Britain and the world: art, travel and colonialism

What is the course about?

How did Britain’s growing connections with the wider world transform its art between 1550 and 1750? This course examines how global encounters – through exploration, trade, colonialism, and migration – reshaped the ways artists depicted people and places, and how art itself became a means of expressing Britain’s growing global ambitions.

We’ll explore how maps, portraits, and decorative arts reflected Britain’s expanding horizons and complex relationships with other cultures. From John White’s watercolours of Indigenous Americans and John Verelst’s striking portraits of Mohawk chiefs, to the allegorical works of unknown artists and the portraits of Sir Peter Lely, we’ll see how images shaped and reflected notions of race, status, and identity.

We will also consider the influence of immigrant artists and artisans, such as the French Huguenots, whose art and craftsmanship helped define a new British aesthetic. Finally, we will trace Britain’s fascination with collecting the world, through cabinets of curiosity, early museums, and the vast collections of figures like Hans Sloane that laid the foundations of the British Museum.

Across the course, we will consider how artistic production in this period was shaped by travel, trade, and migration, revealing a Britain deeply connected to the wider world through its art and material culture.

What will we cover?

• Cartography and travel writing: how maps, travel, and early colonial encounters shaped Britain’s view of itself and others, from John Speed’s cartography to Richard Hakluyt’s travel narratives.

• Portraiture and the depiction of colonial subjects: examining how artists such as John White, John Verelst, and Sir Peter Lely represented indigenous and Black sitters, exploring themes of race, power, and cultural identity.

• Trade and the East: the impact of the East India Company on British art and collecting, including Mughal exchanges and chinoiserie in British interiors.

• Immigration and British Art: how Huguenot artists and craftsmen, such as Louis Chéron, Paul de Lamiere and many others, redefined a British aesthetic through painting, design, and decorative arts.

• Collecting: from early cabinets of curiosity and costume books to the collections of Hans Sloane, we will trace the origins of museum culture and Britain’s global imagination.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

· Discuss how Britain’s global encounters shaped artistic and material production between 1550 and 1750.

· Identify and visually analyse artworks and objects that reflect cross-cultural exchange, power, and identity.

· Reflect critically on how travel, trade, and migration influenced ideas of Britishness and the legacies of colonialism in art.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is suitable for all levels.

You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations and hand-outs. You should be able to operate basic elements of Zoom, e.g. microphone, camera and log in.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught online with slide presentations and group discussions. This is a live lecture and will not be recorded for reasons related to copyright, data protection and digital infrastructure.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You might wish to purchase a notebook for taking notes. You might wish to buy some of the books on any reading list provided.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

British Art: 1700-1850