Online Art History Courses
Explore the stories behind the world’s greatest art with City Lit’s online art history courses. From Renaissance masterpieces to contemporary art, our expert-led courses offer fresh insight into artists, movements and ideas — all from the comfort of your own home.
Whether you’re new to art history or looking to deepen your knowledge, our flexible online courses cover a wide range of subjects, from individual artists and periods to themes, techniques and cultural contexts. With live sessions, group discussion and expert guidance, you’ll develop your understanding and appreciation of art in a supportive learning environment.
New to art history? Don't worry, you don't need any prior experience to join our courses. Just bring your zest for learning and discover a community of fellow art lovers unlocking new ways of seeing and thinking about art.
Explore our online art history courses today and start your journey into the world of art with City Lit.
- Focus on: Giotto
Course start date: Sun 22 Mar 2026Location 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.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - A history of Westminster in 12 ½ portraits Course start date: Mon 23 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneDiscover some of the dramatic and life changing events in Westminster history through a series of National Portrait Gallery portraits ranging from Hans’s Holbein’s portrait of Henry VIII for Whitehall Palace to a more recent addition to the collection, a controversial portrait of suffragette Christabel Pankhurst by Ethel Wrigth. Many of the artists were Westminster based and if the sitters were not, their influence helped to change government policies.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 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 - Lunchtime lecture: Surrealism and fashionCourse start date: Tue 14 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore the ways surrealism used fashion as a way to disrupt and create new beauty standards. From Man Ray to Meret Oppenheim and Elsa Schiaparelli we'll look at photography, sculpture, clothing and jewellery to better understand a core area of the surrealist agenda.
Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - 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 imagination: from the Enlightenment to the Victorian age Course start date: Tue 21 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberStudy the art of the period from c.1750-1880 considering Romanticism and the Pre-Raphaelites. We look at ‘romantic’ landscape, the modern moral subject and the depiction of women. Explore the art of women artists who struggled to survive as artists in the tightly controlled world of the art academy where the woman was encouraged to be muse and model rather than creator and thinker.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Mon 23 Mar 2026 (and 9 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayCurious about art history? Join us for this taster session where we explore different ways into visual art and its histories from the ancient to the contemporary.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - An introduction to art history Course start date: Wed 22 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caroline LevisseExplore what art history is, why it matters, and how it’s changing. We explore ways to look at works of art and how to interpret them. We also examine key ideas in the history of art such as 'the masterpiece' and 'the canon'. The goal is to sharpen your art historical skills and learn how to think of art through the perspective of an art historian.
Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - 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 - Origins of the Italian Renaissance: the Primitivi Course start date: Thu 23 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simone ChisenaDiscover the history, politics and intellectualism that fuelled the Italian Renaissance. Explore the art of Giotto and his peers from a new perspective.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £129.00 - 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 - Gods and heroes from Classical to Renaissance art Course start date: Fri 24 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoExplore the fascinating gods and heroes of classical and post-classical art through relevant artworks. How popular were they in classical society? What roles did they play?
Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Arts of Imperial China Course start date: Wed 29 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the arts of imperial China spanning across 13 dynasties and 2000 years. Study how painting, sculpture, and architecture were deeply shaped by its richly diverse culture, philosophy, and religion.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Lunchtime lecture: From darkness to light - painting philosophy in the Italian RenaissanceCourse start date: Wed 6 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayAn introduction art inspired by the philosophy of Neoplatonism. Come to understand how this philosophy was a driving force behind the art of some of the Italian Renaissance's most significant artists: Fra Angelico, Botticelli and Michelangelo.
Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - 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
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