Sotheby's Institute: Art History

This online course will explore the major artists, movements, cultures, and ideas that have shaped the history of Western art through a combination of lectures and virtual tours of international museums and architectural monuments. In a dynamic online learning environment that balances live sessions with interactive activities, students will engage in an intensive study of famous works of art, art historical movements, and architecture.

Students will start by studying antiquity through virtual guided tours of the Acropolis Museum in Athens and other ancient Greek and Roman monuments. Through interactive online visits, students will learn about art from the medieval through the Gothic periods via cathedrals in France; the art of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Enlightenment at The Louvre and The Hermitage; and Impressionism through Modernism at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Students will also explore contemporary art through online viewing experiences curated by famous international art galleries and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Over the course of this journey, students will gain a framework for understanding different styles and concepts that have shaped the history of western art as well as the hot topics that remain important to artists today.