Events

Janie’s talk will introduce the audience to the Duchess of Windsor’s magnificent jewellery collection and her fabulous dresses, many designed by the 20^th century’s most renowned jewellers and fashion designers. These unique jewels and clothes were acquired by top celebrities of the day selling for exceptional prices. Janie will also touch on some of the political drama surrounding not just the abdication but also the banishment of the Duke and Duchess to the Bahamas. But just where did all the money come from and how did this twice divorced American commoner provoke the abdication crisis that shocked the world?

Janie Ramsey opened her first antique shop in Tunbridge Wells high street in the early 1970s and a second shop on the Pantiles in 1981, specialising in Georgian and Regency furniture, jewellery, and silver. Janie later joined Sotheby’s at their head office in New Bond Street, becoming a director in 1998. On retiring in 2008, she was invited to become a consultant until December 2014 when she finally handed in her pass.

For a copy of the Eastbourne Arts Circle Autumn 23 order form. Pleaser click this link:-

Eastbourne Arts Circle Sept-Dec 2023 Ticket Order Form

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.

In the Late Antique period (fourth to the sixth century AD) ivory was the principal organic material used in the Mediterranean world to create works of art. Carved by the hand of anonymous craftsmen these ivories are some of the most beautiful art objects in the world. Following an introduction to the history of ivory carving, the lecture will then examine some of the most celebrated ivory carvings of this period to marvel at the craftsmanship of the master carvers, explore the unique iconography and unravel the original functions of some key ivory carvings. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of the recent (flawed) Ivory Act and its impact on ivory carvings with advice on what to do with unwanted ivory through the Antique Rescue Centre.

Dr Helen Rufus-Ward is an art historian with a BA, Masters, and doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Sussex. She is an accredited speaker for the Arts Society, holds a Higher Education Academy teaching qualification, is a member of the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies and the Society of Jewellery Historians. Helen has published on Late Antique and Byzantine ivory carvings.

If you would like to purchase tickets and pay by cheque Please click this link:

Eastbourne Arts Circle Ticket Order Form Spring 2024

If you wish to pay for tickets by card, please click this link for the Eastbourne Arts Circle online shop:-

http://eastbourne-arts-circle.square.site

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt of the order.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.

On Sat 20th January 2024 at 11 am we will be holding our annual musical coffee morning at Manor Barn, 8 Manor Way, Eastbourne BN20 9BN, by kind permission of Mrs Elizabeth Muir-Lewis.

The price is only £6 per head to include tea/coffee and biscuits.  You can book tickets for the coffee morning together with tickets for lectures in Spring 2024 (see below).

As in 2022 there will be a musical interlude during the coffee morning, and chance to win items in our raffle.

If you would like to purchase tickets and pay by cheque Please click this link:

Eastbourne Arts Circle Ticket Order Form Spring 2024

If you wish to pay for tickets by card, please click this link for the Eastbourne Arts Circle online shop:-

http://eastbourne-arts-circle.square.site

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt of the order.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.

Following on from Geraldine’s previously delivered lectures on the British photographer, Fay Godwin, she’s back with a third instalment. This time Geraldine’s focus turns to Fay Godwin’s colour work.

Whereas the monochromes documented sites of literary exploration, followed by examples of despoilment and cries for greater access, her later images emerged from a need to withdraw from the great outdoors. Using a macro lens, Fay closed in on her subjects, to examine the in-between spaces, and relished the unexpected rewards they revealed. Exhibited as ‘Glassworks and Secret Lives’, the work was generally perceived as being more mellow and introspective, eliciting, a variety of polarised responses from many who had followed her career. To those who felt she had strayed out of her genre, her response was characteristically resistant, and made her more determined to carry on, which begs the question: was this ‘a curious footnote’ in the photographer’s career, or did this creative flourish finally release the artist within?

Dr Geraldine Alexander is an art historian and researcher who spent years working on the archive of 20^th century photographer Fay Godwin.

If you would like to purchase tickets and pay by cheque Please click this link:

Eastbourne Arts Circle Ticket Order Form Spring 2024

If you wish to pay for tickets by card, please click this link for the Eastbourne Arts Circle online shop:-

http://eastbourne-arts-circle.square.site

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt of the order.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.

THIS EVENT WILL BE PRECEDED BY THE 2024 AGM. The AGM WILL START AT 2.00PM

We are delighted to welcome Renaissance expert Dr Jeannie Labno who will deliver two lectures starting with Ten Masterpieces of the early Renaissance and followed later in the year with Ten Masterpieces of the Late Renaissance. Together, these two lectures will cover almost 300 years, during which time some of the greatest masterpieces in the history of art were created by some of the greatest artist of all time.

Through trial and error, the early masters rediscovered the technique of perspective and through experimentation with pigments achieved results that revolutionised art in the Early Renaissance. The exploration of the Early Renaissance will begin with Giotto and end with Ghirlandaio. Using Jeannie’s personal selection of ten paintings the focus will be on the particular techniques that these masters used to create innovative effects. An analysis of these paintings will demonstrate how and why we react to them as we do. Viewers are being manipulated – both visually and emotionally – by the skills of the artists.

Dr Jeannie Labno is an independent art historian specialising in the art and culture of the Italian Renaissance with particular interest on its impact in Central and Eastern Europe. A subject on which she has published widely. As well as art history, Jeannie taught for many years on the art and architecture of Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt.

If you would like to purchase tickets and pay by cheque Please click this link:

Eastbourne Arts Circle Ticket Order Form Spring 2024

If you wish to pay for tickets by card, please click this link for the Eastbourne Arts Circle online shop:-

http://eastbourne-arts-circle.square.site

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt of the order.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio lived the darkest and most dangerous life of any of the great painters. The worlds of Milan, Rome and Naples through which Caravaggio moved and which Andrew Graham-Dixon describes brilliantly in his book, are those of cardinals and whores, prayer, and violence. 

Art critic, author, journalist and TV presenter, Andrew Graham- Dixon is one of the UK’s leading figures in broadcasting having presented numerous major television series on art for the BBC. He has spent a decade piecing together the scraps of evidence left of Caravaggio’s life and answering questions that have long puzzled scholars. His insights and analyses form the basis of his lecture.

PLEASE NOTE: THE PRICE FOR THIS LECTURE IS £15 per head (£13 for Members)

If you would like to purchase tickets and pay by cheque Please click this link:

Eastbourne Arts Circle Ticket Order Form Spring 2024

If you wish to pay for tickets by card, please click this link for the Eastbourne Arts Circle online shop:-

http://eastbourne-arts-circle.square.site

For any queries or enquiries, or if you have booked a ticket and not received confirmation of receipt. Please contact Sir Philip Anson on 01323 411906. (Please call after 5pm weekdays or anytime at weekends.) Ticket advices are normally emailed within 3 days of receipt of the order.  Please note that Eastbourne Arts Circle no longer sell tickets via the Eastbourne Borough Council Visitor Centre.