Red Alert! Please note that this excursion has had to be cancelled because electrical work on site is running late.  Behind the scenes work is feverishly in hand to rearrange the excursion on another date.

At this point, the “second” visit arranged for 6 December will still go ahead on that date.

(Last updated 8 September 2010)

Welcome to Bristol’s City Record Office, your access to over 800 years of Bristol’s historic archives.   Owing to limited space in the strong rooms, only 8 Friends can be accommodated on a tour.   Three tours will be available from 10 a.m. at about 50 minute intervals and you will be allocated on a first-come basis.   If there is a strong demand, another visit can be arranged later.

Full details and a booking form are in the August Bulletin

(First added 22 July 2010)

This year’s Schubart Lecture in the Rear Hall of the Museum, starting at 6.45 for 7.30pm, will be given by the internationally famous writer,  philosopher and public commentator Roger Scruton who will be musing on ‘ Beauty and the City’

Roger Scruton is currently Research Professor for The Institute of Psychological Sciences.  He specialises in aesthetics and his most recent book (of many) is ‘Culture Counts: Faith and Feeling in a World Besieged’.

This is bound to be one of the highlights of the year and we are expecting a maximum turnout.  The event will be ticketed, but free to members.  Full details and a booking form are in the August Bulletin.

Important update: the booking form is incorrect:  the event is free to members,  so do not enclose a cheque when you book.  Please still send in the booking form so that we can check the number of members who wish to attend.   The incomplete postcode on the form  should read: BS49 5DJ.

Don’t forget to sign your new Membership Card  (formerly it was  “the Lecture Card”) and bring it with you to get in!

(This item updated 21 August 2010)

Tonight’s lecture will be given by Al Johnson from Tate Modern.   Al is a sculptor and printmaker with work held on both private and public collections.  She also leads workshops and lectures in major museums includng the National Gallery, V&A and British Museum.

There will be an excursion to Tate Modern in two days’ time to the  Gauguin exhibition (see next entry)

(This item updated 22 July 2010)

PAUL GAUGUIN:  Maker of Myth

This is the first important Gauguin exhibition in Britain for 50 years.   It features paintings and drawings of this master French Post-Impressionist from around the world.   His sumptuous, colourful images of women in Tahiti and beautiful landscape paintings of Brittany are some of the most popular icons in Modern art.

This exhibition explores the role of the myths around the man – Gauguin as storyteller, painting himself as a Christ-like figure or even a demon in his own paintings, religious and mythical symbols in his work, and the manipulation of his own artistic identity.

Full details and a booking form are in the August Bulletin

(This item first added on 22 July 2010)

TREASURES FROM BUDAPEST from Leonardo to Schiele

The exhibition will include paintings, drawings and sculpture ranging from the early Renaissance to the twentieth century, showcasing the breadth and wealth of one of the finest art collections in Central Europe.   Rare and important works by artists including Leonardo, Raphael, El Greco, Rubens, Goya, Manet, Monet, Picasso and Schiele will be on display, many of which will be on show outside Hungary for the first time.

More details and the booking form are in the August Bulletin

(This item first added on 22 July 2010)

Jane Pritchard from the V&A will talk to us tonight about ‘Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes’

Co-curator of the exhibition by the same name, Jane is also curator of Dance for the V&A.  Previously an archivist for Ballet Rambert and English National Ballet, she created the contemporary Dance archive.  She is chair of the Society for Dance Research.

There is an excursion to the Diaghilev exhibition at the V & A on Saturday 27 November.  See entry below.

(This item updated on 22 July 2010)

DIAGHILEV and the GOLDEN AGE OF BALLETS RUSSES 1909-1929

This major autumn exhibition explores the world of the influential artistic director, Serge Diaghilev and the most exciting dance company of the twentieth century.   Diaghilev combined dance, music and art in bold ways to create ‘total theatre’.   A consummate collaborator, he worked with Stravinsky, Chanel, Picasso, Matisse and Nijinsky.

This major retrospective celebrates his enduring influence on 20th century art, design and fashion and includes more than 300 objects including giant backcloths, original costumes, set designs, props and posters.

Full details and a booking form are in the August Bulletin

(This item first added on 22 July 2010)

This excursion is a follow-up to the very successful visit on 13 September.   Such was the demand on that occasion that this second visit is to accommodate members on the large waiting list from then.  The excursion covers a private tour of Horace Walpole’s gothic extravaganza, which has recently undergone a major restoration.

Full details were included in the August Bulletin.

The first lecture of the New Year will be given by Jacqueline Ansell who will talk to us about Canaletto.

Jacqueline is a National Gallery freelance lecturer, and was previously their full time Education Officer.  She is also a lecturer for Christie’s Education and the Open University.

There will an excursion to the Canaletto Exhibition two days later on Saturday 8 January — see next entry.

(This item first added on 22 July 2010).

Centring around the city of Venice, the exhibition is entitled Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, and features work by other 18th century artists such as Luca Carlevarijs, Michele Marieschi, Bernado Bellotto and Francesco Guardi, covering the period from 1707 to 1793. Highlighting the extraordianary skills of the Venetian view painters, this is your chance to see the best of the city on canvas.

Full details and a booking form will be in the November Bulletin

(This item first added on 22 July 2010)

The lecturer tonight is one of our own members, Peter Andrews, whose talk is intriguingly entitled  ’3-ways to Furnish a Tent’

Look out for more details about this shortly.

(This item was  added on 22 July 2010)

THE ART AND HISTORY OF BERLIN

This tour of Berlin, organised through Tailored Travel, takes in all the major sights of this vibrant city, including Museum Island (Pergamon and Alte Nationalgalerie), the Gemäldegalerie, Charlottenburg Palace and Jewish Museum, Potsdam’s Cecilienhof and Sanssouci Palaces;  plus a coach tour that takes in the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral, Alexanderplatz, East Side Gallery (one mile of the Berlin Wall), Checkpoint Charlie and the inside of Emperor William Memorial Church.

Stay for 5 nights (6 days) at the 4 star Holiday Inn on bed and breakfast basis with dinner included on 1 night and fly from Bristol airport.

See the August Bulletin for further details and how members can register their Declaration of Intent for going on this holiday.

(This item first added on 22 July 2010)

A date for your diary: the 2011 AGM will be held in the Rear Hall of the Museum at 6.30pm on Tuesday 5 July 2011.  Further details to follow nearer the time.

(This item first added on 3 September 2010)