Thursdays 20 October 2005 – 17 November 2005, 18.30–20.30

During the 1890s, French and British culture became increasingly associated with ideas of decadence. Edgar Degas's painting L'Absinthe 1875–76 caused an outcry. An exhibition by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in London's Regent Street inspired many British artists and established parallels between Lautrec's imagery and that of Walter Sickert and his contemporaries.

This course introduces the exhibition, explores the creative dialogue which took place between British and French artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and discusses how notions of decadence became linked with the emergence of spaces for popular entertainment and a demi-monde society.

The final session, led by Tate curators, will consider exhibition planning, press coverage and the critics' response to the show. Speakers include Heather Birchall, Timothy Hyman, Justine Hopkins, Anna Gruetzner Robins, Martin Myrone and Simon Wilson.

Tate Britain  Duffield Room
£55 (£45 concessions), booking required

    

This event is related to the Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris 1870–1910 exhibition