Brisbane

MY SCRAMBLING AFFAIR: How Constable’s Late Paintings Changed the Face of Modern Art
Presented by Sarah Cove
Wednesday 22 October 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 23 October 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Constable’s exuberant, almost abstract, brush and palette-knife work shocked audiences for a full 50 years before Impressionism. Constable only sold 20 or so paintings in England during his lifetime, as their rough and ‘specky’ surfaces horrified audiences. He sold many to forward-looking French art dealers and collectors. Consequently, his radical ‘late’ works influenced generations of French painters, making Constable a Forefather of Modern Painting.

Sarah Cove ACR is an accredited paintings conservator-restorer, technical art historian and lecturer with several decades of experience working on paintings for the heritage and private sectors. She is a specialist in British portraits, 19th-20th century British landscapes and oil sketches on paper and board. She founded the Constable Research Project and is the leading authority on Constable’s materials and techniques. Her presentations are lively, enthusiastic and passionate about her work and research.  

SPECIAL EXTRA LECTURE

TUDOR & JACOBEAN COSTUMES BROUGHT TO LIFE IN PAINTINGS, FILM & THEATRE
Thursday 23 October 2025
Presented by Sarah Cove
Time & Venue: 12-1pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $40 for members and visitors

While watching a play or film, have you wondered how the characters garments are made, historically or in modern reproduction? And how did painters of the period depict the clothing worn by royalty and aristocrats?

Sarah Cove is a painting conservator-restorer with a specialist knowledge of Tudor and Jacobean portraiture. A keen seamstress who first wished to be a costume designer, Sarah combines her professional expertise, interest and contextual understanding of clothes making and design. She describes the materials and techniques used by 16-17th century portraitists to depict luxurious fabrics, lace, furs and jewellery worn in this period.

PETER PAUL RUBENS: Painter of Ambition
Presented by Albert Godetzky
Wednesday 4 March 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 5 March 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

No other Flemish artist of the seventeenth century rose to such prominence in so many disciplines as Peter Paul Rubens. This lecture will introduce the vast panorama of Rubens’ art and life, presenting the reach of his ambition as a painter, designer, humanist, collector, teacher, and diplomat. An effective manager and entrepreneur as much as a skilled artist, Rubens utilised the tried and tested model of the workshop to produce an extraordinary array of paintings, drawings, tapestries and prints.

Albert Godetzky received his PhD on Haarlem Mannerism from the Courtauld Institute where he was Associate Lecturer in Early Modern Art until 2025. He has worked at several European institutions including the National Gallery, London, as the Harry M. Weinrebe Curatorial Fellow. He is currently a lead researcher for a private collection in the Netherlands and is preparing a book length biography of the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius for Reaktion Press.

HALF INTEREST DAY

MANNERISM NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE ALPS
Thursday 5 March 2026
Presented by Albert Godetzky
Time & Venue: 11:45am – 2:15pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $60 for members and $70 visitors

Mannerism is a controversial term in European art history. It is an artistic style across the visual, literary and musical arts of the 16th to 17th century, characterised in the visual arts by a departure from naturalism and the stylisation of the human figure, often to radical extremes. The origins of Mannerism are examined through the late works of Michelangelo, then we move to the court cities north of the Alps. Mannerism became associated with the nobility and cultured elite.

Albert Godetzky received his PhD on Haarlem Mannerism from the Courtauld Institute where he was Associate Lecturer in Early Modern Art until 2025. He has worked at several European institutions including the National Gallery, London, as the Harry M. Weinrebe Curatorial Fellow. He is currently a lead researcher for a private collection in the Netherlands and is preparing a book length biography of the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius for Reaktion Press.

DEGENERATES AND PERVERTS: The 1939 Herald Exhibition on Modern Art
Presented by Steven Miller
Wednesday 15 April 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 16 April 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and Contemporary British Art has been called the single most enlivening event in Australia’s modern cultural development. Its impact upon Australian art and society is evaluated at a time when conservatives and progressives clashed.

Steven Miller was the former head of the National Art Archive at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He has worked in commercial and public galleries and published widely on art. The book he co-authored on the first exhibition of modern European masters to visit Australia was awarded the NSW Premier’s History Award. He wrote the first history of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, published in 2021 to celebrate its 150th anniversary. He has a Masters degree in theology, as well as qualifications in art history and archives. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW.

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI AND 20TH CENTURY SCULPTURE
Presented by David Worthington
Wednesday 20 May 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 21 May 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Brancusi, the son of a Romanian peasant, became an internationally famous artist and is one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. Brancusi combined the Romanian wood working tradition with a Belles Arts fine art training. A great friend of the inventor of Conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, Brancusi is an enigmatic contradiction.

David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied Fine Art in London, Barcelona and New York. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan.

EXTRA LECTURE

PUBLIC ART
Thursday 21 May 2026
Presented by David Worthington
Time & Venue: 12 – 1pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $40 for members and visitors

Public Art is a contentious subject. It is the most visible art form and therefore an easy target. But how do they come to appear in our public spaces? This lecture tracks the development of public art over the last century and looks at why some are loved and others loathed. Drawing from David’s own experience, he explains the process of procurement from the initial commissioning to the production and installation.

David Worthington has been drawn to abstract sculpture since seeing a Barbara Hepworth in a school history book aged 10. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and Theology, then studied Fine Art in London, Barcelona and New York. David is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Sculptors and was Vice President in 2010-13. He has carried out public commissions in the UK, America and Japan.

THE SPACE SHUTTLE: A Butterfly on a Rocket
Presented by Pieter de Vries
Wednesday 17 June 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 18 June 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Through his 12 week film shoot at Cape Canaveral and Mission Control in Houston, Pieter traces NASA’s Space Shuttle program from its ambitious start to its final missions. He will share behind the scenes stories and delve into the missions and the individuals who made the Space Program a defining chapter in space exploration.

Filmmaker Pieter de Vries is one of the leading documentary cinematographers in the world. His career has seen him filming the Red Army in China, rats in the sewers of New York, and the wreck of the Titanic. Pieter has contributed to programs hosted by Sir David Attenborough and was Director of Photography for Darwin’s Lost Paradise. His numerous awards have included Cinematographer of the Year, and an Emmy nomination.

EXTRA LECTURE

ON THE WILD SIDE: Filming Creatures Great and Small
Thursday 18 June
Presented by Pieter de Vries
Time & Venue: 12 – 1pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $40 for members and visitors

Pieter will share his techniques for capturing extraordinary images for Sir David Attenborough and National Geographic from playful macaque monkeys to majestic cassowaries in Australia. From playful Macaque monkeys in China to majestic Cassowaries in Northern Australia, the lecture will be illustrated with segments from Pieter’s nature documentaries

Filmmaker Pieter de Vries is one of the leading documentary cinematographers in the world. His career has seen him filming the Red Army in China, rats in the sewers of New York, and the wreck of the Titanic. Pieter has contributed to programs hosted by Sir David Attenborough and was Director of Photography for Darwin’s Lost Paradise. His numerous awards have included Cinematographer of the Year, and an Emmy nomination.

PAINTBRUSHES AT DAWN: The World’s Greatest Artistic Feuds
Presented by Barry Venning
Thursday 16 July 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 16 July 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

A first rate bust up requires one of two things: a clash of strong personalities or a conflict of principles. The history of art is peppered with first rate bust ups: Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, Constable and Turner, Dali and Breton and Banksy and “King” Robbo to name a few, which are entertaining and highlight key issues in art history.

Barry Venning is an art historian whose interests and teaching range from the art of late medieval Europe to global contemporary art. He has published on Turner, Constable and European landscape painting, but also has an ongoing research interest in postcolonial art and British visual satire. His media work includes two BBC TV documentaries, radio appearances for BBC local radio and ABC Australia, and a DVD on Turner for the Tate.

THE WORLD OF HOMER
Presented by James Renshaw
Wednesday 12 August 7:30pm QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Why have the Iliad and the Odyssey cast such a spell on artists and writers from Greek Tragedy through to Botticelli and Bernini up to modern authors such as James Joyce and Madeleine Miller. The world of Homer is an essential element to understanding the history of western art. This talk examines the history and cultural legacy of the two earliest works in the western literary canon: the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Following a degree in Classics from Oxford University, James has taught Classics at secondary school level since 1998. He currently teaches at Godolphin and Latymer in London; here he runs the school’s Ancient World Breakfast Club, which has an ethos similar to that of The Arts Society. Since 1998, James has published a number of textbooks related to the classical world, including In Search of the Greeks and In Search of the Romans.

INTEREST DAY

ICONS OF GREEK ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Thursday 13 August 2026
Presented by James Renshaw
Time & Venue: 10 – 2:15pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Part 1: 10-11am. Free to members
Dwellings for the Gods: Ancient Greek Temples: The Ancient Greeks believed that their temples were places where the gods came to dwell. The lecture examines the development of the ancient Greek temple from the 7th century BC. What is the legacy of Greek temple design in neo-classical and modern architecture?

Parts 2 and 3: 11.45-2.15pm. Fee payable
The Parthenon: A Jewel for the Ages: The buildings of the Athenian Acropolis were constructed as a symbol and celebration of Athen’s democracy. This was the age of Socrates, Euripides, Aristophanes, Herodotus and Sophocles. Why was the Parthenon the greatest temple the ancient world ever knew?

Two Hellenistic Cities: Alexandria and Pergamon: This lecture is a fascinating journey of Greek art and architecture in the Hellenistic age and the emergence of Alexandria and Pergamon as centres of extraordinary culture and learning in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

Following a degree in Classics from Oxford University, James has taught Classics at secondary school level since 1998. He currently teaches at Godolphin and Latymer in London; here he runs the school’s Ancient World Breakfast Club, which has an ethos similar to that of The Arts Society. Since 1998, James has published a number of textbooks related to the classical world, including In Search of the Greeks and In Search of the Romans.

THE FASCINATION OF JEWELLERY: Important Women Collectors
Presented by Claire Blatherwick
Wednesday 16 September 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 17 September 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

We look at the collections of 4 different women and how their jewellery sent messages of wealth,
status and politics – Marjorie Merriweather Post, Evalyn Walsh McLean who owned the 45 carat Hope
Diamond, Madeleine Albright and Elizabeth Taylor.

Clare Blatherwick is an independent jewellery consultant based in Scotland. She has over twenty 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 and appeared on various TV programmes in the UK and US as a jewellery expert.

EXTRA LECTURE

THE WORLD OF PEARLS
Thursday 17 September
Presented by Claire Blatherwick
Time & Venue: 12 – 1pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $40 for members and visitors

Pearls date back to 4000 BC and there is an amazing variety of pearls from those produced
by oysters to marine snails. We look at the most famous pearls in the world, including those of Mary Queen of Scots.

Clare Blatherwick is an independent jewellery consultant based in Scotland. She has over twenty 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 and appeared on various TV programmes in the UK and US as a jewellery expert.

OPIUM: Seduction, Greed, Art
Presented by Amanda Herries
Wednesday 21 October 7:30pm at Royal QLD Art Society 3/162 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Thursday 22 October 10am at QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Greed led to the introduction of this highly desirable but addictive substance first to China then to Europe. The effects of its use by those with troubled minds often led to the creation of great works in music, art and literature.

Amanda read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge. From 1978-1988 was a curator at Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1714 to present day. She has lived in Japan lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. Her most recent publications on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West and the life of Henry Raeburn, Scotland’s foremost portrait painter.

EXTRA LECTURE

EAST MEETS WEST: The Influence of Chinese and Japanese Art on European Decoration
Thursday 22 October
Presented by Amanda Herries
Time & Venue: 12 – 1pm, QLD State Library, Auditorium 1 Cultural Precinct, Stanley Place, South Brisbane
Cost $40 for members and visitors

From the 16th century people were seduced by the wonders of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and lacquer wares. Palaces and aristocratic houses had special rooms built to house the obsessive collections and the never-ending fascination for Oriental designs and decoration.

Amanda read Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge. From 1978-1988 was a curator at Museum of London specialising in the decorative arts 1714 to present day. She has lived in Japan lecturing and writing on Oriental / Western cross-cultural and artistic influences. Her most recent publications on Japanese plant and garden influences in the West and the life of Henry Raeburn, Scotland’s foremost portrait painter.