History of Art

The Courtauld MA in the History of Art provides the best in research-led teaching by world class faculty members in a unique, single subject setting. It is renowned for offering outstanding training in the specialised analytical and communication skills necessary for further research or for employment in the arts sector and across a wide range of careers. The programme excels at developing well-rounded and intellectually astute art historians and museum professionals equipped to make an important contribution to public life.

Special Options, ordinarily taught in small groups of 8–10, remain the hallmark of The Courtauld MA History of Art. Renowned for their rigour, their breadth and scope continues to expand, with options on Eastern Europe, China, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia, and from the Middle Ages to the contemporary world. Special options range across media, temporalities and geographies to include topics such as ‘Byzantium and its Rivals: Art, Display and Cultural Identity in the Christian and Islamic Mediterranean’, ‘New York-London-Paris, 1880-1940’ and ‘Continuity and Innovation: Reframing Italian Renaissance Art from Masaccio to Michelangelo’’. Recent additions to the programme include ‘”There ain’t no black in the union jack”: Race & Nation in Postwar Black British Art’, ‘Painters at Work: Material Reinventions of a Medium, 1945 to Now’, and ‘Black Futures. Reimagining Modernism after critical race’.

The MA History of Art combines our long-standing commitment to specialism with new means to foster fresh dialogues among students from across our tightly-knit community. MA History of Art students are also warmly invited to continue to expand their engagement with Art History by attending BA History of Art lecture series (notably Foundations, which provides a broad introduction to Art History across a range of periods and places) and a range of seminars and conferences organized by The Courtauld’s Research Forum. The Courtauld MA History of Art provides outstanding tailored support and supervision to help you realise your full academic potential and flourish in your career.

Find out more here: courtauld.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/ma-history-of-art/