The lecture will be preceded by the AGM at 7:15pm. Doors will open at 7:00pm

Camille Claudel became Rodin's pupil in the 1880's and, soon after, his lover, muse, assistant and trusted advisor. The stormy relationship lasted for at least a decade.

This lecture will explore her work and her life and consider why she spent her last years in an asylum for the insane. A sculpture by Claudel was recently uncovered in an abandoned Parisian apartment and sold in Feb 2025 for 3 million dollars.

Camille Claudel has been rediscovered as a great artist in her own right despite loving Rodin.

Jacqueline is an art historian and linguist. After an academic career teaching at Birkbeck College, University of London and Westminster School, she is now a freelance lecturer.

She is course director and lecturer at the V & A and lectures at The Royal Academy, The Arts Society and a number of private institutions. 

Jacqueline is Managing Director of Art and Culture Travel running courses in Andalucía, Southern Spain, Madrid, Barcelona, Tangiers, Venice and Paris. Her recent book on Goya was published by Prestel in 2025.                

IMAGE: Bust of Rodin 1888-9 (by Claudel)  - courtesy of the lecturer                   

As an introduction for beginners as well as food for thought for aficionados, this talk will investigate the links between Europe and Africa, and the ways in which African traditional art is viewed by Europeans.

It will address the question of ‘How to look at African traditional art’. A thoughtful yet light-hearted ‘door opener’, it will showcase ways in which fascinating and beautiful artefacts are used for medicinal purposes and in communication & policing and marriage-counselling.

The audience are invited to bring their own traditional African artefacts.

Born and raised in Croatia, Nirvana emigrated in the 1990s, after completing her MA at the University of Zagreb, in English language and literature, and History of Art.   During a decade in South Africa, she fell in love with traditional African art and has studied it ever since.

Nirvana has worked in the UK since 2003 as a lecturer, creating adult engagement programmes and training museum staff and volunteers in Manchester and Liverpool.

She has also designed and led cultural tours for the Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxbridge Alumni and the Arts Society.        

IMAGE: Benin Leopard (courtesy of the lecturer)