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/
April to July 2026:
Light in Art
Following the exhibition at the National Gallery on Joseph Wright of Derby, and on George de la Tour in Paris, it seems appropriate to focus on light in art. Across three sessions and through varied examples, we will examine how artists have used lighting not only to model form, create depth and define texture, but also to shape emotion, guide attention, and construct meaning. From dramatic chiaroscuro and candlelit interiors to radiant landscapes and shimmering urban scenes, different types of lighting transform how we experience an image.
14 April – Types of lighting in works of art. Light is essential to create volume, depth and to evoke texture. In this first session we learn how to look at the light in a painting, and how to describe it.
21 April: no session
28 April – Light as a Symbol. The second session will be on effects of light and the way they convey meaning. We will look at religious works of art, the paintings of Rembrandt and Caravaggio, as well as that of Friedrich and Wright of Derby.
5 May – Making Light Visible. In Painting, photography and installation art, we will see how artists have made works of art in which light becomes the very subject of our attention. We will go from the Impressionists to contemporary light sculptures by James Turrell.
12 May: no session
19 May: The Unique Architecture of Antoni Gaudí
26 May: no session
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.
Outline to be defined, but here are the dates:
2 June
9 June
16 June
23 June
30 June
7 July
