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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- Modern art in Ireland: a century of rebellionCourse start date: Sat 21 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Henry MartinThis course explores how artists on the island of Ireland have responded to, and created, cultural and social change between 1922 and 2022. Themes include religion, inequality, post-colonialism, modernity, secularism and the Troubles.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - London architecture: post-modernismCourse start date: Sat 21 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersLondon’s recent building boom has foregrounded discussions about architectural style, but postmodernism has been practiced in the capital for more than forty years. This course will look at the style’s variety through key examples.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Modern art in America, 1900-1930: the Ashcan School to Precisionism
Course start date: Sat 4 Nov 2023Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy American art, including paintings, illustrations and cartoons from late-nineteenth century Impressionism and Realism to Precisionism, analysing movements and styles, social and political context, materials, and art theory.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Modern art in America, 1930s: the age of Hopper, Rivera and the New Deal Course start date: Sat 11 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersFrom Edward Hopper to Philip Evergood to Diego Rivera, study American art from the turbulent 1930s, analysing movements and styles, social and political context, materials, and art theory.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Study day: Kandinsky, Mondrian and pure abstractionCourse start date: Sat 18 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore abstraction as it developed in different locations and within different movements, with a focus on Kandinsky and Mondrian as key examples, considering issues such as content ambitions, artistic influences and stylistic
developments.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £38.00 - Study day: Rothko, Pollock and Abstract ExpressionismCourse start date: Sat 25 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore the Abstract Expressionist movement, focusing on Pollock and Rothko as its key examples, considering
issues such as the movement’s social and political context, artistic influences, and stylistic progress.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Study day: Monet & Impressionism Course start date: Sat 2 Dec 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore the Impressionist movement, focusing on Monet as its key example, considering such issues as biography, social change, artistic influences, material developments and stylistic progress.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - The Victorians: art, architecture and designCourse start date: Sat 20 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore the visual culture of Victorian Britain through a range of artworks and disciplines including painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic design, furniture, fashion, and textiles. Includes a visit to the V&A Museum.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Velázquez, painter to the King Course start date: Sat 24 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Mark Stuart-SmithInvestigate the work of the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, including enigmatic paintings such as Las Meninas (1656), and learn about how his art relates to his political role as court painter to Philip IV.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 - Looking at sculpture: from Donatello to RodinCourse start date: Sat 24 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy sculptures from the Classical to the Modern era, including work by Donatello, Bernini, Canova, and Rodin,
considering styles, materials, and techniques of works within social and cultural contexts.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Focus on: Hopper
Course start date: Sat 20 Apr 2024Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy Hopper’s key works, including 'Automat' and 'Nighthawks', within the context of biography, social and political events, and movements such as Regionalism, Social Realism and American Scene painting. - Art in the age of Napoleon: politics, painting & propagandaCourse start date: Sat 27 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore the art of Napoleonic Europe via issues such as political and social upheaval, Neo-Classical priorities, and the rise of Romanticism, in the work of artists such as David and Goya.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Looking at design: Arts and Crafts to Art DecoCourse start date: Sat 4 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy the design reform movements – Arts and Crafts, Aesthetic Movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco – and analyse a wide range of products, including fashion and textiles, graphics, furniture and architecture within their social, historic and artistic context. Includes a museum visit.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - 20th century design: modern and post-modernCourse start date: Sat 8 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy the dominant design aesthetics of the twentieth century – its development, successes and fall from popularity. Movements will include Constructivism, the Bauhaus, Pop and Punk. Design practices will include graphics, architecture and furniture. #arthistory #weekendcourse #design #modernism #bauhaus.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Study day: Pop Art, from Warhol to HockneyCourse start date: Sat 6 Jul 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy work of artists such as David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol within the context of the international Pop Art movement and the changing world of mass culture, consumerism, and celebrity.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
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