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.
- Lunchtime lecture: Constable’s HampsteadCourse start date: Fri 22 Mar 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneExplore Georgian and Regency Hampstead walking (virtually) in the footsteps of John Constable and seeing places he painted and quotes about his thoughts and feelings on Hampstead and his 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 £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Art history tasterCourse start date: Mon 25 Mar 2024 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
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 - The history and meaning of portraitureCourse start date: Mon 15 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Leslie PrimoExamine the changing face of the portrait in art history from the early Renaissance to the present. Look at how and why its meaning and function have changed over the years and why artists are still drawn to it despite photography. - Lunchtime lecture: John Singer Sargent - beautiful subversionCourse start date: Wed 17 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore the historical context of John Singer Sargent’s fashionable portraits to better understand their depth and importance in modern 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 - Costume and fashion in artCourse start date: Mon 22 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julie BarlowCostume from the past rarely survives, except in the depiction of it in paintings. Explore 500 years of costume in European art across a range of subject matter and decode the socio-political contexts and cultural identities contained within the choice of dress.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00 - Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinemaCourse start date: Tue 23 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the art of Chinese artists and filmmakers from the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st, as they try to make sense of a world on the cusp between the old and the new, marked by encounters with imperialism and iconoclasm. Learn what place art had in socio-political movements, and how it reflected the hopes and anxieties of its time.
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 - Islamic art in 25 objectsCourse start date: Wed 24 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Anita ChowdryDiscover important objects of Islamic Art dating across a more than a millennium in London galleries. We will study world-famous objects, discover lesser known gems, study their context and understand how they relate to one another and the wider world.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Friday lates: the body as image and material in 20th century artCourse start date: Fri 3 May 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore 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 - An introduction to art history: interpreting theoryCourse start date: Sat 4 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore 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 - Sanctuary in the city – public art by refugees and immigrantsCourse start date: Tue 4 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneCome 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 - Symbols and stories: saints in artCourse start date: Tue 4 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresSaints are represented in masterpieces of Christian art from 1200 to the present – learn how to recognise them, decode their meanings and iconography and enhance your understanding of this aspect of art history. This course includes a gallery visit. - A brief history of printmakingCourse start date: Fri 7 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayDiscover the complexity of printmaking through this introduction to its history. Explore the cultural contexts, social ideas and artistic methods that make printmaking distinct to other forms of art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £119.00 - Ways into Islamic artCourse start date: Tue 11 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita ChowdryAn introductory course providing an overview of the development of the visual language of Islamic cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Yoko Ono - viewer as participantCourse start date: Wed 12 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayGet to know the art of Yoko Ono from performance art to installation. We explore how the artist works in collaboration with the participant to create communal art for all.
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 - Art and critical theory: rethinking 'nature'Course start date: Wed 26 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore 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
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