OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT WORDS BY THE WATER

It was a full house on 12 March  when the art historian and broadcaster Bendor Grosvenor gave our 50th Anniversary Lecture at the Theatre by the Lake.

In a talk titled ‘𝐀 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬', Grosvenor illustrated how the dramatic scenery of the Lake District, as well as the poetry of Wordsworth, were key ingredients in the emergence of the British school of landscape painting. He got us all to read aloud together some of Wordworth’s famous lines, to ‘listen’ to the wind in Constable’s paintings and to marvel at the shifting clouds in his skies.

Drawing on his book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘈𝘳𝘵, Bendor Grosvenor focused on the question why did it take the British so long to develop a distinctive landscape art? He told us how different ideas and talents combined towards the end of the 18th century to produce landscape art by some of our greatest artists - such as Constable and Turner - that portrayed 'the sublime' in nature and engaged the emotions.

Hazel Jacobs, the president of The Arts Society Cumbria said: “It was a perfect celebration of our 50th anniversary and a very special event to share with the wider community. It was also hugely enjoyable.”  Lucy Matthews of Words by the Water added “We were very happy to host The Arts Society Cumbria anniversary event. Bendor Grosvenor was such a popular and engaging speaker; it was a sell-out event and one of the highlights of our programme”.