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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- Introduction to art history
Course start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023 (and 3 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Thomas BalfeAre you interested in art and want to get more out of looking at art and exhibitions? Want to know what an art historian does? Develop your interpretative skills by exploring at how art is made and what social and cultural factors construct our understanding of it.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - A sense of place: Constable’s HampsteadCourse start date: Tue 3 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneExplore Georgian and Regency Hampstead walking in the footsteps of John Constable and seeing places he painted and quotes about his thoughts and feelings on Hampstead and his art.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Tue 19 Sep 2023 (and 14 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 art of the Burgundian Netherlands c. 1360-1480 Course start date: Tue 17 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julia MusgraveExplore how the extravagant lifestyle of the Burgundian court provided opportunities for an opulent Burgundian style to be developed and disseminated across Europe in the late middle ages and into the renaissance.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Constable and the British landscape traditionCourse start date: Tue 17 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneDiscover the development of the British Landscape tradition from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Victoria and Albert Museum has the largest collection of John Constable sketches in the world, and we will discuss the works on display in detail and compare with works by J.W.M Turner and other artists on display.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - London's smaller art collections Course start date: Tue 31 Oct 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowDiscover some of London’s fascinating smaller art collections and hidden art treasures on this gallery-based art history course.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - European architecture in the Middle Ages 800-1500 Course start date: Tue 7 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard PlantExplore the development of architecture in Europe from the Carolingian period to the end of the middle ages and study the major monuments – cathedrals, parish churches and castles of the age. - The art of the French RenaissanceCourse start date: Tue 21 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julia MusgraveWhat makes the art of the renaissance in France so fantastical and fanciful? How much does it owe to Italian artists? Where can you see examples and why does so little survive? Discover the story of the rise and fall of the French renaissance.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00 - Introduction to the Wallace Collection Course start date: Tue 19 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowEach week, we'll explore a different aspect of the Wallace Collection looking at its fine and decorative art objects, including paintings, furniture, porcelain and even arms and armour.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £87.00 Concession £71.00 - Weird and wondrous: the strange art of Bosch, Brueghel and the Surrealists Course start date: Tue 16 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberWelcome to the weird and wonderful world of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Breughel the elder – two northern Renaissance artists and a larger group of 20th-century artists known as the Surrealists who share many similarities with the strange and curious subjects that they conjured up to ignite discussion and even outrage.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - The beginnings of Christian art and architecture: from antiquity to the Dark AgesCourse start date: Tue 20 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard PlantExplore the sources of early Christian images in depth. We'll consider the main developments, and the motivations behind their origins.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Introduction to Tate Modern Course start date: Tue 20 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore different aspects of the permanent collection of Tate Modern by looking at the work of modern and contemporary artists in painting, video, sculpture and mixed media installations. - Change must come: art, politics and society Course start date: Tue 23 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayAn exploration of art history that draws on specific political and social movements in modern, Western history and how artists contribute to and/or influence the dialogue. We will conclude with an engagement with contemporary art and politics. - Hell, Heaven and Purgatory in the Middle AgesCourse start date: Tue 23 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberWhy were images to do with the afterlife so prevalent in the Middle Ages? Come, face your eternal destinies and look at images such as the Last Judgement, skeletons, filthy flesh, worms, ghosts and Hell mouths.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00 - Symbols and stories: saints in art
Course start date: Tue 4 Jun 2024Location 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.
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