THE FRIENDS OF CASTLE SYCHROV (UK)
Registered Charity No: 1047737 Registered Company No: 3045059
‘PLAY AND DISPLAY:
LIFE IN THE GREAT HOUSES OF BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA’
Wednesday, 16th November 2011,
An Illustrated Lecture by Lucy Abel Smith
to be given at The Czech Embassy, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, W8,
by courtesy of H.E. The Czech Ambassador
6.45 for 7.00 pm prompt start, followed by drinks
Nowhere in Europe have so many great houses and castles been built for the conspicuous display of
wealth and pleasure as in what is now the Czech Republic. These vast private palaces, built at the heart
of huge estates, were designed from the start with entertainment in mind. Ballrooms, banqueting rooms,
picture and sculpture galleries, libraries, music rooms and even private theatres were commonplace; and
outside elaborate gardens, lakes, carriage drives, sala terrena, arboreta and “English” parks were all the
rage. Lucy Abel Smith will take us on a grand tour of these houses, to discover their fantastical
architecture and the highly sophisticated social life which led to their construction.
Lucy Abel Smith is an art and architectural historian who has lectured and led tours for the National Art
Collections Fund, Friends of the Royal Academy and Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum
Society and Sotheby’s. Her own company, Reality and Beyond, specialises in art tours in Central and
Eastern Europe. She is the author of the first authoritative English guide to Prague after the Velvet
Revolution. Her enthusiasm for supporting the arts today has led Lucy and her husband, David, to
establish the biennial summer “Fresh Air” sculpture exhibition in their Gloucestershire garden at
Quenington.
The cost of the evening will be £15 per person which includes the lecture, drinks and a £7.50 donation to
The Friends of Castle Sychrov (UK).*
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‘PLAY AND DISPLAY:
LIFE IN THE GREAT HOUSES OF BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA’
Wednesday, 16th November 2011,
An Illustrated Lecture by Lucy Abel Smith
(Tickets must be purchased in advance)
♦ Please send me .......... tickets @ £15.00*
♦ I cannot come but enclose a donation £ .......*
♦ I wish to make a donation of £ .......... *
♦ I enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
♦ I enclose a cheque made out to The Friends of Castle Sychrov (UK) for £ .............
□ *GIFT AID: I wish The Friends of Castle Sychrov (UK) to reclaim the tax on this and on future donations. ( Donors must
pay income tax &/or capital gains in the UK equal to the tax that will be claimed. ) For every £1 donated The Friends can
receive a further 25p from the government.
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Send to: The Friends of Castle Sychrov, 3 King’s House, 400 King’s Road, London SW10 0LL
Telephone: 020 7351 3236 E-mail: friendssychrovuk@hotmail.com