The Department of the History of Art is one of the best known in the UK. Our lecturing staff are scholars of international standing and have won major prizes for their research. We will introduce you to a wide range of art-historical skills and methods and teach you to use them critically, creatively and  independently. Central to your work will be detailed studies of particular works of art, supported by visits to museums, galleries and monuments.

Example modules

The Natural World and the Arts of Modernity

This module comprises a series of lectures and related seminars which look at the two themes of The Natural World and The Arts of Modernity. The  module will provide a historical survey of western art which – instead of adopting a conventional chronological approach – employs a thematic one which encourages stimulating cross-comparisons across time and space. It will introduce students to the broad spectrum of images, ideas and  approaches which the history of art comprises. Students will acquire a basic grasp of the essential areas which they will need to use as reference points for other modules in the degree.

Art in the Age of Revolution

The period spanning the last third of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries was an “age of revolution” throughout Europe (and America).
Political events such as the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, the French Revolution, heralded by Enlightened ideas and precipitated in 1789 by the fall of the Bastille, the accession to power of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the subsequent conflicts France and its European neighbours were involved in, heralded a sea change in all fields of human activity that would have a profound and lasting influence in Western European art and culture.

The History of Art Department offers modules not only to students specialising in art history but also to those based in other departments in the University. Students from other Departments must contact the Module Tutor when they arrive at Warwick. Students should also check with their own department before registering for one of these modules.