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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- 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 - Seeing inside paintingsCourse start date: Thu 16 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caroline RaeDiscover the secrets of the Old Masters and learn how they created their wonderful effects in this introductory course on painters and painting. We will consider the physical history and scientific examination of artworks in relation to aspects including forgeries, hidden paintings and conservation/ restoration.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Cezanne – from aspiring Impressionist to Post-Impressionist revolutionaryCourse start date: Thu 23 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveExplore the development of Cezanne revolutionary approach to painting, his techniques and motifs and some of the many artists whose work he influenced.Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - Global arts of AfricaCourse start date: Fri 24 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Thomas BalfeThis course introduces major forms of African art in their regional and global contexts. It studies classical traditions of carving, metal casting, architecture and textile arts as well as twentieth-century and contemporary developments, including the work of photographers and conceptual artists.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Japonisme: Japanese influence on European art in the 19th century
Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore how 19th century European artists from the Impressionists to Art Nouveau transformed their artistic language with the study of Japanese prints. - Art and Refugees in HampsteadCourse start date: Sun 2 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneCome on a walking tour of Hampstead discovering where refugee artists from the Second World War lived and the people and institutions which made great efforts to save and support them.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - National Portrait Gallery Course start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowDiscover portraiture and the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Different periods and styles are discussed each week in front of the portraits.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £103.00 - Indigenous Australian art: an introduction Course start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Arjmand AzizIndigenous Australian art has, in recent years, been increasingly exhibited and discussed in Britain. Yet little is known about the history and development of this art movement and the oeuvres of the artists responsible for its creation. This introductory course will provide a history of how Indigenous Australian artists have changed and challenged the course of national and international art fields in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinema Course start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the work of Chinese artists and filmmakers between the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st as they try to make sense of a world caught on the cusp between the old and the new. What place did art and cinema have in socio-political movements, and how did visual culture reflect the hopes and anxieties of the time?Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Still life in the history of art: opulence and fragilityCourse start date: Thu 6 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresStill-life paintings usually represent ordinary things, often small and arranged on an indoor surface, without human presence. Long regarded in western art as the lowliest subject or “genre”, one that only required technical skill rather than imagination, still lifes are now considered some of the most charming and best loved paintings and can contain intriguing meanings that repay close study.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Friday lates: The East India Company and the passion for chintzCourse start date: Fri 7 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita ChowdryExplore the story of how Indian painted and printed cottons became an important trade commodity for the Western domestic market, and the far-reaching impact of their design and manufacture.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Mughal decorative arts: an introductionCourse start date: Mon 10 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Arjmand AzizExplore the splendour and technical sophistication of the decorative arts during the Mughal era (1526-1857) in South Asia in this introductory course.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Study day: Modern art and colour – from post-impressionism to fauvismCourse start date: Sat 15 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore the experimental use of colour and form in the late nineteenth century post-Impressionists and Symbolists paintings, and study its impact on the Fauve artists, with focus on Matisse.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Introduction to the Wallace CollectionCourse start date: Wed 19 Nov 2025
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 £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Friday Lates: the art of zines Course start date: Fri 21 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierUnderground passions and radical imagery have defined so-called fanzines for over 80 years. From the earliest examples to today, we explore their content, technique and the relation of DIY culture to wider artistic practices.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
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