In July, our Zoom meeting looked at ‘Still Life’ paintings but with the challenge to avoid those with apples and oranges!  One again we had a fantastic selection of art works dating from 1648 to 2000’s and not an apple in sight! I chose a work called Pottery by Patrick Caulfield painted in oil on … Read more

Our Zoom meeting in June focused on the theme of ‘Famous Places’ with art works chosen by members of the group.  We discovered that many famous places were also our favourite places.  The area around Westminster was popular, with works by Canaletto and Monet and a quirky watercolour of a wonky Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) … Read more

Our topic for the Zoom meeting in May was ‘Portraits’.  Once again there was a good response and we were able to explore ten contributions from members of the group.  These included works by Gainsborough, Hockney, Kahlo and Vermeer. The National Gallery recently revealed the top 20 paintings that were viewed online throughout lockdown.  At … Read more

Art History On Easter Monday, with snow flurries outside, 13 members of the group settled into a Zoom meeting looking at paintings of ‘Gardens’.  We soon became engrossed in the work of a variety of artists from the late 19th and early 20th century including, Pissarro, Van Gogh, Klimt and Sorolla.  After a short break, … Read more

The theme for our Zoom meeting in March was ‘Night Paintings’ and once again the group found a variety of paintings to share.  Some artworks used the quality of dim light to create a mysterious atmosphere, while others used the moon or an artificial light source to illuminate the scene.  The use of wet pavements … Read more

Until we can meet again properly, I continue to update members by email and phone of any upcoming TV programmes or online events. In addition, we have been meeting on Zoom with group members choosing a painting to talk about, based on a theme.  This approach has encouraged us to discover some lesser known artists … Read more

In January the group enjoyed a Zoom meeting where we looked at paintings on the theme of Food and Drink.  These ranged from still lifes by Caravaggio, Monet and Gris to the Potato Eaters by Van Gogh and scenes set in a restaurant, a Dutch kitchen, and a grocer’s shop. Finally we compared a still … Read more

  In December we had our second group meeting on Zoom, when we enjoyed looking at Seascapes chosen by group members.  There was a great selection of paintings including some by some lesser known artists and it was interesting to note the different ways of approaching the subject.  Our topic for January is ‘Food and … Read more

By the time you read this we will have held our first meeting on Zoom with the theme of Autumn Harvest.  I selected 6 paintings on the subject and we discussed the artists and their work and tried to pick a favourite.  If this trial session goes well, we will continue to have group meetings … Read more