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.

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  1. An introduction to the history of architecture
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Thu 2 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    Architecture is the one art form that we cannot avoid even if we try. It shapes our environment and the way we live our lives, so understanding why buildings look the way they do is a vital part of understanding the world around us. This introductory course will enable you to do just that by examining the development of architectural styles from Ancient Greece to the present day.



    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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  2. Friday lates: the body as image and material in 20th century art
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 3 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Irina Chkhaidze
    Explore the representation of body and body-related practices by prominent modern and contemporary artists of the twentieth 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
  3. Looking at design: Arts and Crafts to Art Deco
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 4 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Rachel Sanders
    Study the design reform movements – Arts and Crafts, Aesthetic Movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco – and analyse a wide range of products, including fashion and textiles, graphics, furniture and architecture within their social, historic and artistic context. Includes a museum visit.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00
  4. An introduction to art history: interpreting theory
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 4 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Rachel Sanders
    Explore a variety of art movements, from Romanticism to American Social Realism through an introductory study of the writing of art theorists and commentators who have made a significant contribution to the Art History discipline.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  5. An introduction to stained glass at the V&A
    Course start date:  Thu 9 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Andreas Petzold
    Stained glass has been described as the most original and important medium in the high Middle Ages. The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of stained glass in the world, spanning the twelfth century to the modern period. The course will provide an introduction to this medium and the collection of it in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
    Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
  6. Art in Britain since 2000: where are we now?
    Course start date:  Thu 16 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Chantal Condron
    Discover how exciting, new UK-based artists use both experimental and traditional approaches to art to address issues of identity, history and personal experience.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  7. Lunchtime lecture: Reading Old Master Drawings - an art historical insight
    Course start date:  Wed 22 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    What is drawing and what is its unique place in the history of art? Come to understand this special medium through an exploration of some of the greatest draughtspeople in Western European art.



    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
  8. Sanctuary in the city – public art by refugees and immigrants
    Course start date:  Tue 4 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Marilyn Greene
    Come on a walking tour of public art through the City of London created by Refugees and Immigrants. We will explore artworks such as the 17th century carvings on the Monument and a Victorian plaques relocated on to the post Modern Number One Poultry by economic immigrants to the country as well as looking at mainly works by 20th century artists from refugee backgrounds who were either commissioned to make art works for site specific places or their works have been bought or moved to their locations.
    Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00
  9. Art and critical theory: feminism and post-colonialism
    Course start date:  Tue 4 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 feminism, post-colonial theory and the notion of the death of the author.



    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 £149.00 Concession £97.00
    Rating:
    80% of 100
  10. Reimaging the Renaissance: strange pictures
    Course start date:  Wed 5 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Mythical beasts, fruity swags, strange shell forms, odd expressions, the bizarre dream and fantasy subject matter – there is more to Renaissance art than meets the eye. Come and discover the strange work of Paolo Uccello, Carlo Crivelli, Piero di Cosimo, Ercole de’Roberti, Dosso Dossi, Cosmè Tura and Francesco del Cossa.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00
  11. Movements in art: Impressionism
    Course start date:  Wed 5 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    Study the work of a controversial group of painters working in and around Paris from the late 1860s and 1870s and explore how these artists re-thought their creative practice in response to modern life.



    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:
    90% of 100
  12. Art and society in the early modern Netherlands
    Course start date:  Thu 6 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Thomas Balfe
    This course focuses on Flemish and Dutch (Netherlandish) art of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The course will examine well-known artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt and Vermeer, as well as the role of artworks and visual images in the formation of religious, class, gender and national identities, in early science, and in cultures of collecting.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00
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