The 2026 Study Day will take place at The Old Generator Station, Aldeburgh. Starting at 9.30am on Wednesday 11th March. 

After the premature death of Henry V, the reign of the weak, pious and reclusive boy king Henry VI created a power vacuum into which rushed the aggressive and ambitious noblemen of the Houses of York and Lancaster, both descended from King Edward III. Rather than a civil war, seeking to change society, the Wars of the Roses were a power struggle in a highly militarised, aristocratic culture which resulted in battles taking thousands of lives and costing the equivalent of millioons of pounds.

The 2025 Study Day will take place at The Old Generator Station, Aldeburgh. Starting at 9.30am on Wednesday 12th March. The Booking Form can be found on the "Our Society" page under "Documents".

There will be three lectures and Siobhan will also show us some of the costumes and accessories that were common amongst members of the Tudor Court.

King and Collector: Henry VIII and the Art of Kingship. No English king is as well-known to us as Henry VIII. He is famous for six marriages, breaking with the Pope, dissolving the monasteries and creating the Church of England; and for his ruthless elimination of those who stood in his way.  But he was also an enthusiastic patron of the arts whose palaces, tapestries and paintings enriched the Tudor court and began the Royal Collection. The forces that influenced Henry’s life can be seen in the works he commissioned, by artists such as Pietro Torrigiano, Hans Holbein and Giralomo da Treviso. They tell us much about his kingship and (unintentionally) his insecurities.

Gloriana:Elizabeth I and the Art of Queenship. Elizabeth I is one of our greatest monarchs. The cult of ‘Gloriana’ revered her as a virgin goddess, while her image increasingly relied on glittering jewels, gowns, and accessories. In this lecture we will view Elizabeth’s queenship through paintings by artists Nicholas Hilliard and Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Art was a powerful device for royal magnificence and propaganda and Elizabeth knew how to use it.  
By the time of her death, in 1603, few in England could remember a time when they were not Elizabethans and her long reign provided stability for the Arts to flourish.

Hampton Court Pleasure Palace. Hampton Court comprises the rose red brick of Henry VIII with the classical Baroque of William of Orange, surrounded by some of the world’s greatest gardens. Both kings used the finest craftsmen and stunning works of art to express magnificence. Dig a little deeper and you will find hidden stories, such as grace and favour, covering five hundred years of history in the corridors of royal power and pleasure. Thanks to Victorian antiquarians it became the only great Tudor palace to survive.

Doric? - or Ionic? - or maybe post-modernist? Come and find out!

A unique day exploring how and why the city of Paris has acted as both a magnet and a cauldron of talent for aspiring artists and designers.  Join Mary Alexander to discover more about the key events and personalities shaping the 'City of Light' during the first half of the twentieth century. We will venture beyond the 'mainstream' to identify the creative individuals who shaped the Parisian concept of 'modernity' (including the many female innovators described as 'wife/ sister/ muse/ assistant of ....!) 

• 10.00 — 10.15     Coffee & registration
• 10.30 —11.30       Presentation 1
• 11.30 —11.45       Comfort break
• 11.45— 12.45      Presentation 2    
• 12.45—14.00        Lunch, cash bar opens
• 14.00 —15.00      Presentation 3    
• 15.00 —15.30       Event closes

In the Old Generator Station, Kings Field, Aldeburgh, IP15 5HY (formerly called The Community Centre)

Cost £35.00 per person for the day’s events.   This price includes a fine buffet lunch by Coastal Catering.  PLEASE NOTE WE CANNOT OFFER BOOKING REFUNDS, BUT WILL ACCEPT SUBSTITUTION

CLICK HERE FOR  A BOOKING FORM

We will enjoy music performed by  students on the senior course at Pro Corda. The senior course is the pinnacle of Pro Corda’s Chamber Music courses. Highly challenging repertoire is explored by the students who live and work an intense residential course with international performers and guest artists.  

The event will be  at Pro Corda’s premises at Leiston Abbey.  The cost, which includes lunch, is £37.50 per person. There will be a cash bar at lunchtime. 

The day will start at 10.30 a.m. for registration and coffee and will then proceed as follows:

11.00 am ‘The Birth of The String Quartet’   presentation by a Pro Corda   chosen speaker                                                                           

12.00 Noon Buffet Lunch and for those who wish a tour around The Lady Chapel and Leiston Abbey

2.00 pm ‘Pro Corda an update of exciting developments ’ by Andrew Quartermain,  Pro Corda Chief  Executive and Artistic Director

2.30 pm A concert by Pro Corda Senior Grade pupils (16 to 18 years old) on the current course. 

3.15 pm Presentation of a donation to Pro Corda by The Arts Society East Suffolk.

3.30 pm Event closes.

CLICK HERE FOR A BOOKING FORM

A Day session of special interest on May 11th 2022.  A series of lectures and lunch.  This study day will take place in The Old Generator Station, in Aldeburgh (formerly known as The Community Centre) Kings Field, IP15 5HY

Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson are three of the most important British artists of the last century. Friends, neighbours and artistic rivals, their lives were intertwined through their personal relationships as well as through their shared determination to make new and radical forms of art in mid-twentieth century Britain.

In this study day we will look at the background to their emergence as dynamic artists fascinated by the cutting-edge ideas of European artists such as Picasso, Brancusi and Mondrian. We’ll see how, in the staid British art world of the 1930s, their use of new materials and techniques injected a truly modern dimension into both painting and sculpture, complimenting that of modernist architects and designers. We’ll see how they coped with the challenges of making art during times of war and in the rebuilding and regeneration that followed.

The complex relationships between them – with Barbara Hepworth being both friend and rival to Moore, as well as lover, wife and rival to Nicholson – make this a personal and compelling story. As each of the trio achieved international stardom in the 1950s, drawing younger artists into their orbits as helpers, students and assistants, we’ll explore the different paths they took in dealing with wealth, influence and success in the international art world of the later twentieth century.

Cost £35.00 per person for the day’s events.   This price includes an excellent  buffet lunch.    PLEASE NOTE WE CANNOT OFFER BOOKING REFUNDS, BUT WILL ACCEPT SUBSTITUTION

Plan for the day:

10.00 — 10.15     Coffee & registration                           10.30 —11.30       Presentation 1

11.30 —11.45       Comfort break                                       11.45— 12.45      Presentation 2    

12.45—14.00        Lunch, cash bar opens                        14.00 —15.00      Presentation 3    

15.00 —15.30       Event closes

Booking forms have gone out to members and can be downloaded by clicking HERE

Jo Walton has combined teaching and lecturing with a career in art bookselling and has been a volunteer guide at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Now a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, the Art Fund, and Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and local art societies.