Lectures & Events

In this lecture we will learn how the great film director Alfred Hitchcock used London, and how it influenced his life and his art.

Still both instantly recognisable and widely acclaimed over 40 years after his death, Hitchcock’s greatest and best remembered movies are usually selected from his Hollywood days.

However, he spent almost exactly half his life in London and Essex, and the influences of these formative years on his later work were enormous.

From his inventive use of London locations in the 1920s and ‘30s in classics such as The Lodger and The 39 Steps, to his inspired deployment on film of the West End’s theatre stars, Hitchcock never forgot the city.

And as it helped shape his life and imagination, so he shaped it on the cinema screen.

Jane specializes in the Dutch Golden Age and will give us a Tour of the Mauritshuis - one of the most beautiful museums in the world. The evening will be an opportunity to celebrate our founder Judith Holst’s 90th birthday, and for us to discuss the future of the Arts Society.

If you were able to see the spectacular Holbein exhibition Dr. Heard curated at what was then the Queen’s Gallery (now the King’s Gallery) in Buckingham Palace, you will know that we are in for a real treat. The date is Friday, 6 November, and the venue will be announced as soon as it is finalized. We will also organize an exhibition excursion in October (details t.b.a.), and you will have access to the Zoom lecture, Blenheim Palace – Christmas Past and Present on Monday, 23 November, courtesy of the Arts Society Berlin.