The Arts Society Auckland

Founded in 2004 as The Auckland Decorative & Fine Arts Society Incorporated, our society has a new life now as The Arts Society Auckland in line with our parent body in UK.

We meet on 8 Wednesday evenings during the year at 7.30 to enjoy diverse and stimulating lectures on arts-related topics, delivered by lecturers primarily from the UK. We also help contribute to the preservation of our NZ artistic heritage and promotion of art education.  TASA has donated over $80,000 to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki since our inception and continues to assist its programmes of conservation and education.

our 2025 programme

The success of our Societies is built on the high quality of presentations delivered by experts in their field. Many of these are accredited in the UK for their subject matter and presentation skills.

Our venue is the Rialto in Newmarket with its luxuriously comfortable seats.  In 2025 we offer seven The Arts Society speakers from the UK and one Australian-based. Six of these will be with us in person and two will come via live broadcast from the UK. With the online talks, there are opportunities to view additional online topics from home, tuning in to the gatherings hosted by the other Societies around the country.  Most members will therefore have the opportunity of enjoying up to 18 top calibre lectures.

Guests are welcome for $35, paid online prior, or in cash on the evening.  We ask that members let us know the name/s of their guests so that we can prepare name tags.

Membership

Full year subscription is $270.00; Half year $135.00 (lectures 1-4) with the option of renewing for the second half of the year.

To join as a new member or rejoin please download the TASA 2025 Membership Form & Programme

For membership enquiries email aucklandmembership@theartssociety.org  Membership pays for our venue and for refreshments after the lecture.  These two are our major expenses along with lecturers’ fees.

Our account details are AkDFAS 12-3042-0379470-00.

For general enquiries email auckland@theartssociety.org

Auckland – 2025 Lecturer Biographies and Topics

Peter McPhee

Auckland Date : Wednesday 26 February 2025 – 7.30pm

Peter McPhee was appointed to a Personal Chair in History at the University of Melbourne in 1993. He had previously taught at the Victoria University of Wellington in 1980-87. He has published widely on the history of modern France, most recently Liberty or Death: the French Revolution (2016); and An Environmental History of France: Making the Landscape 1770-2020 (2024). He was appointed as the University of Melbourne’s first Provost in 2007-09. He was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to education in 2003 and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012. He is currently the Chair of the History Council of Victoria, the state’s peak body for history.

TWO WOMEN PAINT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: ADÉLAÏDE LABILLE-GUILLARD & ELISABETH VIGÉE-LE BRUN

Two of the most prestigious and talented portraitists of the late-eighteenth century were Adelaïde Labille-Guiard and the court painter Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. While the latter was appalled by the French Revolution and decided to flee as early as October 1789, Labille-Guiard stayed in Paris, and painted the most prominent revolutionaries. She bought a country house twelve miles east of the capital in 1792 to escape the turmoil, but never disavowed the Revolution. This lecture outlines the lives and brilliant achievements of these two extraordinary women.

Christopher Garibaldi

Auckland Date : Wednesday 2 April 2025 – 7.30pm

Christopher Garibaldi MA (Oxon), MBA, MPhil (Cantab), is an independent researcher and scholar. He recently completed an MPhil in the History of Art and Architecture at St John’s College, Cambridge where he is currently studying for his doctorate on aspects of the history of royal patronage.
2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art: 2008–2010 Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. 1994–1997 Catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

FROM BISCUITS TO BLOUSES: GARIBALDI AND THE BRITISH

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) was one of the leading figures in the fight for the unification of Italy during the nineteenth century. During his lifetime he attracted almost fanatical devotion. He was a romantic and heroic figure who captured the imagination of Italians but also of the British. His interest to the British prompted a fashion for everything from Staffordshire figurines, biscuits and blouses to the famous red shirts that became symbols of the Risorgimento and Italy’s fight for freedom. This fascination on the part of the British culminated in a triumphant visit in 1864 when over 500,000 Londoners turned out to see him in Trafalgar Square. This lecture looks at the amazing life of Garibaldi through the art of the Risorgimento and uses paintings, documents, newspaper accounts and the many representations of him in popular British culture to trace the reasons for his popularity in this country. It looks at the many links he had with Britain and how he fits into the contemporary artistic fashions of the period.

Lars Tharp

Auckland Date : Wednesday 7 May 2025 – Broadcast Live from the UK – 7.30pm 

Since my 1986 debut on the BBC Antiques Roadshow (and all series since), I have spoken widely, within and beyond the UK. With over 40 years of experience in ceramics and other areas, I aim to combine several compelling narratives with enthusiasm and humour. Born in Copenhagen, I studied Archaeology at Cambridge and joined Sothebys where, as a director and auctioneer (1977-1993), I specialized in Chinese and European ceramics. Today my consultancy devises and curates exhibitions, advises on the acquisition, care and disposal of ceramics and other fields. I also speak a lot: many of my most popular talks concern the vast universe of clay and ceramics as well as the world and works of William Hogarth

MILK, MEDICINE AND MADNESS – DISEASES, TREATMENT AND (RARELY) A CURE

Lars, former director of London’s Foundling Museum, speaks as its ‘Hogarth Curator’ delivering several Hogarth talks-drawn from his portmanteau of titles. Hogarth’s narratives depict London’s rich and poor, sometimes making a causal connection between virtue and good health. Conversely, characters behaving badly are usually destined for a bad end. His subjects, old or young, poor or rich, suffer from venereal disease, especially Syphilis (endemic in London throughout most of the Modern Period) signs include facial scabs covered by cosmetic patches, or a collapsed nasal bridge or a weakened forehead (as seen on Countess Squanderfield’s child (Marriage no. 6) whose leg brace may also suggest malnourishment or rickets). Today’s medics have offered many diagnoses for the group of sufferers appearing in Hogarth’s massive hospital mural ‘Christ healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda (St Bart’s Hospital, Smithfield). With several medic friends Hogarth took an interest in pathology. And as an active governor of St Bart’s he was aware of the deadliest killer of the day, Smallpox, the Foundling successfully immunising all its children against the pox. We look at ‘cases’ both in Hogarth’s prints as well as accounts of a “Phantom rabbit pregnancy” and we end up with a criminal undergoing the terrible fate of public dissection after being cut down from the gallows. You have been warned!

Note: With his online speaking circuit, Lars will be delivering a variety of unique talks to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.

Chris Aslan

Auckland Date : Wednesday 11 June 2025 – 7.30pm

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying Media and journalism at Leicester University. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was kicked out as part of an anti-Western purge and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came a couple more years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford, lived in Cambridge, but is now based in a mountain village overlooking the sea in North Cyprus. Chris writes fiction and non-fiction, and his most recent book is called Unravelling the Silk Road. Chris lectures for the Art Society during the first quarter of each year, and leads tours with Indus Experiences to Central Asia, having left a large chunk of his heart there.

A CARPET RIDE TO KHIVA

Whilst this lecture will leave you knowing more than most about Persian miniatures, Timurid carpet designs and the process of rearing silkworms, it is essentially a story of how I started a silk carpet workshop in a remote desert oasis in Uzbekistan. It involves natural dye-buying in Afghanistan, dealing with corrupt officials, and seeing the way that women’s lives are transformed when they’re given the opportunity to work, and don’t have to sleep with anyone, bribe anyone, or be related to anyone in order to do so. Extremely popular, this lecture brings warmth and humanity into the world of art and textiles.

Alice Foster

Auckland Date : Wednesday 16 July 2025 – 7.30pm

Alice has lectured for Oxford University, Department of Continuing Education since 1998. She lectures at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Her busy freelance career also includes organising themed study days with colleagues, and regular weekly classes in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. In 2004 Alice joined The Arts Society and has lectured in Great Britain and Europe. Formerly President of Northleach Arts Society, she is also President of Banbury Fine Arts Society. Since its inception in 2003 Alice has led study holidays with Learn Italy Ltd to Italy and other parts of Europe. In 2024 she joined the team at the Argyll Hotel, Isle of Iona, Scotland, and runs History of Art Study weeks, specialising in the work of Scottish artists.

ABOUT FACE: HOW TO READ PORTRAITS

What do portraits tell us about the sitter? Are they shy? Are they powerful people? What aspects of character are revealed? What attributes do they include in their portrait painting? Why was the portrait made in the first place, and what does it tell us about the period in which it was made? All these questions are covered in my lecture. Today we expect a likeness of the face in our portraits, but this was not always a priority: sitters would be identified by their coats of arms or perhaps a family emblem. The development of the oil medium in the fifteenth century allowed painters to study the face and thus, the likeness in the portrait face evolved. The lecture is presented thematically rather than chronologically, and themes of family, friendship, power and status and costume are among those covered.

Pamela Campbell-Johnson

Auckland Date : Wednesday 20 August 2025 – broadcast live from the UK – 7.30pm

With an MA Hons Art History, St Andrew’s University, Pamela has over 30 years of lecturing experience to undergraduates, adult groups, and to Friends and Patrons of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the RA’s Adult Education Department. She has also conducted numerous guided tours, residential trips and focused gallery talks on individual works of art. Specialising in British Domestic Architecture and Modern British Art – Pamela has a particular love for the 1920s and 1930s. She’s had permanent career at Royal Academy of Arts for 12 years and work experience also undertaken at Bonhams, Art Loss Register and National Trust. Now a freelance art consultant and lecturer, she recently curated a collection for the Lansdowne Club.

IMAGE & HISTORY: ART AT THE LANSDOWNE CLUB

The current art collection at the Lansdowne Club highlights the fascinating architecture, social and political history of Lansdowne House now home to this private members’ Club. Through historical and contemporary prints, oils, photographs, silkscreens, lithographs and mixed media works, the image and history of this Grade II building comes to life. Behind the Mayfair façade, we learn about the 18th century floor plan by the neo-classical Scottish Artist, Robert Adam; Victorian Gothic additions from the 19th century, and Art Deco floors from the 20th century.

Note: With her online speaking circuit, Pamela will be delivering a variety of unique talks to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.

Clare Blatherwick

Auckland Date : Wednesday 1 October 2025 – 7.30pm

Clare Blatherwick is an independent jewellery consultant based in Scotland. She has over twenty-five years of experience in the jewellery business, ten of which were spent as Head of Jewellery for Bonhams in Scotland, a role which saw her travel internationally searching for wonderful jewels to be auctioned around the globe. She has a keen interest in the historical aspect of jewellery and has lectured extensively on her subject both in the UK and internationally, including Europe, South Africa and Australia. She has also appeared on various TV programmes in the UK and US as a jewellery expert. Clare is a member of The Society of Jewellery Historians.

THE FASCINATION OF JEWELLERY: IMPORTANT WOMEN COLLECTORS

Looking at the collections of four very different women and their approaches to jewellery, how their backgrounds influenced their choices, and the messages jewellery can send in respect of status, wealth and politics. Marjorie Merriweather Post, Evalyn Walsh McLean, Madeleine Albright and Elizabeth Taylor are the subject of this richly illustrated talk.

Anne Sebba

Auckland Date : Wednesday 5 November 2025 – 7.30pm

Anne Sebba FRSL is the prize-winning author of ELEVEN books including the best-selling biography THAT WOMAN, a life of Wallis Simpson based on her discovery of 15 unpublished letters locked away in an attic trunk. Her next book was Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940’s about a wide variety of women and how they behaved in wartime Paris published in the US, UK, China, France and the Czech Republic, winner of the Franco-British award. She has also written biographies of Jennie Churchill, Mother Teresa and Laura Ashley among others.
She makes regular television appearances and has presented programmes for BBC R3 and R4 including two about the pianists, Harriet Cohen and Joyce Hatto. She began her working career as a foreign correspondent for Reuters news agency, the first woman accepted on their graduate trainee scheme, and has also worked for the BBC world services in their Arabic department, although she does not speak a word of Arabic. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, a Trustee of the National Archives Trust and a former chair of Britain’s 10,000 strong Society of Authors Management Committee.
Her most recent book is a life of Ethel Rosenberg, electrocuted in 1953 aged 37 for conspiracy to commit espionage following a trial with multiple miscarriages of justice, optioned by Miramax and shortlisted for the Wingate Prize. She is currently writing about the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, due for publication in March 2025, the 80TH anniversary of the liberation of the camps and also works as a reviewer, journalist, after dinner speaker and lecturer for the Arts Society as well as various other institutions and schools in the UK and US including the British Library, Royal Oak, English Speaking Union and the National Trust.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PARISIENNE? A SLAVE TO FASHION, A COLLABORATOR WITH THE NAZIS, A RESISTOR OR A MIXTURE OF THEM ALL?

My talk about women in wartime Paris, Les Parisiennes, describes how they lived, loved and died under Nazi occupation. This is a story of resisters, collaborators, spies and couturiers. Some of whom slept with the German occupiers for romantic reasons others for food for their children and still others because they wanted the Germans to win. Some bought designer clothes and commissioned jewellery from Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels while others made their own clothes if they could, determined to look as chic as possible as way of defying the occupiers. Some went to the theatre, opera and cinema where artists performed to the Wehrmacht. These performers were picked up at the Liberation and punished for supporting the enemy. But other women in Wartime Paris were tortured or starving, courageous women fighting for freedom to believe in equality for all people, many of whom ended up in the concentration camp of Ravensbrück.
The climax of the talk is Christian Dior’s new look in 1947. But his sister, Catherine Dior, was sent to Ravensbrück but never talked about her life as a resister because she was living in sin with a married man and fellow resister. Her story and the stories of many other women, will be revealed in this lecture, but why has it taken so long for the varied and complicated role played by women in Paris to be openly talked about? In this talk I shall discuss some of the many reasons for this long silence, only now being broken.