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The Franco-British Society PROGRAMME APRIL 2009 - SEPTEMBER 2009 You can see a Booking Form  for these events by clicking on the button above.

65th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Wednesday 22 April 6.30pm to 9.30pm Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED (Nearest Tubes: Green Park; Bond Street) All members - individual, branch, honorary and corporate - are cordially invited to the Society's 65th AGM, to be followed by a Buffet Dinner. Guests are most welcome to attend the AGM and Dinner although, like honorary members, they are not entitled to vote. The meeting will take place at Dartmouth House, an important heritage building which was sumptuously remodelled and refurbished in the 1890s by Lord Revelstoke, who created a grand mansion in the Anglo-French style. Purchased by the ESU in 1926, it is one of the most notable properties in Mayfair and is scheduled as a building of national importance. It is noted for its magnificent interior which includes grand marble fire-places, Louis Quatorze walnut panelling, and a fine French marble staircase with a superb painted ceiling by Pierre Victor Galland. The Society's Enid McLeod Literary Prize for 2008 will be awarded to Professor Robert Knecht for 'The French Renaissance Court'. At the close of the meeting, Alexandra Dariescu will give a piano recital to include music by Ravel and Chopin. A buffet Dinner will be served by Leith's, the in-house caterer at Dartmouth House. Tickets for Dinner are £45.00 with wine. Franco-British Society Registered Charity No 214096 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - AGENDA 1) To receive the report of the Chairman, Baroness Shephard. 2) To receive the Financial Report and adopt the Accounts for the year ended 31 January 2009. 3) To elect Members of the Council. 4) To authorise the Council of the Society to reappoint the Auditors - Susan Field. 5) To transact any other business of the Annual General Meeting. Any Member entitled to attend and vote may appoint another person (whether a Member or not) as proxy to attend and vote instead of that Member. Nominations for election to the Council may be submitted by Members in writing to the Secretary not less than 14 days before the AGM date. The consent of the nominee must be obtained and the nomination must be seconded by a member of the Society. Under Article 21, the term of office of the following Members of the Council expires in 2009: Baroness Shephard; Sir John Fretwell; Mr Jean-Michel Ditner; Mr Jonathan Noakes; Mr Richard Fairbairn. Sir John Fretwell and Mr Jean-Michel Ditner are retiring from the Council; the other Council Members, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election at the AGM. ANNUAL VISIT TO FRANCE 26 - 30 May The destination is Burgundy, and the group of around thirty members will be based in Dijon. We look forward to describing aspects of the visit in the annual newsletter which will be circulated at the end of the year. 'PICASSO: Challenging the Past' Private Lecture National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN Tuesday 2 June 12.30pm to 1.30pm We have arranged for a private lecture on the National Gallery's current exhibition 'Picasso: Challenging the Past'. The exhibition explores the ways Picasso took up the artistic concerns of the painters of the past and made audacious responses of his own. The lecturer will be Marc Woodhead, an independent art historian who lectures for the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Wallace Collection. A practising artist, he has a special interest in early Renaissance and early Modernist painting. The current exhibition, displaying some 60 works by Picasso, invites visitors to re-explore the National Gallery's permanent collection in light of the artist's fascination with the Old Masters. Tickets for the lecture are £8.00. If you wish to visit the Picasso exhibition, please book your own tickets. This can be done in person at the Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery; through the booking agent (agency fee) - telephone 0844 209 1778 or on-line through the National Gallery website www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/picasso/tickets.htm. Alternatively, you can apply by post. Send your name, address, the date and time you would like to visit, and a stamped addressed envelope to Ticket Sales, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. Postal tickets must be booked 14 days in advance; cheques payable to The National Gallery; full ticket price is £12. Please note £6 concession tickets are available for Seniors and Art Fund members every Tuesday afternoon from 2.30pm to 6.00pm. Early booking is strongly recommended, and all tickets are for timed entry. 'The Entente Formidable and the Economic Crisis' A talk by Sir Peter Westmacott British Ambassador to France Monday 20 July Talk from 12.30pm until approx 1.30pm Refreshments afterwards until 2.30pm 60 Knightsbridge, London SW1 (Nearest Tube is Knightsbridge) We are delighted that the British Ambassador to France, Sir Peter Westmacott, KCMG, LVO, has agreed to give a talk on a subject which promises to be both stimulating and deeply interesting. Sir Peter joined the Diplomatic Service in 1972. After a year in Middle East Department, and Persian language training, he was posted to Tehran in 1974. In 1978 he was loaned to the European Commission in Brussels, before being posted to Paris from 1980 to 1984. After three years as Chief of Staff to successive Ministers of State in London, he went to Ankara in 1987 for the first of his two diplomatic postings to Turkey. From 1990 to 1993, he was Deputy Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales. From 1993 to 1997, Sir Peter was Counsellor for Political and Public Affairs in Washington, before returning to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Director, Americas. He joined the Board of the FCO in 2000 as Deputy Under Secretary and returned to Ankara as Ambassador in 2002. Tickets are £16 to include coffee/tea/soft drink and sandwiches. A cash bar will also be available. EXCURSION TO QUEENS' COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE Monday 28 September Please see the separate sheet with details about the excursion and booking. This event is for Members only.

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