We are delighted to announce our theme for the annual Winter online Art Talks for January and February 2026
Our theme this year is
Masterpieces of French Art: from Gothic to Impressionism.
Tickets are now available for the annual, online winter Art Talks, presented each year by Arran Henderson.
This is the 6th year of this popular annual series, which consists of eight, entertaining and accessible, online slide-talks.
This year explores the Art of France.
The approach is broadly chronological with early presentations on the Bayeux tapestry; Medieval stained glass; Romanesque and Gothic architecture and sculpture.
Subsequent talks explore the French Renaissance painters, like the two Clouets, Jean and François (père et fil) Then artists of the 17th and 18th centuries like Nicholas Poussin, Fragonard and Watteau.
later on we encounter the neo-Classicism, and the revolutionary fervour, of J.L. David, as well as are the superlative portraits and exoticism of Ingres, and painters of the Romantic school like Géricault and Delacroix.
The final talk explores French Impressionism and Claude Monet, who famously recorded the play of ever-changing light on waterlilies, on haystacks and cathedrals.
Course features
Every talk available both live and recorded.
Live talks 2PM every Tuesday afternoon, through January and February.
Treat yourself, or give a terrific Christmas gift, for any Art-Lover.
(Gifting options available during the online purchase)
Tickets start from €50 for 4-talk packages.
Early-bird discount on the All-8 Talks ticket now running
(Early-bird offer ends Wed 17th December)
In one section of the course we take an in-depth look at some icons of French art, including the revolutionary optimism of Delacroix Liberty Leading the People (below) and by contrast, Gericault’s dark, nightmarish masterpiece Raft of the Medusa
In our final talk, focusing on the later 19th century, we will look in depth at one of the most famous of all art movements, French Impressionism. Our last talk in particular, will focus on the work of Claude Monet.
Tickets for all 8 talks, or for blocks of 4 talks, available below. Gifting option also available, during purchase.
There are 4 types of tickets you can buy:
Early Bird Ticket: for the full course:€96
Talk 1 to Talk 8 inclusive at special offer price €96. Please note that any purchase of the Early Bird Ticket must be completed before 5PM on Wednesday 17 December. Up to that point, the early bird ticket is available (already) and you can now buy it here
Master Ticket: for the full course: €110
Also available now but continuing on sale for much longer (deep into February) is our Master Ticket: for the full course: Talk 1 to Talk 8 inclusive €110: here
Talk 1 to Talk 4 Ticket:
A ticket for the first half of the course: Talk 1 to Talk 4 inclusive, is available, priced €50, and you can now buy it here.
Talk 5 to Talk 8 Ticket:
A ticket for the second half of the course: Talk 5 to Talk 8 is available, priced €50 and you can now buy it here.
Please note all purchases subject to the usual, 6% online booking fee.
Making a gift of the talks, to a friend or family member…
If you wish to make a gift of the talks to a friend or family member, please click the Tick Box during your purchase, then just fill out the two additional fields: the name, then the email address, of your chosen recipient.
Could we ask you to please be careful to be extra careful about their email address? Please take extra care, filling out their email correctly, double-checking it’s correct, before you pay for the course? The address you supply, is of course the email address we will send the talks to. Thank you very much.
P.S: After you purchase the tickets
Please be sure to read every word of the Confirmation email? It is worth your while. It contains important information about how to access and enjoy your talks.
If you have bought the talks for a friend or family member, you may also like to look at the foot of the confirmation email? Each confirmation email contains a downloadable Gift Card, in PDF format. These Gift Card, are purely optional, and at your own discretion, we can take no responsibility for how you print them or use them. But you they were added in response to requests from regular guests, over the last 5 years, who wished to make a present of the Winter Art talks. See examples at the foot of this page (Please note that illustrations on this page are samples, for reference only)
The annual winter art talks have been a huge success each of the last 5 years, accessible, convivial, illuminating. We look forward to this latest installment, to meeting news faces, and to welcoming many of you returning once again this year.
Final Notes:
i- Gift vouchers, our wonderful general Gift Vouchers, valid for all of Dublin’s Decoded walks and talks and tours (except in-person overseas, art tours) are available on our website anytime, by pressing the green Buy Now button, then navigating to Gift Cards. The Green Buy Now button is your best friend most of the time. But you can also try this direct link to Gift Cards here here.
ii- our next in-person overseas art trip: Rouen and Normandy. mid-late May Dates (TBC)
Our focus on Rouen for the winter art talks is also with half an eye on our in-person art tour there, which will take place late-Spring or early summer 2026, a few months after the on-line course has concluded.
Following the huge success of our Venice trip last October-November 2025, our next in-person overseas art trip is almost certain to go ahead, and when it does, it will visit Rouen and Normandy.
We do not have confirmed dates yet. These will be announced in the next few weeks. But the likelihood is it run in May 2026. With the dates 18th to 23rd May 2026, currently being considered, but not confirmed.
Whether you intend to join us on that in-person, overseas art tour or not, our 2026 Winter online art talks offer a bracing and beautiful look at 800 years of French Art, from the Bayeux tapestry to the Water Lily paintings of Claude Monet.
Join us.
