Bonus August Lecture from Arts Society Chiswick

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James Taylor to give Zoom Webinar on postcard humour

August is normally a month off for the Arts Society Chiswick as so many people would be on holiday but this is not a usual year.

On Thursday 13 August at 8.15pm James Taylor will talk on Brilliant British Humour in the forgotten art of the Picture Postcard 1840-1950s. The format of the talk will be a Zoom Webinar.

From the Edwardian era to the outbreak of World War II millions of artist-drawn humorous postcards were produced not just for entertainment but to bolster morale, to inspire, instruct, motivate and persuade. This is a chance to discover the popular themes and styles of the period by the masters of the medium such as Mabel Lucie Attwell, Dudley Buxton, Donald McGill and Fred Spurgin, and the reasons why their popularity waned with the British public.

James Taylor studied at the Universities of St Andrews and Manchester, and is a former curator of paintings, drawings and prints, and co-ordinator of various exhibitions and galleries, at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, also lecturer and ships' historian on board cruise ships. His publications include illustrated histories of Marine Painting (1995) and yachting art Yachts on Canvas (1998), The Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin’s extraordinary adventure aboard FitzRoy’s famous survey ship (2008), Careless Talk Costs Lives: Fougasse and the Art of Public Information (2010) and Your Country Needs You: the Secret History of the Propaganda Poster (2013). Completed his PhD at the University of Sussex in 2015 on the voyager artist William Westall (1781-1850) who sailed with Commander Matthew Flinders aboard HMS 'Investigator' (1801-1803) the first ship to circumnavigate Australia. Guided tours of the buildings and artworks of the National Maritime Museum can be arranged for groups.

The talk is only for members, who are sent log-in details via email a day in advance.

With so much on offer online the society wanted to make membership attractive to those who would now like to join. Full details can be found on the Joining Us page of their website.

Membership will only cost £15 from now until the end of the year and exceptionally the fee will be per household rather than per person.

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August 9, 2020