Online Art Ideas & Theory Courses

The voyages of William Wallis and those that followed brought back images and people that fascinated Europeans. This lecture explores the art and lives impacted by the age of British colonisation. From Captain Cook to Dido Belle, we think about how colonial ideas like ‘the noble savage’, paradise and the myth of civilisation were reinforced in painted images.

In the wake of war, many people in Weimar Republic Berlin revelled in what Sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld called the 'varieties of love'. This course explores the art of the era: the modern beauties of 1920s Berlin and how they rebelled against the ugliness of oppression.

This lecture will examine how the intersections of art, architecture, philosophy and sensory experience of Chinese gardens show continuity and change from the early modern period to the present day. In early modern China, gardens were more than places of retreat, they functioned as major social, cultural and economic sites. In our time of ecological crisis, gardens play a crucial role in mitigating pollution. This lecture is part of the 2026 Art History Festival organised by the Association for Art History.

Why are virtues such as Justice, Liberty, Charity and Fortitude almost always depicted as women? This session explores the history of personified virtues in Italian art, examining how moral ideals were visualised as female figures and what these images reveal about gender, symbolism and artistic tradition.