Art history

Art History courses online and in London

Looking to build your confidence in discussing and interpreting art? Or are you interested in taking your established knowledge of art in new directions? Then come and join City Lit’s Art History learning community!

Our exceptional range of courses, both introductory and in-depth, are designed for all learning levels. Our programme approaches art history from a variety of perspectives including social and cultural context, art theory and philosophy, curation and collecting, general art appreciation and so much more.

Choosing the right class for you

Our courses are open to all. Our students come from all backgrounds and learning experiences, from the absolute beginner to those refining their knowledge and understanding. We aim to give you the confidence to engage meaningfully with art, whatever level you are working from. Our students use our courses for personal fulfilment as well as professional and educational development. Many of our students go on to advanced degree and certificate programmes and many are able to use their knowledge in art making and gallery work.

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.

For the latest news, courses, events and competitions, stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

Items 31-45 of 66

Page
per page
Set Descending Direction
  1. Aubrey Beardsley and the art of queer decadence
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 19 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Discover the subversive and wildly successful art of illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. Explore his illustrations and how his depictions of gender challenged the status quo of late Victorian Britain.



    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 £7.00
  2. London's smaller galleries: Apsley House
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Wed 19 Jun 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Julie Barlow
    Explore the home and art collection of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.
    Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00
    Rating:
    90% of 100
  3. Movements in art: Post-Impressionism
    Course start date:  Wed 19 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Seurat are all called Post-Impressionists, yet each had different styles and preoccupations. Explore their work and lives and learn why they left such a valuable legacy.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
    Rating:
    93% of 100
  4. Friday lates: Pacific portraits - British artists, Pacific sitters and their impact on 18th century portraiture
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 21 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    From Joshua Reynold's portrati of Omai to portraits made during the voyages of Captain James Cook, discover how encounters with Pacific Islanders changed the course of British eighteenth-century.



    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
  5. Snapshot Queers: Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans
    Course start date:  Tue 25 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Henry Martin
    This course explores how photographers Nan Goldin (b. 1953) and Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968) employ the aesthetic of the snapshot to document queer communities, with a focus on their early careers and unique installation and photographic practices.



    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 £7.00
  6. Art and critical theory: rethinking 'nature'
    Course start date:  Wed 26 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Irina Chkhaidze
    Explore the role of critical theory within the field of art history, and learn new ways of thinking about art by focusing on how recent authors have been rethinking our understanding of nature.



    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
  7. Homosexuality in Greek vascular painting
    Course start date:  Thu 27 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Simone Chisena
    Discover the ways in which homoeroticism found its way onto Ancient Greek vases and how its depiction flourished in the ancient world.



    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
  8. Study day: Pop Art, from Warhol to Hockney
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 6 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Rachel Sanders
    Study work of artists such as David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol within the context of the international Pop Art movement and the changing world of mass culture, consumerism, and celebrity.
    Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
  9. Lunchtime lecture: Van Gogh's art history
    Course start date:  Mon 8 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    What influenced the art of Vincent van Gogh? From 17th century Dutch still lives to symbolist poetry, Japanese prints and French realist painting we explore how van Gogh’s study of art history shaped his art practice and subject matter.



    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
  10. Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
    Course start date:  Mon 8 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Explore the work of Van Eyck in relation to Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelites more generally; consider how this 15th century painter influenced artists some 300 years later.



    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 £15.00 Concession £12.00
  11. Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico – the two monastic painters
    Course start date:  Tue 9 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Join us for a close reading of the works of Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico, two of 15th century Italy's most influential artists. We study their techniques, their subject matter and how they communicated narratives in painting. Explore all the wonderful tactile visual details they added to the works.



    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 £15.00 Concession £12.00
  12. Women in art: 1900-1960
    Course start date:  Tue 16 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    On this course we shall explore and examine the considerable, and significant, contributions of women painters and sculptors to the avant-garde art world during the first half of the 20th century.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00
    Rating:
    98% of 100
  13. Art and melancholy: from the Enlightenment to the Victorian age
    Course start date:  Wed 17 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Study the art of the period from c.1750-1880 considering Romanticism and the Pre-Raphaelites. We look at ‘romantic’ landscape, the modern moral subject and the depiction of women. Explore the art of women artists who struggled to survive as artists in the tightly controlled world of the art academy where the woman was encouraged to be muse and model rather than creator and thinker.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
    Rating:
    70% of 100
Page
per page
Set Descending Direction

Can't see a course you want?

Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.

Add me to waiting list