Online Art Ideas & Theory Courses
Delve deeper into the ideas, debates and philosophies that shape the art world with City Lit’s online art ideas and theory courses. Explore the key thinkers, movements and concepts that influence how we understand, create and critique art — all from the comfort of your own home.
Whether you’re curious about aesthetics, want to understand the theories behind modern and contemporary art, or explore critical writing and interpretation, our expert-led courses offer engaging and accessible learning for all levels. With live sessions, group discussions and expert tutor support, you’ll develop your understanding of how art connects with wider cultural, social and philosophical ideas.
Our online art ideas and theory courses are open to adults of all ages — no previous study required. Join a community of like-minded learners and gain new perspectives on the meaning and purpose of art.
Explore our online art ideas and theory courses today and deepen your understanding of the ideas behind the art.
- Friday lates: Art in Colonial Australia, painting natural history
Course start date: Fri 13 Mar 2026Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ben PollittExplore the period of intense artistic activity in the early years of Colonial Australia (c. 1788–1800). We will see how both convicts and military personnel produced hundreds of images depicting the remarkable natural history that they found in the settlement.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: Art and maps Course start date: Fri 27 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierMaps have a long and fascinating history, yet it was really the 20th Century that saw them come alive as an artistic medium, as artists turned to them to explore their place in a disoriented world. Discover the many ways artists have worked with maps, from Surrealism through to Digital Media.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Ways into advanced art history: research & writing Course start date: Tue 14 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayDevelop a greater understanding of art history and how to analyse the cultural meaning of an artwork by going in-depth with the ideas of prominent art historians. This course is meant to cultivate your personal practice of art history through small, guided research and writing projects.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Art and critical theory: vision and gaze Course start date: Wed 22 Apr 2026
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 the topics of vision and gaze.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Friday lates: Poster art – print, pop and propaganda Course start date: Fri 24 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierGet a snapshot of the eye-catching and colourful world of poster art, from Belle Époque decadence to Avant-Garde dynamism; from Art Nouveau to Atelier Populaire, and the everyday glamour of Pop.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: Text and image - from calligraphy to emoji in Chinese art (1900-now)Course start date: Fri 8 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Xinrui ZhangIn China, writing is more than just words. It is a mark of status, a tool of political control, and a celebrated art form in its own right. This course explores what happened when contemporary artists began questioning that authority: inventing fake scripts, creating a readable story without a single word ♀️✈, filling rooms with nonsense slogans, and playfully challenging the language of power.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lost Course start date: Fri 15 May 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierFrom pub crawls to punk rock, via comic books, action painting and Hegelian philosophy; hear the unlikely tale of the Situationists: international artist-revolutionaries who tried to change the world itself into a work of art.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Art and critical theory: feminism and post-colonialism Course start date: Thu 4 Jun 2026
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.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Friday Lates: Art beyond the human - spirits, ecologies, and A.I. Course start date: Fri 26 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierTo some, art is central to what makes us human, but artists have long engaged more-than-human agencies—spiritual, ecological, now digital. Surrealism appropriated spiritualist and indigenous traditions; Land Art made ecosystems co-authors. Today, as some talk of an ‘Anthropocene’, many artists turn their attention elsewhere. Did ancient hominids make art? Can birds, or even fish? And what about AI? Decentering the Human reshapes what art is—but are we ready?
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: Ancient China/modern fantasiesCourse start date: Fri 6 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the material culture of imperial China and its influence on modern and contemporary visual cultures.
Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Friday lates: Art and alchemy – from the ancient to today Course start date: Fri 13 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierDelve into a magical world of hidden secrets and bizarre symbolism as we distil the heady mix that is art and alchemy; from early manuscripts and renaissance paintings, to the surrealists and contemporary art.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £19.00 - Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites Course start date: Tue 24 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberExplore the work of Van Eyck in relation to Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelites more generally; consider how this 15th century painter influenced artists some 300 years later.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Adoring the Christ Child in art: images of the very generous Magi Course start date: Thu 3 Dec 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberThe images of the Adoration of the Magi will be taken from medieval illuminated manuscripts, as well as panel paintings done for churches and chapels and fresco cycles. Artists covered include Italian artists such as Duccio, Giotto, Botticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Gentile da Fabriano, and northern Renaissance artists including Gossaert and Breughel.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00
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