The Avenue Club is a fantastic, warm and welcoming place in Kew, offering all sorts of activities. I am very proud to be part of it, and have been teaching art history there for eight years (possibly even a little bit longer)!

We meet on Tuesday mornings, from 10 to 11:30.

If you live nearby, you’re welcome to come and try us. Please visit The Avenue’s website for more information on who they are and how to join: https://www.kewcommunitytrust.org.uk/avenue-club/

June to July 2026:

Mexican Modernism

As Tate Britain celebrates Frida Kahlo in an exhibition this summer, it is an opportunity to study her art in the context of Mexican art and culture. In this 6-week course, we will study the art and lives of artists who transformed Mexico from the 1910s to the 1940s.

Following the 1910 revolution and ensuing civil war, in the 1920s, the government commissioned art that would educate people and express the ideals of the revolution. Artists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros turned public buildings into powerful visual manifestos. These “muralists” blended modernism, indigenous heritage, and Marxist ideals to forge a new national identity.

Close to these artists and their ideals, yet unique, we will explore the art of Frida Kahlo. We will study where she came from and what she wanted to do. Her art was at once a response to the political and cultural context, as well as an expression of her very personal struggles. 

Along the way, we will discover Mexico City as a vibrant city, filled with modernist ambitions and brilliantly talented artists. Beyond Kahlo and the Muralists, we will study a series of other artists such Surrealists (Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington), the photographer Tina Modotti, and painters such as Montenegro and Revueltas.

Last session on 7 July

September-December 2026

Art of the Roaring Twenties

The first session will be on 8 September 2026. We will share the precise outline with you very soon!