Why is contemporary art so intimidating and baffling to many art lovers? This lecture explains the motives, techniques and ideas that create contemporary art. Since the 1960s, artists have embraced a very diverse range of media and exhibition spaces to challenge the long history of western art's conventions. This leaves many people frustrated and often confused. Despite intensive efforts by public galleries such as Tate Modern and other museums to interpret artworks made in the past sixty years, many artists and their artworks remain very challenging and difficult to understand. In this talk, I explain why the visual culture of our own age is so significant and interesting.

Joshua White is an enthusiastic and experienced art historian and lecturer who thoroughly enjoys sharing his love and knowledge of art, photography and visual culture with an audience. He is an experienced lecturer in 19th and 20th century European and American art, international contemporary art, photography, design and architecture. Teaching for 20 years at Christie’s Education, the college of Christie's auction house in London, he can provide a lecture or study day with his listed talks or create bespoke talks on request, for example to coincide with a temporary exhibition, special event or anniversary.

At Christie's Education, Joshua was director of The London Art Course and many other courses in the field of modern and contemporary art, ranging from Impressionism and Surrealism to photography and modern sculpture. He has also taught on the client VIP courses for the Chairman's and President's offices at Christie's, the world's biggest art business. 

Drawing on his media experience as a former BBC journalist, Joshua is also a founder and presenter of The Art Channel, an online project documenting and interpreting art exhibitions and artworks in museums and commercial galleries. The channel has now received two million views.

Joshua has direct experience of the art market while working as the Director of Hamiltons Gallery between 2018 and 2020 specialising in 20th Century photography. At Hamiltons, he exhibited and represented Don Mccullin and the estates of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts. 

Elsewhere, he has lectured for Sotheby’s Institute, The University of the Arts, The University of California, Cheung Kong Business School (China's leading business university), Tate Modern and Tate Britain, The Victoria and Albert Museum Academy, The National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, The Design Museum, Union Bank of Switzerland, Artemisia, P & O Cruises and Mr and Mrs Smith. Further to his institutional work, he has worked with numerous private clients (including many former students) in London and led groups abroad to visit Berlin, the Venice Art Biennale and the influential art festival, Documenta in Kassel, Germany. In the UK, he has led groups to visit Bristol, Cambridge, Chichester, Liverpool and Oxford. In 2026, Joshua will be leading tours abroad for Kirker Cultural Tours and ACE Cultural Tours.

On television and radio, Joshua has been a guest contributor to Channel 5’s ‘Great Paintings of the World with Andrew Marr’, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Behind The Scenes’ and BBC Radio 3’s ‘Turning Picasso.’ As a writer, Joshua has written exhibition catalogues and been published by Hamiltons Gallery, the BBC, The FT, Christie’s Magazine, Flash Art, Wanderlust, Decanter, Lonely Planet, Mr and Mrs Smith and The Nicola Erni Collection of art and photography in Switzerland. 

Britain has over 60,000 war memorials, each with their own sad and emotional story to tell. They also represent our largest collection of public art - more than 1,300 are listed.

We will explore the story of our war memorials, including such masterpieces as Sir Edwin Lutyens' Cenotaph and monumental Thiepval Gate and CS Jaggers' Royal Artillery memorial at Hyde Park Corner. Especially memorable is the work of the Commonwealth (Imperial) War Graves Commission and the new National Arboretum in Staffordshire. We will look too at the Scottish War Memorial in Edinburgh.

This lecture travels through the Christmas story from the Annunciation to the Flight into Egypt through the eyes of Italian artists.

There will be some well-known favourites alongside other works that are less familiar enabling us to take a fresh look at the artist’s approach to the narrative. The chosen works also open up other subjects such as the Medici family’s devotion to the Magi, the making of the spectacular floor of Siena Cathedral, a stolen Caravaggio and a rather unconventional breastfeeding position!

Discover the story of Edvard Munch, the artist whose lifelong struggle with his mental health can be found in the many works of art he has left behind. Discover why his work "The Scream" has become one of the world's most iconic and recognisable paintings.. 

Canon Chris Newlands is a retired Anglican priest, having ministered across England from Portsmouth to Durham, and from Essex to Lancashire. Before ordination, he worked for the British Council in Algeria, and after ordination was posted to Romania and Bulgaria as Embassy Chaplain and Envoy of the Anglican Communion to the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe. Chris is a guest lecturer on cruise ships where his lectures relate to the destinations in the Baltic, Black Sea, and Mediterranean regions.

TBA