The Arts Society Salisbury Lecture - Christmas with Giles, Grandma and the Family
- 7.00 on the door
- 09 Dec 25
- St Francis\' Church, 3 Beatrice Road, Salisbury
- 1.50pm
A lecture by Arts Society accredited lecturer Barry Venning entitled Christmas with Giles, Grandma and the Family
For a great many members of The Arts Society, the cartoonist Carl Giles was as much a part of the festive season as the Christmas tree, crackers and the Queen’s Speech. So popular were the Giles annuals as Christmas presents that they helped to make him Britain’s best loved, most successful and wealthiest cartoonist. The talk looks at Giles’s life and work with a particular emphasis on his seasonal cartoons, particularly those featuring Grandma and the Giles family. They include some of his funniest cartoons but, as the art historian William Feaver pointed out, they also demonstrate that he had few equals when it came to representing Britain in Winter.
Lecturer Biography:
Barry Venning is an art historian whose interests and teaching range from the art of late medieval Europe to global contemporary art. He has published books, articles and exhibition catalogue essays on Turner, Constable and European landscape painting, but also has an ongoing research interest in postcolonial art and British visual satire. He works as a consultant and associate lecturer for the Open University. His media work includes two BBC TV documentaries, radio appearances for BBC local radio and abc Australia, and a DVD on Turner for the Tate.
Photo: Grandma sculpture Giles Circus Ipswich (public domain)