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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- Focus on: Giotto
Course start date: Sun 29 Jan 2023Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoDiscover the life and work of Giotto, was one of the earliest artists to be written about within his lifetime, his genius held up as the ideal by Italian painting critics for the next five centuries.
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 - Velázquez, painter to the KingCourse start date: Sat 25 Feb 2023
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 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Focus on: British printmaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuryCourse start date: Sun 26 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julia MusgraveDiscover the work of the significant artist-printmakers who worked in Britain from the late 19th century through to the Interwar period: the printmaking processes they used, and the ways they variously responded to tradition and modernity.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Focus on: David HockneyCourse start date: Sun 5 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie BarlowIn 2011 David Hockney was voted most influential British artist of all time in a poll of over 1000 artists. Explore how Hockney’s career as painter, photographer and writer has evolved over six decades.
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 - Cutting it fine: collage in modern & contemporary artCourse start date: Sun 5 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Chantal CondronImmerse yourself in an exploration of the history of collage going as far back as ancient China to international contemporary art today. This engaging study day will enhance your knowledge of the roots of this fascinating media, and illustrate how collage techniques have been pivotal to major modern and contemporary art movements, from Cubism, Dada and Surrealism to photomontage and digital art.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Animals in Renaissance artCourse start date: Mon 6 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lydia GoodsonBeasts are everywhere in the art of the Renaissance. Discover why they are there and how artists created the painted and sculpted menageries of both real and imaginary creatures that populate Renaissance art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Purchasing power: patronage and art buying in the Italian RenaissanceCourse start date: Sun 12 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lydia GoodsonDiscover the back-story of 'how art works come to be' by learning about the patronage and production of artworks in Renaissance Italy.
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 - Focus on: VermeerCourse start date: Wed 22 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoMaster of stillness and light, author of only 35, maybe 36, known works, Vermeer’s art continues to fascinate. Discover his life and works in the context of the Dutch Golden Age.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Focus on: iconographyCourse start date: Sun 26 Mar 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoEver wondered whether there’s a hidden meaning behind paintings? Discover why there are signs and symbols in paintings and how to find and interpret their meanings in medieval and Renaissance art.
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 - Makers not muses: Claude Cahun, Eileen Agar and Isabel RawsthorneCourse start date: Wed 26 Apr 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Chantal CondronExplore 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 £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £45.00 - Focus on: fashion in 16th century artCourse start date: Fri 28 Apr 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julie BarlowDo you know your codpiece from your farthingale? Why did the ruff become so fashionable? How do we identify figures in narrative and religious art? This short course explores the fascinating world of costume in 16th century European painting. Explore the socio-political context behind portraiture, how fashion was employed to convey status, and the impact of developments in textiles and trade.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Focus on: HopperCourse start date: Sat 29 Apr 2023
Location 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.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Private portraits: painted miniatures in early modern EuropeCourse start date: Fri 5 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresPortrait miniatures are some of the most exquisite and beguiling likenesses ever produced. Their tiny scale and painstaking creation give them an intricacy, intimacy and sense of intrigue. These often reflect the circumstances in which they were gifted to their new owners by the person commissioning them, and both the images and their wider contexts repay our close study on this course.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Study day: Degas, drawing the modernCourse start date: Sun 21 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore Degas’s extraordinary legacy as ‘one of the founders of Impressionism’. His dynamic paintings and sketches of everyday life and activities, and his bold colour experiments will be examined throughout this informative weekend art history course.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Copies & copyists in antiquity: art, beauty and misunderstandingCourse start date: Thu 8 Jun 2023
Location on this date: Online
Explore the often-overlooked world of ancient copies and copyists, how their work helped to save art treasures for the future and how it impacts on our modern perception of the Ancient World.
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
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