Guest Speaker Adrian Le Harivel
Up until the end of the 19th century, most people used pocket watches, a tradition that dates back to the Renaissance. They were long cased in gold and silver, concealing an inner movement, of complexity and great artistry. Artists have left us both visual evidence material of many now lost, while adding an indication of their status, through portraits and Dutch Golden Age still lifes, where reminders of mortality in memento mori. As clocks developed, watches kept pace and artists documented a myriad of technological advances. The chatelaine developed from 1720s, alongside ribbon and chain, made for hanging from female belt, often with separate goldsmith creator. America led the way from the 1850s, an industrial production in the millions, designs made to catch the imagination and advertising campaigns, on modern lines. The wrist watch had now arrived, for long a piece of jewellery for women, when devised for sister-in-law of Napoleon I, later stimulated, with need for more practical wartime timepiece in Franco-Prussian War and becoming a familiar design. It still took until around 1920 for artists to record them, the watches becoming art pieces in their own right, the top marques and companies household names and long collected.
About the Speaker
Adrian Le Harivel was a Curator at the National Gallery of Ireland for forty-two years, its first Curator of Prints and Drawings in 1980s and involved in all areas of the collection. He contributed to many paintings exhibitions and publications, while developed special interests in antiques and historic Dublin. He has a long commitment to bringing together art and music, with insights both ways, giving benefits to both art lovers and musicians. He has lectured on a myriad of subjects, while continues as tour guide and lecturer to the Friends. Along with Gallery lecturing, earlier this year, he gave an 8-week Art of Antiques course and onsite tours. Current projects are organising monthly tours and excursions, for the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, while developing city walks, also researching and giving lectures on the history and aesthetics of timepieces, having built up his own, select, collection.
