Farncombe Estate

What Makes a Masterpiece?

Mondays 9 Jan – Mon 12 March  2.15-15.45 pm     weekly course     £75 per term

Ss. Philip & James Church House, Painswick Road, Cheltenham

contact: Lynne Gibson                                Click for printable booking form

Open any general art history book, such as Gombrich’s ‘The Story of Art’ and you will recognize familiar paintings which make up the canon of great masterpieces.
Many of these are in major European and North American public collections. From Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ to Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ to Picasso’s ‘Demoiselles d’Avignon’ these iconic works are so highly valued that they are almost priceless.
But why are they so highly prized and might other artists have been unfairly overlooked? Can you suggest some lesser known artists or artworks which deserve greater recognition: perhaps a place in the canon?
This course will be based on suggestions from members of the group. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion. We will attempt to answer the question: what, exactly, makes a ‘masterpiece’?

The Art of Portraiture: Power, Status and Celebrity

Friday 10 Feb 10.30am-4.30pm     day school     £25

The Chantry, Thornbury

contact: Pauline Darley
 

Enter any art museum or stately home and you will, immediately, be aware how important portrait painting - the art of the ‘phizzmonger’ (face-seller) - has been in Western art since the Renaissance. In England, we even have a major national gallery and prestigious annual award dedicated to the art of portraiture.
Today we will investigate portraits of the rich, powerful and influential: from the Monarchy, Heads of the Church and statesmen, to the nobility, to images of intellectuals and celebrities.
This richly illustrated course will offer plenty of opportunity for wider discussion of social and political history. It will also, undoubtedly, turn us all into amateur psychologists!
 

Drawings of the Great Masters

Friday 2 - Sunday 4 March    weekend residential course

Farncombe Estate, Broadway

contact: Farncombe Estate

For centuries drawing has been at the heart of art making. It was a skill students had to master before becoming professional artists.
But drawings are often overlooked in favour of their showy painted counterparts. This is a pity, since drawings are closer to the artist’s initial inspiration and nearly always, unlike many Old Master paintings, solely by the artist’s own hand.
But why is Leonardo’s famous cartoon in the National Gallery no joke? Why do lead pencils contain no lead? And can you spot 'bracelet shading', 'hatching' or 'stippling'? When might an artist have made a squared drawing or a presentation sketch?
We will discover the different uses of drawings from student copies to finished illustration and explore the styles and techniques of the Great Masters from the Renaissance to the present. There will be opportunity to handle a range of materials.
 

Beauty and Ornament: Later Victorian Painting and Victorian Glass

Saturday 25 Feb  10.00am - 3.30pm     day school  £25

The Village Hall, Churchill, Chipping Norton

contact: Alice Foster                                        Click for printable booking form

In this study day three NADFAS accredited lectures collaborate to bring you a Victorian art experience. I shall be talking about the Aesthetic Movement, and will be joined by:
Alice Foster is a lecturer on History of Art for the University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education and on residential courses at Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds. She will talk about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Charles Hajdamach is one of the top authorities on glass in the country. He is author of two important books on British Glass and President of the Glass Association. He will talk about decorative Victorian glassware.
 

The study day is held in Churchill Village Hall. There is a large car park. The pretty village pub across the road serves delicious lunches.  

The Art of Portraiture: Family, Friends and Colleagues

Friday 23 March 10.30am -4.30pm     day school     £25    

The Chantry, Thornbury

contact: Pauline Darley

Enter any art museum or stately home and you will, immediately, be aware how important portrait painting - the art of the ‘phizzmonger’ (face-seller) - has been in Western art since the Renaissance. In England, we even have a major national gallery and prestigious annual award dedicated to the art of portraiture.
Today we will investigate portraits of family members: couples, parents and children, as well as friends, neighbours, members of institutions and people at work.
This richly illustrated course will offer plenty of opportunity for wider discussion of social history. It will also, undoubtedly, turn us all into amateur psychologists!
 

How to Look at Art

Saturday 12 May 9.45am -4.30pm     dayschool

Farncombe Estate, Broadway

contact: Farncombe Estate

Become an active, rather than a passive, viewer of art. Unplug the gallery headphones and take your nose out of the catalogues!
This day school develops your visual and critical skills by equipping you with a strategy for looking: a simple, flexible and effective approach to analysing and interpreting any piece of art work. We put this strategy into practice by looking at, and discussing, a wide range of works from across the history of Western art.
You will begin to recognize styles and conventions, materials and techniques, and place them within a historical context. Most importantly, you will look with insight and hone your critical skills.
Today you will learn how to trust your own eyes and enjoy art more fully.
 

ArtBooks

Sunday 15-Friday 20 July residential summer school     £590 single rooms, £565 sharing

Brimpts Farm, Dartmoor

contact: Ros Allen                                   Click for printable booking form

We are now running our fourth ArtBooks summer school!  This is an exciting double-discipline course including two short poems and Beowolf (excerpts from modern trans.), The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Last Orders by Graham Swift and Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The accompanying art themes include: 'Deeds of Derring-do': Heroes and Monsters in Art, 'Seeing Red': Colour and Meaning, 'London Group and School': Sickert, Bacon, Freud, Hockney, and 'A Fine Romance!': Paintings of Love and Courtship.
 

Accommodation is on the farm with en suite facilities. There are lovely moor and riverside walks.
All meals are provided: delicious home cooking using fresh farm produce. Do not even attempt to diet whilst you are here!
The group atmosphere is fun and friendly. This is the perfect summer retreat from the stresses of everyday life.

How to Look at Art

Saturday 3 Nov 9.45am -4.30pm     dayschool

Farncombe Estate, Broadway

contact: Farncombe Estate

Become an active, rather than a passive, viewer of art. Unplug the gallery headphones and take your nose out of the catalogues!
This day school develops your visual and critical skills by equipping you with a strategy for looking: a simple, flexible and effective approach to analysing and interpreting any piece of art work. We put this strategy into practice by looking at, and discussing, a wide range of works from across the history of Western art.
You will begin to recognize styles and conventions, materials and techniques, and place them within a historical context. Most importantly, you will look with insight and hone your critical skills.
Today you will learn how to trust your own eyes and enjoy art more fully.
 

Every Picture Tells a Story: Reading Narrative Paintings

Monday 1 October-Monday 3 December 2.15-3.45 pm     weekly course

Ss. Philip & James Church House, Painswick Road, Cheltenham

contact: Lynne Gibson

'Every picture tells a story' according to the well-known saying.
From Bible stories to Classical myths, poetry, drama and literature, artists have long found inspiration in narrative. The cast of characters includes saints and martyrs, gods and goddesses, heroes and villains, damsels in distress and femmes fatales.
The art of history painting was considered the highest subject matter under the genre system. The patrons were educated and wealthy: they knew the great literary works and had space on their walls for vast compositions.
But, now, we have lost the ability to read the meanings. We can feel we are – quite literally- missing the plot!
Join me on a detective trail to uncover hidden symbols, signs and emblems and put names to key figures. On this course every picture tells a story and we will become fluent readers!

Face to Face: with the Art of Portraiture

Friday 23- Sunday 25 November     weekend residential course

Farncombe Estate, Broadway

contact: Farncombe Estate

Enter any art museum or stately home and you will, immediately, be aware how important portrait painting - the art of the ‘phizzmonger’ (face-seller) - has been in Western art. In England, we even have a major national gallery dedicated to the art of portraiture.
We will investigate this fascinating subject in all its forms from Roman death masks to Mediaeval miniatures, Renaissance profiles to Royal Propaganda, Dutch civic portraiture to Baroque and Edwardian ‘swagger’ portraits.
We shall ask: was this portrait a gift, a memento, commemorative, subversive, personal or public? What does it tell us about the sitter – and about the artist?
There will be plenty of opportunity for wider discussion of, for example, social and political history, costume and hairstyling, as well as ideals of bodily and facial beauty. The subject will also, undoubtedly, turn us all into amateur psychologists!