Originally founded in 1968 as NADFAS, The Arts Society is an organisation based on a love of the Arts in all its forms and incarnations. Its main objective is the promotion and advancement of art in all its forms and the aesthetic education of the public, cultivation, appreciation of the decorative and fine arts and the giving of aid to the preservation of our national artistic heritage for the benefit of the general public. Apart from this, it also gives its members a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment.

Founded in 2012 The Arts Society Dartmoor meets ten times per annum for lectures on a wide range of topics. These lectures are given by experienced and highly qualified lecturers who are experts in their chosen field. A full description is in the 'Programme' section. 

OUR NEXT LECTURE WILL BE AT THE CHARTER HALL OKEHAMPTON

13th November 2024
BREUGEL, THE SEASONS & THE WORLD
Gavin Plumley

This month we look forward to hearing from Gavin Plumley, a writer and broadcaster who lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe.  Gavin has appeared on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide.  Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A. 

Today, Gavin will talk to us about a series of paintings commissioned in 1565 for a dining room in Antwerp, from Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art.  Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas both sacred and profane.  But in Bruegel's hands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus.  Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, this lecture explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within a shifting cosmos?

2025 PROGRAMME.  Please click here for our full 2025 programme.