The Arts Society Maidenhead, a member society of The Arts Society

The Society provides an exciting programme of monthly lectures on the third Monday of the month, covering a wide range of subjects. The speakers are all engaging communicators, who excel in their field. The Society offers enjoyable opportunities to discover and support the arts of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Come along to make new friends in convivial surroundings.

Lectures take place in the Courtyard Theatre at Norden Farm. This splendid venue has a huge display screen and excellent acoustics.

As we grow, we plan to organise additional activities such as day visits to places of interest such as; art galleries, exhibitions, historic churches, houses and gardens often not open to the public. We have a membership of 230, with members from Maidenhead and the surrounding area. To enquire about membership or to attend a lecture as a guest, please email maidenhead@theartssociety.org

________________________________________________________________Events

15 January 2018 - Andrew Davies, ‘English Fairs, Markets and Shops’11.30am Norden Farm

From Bartholomew Fair to Marks and Spencer via Petticoat Lane and market crosses, Andrew explores the lively 1000-year history of ‘shop till you drop’. The lecture is illustrated with a profusion of vintage posters, packaging and old shop fronts and will address the following aspects

The origin and growth of Fairs and Markets: includes Bartholomew Fair, the Frost Fairs, Horse fairs and also Market Crosses (Wymondham, Chichester, Salisbury). The arrival of Shops (WH Smith, Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer, the Co-op movement). Modern Shopping and the Department Store (Selfridge's, Harrods, posters and packaging, out-of-town shopping centres, farmers' markets etc.).

Profile Andrew Davies is an Extra-Mural Tutor for London, Essex and the Open University and a frequent contributor to radio and television.

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29 January 2018 – Behind the Scenes at the Auction House Dawson's Auctioneers, 9 Kings Grove, Maidenhead SL6 4DP

Aubrey Dawson, from our sponsors Dawson’s Auctioneers, will give a presentation on their auction business. Guests may bring a small item for valuation and a selection of these will be valued and discussed during the evening. This event is members only, tickets £10 pp to include a glass of wine.

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19 February 2018 – Valerie Woodgate, ‘The Mysterious World of Salvador Dali’ 11.30am Norden Farm

Dalí ‘...the difference between a madman and me is that I am not mad’.At one time the most well-known and popular artist of the 20th century, Dalí was a self-publicist who filled gossip columns with accounts of his eccentricities for over sixty years. His paintings of the invisible world of the unconscious mind were considered shocking, even amongst a group of extremists like the Surrealists, and after joining them he quickly became their most exotic and famous member.

Profile Valerie Woodgate is part of the teaching team at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, a lecturer and guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, and for the Tate on cruises. In addition, she lectures in other major galleries and, on religious art, in churches and cathedrals.________________________________________________________________________Monday 19 March - Mark Hill – Undressing Antiques11.30am Norden Farm

‘Antiques – I don’t understand them and they’re beyond my budget. Nobody even collects them anymore. They’re not for me’.

Mark Hill, a regular on The Antiques Roadshow, presents a persuasive introduction into buying antiques and integrating and using them in today’s homes.

The state of the antiques market and the different meanings of the word value are considered and we take a look at what current and future generations of collectors are buying, why they are buying it and how they are displaying it.

Profile Mark Hill is a British antiques expert, TV presenter, a specialist in the miscellaneous and collectables teams on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, an author and publisher. He studied History of Art & Architecture at the University of Reading.