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.
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- Art and critical theory: rethinking 'nature'
Course start date: Wed 25 Jun 2025Location 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.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00 - Tuesday talks: Emily Kam KngwarrayCourse start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Arjmand AzizIn July 2025 a major solo exhibition of Emily Kam Kngwarray, considered to be one of Australia’s greatest artists, will be held at Tate Modern. This course aims to introduce British audiences to the oeuvre of this remarkable artist.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025 (and 7 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.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Art in England transformed: the court of Charles ICourse start date: Wed 2 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
The art collection of King Charles I (1600-1649) was magnificent and hugely influential. Explore the artists, craftsmen, agents and connoisseurs who shaped one of the most important European art collections and learn about how objects and artists from across Europe made their way to London.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Edvard Munch: beyond the ScreamCourse start date: Fri 4 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
This session on Edvard Munch aims to give a fuller picture of the Norwegian artist’s creative legacy. To do so we will shed light on lesser-known works and aspects of his career. Munch’s art will appear immensely personal, and biographical, but also deeply connected to the cultural context in fin-de-siecle Europe.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Louise Bourgeois, the abject and the eroticCourse start date: Wed 9 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayAn introduction to the art of Louise Bourgeois, its feminism, both erotic and abject. We explore Bourgeois as a sculptor, printmaker and performance artist, looking at how she was influenced by psychology and biography.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00 - The art of Chinese gardens: nature and philosophyCourse start date: Wed 16 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
In early modern China, gardens were more than places of retreat, they functioned as major social, cultural and economic sites. In our time of ecological crisis, gardens play a crucial role in mitigating pollution. This course will examine how the intersections of art, architecture, philosophy and sensory experience of Chinese gardens show continuity and change from the early modern period to the present day.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Understanding AbstractionCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayLearn the common reasons for abstraction in art, across time and culture. From the Byzantine icon to the Igbo figurine, from Young Sook Park to Mark Rothko, we’ll think about how abstraction is more common in the history of art than is typically thought. Explore ways into thinking about and experiencing abstract art.Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - Modern art: movements 1850-1900Course start date: Fri 26 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore art and culture in the late 19th century Europe, focussing on the major developments in modern art including the Pre-Raphaelites, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Symbolism, and their relationship to wider cultural contexts.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Friday lates: the art of satire - Brueghel and HogarthCourse start date: Fri 26 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayWhy laugh in a time turmoil? Explore how artists Pieter Brueghel the Elder and William Hogarth reflected on the hypocrisy of their times with scathing satire. Reflect on how studying historic comedy might shift our perspectives on the value of humour, past and present.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - The foreign invention of British artCourse start date: Fri 26 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoTrace the importance of foreigners to the British art scene from the Tudor period to the Baroque. How did artists like Holbein, Dobson, van Somer and van Dyck influence the British School?Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Art and identity: from the High Renaissance to the ReformationCourse start date: Tue 30 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberExplore the legendary art and artists of the High Renaissance in Italy and the Netherlands from c. 1490-1540. Consider the role that ‘self-fashioning’ plays in their fame and notoriety through close reading engagement of a combination of images and texts.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Friday lates: the art of the frame Course start date: Fri 10 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveEvery picture tells a story, but what about the frame around it? Find out how picture frames can tell us more about the artworks they surround. - Introduction to contemporary art: ideas and originsCourse start date: Mon 13 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierEver wondered what's going on in the mind of contemporary artists? This course explores the ideas and historical background behind some of today’s most intriguing works, from Conceptualism and Video to Body Art and Installation.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Teatime Talks: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, imagined portraitsCourse start date: Tue 14 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronOne of the most absorbing contemporary artists working in the UK today, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints startling ‘portraits’ of characters entirely derived from her imagination. Discover aspects of her artistic process and the ideas and themes behind her paintings on this course.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00
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