Camden Town and the London Groups – Great British Art 1900-1925
The Fitzroy Street group was founded by Walter Sickert in 1907, and then followed the three Camden Town Group exhibitions (1911-12), where we see the art of Sickert, Spencer Gore, Harold Gilman and Charles Ginner. Finally, the setting up of … More details …
Reading Paintings: The Shock of the New
From Van Gogh to Picasso, this course focuses on the early days of modern art. There will be a case study of Futurism and artistic reactions to the First World War. Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism, Surrealism, Dada: Duchamp … More details …
Women Artists of the 20th Century
The ‘art world’ like most places, is a male domain. Women artists are often marginalised and overlooked. Througout the day, we will not only study the lives and work of the women who contributed to the creative output of the … More details …
Daily life in Ancient Rome
What was life like in Ancient Rome? We shall try to find some answers through an exploration of some key aspects of life in Ancient Rome, including education, slavery and entertainment , through the eyes of those who lived there. … More details …
Reading Paintings: La Belle Epoque
From 1870 to World War 1, the French Third Republic produced some amazing art. This course focuses on key figures such as Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. Explore their studios, follow them to the Moulin Rouge and discover what … More details …
England in an Age of Reform 1815-1846
We will consider the reform act of 1832 and the Repeal of the Corn Laws, alongside the flowering of the romantic movement in poetry, the early works of Dickens and the technological advances of the time.
More details ...Stained Glass from the Saxons to the 21st century
Following the golden years of the high medieval period, stained glass suffered a major decline for some 200 years. The Victorians were responsible for a major revival, which made way for the Arts and Craft movement to take thing forward … More details …
Masters of Baroque Music (1600-1750)
Masters of the Baroque (1600-1750) : Discover the seamless beauty of some of the most exquisite music ever written, and how the great composers of this age influenced everything since. We will explore a wide range of works by … More details …
Pop goes the Easel – An introduction to Pop Art
Pop brought an end to 100 yrs of modernism. As the world was still trying to come to terms with abstraction, a new generation of artists produced a hard edged, graphic representational style. With its mix of comic book graphics, … More details …
From seed to fork: how plants evolved and humans adapted them
This is a day school in two halves. In the morning we explore the extraordinary 450 million-year evolution of plants and the inventive ways they solved the many problems arising from the move on to dry land – gravity, nutrition, … More details …
American Art 1845-1945: From Ashcan to the Atom Bomb
We look at the Hudson River Group and the Ashcan School of Painters in New York, concentrating on iconic artists that include George Bellows, Georgia O’Keefe, Edward Hopper and Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’. Oscar winning films and photographs by Lee … More details …
Decadent Art and Literature
This course traces the rise and fall of decadence in the 19th century. From Baudelaire’s flowers of evil to the death of Dorian Grey, we will assess symbolist painting, sample the delights of the Vienna Secession and explore Paris at … More details …
Painting the Nation: Dutch Masters
PAINTING THE NATION – DUTCH MASTERS This dayschool will examine the Art of the Lowlands from late 16th Century to the end of the 20th Century. It will look at artistic development from the viewpoint of different themes and we will examine … More details …
The Rise of Women Gardeners in the 20th century
The Rise of Women Gardeners in the Twentieth Century. This course focuses on the influential garden-making of four ‘working amateurs’ – Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish and Beth Chatto – as well as the growth of professional training for women gardeners. … More details …
The Origins and Future of Britishness
The Origins and Future of Britishness What does it mean to be British? Does the term have any meaning in a globalised world, or when the United Kingdom is riven by rival nationalisms? This course will explore how the past has shaped our … More details …