Curator and author Joanna Banham will be delving into  the colourful history of Victorian wallpapers in our next online lecture, A Passion for Pattern: Victorian Wallpapers on Thursday 27th August.

The Victorian period witnessed massive changes in the manufacture and consumption of wallpaper: a product that had previously been a luxury item became available to all but the very poorest of homes. It also saw a huge proliferation of different styles that included glamorous French-inspired florals, severe geometric Gothic designs, trompe l’ceil architectural, mosaic, and stone effects, and the innovative work of Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Joanna will discuss features such as nursery designs, relief decorations, arsenical pigments, and explore the many different ways that wallpaper was used in the decoration of the Victorian home.

Joanna Banham has over 25-years of experience in the arts – having curated historic wallpaper collections at the Whitworth Gallery and Arthur Sanderson & Sons, directing and creating public programmes, and working in a curatorial capacity. Joanna has worked for a number of renowned organisations such as the V&A, Tate Britain and the Royal Academy and is now the Director of the Victorian Society of America Summer School and lectures regularly for the Arts Society and many universities.