Lecturers

Our lecturers are chosen not only for their expertise, but also for their ease of communication, their company and above all the enthusiasm which they bring to their subjects. Several of our lecturers have been accompanying tour for the Art Fund for years and have established a devoted following. The following experts will accompany tours in 2012:

Tom Abbott
Born in the USA, but resident in Germany since 1988, Tom Abbott obtained a first in Psychology and Art History from Carleton College, Minnesota, whilst post-graduate studies included French and Art History in Paris and the Attingham Summer School. Since 1996 he has been a freelance art historian with the Foundation of Prussian Palaces and Gardens. He has accompanied cultural tours throughout Germany, including to Potsdam, specialising in the architecture of Berlin, the art of 18th-century Germany, the English landscape garden in Germany, the Bauhaus and the history of music and opera in Berlin.

Lucy Abel Smith
Art historian, lecturer and journalist Lucy Abel Smith has organised and led tours in Europe for over 30 years. She was a Director and then Chairman of Specialtours until she left in 1989 to concentrate on writing. The author of Prague: A Guide, she continues her research on Czech country houses. She is a past Chairman of the Gloucestershire regional committee of the Art Fund and past President of the European Friends of the Attingham Summer School. Her interests include gardening and collecting contemporary art.

Clare Ford-Wille
Art historian Clare Ford-Wille has lectured for many years to numerous prestigious organisations, including the University of London, the National Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the V&A, the Royal Academy, the National Trust and other societies. She has worked for leading Old Master dealers in London and been employed as an art historian by the Central University of Iowa and Stanford University in California. She contributed to the National Gallery's CD-Rom sound guide and the Companion Guide to European Art.

Peter Lauritzen
Historian, author and lecturer, Peter Lauritzen, has lived in Italy since leaving Princeton University with a Fulbright Grant for study in Florence in 1962. A resident of Venice for many years, he has written Venice: A Thousand Years of Culture & Civilization, Palaces of Venice, Villas of the Veneto and Venice Preserved as well as the official UNESCO report. He has lectured in Europe and the USA and led tours specialising in Flemish and Dutch art, Imperial Russia, the Iberian peninsula, the Holy Roman Empire and classical antiquity.

James McDonaugh
James McDonaugh has an MA in Philosophy and Theology from Oxford as well as a diploma in Art History, and an MA in Architectural History from the Courtauld Institute. Combining a deep knowledge of art with literature, history and theology, he is a freelance art history lecturer, with a particular interest in Italy, and has accompanied tours to Venice, Florence, Siena, Mantua, Rome and Naples as well as to Sicily and its surrounding islands.

Peter Shahbendarian
Peter Shahbendarian is of Armenian origin and has a considerable knowledge of the history, art and architecture and culture of the region. Having been a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, he worked for some years on various UN development projects abroad. A former Director of the Oxford Gallery, Dr Shabenderian is a collector of contemporary art. He has accompanied several tours to Georgia and Armenia for the Art Fund.