History of Art

The History of Art degree at The Courtauld introduces students to a wide range of visual art from the ancient period up to the present day. The curriculum – revised in 2022/3 – offers teaching across an unrivalled breadth of periods and cultures. You will have the opportunity to study art and architecture from late antiquity to the present, and from across the Globe: from Byzantium to the Early Modern Islamic World, from Medieval and Renaissance Europe to International Modernism, and from Contemporary China to the African Diaspora. Our objects of study include buildings, paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, performance and installation art, fashion history, design and more.

Over three years of study, our BA degree builds up a broad, deep and multifaceted understanding of Art History, encouraging both range and specialism and fostering subject-specific and transferable skills and knowledge. It encourages you to study works of art at first hand, including The Courtauld’s own extraordinary collections, and to understand them in the light of the latest critical approaches and ideas. You will read resources from our world-class library, including books, exhibition catalogues, articles and primary sources and will learn to articulate your own ideas in relation to them both orally and in writing. All our teachers are researchers at the cutting edge of their areas of specialism and they bring their knowledge, discoveries and ideas to discuss with you in seminars, lectures, gallery visits and tutorials. You’ll also have the opportunity to study a language, and apply for dedicated funds to travel and see works of art you are studying.

Courtauld students come from all kinds of backgrounds, and most are studying the History of Art for the first time. History of Art is a broad, exciting humanities degree that prepares students for many, diverse career routes, and our students have gone on to a range of careers both within the cultural and heritage industries, the art world and beyond.