Modern & Contemporary Art
Art History Courses Online & In London

Get to know the art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries with one of our expert art historians. If you’d like to be able to discern between surrealism and dadaism or, if you’d like to better understand the art experiments of the avant garde, we have a wide variety of classes on movements, artists and ideas to get you started or to build on your established knowledge. Join us online, in the classroom, in the gallery or out and about in London.

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.

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  1. Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
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  2. Study day: Surrealism - everything you’ve wanted to know, but were to afraid to ask
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 17 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Chantal Condron
    The Surrealist movement marks its centenary in October 2024, marking the moment that the First Surrealist Manifesto was launched in Paris led by its chief protagonist, André Breton. Come and celebrate this art historical landmark in this special workshop dedicated to Surrealist art. Get closer to the roots of the movement, discover its leading and less well-known artists; have a go at automatic drawing; and engage with Surrealism’s central themes of the dream world, unconscious and desire.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
  3. The beginnings of Impressionism: the Barbizon School
    Course start date:  Tue 19 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Who said the Impressionists were the first to paint ‘en plein air’? Get lost in wood and green and light and shade in the large forest of Fontainebleau near Paris and learn about a group of 19th-century painters who influenced the Impressionists in the art of painting landscape outside.



    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
  4. Makers not muses: Claude Cahun, Eileen Agar and Isabel Rawsthorne
    Course start date:  Fri 29 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Chantal Condron
    Explore the work of three radical artists whose work and practice defied convention in modern art from the 1920s to 1960s. Discover how each artist challenged and transcended society’s expectations of being a ‘muse’ by living freely and making art in a variety of media, from painting and sculpture to collage, photography and performance.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00
    Rating:
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  5. Lunchtime lecture: Art on the Silk Road
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    An introduction to the Silk Road and the eclectic art it produced. We explore how cultural connections transformed visual cultures from China to Byzantium.



    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 of 20th century Spain from Picasso to Almodóvar
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 15 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Mark Stuart-Smith
    The course provides a general introduction to Spanish art and culture of the period, and considers the distinctive contribution made by Spanish artists to 20th-century visual culture. Explore the development of Spanish art from Impressionist Joaquin Sorolla and Picasso’s 'Guernica' to the installations of Juan Muñoz in the 1980s and the cinema of Pedro Almodóvar.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £162.00
  7. Art in Britain 1890-1918 – New English Art Club to WWI
    Course start date:  Mon 20 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julia Musgrave
    Explore the works of British artists and their relationship to the legacy of academic painting and the art of continental Europe between 1880-1918. Who led developments and how does the art of the period reflect the times?



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
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