Roger Simpson presents six talks on
Victorian Paintings.

Mainstream Victorian painting transmitted a vast amount of information to its viewers, on a number of levels: informational, decorative, social, intellectual, narrative, moral and spiritual.

It was for a while a truly democratic statement of shared beliefs. As such it has been largely scorned by the Fine Art establishment.

By examining a limited number of works in detail, (one major work per talk), this series aims to unlock a lost iconographical complexity.

£10 per talk or £51 for all six booked in advance in one transaction.

Thursday 20th March - Luke Fildes (1844-1927) Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward, 1874; Royal Holloway

*Social Realism and the problem of the poor

Thursday 27th March - Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893) Work 1852, 1856-65; Manchester City Art Gallery

*Compassion or fear? The glorification of labour

Thursday 3rd April - William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) (After) “The Awakening Conscience”, 1853- 54 Tate

*The fallen woman and her hope of redemption

Thursday 10th April - William Powell Frith (1818-1909) The Derby Day, 1856-58, Tate

*In the footsteps of Hogarth. This is Us: the “hat and trousers” school of Modern-Day Subjects

Thursday 17th April - Richard Dadd (1819-1886) The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke 1855-64, Tate

*The odd phenomenon of Fairy Painting

Thursday 24th April - John Everett Millais (1829-1896) Ophelia 1851-52, Tate

*The Artist as Illustrator