Online Art History Courses

The 17th century produced some of the greatest artists of all time: Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquezand Bernini to name but a few. Explore the work of these key artists and understand the history, styles and ideas that shaped the century.

This Friday Late art history course spotlights the work of artist Lubaina Himid, one of Britain's most thought provoking artists.

Do you enjoy looking at art but want to understand it more deeply? This introduction to art history course will help you build confidence in interpreting art by exploring topics such as beauty, the role of the artist, gender, the art market, and global art history-giving you fresh insight into what you see in galleries and museums.

Discover how British design ideas influenced German design schools in the late nineteenth century and how that influence was reversed in the 1930s when artists, designers, writers and architects embraced Bauhaus and Modernist design as a way to revitalise postwar Britain, and Bauhaus teachers were refugees in London. But did they succeed in making Britain modern?

Explore the way painters through history have used colours to create effects and convey meaning and emotions. Looking into the history of pigments, colour theory, and colour symbolism, this course focuses on an essential aspect of the art of painting.

The golden panels of the Sienese masters are immediately identifiable but why was their work so different? Today we explore the art of Siena, its world, its symbolism and how it was made.

Learn how emperor Augustus harnessed the power of images to propel his vision for Rome and its empire.

A brief introduction to Peggy Guggenheim's collecting practice and how it evolved into one of the most significant collections of modern art. From her revolutionary exhibition space in New York City to her transformation of the Venice Biennale, we will see how she saved modern art from the clutches of fascism.