Art Appreciation - Eastwood & District

Status:	Active, open to new members
Contact:	Helen Baker
When:	Monthly on Mondays 10:30 am-12:00 pm 3rd Monday
Venue:	Brinsley Parish Hall

Eastwood Art appreciation is a friendly member-led social learning group where people who enjoy art come together to explore its history, meaning, and beauty. These meetings are informal, friendly, and do not require any prior expertise or artistic talent.

Meetings focus on the following activities:
Member-Led Presentations: Where a member volunteers to research a specific artist, movement, or masterpiece and share their findings with the group.
Group Discussions: Interactive sessions encouraging everyone to share their personal views on a piece of art—what they see, how it makes them feel, and its historical context.
Gallery & Museum Visits: Regular trips to local or national art galleries, exhibitions, and stately homes to see artworks in person.
Themed Studies: Groups might spend a season focusing on a specific era (e.g., the Renaissance), a medium (e.g., sculpture or ceramics), or the art of a particular region.

Recent topics covered include

Art we do not understand

This intriguing suggestion for a topic was suggested by a member of our group who had really tried hard to understand the work of an artist she had come across, Cy Twombly. He is described as an Abstract Impressionist who, amongst others, produced some works he called ‘Untitled’ (so no clues there). These looked like chalk scrawls in lines, like writing, on black or grey backgrounds. One sold in 2015 for $70+ million.

We all had a look at various examples of his paintings but were unable to help our member. It was thought by some that you can start to understand if you read the artist’s intentions and explanations, but some wondered if they really wanted to do a lot of reading to get an explanation, and should you need to? Shouldn’t an artwork speak for itself?
Other works we talked about included Tracey Emin’s My Bed and Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds, and just what was an exhibition of different sized brick walls trying to say?

Hardwick Hall Visit

Hardwick Hall Visit

We visited Hardwick Hall to look at the collection of paintings. We were ably guided by our latest recruit, Lisa, who has recently volunteered as a guide there. It was a very absorbing visit and as well as admiring the portraiture and the symbolism within the paintings we were given insights into other parts of the house and artefacts. For example, it was interesting learning about the use and re-use of tapestries, and the difficulties of restoring them.
As if the house and contents were not enough for us, there was an exhibition called Material Power: Rewoven. This was a collection of 16 contemporary textile pieces using tapestry, embroidery and appliqué. These reflected and explored the themes of female power, experiencesand identity – very fitting in the home of Bess of Hardwick.

St Banabas Cathedral

Our visit to St Barnabas’ Cathedral in Nottingham revealed the ongoing restoration of elaborate decorative designs by renowned Gothic Revival architect Pugin, famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament. In the 1960s, Pugin's intricate paintings of rich golds, reds, and blues were covered with white paint to brighten up and modernize the interior.

The cathedral is well worth a look. The restoration project is scheduled to finish by the end of this year, which includes unveiling three beautifully restored chapels at the eastern end. A return trip next year for a full guided tour is being planned to view the completed works. impressive.

Our visit to St Barnabas’ Cathedral in Nottingham enjoyed the ongoing restoration of elaborate decorative designs by renowned Gothic Revival architect Pugin, famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament. In the 1960s, Pugin's intricate paintings of rich golds, reds, and blues were covered with white paint to modernize the interior.