Academic

UPCOMING:

Day School

Art for Art’s Sake? Whistler and the Aesthetic Movement in Britain

John Ruskin's critique of James McNeill Whistler’s 1875 painting, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, accused the artist of "flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face." This insult sparked a dramatic clash between traditionalism and modernism, culminating in a famous libel lawsuit.  Using this painting as a focal point, this study day examines Whistler’s pivotal role in the Aesthetic Movement. It explores his work within the wider context of Victorian art, music, and literature, while addressing themes such as portraiture, Japonisme, his connections to Liverpool, and the true meaning of "Art for Art’s Sake."

Joint course with Julie Robson and Dr. Judith Walsh.

A single session on campus, Saturday 17 October 2026, 10am - 5pm

Liverpool University Continuing Education

On campus at The University of Liverpool

Check website for details: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-education/choose-your-course/historical-studies/art-and-art-history/artforartssake/

Short Course

Remarkable Women: May Morris and the Female Pioneers of the Arts & Crafts Movement

Inspired by the recent ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, this course showcases the pioneering Arts and Crafts designer-maker May Morris, exploring her work alongside that of other major artists of the movement, including Kate Faulkner, Mary J. Newill, and Phoebe Anna Traquair.

Talented and prodigious, May played an important role in her father William Morris’s design firm, becoming director of Morris & Co’s embroidery department aged just 23. Together with her fellow creatives, she revolutionised the world of the arts, elevating traditional craft practices to the level of fine art, improving arts education, and raising the status of the female art professional in the period.

Join me to learn more about these remarkable women, to explore the beauty and skill of their creations, and to celebrate their incredible contribution to the Victorian art world.

2 weekly sessions on campus, Thursdays 12 and 19th November 2026, 2 - 4pm.

Liverpool University Continuing Education

On campus at The University of Liverpool

Check website for details: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-education/choose-your-course/historical-studies/art-and-art-history/remarkablewomen/

RECENT PAST COURSES & LECTURES:

Lecture

The Art of the Brontës

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë – like their artist brother Branwell – delighted in creating drawings and paintings. Before achieving success as a writer, Charlotte considered becoming an artist, and all the Brontës took inspiration from the visual arts. This talk explores artwork by all four Brontë siblings, considers the art that influenced them, and addresses the role of art in the sisters’ novels.

Thursday 18th June, 2026, 7 - 8pm

The Studio, The Atkinson, Southport

Free for members / £5 for public (pay on the door)

Check website for details: https://theatkinson.co.uk/events/the-art-of-the-brontes/

Short Course

An Introduction to Art History through the Atkinson Collection

Join Anna to explore the history of art through examples from the Atkinson’s rich and varied collection. This accessible course looks at different genres in art, such as history, portraiture, landscape and still life, and considers issues of form, subject, style and symbolism. Themes including academic art education and practice, the status of women artists, and changing fashions in the art world are also touched upon as we uncover ways to appreciate, understand and enjoy the selected works.

3 Sessions: Thursdays 16 / 23 /30 April, 11am – 1pm.

The Atkinson, Southport

Check website for further information and booking:

https://www.theatkinson.co.uk/events/session-1-introduction-history-art-dr-anna-madison/

Saturday Study Day

‘The Most Discussed Painter in England’: Rediscovering John Maler Collier

Join us as we delve into the fascinating career of Victorian artist John Maler Collier! Collier’s fame today rests upon his much-loved depiction of Lilith (1887), the archetypal femme fatale and mythical first wife of Adam, before Eve. However, his reputation as a leading artist was firmly established in his own time. A society portraitist, Collier painted many celebrated figures of the day, including Rudyard Kipling, Charles Darwin and his own father-in-law, scientist Thomas Henry Huxley, nicknamed ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’ for his support of evolutionary theory!

Collier delighted the gallery going public with the drama and ambiguity of his modern life subjects. Known as ‘Problem Pictures’, these paintings became a feature of the London social season as visitors tried to guess the story in the pictures. Collier’s history paintings similarly feature a colourful cast of characters, from the murderous Clytemnestra of Greek Myth to our own Lady Godiva.

This course will explore all this and more! We’ll address Collier’s mastery of the academic nude, his seamless blending of the Neoclassical and Pre-Raphaelite styles, and his wife Marian’s career as an artist.

The course is a precursor to an exhibition on John Collier at the Atkinson, Southport opening Summer 2027, of which I am Co-Curator. It provides a grounding for keen ‘gallery goers’ in anticipation of the forthcoming display of his works.

A single session on campus on Saturday 21 March, 10am - 1pm

Liverpool University Continuing Education

On campus at The University of Liverpool

Check website for details: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-education/choose-your-course/historical-studies/art-and-art-history/themostdiscussedpainterinenglandrediscoveringjohnmalercollier/