Thursday 23rd February 2012

7.30pm – 9.30pm

Walter Greaves, Old Battersea Bridge 1874

Prepare to be fascinated ….. Trawl the glorious history of the River Thames through the eyes of the artists who painted it, from Canaletto to Turner, from Whistler to Monet. From the seventeenth century onwards, artists reveal the world of horse ferries, aristocratic villas, river travel, eel traps, weirs, boat building and fishing. From the nineteenth century London’s river is shown as the trading centre of the empire and the wider world – it has been portrayed as both the ‘river of light’ and the ’river of darkness’. You will hear local art experts discuss the fascination of the Thames for painters, but there’s also an unusual twist – a modern-day builder of traditional wooden river boats will take you ‘behind the scenes’ and explain the construction, function and significance of the boats that inhabit Thames pictures over the last four centuries. Speakers will include the Trust’s fine art advisor John Iddon, local art historian Catherine Parry-Wingfield, and boat-builder Mark Edwards of Richmond Bridge Boathouses.

Says John Iddon:

A previous talk on the working life of the Thames drew enormous interest from our audience and a demand for more! This time our emphasis will be on the art of the Thames, but also seen through the perspective of its social and commercial history and the watermen and lightermen for whom it provided a living.”

Further information

The event will be held at Duke Street Church, Richmond, TW9 1DH and tickets are £10.00 (£8.50 to Environment Trust members). To book a ticket please visit the Environment Trust website or call 020 8891 5455. All proceeds will support the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames.