Introductory & General Art History Courses
Our introductory and general art history courses are foundational and designed to give students the skills they need to interpret art across time periods and cultures. These courses are about developing visual literacy, understanding major themes in the history of art and introducing how and why artists make art. Whether you are just starting out in art history or are well-versed in art knowledge, our introductory and general courses will help you develop techniques for visual analysis.
Online, classroom-based and gallery-based art history courses
Many of our courses are also offered online, giving you the freedom to study from anywhere you need to be. We also offer our classes in-person at our Central London location and at many galleries and museums in and around London. Use the Location filters on this page to choose your preferred delivery method. See our guide to online learning for more information about our live online courses.
Learn from expert tutors
At City Lit we are proud of the expertise of our tutors who are all professional art historians working actively in museums, galleries, research and writing, universities and auction houses. As experts in the field, they are able to provide you with the support and guidance you need to develop your art historical knowledge. As teachers they provide student-focused education, helping students achieve their art historical goals, both the personal and the professional.
- Art history tasterCourse start date: Mon 12 Sep 2022 (and 15 other dates)
Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayCurious about art history? Join us for this taster session where we explore different ways into visual art and its histories, from the ancient to the contemporary.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Peggy Guggenheim's VeniceCourse start date: Wed 14 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayJoin us for an introduction to one of the 20th century’s most important art collectors and why she chose Venice as the permanent home for her art collection. This is the inaugural course of City Lit Art History's 'Venice Season'.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Animals in art - from medieval art to todayCourse start date: Tue 20 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeThis course focuses on historical shifts in the depiction of animals from the late medieval period to the present, and on the contemporary representations of human-animal relations.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Islamic art in the medieval worldCourse start date: Thu 22 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita ChowdryA course examining the formation and development of Islamic Art and Design; looking at the role of ideology and patronage, and the key influences that went into its development and evolution.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Full fee £559.00 Senior fee £447.00 Concession £363.00
- Friday lates: the Venice BiennaleCourse start date: Fri 23 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronExplore the Venice Biennale, the oldest international contemporary art exhibition in the world. If you are curious to learn a brief history of the Biennale and discover highlights of this year’s event, join this Friday Late to find out more.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Introduction to art historyCourse start date: Tue 27 Sep 2022 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayAre you interested in art and want to get more out of looking at art and exhibitions? Want to know what an art historian does? Develop your interpretative skills by exploring at how art is made and what social and cultural factors construct our understanding of it.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £142.00 - What makes a masterpieceCourse start date: Mon 3 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoLook at works of art in the Western canon and ask why we consider them to be masterpieces. What formal qualities do they all share, if any, or is our interpretation of a masterpiece largely subjective?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £142.00 - Friday lates: the Bauhaus in LondonCourse start date: Fri 7 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie BarlowThe Staatliches Bauhaus opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Fourteen years later it was shut down by the Nazis. Celebrate 100 years of Modernism in architecture and design and discover how Bauhaus style spread to London.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Lunchtime lecture: the lure of Venice, art on the Grand TourCourse start date: Wed 12 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayWhat’s so inspiring about Venice? See the city through the art of Grand Tourists. Look at the atmosphere, light and myth of Venice through the art of Turner and his contemporaries.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Canaletto's Venice: serenity in the cityCourse start date: Wed 2 Nov 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore the drama of Canaletto’s paintings. Discover what his art tells us about social space and political power in ‘The Most Serene’ Republic of Venice.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Friday lates: art and alchemy: from the ancient to todayCourse start date: Fri 11 Nov 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierDelve into a magical world of hidden secrets and bizarre symbolism as we distil the heady mix that is art and alchemy; from early manuscripts and renaissance paintings, to the surrealists and contemporary art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Still life in the history of art: opulence and fragilityCourse start date: Tue 10 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresStill-life paintings usually represent ordinary things, often small and arranged on an indoor surface, without human presence. Long regarded in western art as the lowliest subject or “genre”, one that only required technical skill rather than imagination, still lifes are now considered some of the most charming and best loved paintings and can contain intriguing meanings that repay close study.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Introduction to the art of art history - part 1Course start date: Sat 14 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersThis course is an introduction to Art History as an academic discipline. Students will study artworks from a variety of approaches, considering such aspects as formal analysis, material studies, and social, cultural and artistic contexts.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £175.00 - Looking at sculptureCourse start date: Sat 14 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy sculptures from the Classical to the Post-Modern era, including work by Donatello, Bernini, Canova, Rodin, Picasso and Whiteread, considering styles, materials and techniques of works within social and cultural contexts.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £87.00 Concession £71.00
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