Waikato Decorative & Fine Arts Society (Waikato DFAS)

WaikatoDFAS meets at 7:30pm at The Centre for Performing Arts, Southwell School, Peachgrove Road, Hamilton. The evening starts with a one-hour lecture followed by light refreshments with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.

We have continued to be challenged by Covid-19 and the border situation, however in 2022 we were able to deliver a full programme of eight lectures to members, either gathered at the venue or online at home. Additional online topics were also offered for home viewing.

In 2023, we return more to normal with a mix of accredited The Arts Society lecturers from the UK, and one New Zealand and one Australian based lecturer – most will be with us in person with just a couple by live broadcast. We hope that things will run smoothly but will be ready to adapt our programme arrangements if necessary. We will continue to deliver lectures directly to members at home if any gathering restrictions should require it.

Our 2023 brochure and programme can be downloaded here: Waikato Brochure 2023

Membership

New members: To join WaikatoDFAS, please download and complete the 2023 WaiDFAS New Members Form  Our annual subscription is $140 per person.

A half year membership is available for $70 for new members who join any time after June. This membership will cover the last four lectures for 2023. Please use the 2023 New Members Form on this page or contact the Membership Secretary.

Please scan or photograph the completed form and return to the Membership Secretary –  dfaswaikato@gmail.com.

For further information, or to notify changes of contact details, please advise Jill Brown, Membership Secretary, phone 021 273 2161 or Lyn Jones, Chairperson, 021 0610 716. Or email dfaswaikato@gmail.com.

Membership is non-transferable.

Returning members: For members renewing for 2023 whose contact details have changed, please download and complete the
2023 WaiDFAS Returning Members Form 

Returning members are encouraged to pay their subscriptions on-line – Note that the Returning Members Form does not need to be completed unless your contact details have changed.

Guests

Guests are welcome. Please advise our Membership Secretary, Jill Brown, (021 273 2161) or dfaswaikato@gmail.com of their attendance prior to the lecture. A $20 per lecture guest fee is payable on the night. The fee for other visiting DFAS members is $15.00.

Waikato 2023 Lecturer Biographies and Topics

Geoffrey Edwards

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 23 February 2023, 7.30pm

Geoffrey Edwards was Director of the Geelong Art Gallery, one of Australia’s oldest and largest regional galleries.   Prior to this appointment, he held Senior Curatorial positions at the National Gallery of Victoria where he was in charge of the collections of International and Australian sculpture and Melbourne’s celebrated holdings of ancient, antique and modern glass. His professional affiliations, here and abroad, are extensive and include, amongst others, the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, Visions Australia, the International Councils of Museums [ICOM], Craft Australia, Museums Australia [Victoria], the Winston Churchill Trust [he is a former Churchill Fellow], the George Baldessin Trust and the National Trust of Australia [Victoria]. He is the author of various monographs, numerous exhibition catalogues and contributes to journals in Australia, Japan, Britain and the US.

FREEDOM OF ANGELS – SCULPTURE IN A CENTURY OF UPHEAVAL

In the spirit of Michelangelo’s remark about “seeing and angel in a block of marble and carving until I set him free”, so too has the story of modern sculpture been a process by which artists have discovered new purpose, meaning and motifs in the materials and processes of the modern industrial world. These dramatic shifts in style and technique that define the development of modern sculpture during a period when the art form shed any sense of its being either ‘a handmaiden to architecture’ or ‘forever in the shadow of painting’

Marc Allum

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 23 March 2023, from 5.30pm

Marc Allum is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire. He is shortly to begin his 23rd year as a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes. Marc regularly writes for mainstream magazines and is an author, antiques consultant and lecturer. He also runs a fine art valuation and consultancy service. Marc has his own unique style with interests ranging from pre-history to modern design and is a self-confessed collectaholic. He has a passion and reputation for divining the unusual through ‘a desire to connect with history through the interpretation and pursuit of objects and their origins’. Marc has lectured widely for many years to a number of different organisations in both the public and charity sector, including travel companies, The National Trust, The WI and many literary festivals including Cheltenham, Bath, Wells and Petworth. Marc is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

PRE-LECTURE SPECIAL INTEREST SESSION – BRING AN OBJECT – 5.30pm

Marc explores the anatomy of collecting by using objects brought in by the audience to form an instant ‘Antiques Roadshow’ of history, anecdotes and audience involvement. Marc will bring a few small items of his own in addition to assessing and discussing those brought in by the audience.

This initial part of the evening will be in the foyer area and is free of charge for members – it will be relaxed and informal and you’re welcome to come in any time after 5.30pm

There will be a 60 minute break between the Special Interest Session and lecture, during which refreshments will be served.

AUCTIONEERS TALES – 30 YEARS IN THE ART MARKET – 7.30pm

An amusing and anecdotal collection of stories and personal insight from Marc’s 30 years in the world of art and auctions. From million-pound pots to a lock of Nelson’s hair, this is a riveting romp through the life of a working auctioneer.

Karin Fernald

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 4 May 2023 – broadcast live from the UK – 7.30pm

Karin is known for her entertaining lectures on writers and diarists connected with the arts from the mid-18th to 19th century and moving forward in time with Virginia Woolf. Extensive research into diaries and letters bring lectures to vivid life. Karin illustrates them with slides of contemporary pictures and portraits from varied sources.

JANE AUSTEN AND THE SEA

The countrywoman Jane Austen found inspiration in the sea and in the maritime careers of her brothers Frank and Charles, on whose accounts she based varied and lively characters in Mansfield Park and Persuasion. Her unfinished novel Sanditon deals with the dreams, hopes and delusions raised by a fictional resort based on Brighton. And she herself enjoyed the odd daring dip in the sea. “ ….I fear I stayed in rather too long….”
With cartoons by James Gillray, drawings by Hugh Thomson and maritime paintings by artists including Constable and Turner.

Note: With her online lecture circuit, Karin will be delivering eight unique lectures to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.
.

Leslie Primo

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 15 June 2023 – 7.30pm

Leslie Primo holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. Was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, gave lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery for 18 years. Currently he lectures at the City Literary Institute, Imperial College, London, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute. 

THE SUBLIME IN THE EVERYDAY: JOHANNES VERMEER 1632-1675 AND THE DELFT SCHOOL OF PAINTING SIGNS AND SYMBOLS

In 1866 William Bürger, a pseudonym for Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré (1807-69) published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts his article called “Sphinx of Delft” about the mysterious painter called Vermeer, and so began the modern-day revival of Vermeer.
However, this lecture will begin by tracing Vermeer’s origins, his early training and influences, and how he came to the genre of painting domestic interiors. The lecture will look at his earliest known paintings and how he gradually migrated to the genre of domestic set-piece paintings we know him for today. This lecture will also set Vermeer in the context of contemporaneous Dutch artists and contemporaneous Delft artists; tracing the early beginnings of the town of Delft, its rise in prosperity and the low points of the town also. We will see how Vermeer went from being referred to as ‘the excellent and famous Vermeer’ in 1669 to being declared bankrupt towards the end of his life in 1675. How did it all go so wrong, were the signs there at the beginning or was there some great disaster in his life that prompted his financial demise? Finally this lecture will look at the late 19th century and 20th century revival of Vermeer that became the cult of Vermeer, and why this cult of Vermeer endures to this day.

Andrew Prince

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 27 July 2023 – broadcast live from the UK – 7.30pm

Andrew grew up with a passion for jewellery and was always determined that he would forge a career in jewellery design. At sixteen he started work in London’s Bond Street with the Antiques Roadshow expert Ian Harris. From there he worked with renowned contemporary jeweller Elizabeth Gage, working in design and production. Andrew has a love of fine ’costume jewellery’ and antique pieces, realising the beauty of elegant design and fine craftsmanship. Andrew’s work started to become well-known and private commissions came from celebrities including Shirley Bassey and the late Michael Jackson. In 2002 the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the ‘Tiaras, Past & Present’ exhibition – and this exposure led to Andrew’s jewellery appearing in films. In 2005 he made pieces for ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’ starring Judy Dench: in 2009 for ‘The Young Victoria’ starring Emily Blunt and Miranda Richardson; in 2012 for the third series of Downton Abbey for characters played by Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery.

FROM DOWNTON TO GATSBY: JEWELLERY AND FASHION FROM 1890 TO 1929

For the series and film Downton Abbey, Andrew was commissioned to make many jewels for the main characters and this inspired him to create a talk based on this unique period.
Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case.
In his talk, Andrew guides you through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence. Along with this, he illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

Note: With his online lecture circuit, Andrew will be delivering six unique lectures to all the NZ Societies so there is an opportunity to view additional topics from home. Details and links will be sent in advance.

Leigh Capel

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 31 August 2023 – 7.30pm

Leigh has been employed in the art industry as a valuer and specialist since 2013, and has worked at distinguished auction houses including Menzies, Mossgreen and Sotheby’s. In 2018, he became the Director of Belle Epoque Fine Art & Antiques, his mother’s business, known for supplying art and furniture to the Australian Film & Television industry, particularly Baz Luhrmann’s films. He is an accredited valuer of the Auctioneers & Valuers Association of Australia. Since 2019, Leigh has exhibited art and more recently has provided valuations at The Sydney Fair at Royal Randwick and The Melbourne Fair at Caulfield Racecourse. His projects have featured in Vogue Australia, ABC News, FilmInk magazine and The Daily Telegraph. He has also presented lectures across Australia as part of the Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Societies. His experience within the auction industry and outside as an art dealer provides a rounded perspective of the art market and art history.

ART AND THE THIRD REICH

Leigh will look into Hitler’s often overlooked artistic background; A frustrated artist in the traditional school rejected due to the rise of Modern Art in the early 20th Century. Hitler’s rejection fuelled his need to eradicate his new Modern movement once he and his Third Reich came into power. Leigh follows Hitler’s attempt to influence taste and trends through his conquest to acquire some of the most famous examples of Classical Art for his self-curated ‘Führermuseum’ in Linz, and takes a closer look at the plundering and destruction of a generation’s worth of art Hitler deemed ‘degenerate’ (the infamous, and important ‘Entartete Kunst’ Exhibition). Leigh will analyse some of the most important artworks and artists lost in Hitler’s war on Modern Art, the Monuments Men & the search for the stolen art, and the aftermath & impact on Post War art. He will also discuss the impact and influence of the Holocaust on Post War and migrant art in Australia.

Jane Malthus

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 5 October 2023 – 7.30pm

Dr Jane Malthus is a former Clothing and Textile Sciences and Design academic, and a dress historian and curator. Historical, social and cultural intersections and implications of dress and textiles worn and used by nineteenth and twentieth century New Zealanders are at the heart of her research practice.  She has published papers and chapters on topics including settler dress, dress reform, fur, lace, exhibition design, and co-curation, and is Honorary Curator of the Dress Collection at Otago Museum. A member of the Eden Hore Collection steering group and one of its patrons, she has been involved with that collection since the 1980s. She is currently a member of the Board of iD Dunedin Fashion.

LEARNING FROM DRESS AND TEXTILES: A LIFE’S WORK

As a dress historian and honorary curator, Jane curates collections (Otago Museum, and the Eden Hore Collection), exhibitions (in Dunedin, Shanghai, and Auckland for example), and studies, writes and talks about dress and textile topics. This lecture offers stories about her research into collection items and for exhibitions, with a wealth of images of nineteenth – twenty-first century fashion.

Gillian Hovell

Waikato Lecture Date : Thursday 9 November 2023 – 7.30pm

Gillian Hovell gained a BA (Hons) in Latin and Ancient History, Exeter University, and then branched out into archaeology. She is an ex-BBC, lecturer for the British Museum and York University, and an award-winning writer and author who specialises in relating the ancient world to our modern lives, in person, in the field, on line and in the media (most recently on Radio 4). Publications include Visiting the Past: A guide to finding and understanding Britain’s Archaeology and Roman Britain. Forthcoming are Latin Yesterday, Today and For Ever, and A Mediterranean Tour: Not just a Load of Old Stones. Gillian teaches adult education courses in Latin, archaeology and ancient history and has publicly lectured widely and passionately, on cruises and tours and for museums such as the British Museum & Ashmolean, national press, universities, literary festivals, and diverse societies including Classical Associations, the U3A and the National Trust.

IO SATURNALIA! HAPPY CHRISTMAS THE ROMAN WAY

Early Christians celebrated Christmas at the same time as the ancient Romans were feasting and partying for their pagan Saturnalia festival. That annual midwinter party had astonishing tales of myths and legends behind it. Meanwhile, many of the pagan habits were absorbed into our Christmas traditions. Present-giving, holly and even party-hats all have their origins in this 2,000-year-old party. This talk will revel in artwork that is ancient and modern as we un-wrap the images and stories behind our festive season.