2 Audley Square
Mayfair, London W1K
UK
Founded in 1994, THE COURSE offers art history lectures, opera and literature courses, guided museum visits and London walks.
In this 5 part series, Nicole Mezey, looks at how symbolic, illuminating, awe inspiring – the mastery of light has been a vital tool of the western artist. The course looks at such forms as stained glass, the natural light of Constable, the brooding emotion of Rubens and the reflections of Impressionism in an attempt to understand the fascination of light and its immense possibilities for the artist.
A GUIDING LIGHT
In the first lecture, we look at how religion has traditionally used the contrast of light and dark as a symbol of spiritual vision and enlightenment. Christ IS light, saints are identified by their glowing haloes and the first task of God in creating the world was to separate light from darkness. We explore the range and texture of light as symbol.