Bottoms up: a history of art through drinks and drinking
Ten-week art history and theory course
20 January 2020 6.30 - 8pm27 January 2020 6.30 - 8pm3 February 2020 6.30 - 8pm10 February 2020 6.30 - 8pm17 February 2020 6.30 - 8pm24 February 2020 6.30 - 8pm2 March 2020 6.30 - 8pm9 March 2020 6.30 - 8pm16 March 2020 6.30 - 8pm23 March 2020 6.30 - 8pm
The Life Room, Royal Academy Schools
£540 for full course, £320 for weeks 1-5 OR weeks 6-10. Includes all materials, light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of weeks 5 and 10.
Terms and conditions
Following on from the success of our lecture series on gastronomy, this course delves into the different portrayals and symbolism of drink in art over the centuries.
Drinks have always been more than just a means of quenching thirst. Be it water or wine, what, when and where we choose to drink can reveal more than we think about ourselves and society – something artists have always known, sometimes only too well.
In this ten-week lecture series, hear from a roster of art world experts and cultural historians as they explore what the portrayal of drinks in art can reveal about the social, political and cultural attitudes of the day. Taking a broadly chronological and thematic approach, each lecture will focus on one specific drink and its depictions, connotations and symbolism within the context of art history.
From the absinthe of fin-de-siècle Paris to the mass-produced Coke of American Pop, this course promises a unique perspective on the world of art and how it has changed from antiquity right up to modern day.
Each lecture is facilitated to encourage discussion with participants as a group, to help broaden everyone’s understanding of the topic.
This course is available as a full ten-week series or as two, individual blocks of five.
Minimum age 18. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact academicprogrammes@royalacademy.org.uk.
About the Speakers
Professor James Davidson teaches Greek social and cultural history in the Classics Department of the University of Warwick. He has written on a wide range of topics including ancient Greek wine-bars, the uses of Eros in archaic poetry, pleasure and pedantry, and the Fish Missing from Homer. Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athensi was published in 1997. The Greeks and Greek Love won the Mark Lynton History Prize 2010, the Randy Shilts Award; and the Lambda Literary Award.
Dr Caroline Campbell is Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery. She’s published widely in the field of Renaissance art, and has curated and co-curated many exhibitions. These include Bellini and the East (2005-06), Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence (2009); Mantegna and Bellini (2018-19) and Leonardo: Experience a Masterpiece (2019-20).
Dr Benjamin B. Roberts is an American historian and freelance journalist based in Amsterdam. Roberts is the author of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Dutch Golden Age (2018), and the forthcoming More Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Dutch Golden Age. Fatherhood in the Age of War, Plague, and Pollution (2020).
Robin Simon is Editor of The British Art Journal; Honorary Professor at University College London; and Professorial Research Fellow at Buckingham University. His books include Hogarth, France and British Art: The rise of the arts in eighteenth-century Britain (2007); The Royal Academy of Arts: History and Collections (2018); and Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (with Martin Postle, 2014).
Christopher Garibaldi started his career with English Heritage and the Royal Collection. He was Keeper of Decorative Art and Senior Curator at Norwich Castle Museum from 1998 to 2003 with responsibility for the Twinings Teapot Gallery. From 2010 he has been Director and Chief Executive of the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket.
Andy McConnell is one of Britain’s leading authorities on glassware of all types and his books have covered the subject from ancient to modern. He was the first glass specialist recruited to BBC TV’s Antiques Roadshow for which he has now recorded 15 series. His 20th Century Glass was published in 2006 and his 554-page opus, The Decanter, An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650, in 2018.
Dr Alison Smith is Chief Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. Before joining the Gallery in 2017 she was Lead Curator, Nineteenth-Century British Art at Tate Britain where she worked for eighteen years. Alison has published widely in the area of Victorian art and curated a number of major exhibitions in the area including Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde in 2012 and Edward Burne-Jones in 2018.
Rebecca Lyons is the Director of Learning & Collections at the Royal Academy. Rebecca has been a Curator for the National Trust and, prior to this, was Director of the Fine & Decorative Art MLitt and MA programmes at Christie’s Education, London / University of Glasgow where she taught for fifteen years.
Patrick Bade was a lecturer at Christie's Education between 1981 and 2015. He has published extensively on 19th and early 20th art. He currently works freelance as a guide and lecturer.
Dr Matt Lodder is an art historian, curator and broadcaster. He is Senior Lecturer in Art History and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. He teaches modern and contemporary art and visual culture from the US, Europe and Japan, with a particular focus on the relationship between art and politics.
Our courses and classes programme
Our varied programme of short courses and classes provides an opportunity to explore subjects ranging from life drawing to the history of exhibitions and arts management, led by expert tutors and practising artists. These courses introduce traditional art-making processes, as well as perspectives on art history, theory and business.
Give this course as a gift
All of our courses can be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member – giving the gift of education and a remarkable experience. To arrange a personalised Gift Voucher, please contact the Academic Programmes Team, by calling 020 7300 5641 or email academicprogrammes@royalacademy.org.uk