Art and Photography at the Cheltenham Literature Festival

The Driver, the Mechanic, the Girl and the Car ('55 Chevy) - from Two Lane Blacktop, dir. Monte Hellman, 1971 (See American Icons: The Open Road, below.)

This year's Cheltenham Literature Festival (7 - 16 October) includes a handful of events about art and photography. The following are listed in the order in which they are scheduled:

Is the Selfie Really Selfish? Frances Borzello, author of Seeing Ourselves: Women's Self-Portraits, discusses self-portraits from the Renaissance to the digital age.

Sunday 9 October, 2-3pm

Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942

Edward Hopper: The Darker Side of the American Dream. Rosalind Ormiston discusses Hopper's vision of C20 American life.

Monday 10 October, 11.30am-12.30pm

Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II, 1930

Georgia O'Keeffe. Concurrent with the Tate's exhibition (continuing until 30 October) curator Tanya Barson discusses the importance of O'Keeffe with artist Kaye Donachie and art historian Anne Wagner - chaired by art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston.

Monday 10 October, 7.45-8.45pm

J.M.W. Turner, Interior of Petworth House, 1837

Turner. Turner biographer Franny Moyle and artist Tim Wright discuss Turner's life and art.

Thursday 13 October, 11am-12noon

Diego Velázquez, El bufón don Diego de Acedo, c1645

The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velázquez. Laura Cumming discusses the C17 life of Velázquez' and the C19 'discovery' of a Velázquez painting in a Victorian boarding school.

Friday 14 October, 3.30-4,30pm 

Sophie Ryder, Hare and Minotaur, 1995

Sophie Ryder: A Life in Sculpture. Ryder, whose Hare and Minotaur is a familiar sight on Cheltenham's Promenade talks to Jon Benington about her work and interest in mythical creatures.

Friday 14 October, 5.45-6.45pm 

Hans Ulrich Obrist: Lives of the Artist, Lives of the Architects. The globe-trotting curator and director of Serpentine Galleries, Hans Ulrich Obrist, discusses his life in the international artworld with Mark Lawson.
Saturday15 October, 10.30-11.30am

Ai Weiwei with Tree, 2009-10 – installation at Royal Academy, 2015

Art and Activism: Celebrating Ai Weiwei. RA director Tim Marlow and Serpentine Galleries director Hans Ulrich Obrist discuss the work and significance of Ai Weiwei.

Saturday 15 October, 1.30-2.20pm

And finally, the pick of the crop, in my view:

Robert Frank, U.S.90, en route to Del Rio, Texas, from The Americans

American Icons: The Open Road. The authors of two of my favourite books - David Campany, (The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip) and Jason Wood (100 Road Movies) talk with ‘Beat Generation scholar’ Oliver Harris about being on the road in America. Chaired by Sarfraz Manzoor

Sunday 16 October, 5.30-6.30pm

For more details and bookings go to the Festival website.