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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- Ways into Islamic art
Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025Location 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.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Art and critical theory: feminism and post-colonialismCourse start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025
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 feminism, post-colonial theory and the notion of the death of the author. - The beauty of the medieval manuscript Course start date: Tue 10 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberIt is generally accepted that medieval illuminated manuscripts are very beautiful things. Something to do with all that gold-leaf maybe. While we cannot hold them in class, close-up digital reproduction will allow us to see if they really are as beautiful as we are told. Indeed, are none of them ugly? Join this course to find out. - Tuesday talks: Painted love – homosexuality in Ancient Greek vase paintingCourse start date: Tue 10 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simone ChisenaDiscover the ways in which homoeroticism found its way onto Ancient Greek vases and how its depiction flourished in the ancient world.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Reimagining the RenaissanceCourse start date: Tue 10 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberMythical beasts, fruity swags, strange shell forms, odd expressions, the bizarre dream and fantasy subject matter – there is more to Renaissance art than meets the eye. Come and discover the strange work of Paolo Uccello, Carlo Crivelli, Piero di Cosimo, Ercole de’Roberti, Dosso Dossi, Cosmè Tura and Francesco del Cossa.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Tuesday talks: Mystic modernism - modern art and spiritualityCourse start date: Tue 10 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronArt has long been inspired by themes, ideas and concepts of spirituality and magic. With the dawn of industry and technology in the modern age, what motivated artists to continue their pursuit of spiritual worlds? Why have these ideas remained so compelling to contemporary artists? On this engaging evening of art, magic and myth, explore work by selected artists from the early 1900s to the present day.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Ithell Colquhoun - mystical surrealistCourse start date: Tue 10 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayAn introduction to the art of Ithell Colquhoun from her academic days at the Slade to her mystical landscapes in Cornwall. We explore her subject matter, artistic process and her surrealist tendencies.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00 - Arts of Imperial ChinaCourse start date: Tue 24 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the arts of imperial China spanning across 13 dynasties and 2000 years. Study how painting, sculpture, and architecture were deeply shaped by its richly diverse culture, philosophy, and religion. - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Hell, Heaven and Purgatory in the Middle AgesCourse start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Online
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 £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00
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