News alert! Click on News for  ’January update 2′ on progress with the Lift Project (fifth item on the list after the Art Fund International, Martin Parr photos, the Arts Council partnership, and Princess Royal reports).

Excursions:

Day:  New excursions have been added to the list: to Hampton Court on 3 April, the National Gallery on 5 May and Charlecote Park (NT) on 15 June. For details, click on Full Events List.

Residential:   Details coming soon about a late summer ‘residential’ to Suffolk from 27 August – 1 September 2012.

 Short:  The next event is the visit to the Tobacco Factory on 18 February for a matinee performance of King Lear.  There are just 3 seats left, so if you want to come please contact Mary Hinchliffe now.

Lectures:

Friends Lectures:  All our lectures take place in the Rear Hall of the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery at 7.30pm (except that the March 2012 lecture will start at 7.00pm) and are free to members, but guests are asked to contribute £3

The next Lecture is on 28 February when Linda Smith will talk about ‘Picasso and Britain’. Linda is one of our best lecturers, so even if you are not going on the subsequent excursion it will be well worth coming along.

Note:  Temporary toilets have been installed along the back wall of the Rear Hall while the current upgrade to the existing toilets is being carried out.   This should not affect our forthcoming lecture on 28 February, and the work in anycase is due to be completed before Michael Clayton’s  lecture on 15 March. We expect the latter will be very popular, consequently it will be ticket only – but entry will still be free to members.  Look out for the booking form with the February Bulletin due to be delivered around 17 February.  Also, we will be checking membership cards on this occasion, so please remember to bring yours with you (the green card, which also includes the 2011-12 Lecture Programme).  See also the Full Events List.

Social:
Spring Luncheon 7 March 2012:

This should be a special treat — lunch at the Cameley Lodge hotel which overlooks a lovely lake in the countryside just off the A37 near Temple Cloud.

A Booking Form was included with the November Bulletin. See also Full Events List.  There are still some places available for this, if you want to come please contact Carol Lear asp.  Don’t be put off by the journey, it will be well worth the trip.

 

 

Summer Dinner Wednesday 20 June 2012:

Not been to the The Clifton Club in Clifton Village? Now you can!  We are sure the Dinner will be excellent, but it will be worth attending just to see inside the Club building…..see the Full Events List.

Lecture/Lunch on Tuesday 14 July: always a very popular event with members, next year’s Lecture/Lunch will be particularly special because our lecturer this time will be Karin Walton, Curator of Applied Art.  More on the Full Events List.

(view of the Trinity College chapel, venue for the lecture – click on image to enlarge it)

 

 

Exhibitions:   

At the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG): 

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011   19 November 2011 – 11 March 2012
This world-renowned, yearly touring exhibition from the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, sponsored by Veolia, is still open and is better than ever — some of the images are stunning, absolutely beautiful.

Accessible tour: for visitors with hearing and visual impairments, highlighting a selection of this year’s winning photographs, with real specimens for handling:  Wed 8 February 5.oopm with Becky Peters (Exhibition Assistant) and Dr Alasdair Grant (Naturalist) (free). Booking essential on 0117 922 3571 or email general.museum@bristol.gov.uk

 

Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in 2012: 30 March – 10 June 2012:  Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is among five regional museums in the UK to host a tour of ten of Leonardo daVinci’s finest drawings from the Royal Collection. The exhibition forms part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen in 2012. The drawings have been selected from the unparalleled holdings of the Royal Library to reflect the whole range of Leonardo’s activities from painting and scuplture to engineering, botany, anatomy and map-making. The Exhibition is a rare oppiortunity to see exquisite work by this leading Renaissance artist.

(Study of a horse from Leonardo’s journals: Royal Library Windsor)

 

Artists Rooms 30 June – 23 September 2012

Artist Rooms is a Tate-National Galleries of Scotland touring collection.  Bristol Museum & Art Gallery will be one of only 17 museums and galleries across the UK to host the prestigious Artist Rooms tour.  Donated by Anthony d’Offay the touring collection offers an inspirational collection of modern and contemporary art.  Bristol Museum & Art Gallery will place a spin on the tour with a unique display of conceptual art featuring artists Bruce Nauman, Jenny Holzer, Ed Ruscha and Lawrence Weiner.

Image copyright Jenny Holzer/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York

 

Art Fund International: History 6 October – 2  December 2012  Further details later. (See the report in News about the Art Fund International Award)

At M Shed:

Norman Parkinson: an eye for fashion:  21 January to 15 April 2012.

Showcasing the work of one of the great pioneers of fashion photography.  With 60 Vintage photographs from the Angela Williams Archive, this unique portfolio evokes a sense of glamour, beauty and timeless elegance. Original 50s and 60s clothing from the museum’s collection  also feature, showcasing high street fashion designs from this period.

 

 

But it’s not all dresses and photographs of fashion models.  On display too is this 1962 scooter made in the Italian Vespa design by Kingswood based company Douglas, who produced them under licence between 1961-65.  The Vespa became a fashion item in its own right forever associated with the music and sharp clothing of the Mods.

The exhibition carries an entry charge of £5/£4 — but  entry is free on the last Wednesday of each month: Wed 25 Jan, Wed 29 Feb & Wed 28 March 2012.  Under 16s free.

 

 

 

Events associated with the Exhibition still to come:

Sat 17 Mar 2pm: Angela Williams, Parkinson’s assistant during the 1960s, offers a personal insight into the Designers of Bristol Fashion portfolio of prints

M Shed Vintage Weekend: Sat 24 & Sun 25 Mar: 10am-5pm: featuring Blind Lemon vintage fair; retro make-overs, 60s music, vintage vehicles, dance, memorabilia and 50s turban making

Aston Martin Day: Sun 15 Apr: to mark the final day of the exhibition, a special display of Aston Martin vintage cars will be on show in M Shed square

 

Bristol Urban Sport  23 May 2012 – 9 September 2012

Coinciding with the arrival of the Olympic torch into the city, the exhibition will look at the range of sports that take place using the city’s  infrastructure – both the natural landscape and the urban environment.  Bristol Urban Sport will uncover the more unusual sporting activities that have taken place in the city and tap into the wide range of alternative sports that take place across Bristol today.

 

 

Tony Kitt, website manager
Updated 4 February 2012