The AGM will follow our normal order of business, with a report on our work last year, a report about our finances, and various elections. If there is a specific question you would like to ask, please email us ahead of time.

Our guest speaker will be Philip Mould OBE. Philip, who is a long-term Kensingtonian, is a well known art dealer, writer and broadcaster, whose significant art discoveries have included works by Gainsborough and van Dyck. For a wider audience he is mainly known for the BBC programme Fake or Fortune?, which he has presented together with Fiona Bruce since 2011. The 10th series ran in August and September 2022 and the 30 most recent episodes can be viewed on BBC’s iPlayer.

During the first Covid lockdown, in March and April 2020, Philip made a fascinating YouTube series of 20 short videos, called “Art in Isolation”, together with his son Oliver (he holds the iPhone the videos were made with). It is well worth watching.

All the episodes were made at Duck End, the 17th century manor house in Oxfordshire, which he and his wife Catherine bought 20 years ago. The house has a colourful history and is, of course, filled with interesting paintings. In the videos, Philip talks engagingly about both the house and the many paintings. The YouTube link above also contains a short side series, called “A Call to Camera”, where viewers of “Art in Isolation” sent in pictures of themselves in front of their own favourite pictures, giving Philip a chance to comment and reflect on them.

The AGM will begin at 7.00pm with doors opening at 6.30pm. By special invitation, the outgoing mayor, Councillor David Lindsay, has invited all attendees to join him afterwards in the Mayor’s Parlour for a wine reception.

This is a free event with no need for booking, but a donation of £10 for each non-member attending will be appreciated and can be paid at the door.