Art Appreciation Courses in Detail

ARTA 01: American Art - What is it?

Tutor: Dr Britta Dwyer
Day and time: Tuesday 10.00 - 11.15
Venue: Room 2, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 18
You will have heard of pop artist Andy Warhol and probably be familiar with drip-painter Jackson Pollock, but what else do you know about American art? How does American art express the unique history of a new nation? What were some of the problems in developing an American artform 'from scratch'? How may looking at paintings reflect some of the conflicts and complications in the nation's quest for artistic independence and autonomy? Indeed, is there such a thing as American art and if so, what makes a work of art typically American?
Join me to discover some of the richness and variey of America's artistic heritage, from early English portraits in the Colonial period to American trailblazers Whistler, Sargent and beyond.
Note: 9 weeks only, starts 12th October.

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ARTA 02: The Arts of Happiness in Georgian London

Tutor: Prof Vic Gatrell
Day and time: Monday 10.00 - 11.00
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.
Number of places: 30
This new course examines the eighteenth-century English art-world from a fresh perspective. It bypasses the polite and classicised art of the Royal Academy, and instead attends to artists who defied the prescriptions of 'high art' and who celebrated everyday London life in images that convey the era's happinesses rather than its miseries. These invite us into a new understanding of London's eighteenth-century history.
Great satirists like Hogarth, Rowlandson, and Gillray will feature in the course. So will topographical artists and watercolourists like the Sandbys, and printmakers and genre artists both famous and obscure. The course will be conducted through Power Point presentations and handouts. My book City of Laughter: Sex and Satire in Eighteenth-Century London will be useful reading; but most important to your enjoyment will be a readiness to talk about your own responses to the images. Special expertise is not required, although some familiarity with eighteenth-century cultural or social history would be helpful.

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ARTA 03: Bauhaus Revisited: The Distaff Side

Leader: Patricia Wyman
Day and time: Wednesday 1.00 - 2.00
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 15
When the Bauhaus opened its doors in 1919 'to any respectable person with talent and previous education, irrespective of age or sex' - there were many more women than men - and much of the innovative potential of the Bauhaus can be attributed to them. As a group we will be looking at how early ideas of absolute equality rapidly changed, offering differing roles to Men and Women - one seen as the intelligent bearer of culture, the other as a creature of nature defined by feeling.
Through a lively exchange of ideas with much personal reading and research, we will be seeing how far we agree with these ideas.

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ARTA 04: Cambridge College Gardens

Leaders: Brian Wallis, Desmond FitzGerald & Pam Gatrell.
Day and time: Monday 2.00 - 4.00
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 20
This course offers comprehensive, two hour long explorations of the college gardens which have inspired countless generations of inhabitants and visitors. Tours are typically led by those who know the most about the gardens and their history: the head gardeners themselves. There are creative opportunities on offer too: a small team of volunteers is encouraged to produce a booklet for U3AC based on the group's discoveries.
Note: There will be a meeting on 4th October at 2pm in Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street when the programme will be given out.

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ARTA 05: Cambridge College Interiors

Leaders: Brian Wallis, Desmond FitzGerald & Pam Gatrell.
Day and time: Monday 11.00 - 12.00
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 15
A chance to examine the interiors and courtyards of a variety of hallowed Cambridge colleges. The tours will aim to incorporate as much as possible of the public areas of the colleges - including the libraries, chapels and refectories - considering both the history of the buildings and their architecture.
Please note: although the tours for Interiors may immediately precede those for College Gardens (see above), this is a different course and applications should be made separately.
Note: There will be a meeting on 4th October at 11am in Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street when the programme will be given out.

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ARTA 06: Cambridge College Pictures (spring term)

Leader: Graham Garrett
Day and time: Thursday 10.30 - 11.30
Terms: Spring.
Number of places: 10
A programme of visits to several colleges, still to be finalised at time of going to press.

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ARTA 07: Educating Seniorita Year 2

Co-ordinator: Elizabeth Newlands
Day and time: Thursday 2.00 - 4.00
Venue: TBA
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.
Number of places: 20

This course is for the curious, for people who would like to explore and develop their interest in the many sides of the contemporary arts. We will have fun and stimulation by participating in  visits to exhibitions to plays and to films, within and around Cambridge. We listen to music, occasionally we read a book related to the current topic.
Most events will have a talk on the event activity, reading material connected to it and always always,  always at the end of each event there will be discussion. We do this either at the venue itself, a local bar or cafe. Some events are in our homes . It takes some effort, but it’s very worthwhile.
Lots of retired people finally have time available to indulge in filling in gaps in their education and the inclination to explore them.  Like Rita the effort has to be made, and the steps taken; and the reward will be immense.  So with our grey hairs (or whatever colour today brings) or our thinning thatch, Educating Seniorita is born.
It is about having FUN, about being there, participating in, researching, discussing, admitting ignorance, exploring whatever we want, however we want, making mistakes, and enjoying it!,  It is about taking our sixties, seventies, eighties head on and EDUCATING SENIORITAs (with  many thanks to Willy Russell)
Above all, we want to enjoy ourselves. We don’t need to worry about not knowing things, making mistakes. In Educating Seniorita, there are no limits!
Male and female Seniors welcome.

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ARTA 08: European Art from Early Renaissance to Baroque

Tutor: Karen Hunter
Day and time: Tuesday 2.00 - 3.30
Venue: Room 5, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.
Number of places: 20
We will explore the development of perspective and the development of more lifelike art and a greater interest in nature and the physical world than in Medieval times. Starting in Italy (Giotto, Duccio and the Lorenzetti Brothers and Simone Martini) to the 'Greats': McAngelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli) and the spread of this art outside Italy to Spain, France, Germany and Holland. We will also touch on the influence of patronage from Church, King or state. The artists will include Van Eyck, Dürer, Grünewald, Holbein, El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, Hieronimous Boseli, Hans Holbein.

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