Online Spring Lecture Series 2026
Heroines and Heroes of the Arts and Crafts Movement
THESE TICKETS ARE FOR ONLINE ONLY. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO ATTEND IN PERSON, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
As a result of the pandemic, the Victorian Society’s two annual lecture series have since autumn 2020 taken place online, where they have drawn very large audiences. With the spring 2026 series, organised by Steven Brindle, Maya Donelan and Michael Hall, we are moving to a hybrid arrangement of in-person lectures that will be live-streamed as well as being available as recordings. The subject is one of perennial interest, the Arts and Crafts movement. Although it might be thought that there is little more to be learned about its leading practitioners, our speakers will be drawing on a large amount of new research, much of which is highlighting the often-neglected role played by women in a movement that remains of direct relevance to architects, artists and designers today.
TO BOOK THE COMPLETE SERIES, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
NEW STARTING TIME: 6:30pm
Each lecture is recorded and sent out within a week after the talk. This recording can be accessed at any time.
There is new pricing in place. Each lecture costs:
£6 for members/ £8 for non-members / £3 for Young Victorians
Online Spring Lecture Series: 4
Phoebe Anna Traquair by Elizabeth Cumming
Wednesday 25 February, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
‘A woman the size of a fly’: Louis Davis’s 1902 comment to his friend Robert Lorimer gives no idea of the sheer ambition and many achievements of Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852–1936). Born and educated in Ireland, she settled with her Scottish husband to Edinburgh, where she became involved in the city’s social art movement, painting murals in tiny and vast buildings and teaching design from the 1880s. In addition, she produced some of Britain’s most remarkable embroideries, illuminated manuscripts, tooled bookcovers and art enamels, packed with colour and imagination.
Our speaker, Dr Elizabeth Cumming, has documented Traquair’s life and art for nearly half a century, including most recently Phoebe Anna Traquair for the National Galleries of Scotland in 2022.
The Victorian Society is an IHBC recognised CPD provider.
Image: Steinway piano decorated by Phoebe Traquair, National Museum of Scotland, By Stephencdickson – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125670555