Britain's What's On Event Guide
On Two Temple Place, its commissioner, makers and the gilded age
Join us for this conversation about Two Temple Place’s making and its wider context. Throughout this evening, Ben Alsop discusses William Waldorf Astor as a maker; Claire Jones considers surface effects in the decorative arts and what they might reveal about materials, approaches to making, and the intended effects on the viewer and Constance Booker presents Astor as a designer of historicist interiors and as an assiduous buyer, shedding light on his highly individual creative process and use of history as a means of personal narrative.
Ben Alsop – ‘I was very young and believed in heaven’: the making of William Waldorf Astor
Ben is a National Trust Cultural Heritage Curator in London and the South-East. He works at properties including Hughenden Manor, Dorneywood, and William Waldorf Astor’s former home, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. Before joining the NT he was the Citi Money Gallery Curator at the British Museum.
Claire Jones – Surface effects: materials, making and meaning in the decorative arts
Claire is a senior lecturer in art history at the University of Birmingham. Her research centres on sculpture in 19th-century France and Britain, particularly the ways in which sculpture intersects with the decorative arts; discourses around makers, materials and making; and histories of display.
Constance Booker – William Waldorf Astor’s historicist interiors: remaking the past?
Constance is a PhD student at Durham University, under the supervision of Dr. Tom Stammers. Her thesis explores the material and cultural identities of transnational collectors in England and in France, c. 1870-1930.
Limited spaces available, booking essential. Tickets are available on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. Please choose the tier of ticket that is best suited to you. If the ticket price presents difficulty, please get in touch with us at info@twotempleplace.org.
Please join the waitlist if the event is sold out.
Ben Alsop – ‘I was very young and believed in heaven’: the making of William Waldorf Astor
Ben is a National Trust Cultural Heritage Curator in London and the South-East. He works at properties including Hughenden Manor, Dorneywood, and William Waldorf Astor’s former home, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. Before joining the NT he was the Citi Money Gallery Curator at the British Museum.
Claire Jones – Surface effects: materials, making and meaning in the decorative arts
Claire is a senior lecturer in art history at the University of Birmingham. Her research centres on sculpture in 19th-century France and Britain, particularly the ways in which sculpture intersects with the decorative arts; discourses around makers, materials and making; and histories of display.
Constance Booker – William Waldorf Astor’s historicist interiors: remaking the past?
Constance is a PhD student at Durham University, under the supervision of Dr. Tom Stammers. Her thesis explores the material and cultural identities of transnational collectors in England and in France, c. 1870-1930.
Limited spaces available, booking essential. Tickets are available on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. Please choose the tier of ticket that is best suited to you. If the ticket price presents difficulty, please get in touch with us at info@twotempleplace.org.
Please join the waitlist if the event is sold out.
Friday 29 August
Two Temple Place, Two Temple Place
2 Temple Place, London WC2R 3BD
Friday 29 August 202519:00 – 20:30
Doors open from 6.30pm. Talk starts 7pm. The talk will last around 90 minutes including time for questions.
Tickets are Pay what you can (£8, £12, £16) and can be purchased through Eventbrite below.
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Two Temple Place
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