When the Duke of Wellington witnessed Joseph Paxton at work at Chatsworth, he exclaimed “I’d have liked that man as one of my generals.” Paxton was one of the most inventive and influential figures of the 19th century, whose most famous masterwork, the Crystal Palace of 1851, is considered by significant contemporary architects like Norman Foster to be ’the birth of modern architecture’. Born into a humble farming family, as gardener, engineer, designer, architect, publisher, railway investor and MP, Paxton was to leave his mark on Victorian Britain like few others.
For more than 30 years he worked at Chatsworth, supported by his formidable wife Sarah, enhancing it with innovative buildings and garden designs in a close partnership with his patron the 6th Duke of Devonshire. His boundless energy and vision found its greatest expression in his radical design for the Great Exhibition, where the ‘industry of all nations', and a dazzled populace, gathered under his vast glass structure. My lecture celebrates the man and his achievements which have profoundly influenced architecture ever since.
Views: 373 | Enquiries: 0I have an art history degree, and I have been giving public lectures for 30+ years. I worked at the historic estate of Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, for 19 years, latterly as their head of communications, and give a number of talks about its art collections (ancient and modern, garden and park landscape, history and family, including a lecture on Deborah, the Mitford Duchess of Devonshire, who I knew well. I was lucky enough to lecture around the UK, in Europe and all over the USA on behalf of Chatsworth, and I now take that experience, and close knowledge of my subject, to audiences around the UK as a freelance lecturer.
I also give lectures about two very different Victorians, John Ruskin and Joseph Paxton, both fascinating and inspiring men for totally different reasons, as well as on the brilliant land-artist Julie Brook.
I am lucky to talk about subjects that I feel passionate about, and am grateful to receive feedback from audiences that my lectures are entertaining, engaging and inspiring, as well as informative and thought-provoking. My lectures are normally given with digital powerpoint images, and last an hour, though I can adapt some of my talks for after-dinner or other occasions.
As well as my lecturing, I have a private practice as a Life Coach, working one-to-one with clients, and I also work part time for arts and heritage charities helping with communications.
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