and UK, and to the National Trust, British Library, and Imperial War Museum. Formerly a Reuters foreign correspondent, Anne presents on BBC Radio and television talking about her books, including biographies on Jennie Churchill, Laura Ashley, and Wallis Simpson. Anne’s latest book, a history of Paris is Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s.
Image: Eclipse: Portrait of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Lee Jaffe 1983
Thursday 21 March 2024
JEWELS OF THE REGENCY
Presented by Adrian Dickens
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
This talk delves into the world of Georgian and Regency Jewels. From magnificent necklaces to gorgeous brooches and elaborate parures (a set of jewels intended to be worn together). The extravagance can at times be overwhelming and yet simplicity and the use of paste often shines through. We will hear about three items of jewellery once owned by the author Jane Austen as well as current day wearers of these 18th and 19th century adornments.
Adrian Dickens is an independent jeweller with 40 years’ experience in modern, estate and antique jewellery. Adrian travels throughout Australia and internationally, sharing his passion and extensive knowledge about the world’s finest jewels. The stories he relates about famous people and their jewels are fascinating and informative and reveal his penchant for all things jewellery.
Image: Jane Austen, Marta Siwecka
Thursday 18 April 2024
EXCURSION: MT. MACEDON TREASURES AND AUTUMN GARDENS
Time: 8.00a.m. – 4.00p.m.
Our first trip of the year will be to two private and historic houses and their beautiful gardens at Mt. Macedon. The first stop will be Duneira Estate that has an impressive art collection as well as a spectacular garden. Our second stop will be the Stokes Collection, which is surrounded by the sculpture-filled Forest Glade Garden. The trip includes guided tours of both houses.
Image: Duneira Autumn Drive
Wednesday 8 May 2024
SPECIAL INTEREST AFTERNOON: ART NOUVEAU: NEW ART FOR THE NEW CENTURY 1880-1960
Presented by Anne Anderson
Venue: Caulfield Cup Room, Glen Eira Town Hall
Time: 1.30 p.m.
In 1900 Art Nouveau was at its apogee. Cities including Brussels, Paris and Vienna were all transformed by the so-called New Art with banks, department stores, shops, restaurants and even railway stations turned into Palaces of Art. Art Nouveau also performed on an international stage, dominating the expositions held in Brussels (1898), Paris (1900), Vienna (1900) and Turin (1902). It sought to address the needs of modern life, to utilise the latest technologies and to create ‘beautiful objects of everyday use’.
Southampton Solent University and is currently Hon Associate Professor at Exeter University, a tutor for the Victoria and Albert Learning Academy, and Ceramics Consultant for Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum.
Anne has published on Art Deco teapots, the Pre-Raphaelites, Edward Burne-Jones, and Art Nouveau architecture. She held various fellowships and has curated national exhibitions, the most recent Beyond the Brotherhood; the Pre-Raphaelite Legacy (2019-20).
Thursday 9 May 2024
HOW WE GOT IKEA: SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN 1880-1960
Presented by Anne Anderson
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall, Theatrette
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
Scandinavian countries have emerged as leaders of progressive design. Influenced by British Arts and Crafts, Carl Larsson of IKEA hand-crafted furniture while Georg Jensen, Denmark’s silversmith, also drew on the Arts and Crafts ethos. Scandinavian glass and ceramics were similarly inspired. In this lecture the impact on Scandinavian designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement,
Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modernism will be appraised bringing us up to the 1950s when Scandinavian Modern offered an ideal based on clean lines and ‘less is more’.
Image: Georg Jensen Silver Bowl
Thursday 13 June 2024
THE ’43 GROUP – CEYLON’S FIRST MODERNIST ART MOVEMENT. HOW POLITICS SHAPED THE ART HISTORY OF AN ISLAND NATION
Presented by Cresside Collette
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall
Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
In August 1943 a group of eight painters met in suburban Colombo. They came from a well-educated, cohesive society of Sinhalese, Tamils, Portuguese, Dutch and English and had a desire to overturn the form of art education that grew out of a traditional Academic style. They achieved great success in London, Paris and at the Venice Biennale in the 1940s and 50s, but the politics of the country eventually resulted in scattering them across the globe leaving a decades long vacuum in the development of contemporary art in Sri Lanka.
Born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Cresside has lived in Australia since 1962. Cresside trained as a Graphic Artist working as a book illustrator and advertising artist whilst developing large embroideries and exploring the textile arts. After post-graduate studies she tutored in drawing and tapestry weaving at RMIT University for eleven years. Over the last 25 years Cresside has combined her own exhibition practice with designing and producing community tapestries for schools, city councils and universities.
Image: 43 group Fresco, Aubrey Collette
Thursday 4 July 2024
THE SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING CRACKED
Presented by Daniel Evans
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is a modern Wonder of the World. It is a sacred building where thousands visit daily. This lecture looks at the decoration of the ceiling by Michelangelo and will concentrate on some of the more unusual inclusions in the Old Testament scheme. It is a mighty piece of painting that demonstrates incredible artistic talent but contains many subversive elements. Sin and punishment were key themes for much of Michelangelo’s career and he decided to project these ideas onto the Pope, Conclave and Tourist.
Daniel Evans is an educationalist with a passion for European art and architecture. He teaches History and A-Level History of Art at Cheltenham College, a full boarding independent school established in 1841. Daniel has been lecturing since 2001 and spent 9 years working as a senior lecturer and tour guide for Art History Abroad. A winner of the World Guide of the Year Awards Daniel continues to take groups to a range of European destinations.
Image: Cumaean Sibyl, Michelangelo 1508-1512
Thursday 1 August 2024
ALCHEMY AND ADVENTURE: A HISTORY OF EXOTIC COLOURS AND POISONOUS PIGMENTS
Presented by Lynne Gibson
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
It is easy to take colour for granted in our manufactured world. But before organic chemistry the most desirable pigments were often rare, exotic, or poisonous. Merchants supplied cochineal ‘grana’ from the holds of Spanish galleons, pungent golden nuggets from India and lapis rock carried by camel train from the mountains of Badakhshan. Alchemists prepared deadly King’s Yellow, mysterious Vitriol of Venus and Moorish Gold concocted from basilisk powder and human blood. This lecture tells the stories of alchemy and adventure behind some of our beautiful and colourful paintings.
Lynne Gibson is a freelance lecturer in the History of Art and 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 specialising in oil painting and etching, has been exhibited widely and her work used in a range of publications.
Image: Cinnabar, Orpiment and Lapis
Wednesday 28 August 2024
SPECIAL INTEREST AFTERNOON: MUCH MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY PICTURE, THE ENDURING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDICINE AND BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION
Presented by Timothy Walker
Venue: Caulfield Cup Room, Glen Eira Town Hall
Time: 1.30 p.m.
This two-part talk looks at:
1. The history of botanical illustration from the early herbals 1,500 years ago to the present day and explores why a drawing and painting are still considered to be superior to a digital image.
2. Why, although mankind has exploited the medicinal properties of plants for thousands of years, the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people.
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 do. Gardens are often thought of as a place where science and art meet on equal terms and Timothy’s lectures often investigate this relationship. Since 2014, he has taught Botany and Plant Conservation at Somerville College Oxford.
Image: Euphorbia Milii
Thursday 29 August 2024
PARADISE LOST AND RESTORED – 400 YEARS OF GARDEN DESIGN IN OXFORDSHIRE
Presented by Timothy Walker
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall, Theatrette
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
The title of this talk refers to the fact that one of the motivations for garden design remains the desire to create paradise on Earth. The history of English garden design can be told in different ways, but rarely can it be told ‘through the lens’ of one garden. The Oxford Botanic Garden was founded at the beginning of the 17th century. This talk explores how the art of gardening has changed and how the Oxford Botanic Garden now reflects modern garden design.
Image: Oxford Botanic Garden, Hitchmough border
Thursday 19 September
EXCURSION: SPRING GARDENS AT JIINDIVICK
Time: 8.00a.m. – 4.00p.m.
Our spring trip will be to two private delightful yet different gardens in and near Jindivick, Gippsland. Our first stop will be to Picardy Garden, a romantic French inspired garden created by Marian and Bryce Somes. This will be followed by a visit to David Musker’s more formal, terraced Broughton Hall Garden that has a dramatic backdrop of the Tarago reservoir and Great Dividing Range.
Image: Picardy Garden
Thursday 17 October 2024
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S SENSE OF PLACE
Presented by Deborah Jenner
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall, Theatrette
Morning lecture: 10 a.m. Afternoon lecture: 1.30 p.m.
This lecture focusses on private homes constructed with local materials to harmonise with their magnificent natural landscapes. Wright’s architectural designs are site-specific. Ecologically ahead of their times, 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.
Deborah Jenner, American-born art historian and member of College Arts Association 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 and museum tours for ex-pat organisations and study-abroad programs
Image: Frank Lloyd Wright – Falling Water
Thursday 7 November 2024
THE WALLACE COLLECTION
Presented by Sylvia Sagona
Venue: Glen Eira Town Hall, Auditorium
AGM and Lecture: 10 a.m.
The Wallace Collection is a treasure trove of exceptional art works housed in Hertford House in Marylebone, London. The collection of art and decorative objects was assembled by the first four Marquesses of Hartford from the 15th to the 19th centuries and was bequeathed to the public by Richard Wallace, philanthropist, Francophile and illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess. It is renowned especially for its sumptuous display of Sevres porcelain, armour, French tortoiseshell inlaid cabinets, paintings by Boucher and Watteau and masterpieces by Rembrandt, Hals, Velasquez and Reynolds.
Sylvia holds degrees and post graduate qualifications in Classical Studies, French language and literature, Fine Arts and Spanish literature. Before becoming a lecturer at the University of Melbourne she worked in Italy and France. Sylvia is a well-known speaker on French and Italian art, history and society and is invited throughout Australia and overseas to give lectures by organisations such as the NGV, Johnston Collection, Napoleonic Society, Potter Gallery and the Historic Gardens Association.
Image: The Wallace Collection Museum, London
