Visionary worlds

Starting in the peaceful setting of the Salon, this talk will explore how artists have used colour and brush marks to transport the viewer to visionary worlds. These could be glorious images of heaven or the mysterious worlds of myth and poetry.

However, some artists transformed the material world around them: Paul Gauguin's colonised Tahiti becomes an imagined paradise; Paul Cezanne's Provence, a place where unselfconsciously naked women bathe in harmony with the forest around them. Even Claude Monet's later paintings of his very real garden and water lily pond become visions of time and the experience of looking.

Following the talk, guests will enjoy a guided walk through the galleries to view a selection of the paintings firsthand and take a close look at how artists have brought imagined realms to life.

Belle Smith is an art historian and educator who has worked in London museums and galleries for many years. She studied at Goldsmiths College and has an MA in the History of Art. She enjoys working with groups of all ages, from young children and teenagers to undergraduates and adults.