diary

Here is the diary for everything I have planned over the next few months, whether live or online, which I do not record as I prefer the experience to be ‘in the moment’. I add things in as they become fixed so… watch this space!

Talks and tours…

After this list of upcoming events there is some important information – so please scan all the way down!

Over the next few months my online talks will start in Merseyside and then look back to a superb exhibition in Ghent about Women working as artists in the ‘low countries’. I will then try and put the colour back into a rather parched summer with Hepworth and the Scottish Colourists, before returning to Merseyside and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool – all of which will lead up to the arrival of the Bayeux tapestry in the Autumn!

Monday, 13 July at 6pm
Beyond the Brotherhood:
Legacies of the Pre-Raphaelites
at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead
until 7 November 2026
A chance to give this fantastic display the time it deserves – with a discount for those attending May Morris.

Mondays 3 & 17 August at 6pm
Unforgettable x 2:
Women from Antwerp to Amsterdam 1600-1750
Two talks covering the ground-breaking exhibition in Ghent earlier this year that should have been seen by more people: an extensive selection of high-quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and more by women, some of whom are now famous, while many remain little known. And all of this is backed up by the most up to date scholarship!

The above link is for reduced-price tickets for both talks. Individual talks can be booked on the following links.

Monday, 3 August at 6pm
Unforgettable I:
Building a career
…looking at the first half of the thematically-organised exhibition, including portraits and self portraits, the approach to tradition and the value of family.

Monday, 17 August at 6pm
Unforgettable II:
The Community of Artists
…considering the extent to which women in the arts followed society’s expectations, and benefitted from in local and global networks

Monday, 24 August at 6pm
Hepworth in Colour
at The Courtauld
until 6 September
An introduction to one of the most important innovations of one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th Century.

Monday, 31 August at 6pm
Scottish Colourists:
Radical Perspectives
at the Arc, Winchester
until 16 September
Four fantastic artists who should be better known outside their native Scotland.

Monday, 7 September at 6pm
A Stroll around the Walker VI:
‘The Victorians’
A continuation of my occasional visits to Liverpool’s leading art gallery.

Monday, 14 September, 6pm
A Stroll around the Walker VII:
PRB: Pre-Raphaelites and Beyond
Continuing last week’s ‘stroll’, we will examine the ‘family tree’ of the boys who wanted to change the world of art – and the girls who took up the baton.

This year, with Artemisia (the ‘adult’ group of Art History Abroad) I have already taken a group to Strasbourg and Colmar, to see the remarkable Isenheim Altarpiece – it went wonderfully well and we will repeat the trip next year (more details when they become available). I will also be heading to Siena – picking up on all sorts of ideas from last year’s exhibition at the National Gallery (3-7 and 8-12 November – depending on whether you’re a fast or slow walker!), and I will repeat last year’s highly successful visit to Liverpool (21-25 September). If you would like to come, I would be grateful if you could mention my name when you book – thank you!

Important information:
The blue links above will give you more information about the individual talks – and here’s some general information that you might find useful. For all sorts of reasons I do not record my talks (I’m keeping this paragraph in because people keep asking!) I like them to be spontaneous, and ‘in the moment’ – which recording doesn’t favour: please accept my apologies if you are not available. Booking is done by Tixoom, via the blue links. They deal with all the ticketing, and will email you straight away – so if you don’t hear from them, you should let them know. The email they send includes the link for the talk itself. You will also receive a receipt from Stripe, who deal with the money. This sounds obvious, but if you don’t get the email with the ticket it is so much easier for me if you contact me more than 5 minutes before the talk is due to start – thank you! However, I will check my emails until at least 10 minutes beforehand if you do have problems…