The Courtauld

The Courtauld World-famous Gallery and international centre for the teaching, research and enjoyment of art history Look deeper, see further.
(1892)

Explore art across centuries and from around the globe.


19/06/2026

Discover the story behind Élisabeth Vigée Le Bruin’s mesmerising portrait of Countess Golovina, currently on display in The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable Collection.

⏰ Open in the 20th Century Gallery and Blavatnik Fine Rooms until 31 August
🎟️ Included in the Permanent Collection or Permanent Collection + Exhibition ticket
💛 Courtauld Members go free

📷 Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842), Portrait of Countess Golovina, around 1800, oil paint on canvas, 83.5 x 66.7cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

BA History of Art student Andrew Dearman went to Egypt courtesy of the John Hayes Travel Fund.There, he participated in ...
18/06/2026

BA History of Art student Andrew Dearman went to Egypt courtesy of the John Hayes Travel Fund.
There, he participated in an intensive Arabic language programme and saw lots and lots of art.

Andrew has a keen interest in cultural heritage policy, protection and repatriation, and used this opportunity to investigate Egypt's relationship with its cultural heritage.

🔗 Read about his experience here: https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2026/cultural-encounters-in-egypt/

An ode to gallery attendants 🎨This pastel work portrays a porter of the Royal Academy, probably John Withers, standing i...
17/06/2026

An ode to gallery attendants 🎨

This pastel work portrays a porter of the Royal Academy, probably John Withers, standing in the entrance hall of the Academy's premises at Somerset House.

Holding an admission ticket and an exhibition catalogue, he greets visitors to the annual Summer Exhibition. Behind him, fashionable visitors jostle up the famously steep staircase to the Great Room on the top floor (now, it is home to the Courtauld Gallery's collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces).

As an Academician, the pastellist John Russell would have known Withers well. This portrait was included in the Summer Exhibition of 1792 and displayed in this room.

Today, you can find it on display in the Blavatnik Fine Rooms at the Courtauld Gallery - but not for long! See it on your next visit before it comes off display on 30 June.

📷John Russell (1745-1806), A Porter of the Royal Academy, probably John Withers, 1792, pastel on paper. Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © Courtauld

Step inside the London studio of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson... Our current Project Space display Hepworth and Ni...
13/06/2026

Step inside the London studio of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson...

Our current Project Space display Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio Photographs brings together a remarkable group of photographs of their shared studio at 7 The Mall, Hampstead, taken in the early 1930s by the fine art photographer Paul Laib (1869-1958).

Read our latest blog post to discover some of the photographs on display and what we can learn about Hepworth and Nicholson's lives in 1930s London.

Read now - https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2026/in-the-studio-with-barbara-hepworth-and-ben-nicholson/

This display coincides with The Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen Exhibition: Hepworth in Colour (12 June - 6 September 2026).

Courtauld Members go free.

We are deeply saddened by the news that David Hockney has passed away. David was a very good friend of the Courtauld and...
12/06/2026

We are deeply saddened by the news that David Hockney has passed away.

David was a very good friend of the Courtauld and we were always delighted to welcome him to visit our collection and exhibitions, most recently during The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Monet and London. Views of the Thames in 2024. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Elena Crippa, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art: Exhibitions and Projects, said: "David Hockney created some of the most arresting and influential pictures of our time. From his passion for drawing and optical devices to his representation of q***r love, he played a uniquely important role in how we look and think about the world through images. His belief in art’s crucial role in seeking knowledge, pleasure, connection and joy remains vital and immensely inspiring."

Image: Getty Images. Tony Evans/Timelapse Limited.

12/06/2026

The Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen Exhibition: Hepworth in Colour is now open at the Courtauld Gallery ✨

★★★★★ “A dazzling fresh take on a genius” - The Times
★★★★★ “Compelling” - London Standard
★★★★”Ravishing sculptures” - The Guardian

Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) is best known for her abstract sculptural forms inspired by nature and the rugged seaside landscapes of Cornwall, where she lived and worked.

This summer, explore a less familiar aspect of her work, the artist's lifelong fascination with colour, which she used in highly original and unexpected ways.

This focused, research-driven exhibition unites her innovative sculptures with colour of the 1940s for the first time, displayed alongside the most important drawings from that decade, and includes major examples of her work with colour from the 1950s and 1960s.

⏰Until 6 September 2026
🎟️ Book now: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-hepworth-in-colour/

Courtauld Members go free.

How well do you know Barbara Hepworth? 🤔The Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen Exhibition: Hepworth in Colour at the Courtaul...
09/06/2026

How well do you know Barbara Hepworth? 🤔

The Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen Exhibition: Hepworth in Colour at the Courtauld Gallery (opening this Friday) will be the first ever exhibition devoted to the artist’s lifelong fascination with colour, which she used in highly original and unexpected ways.

This focused, research-driven exhibition will be comprised of around 18 sculptures and 26 exceptional drawings and paintings, showing sculpture in dialogue with her painted and graphic works.

Here are 5 things to know about of one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century and what you can look forward to in the exhibition.

Read the full blog post: https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2026/5-things-to-know-about-barbara-hepworth/

Dr Sofia Gotti is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art in South America. Her work br...
08/06/2026

Dr Sofia Gotti is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art in South America. Her work broadly focuses on the intersections of radical politics, art, and popular culture, to consider how patriarchal, colonial and racial orders can be destabilised or diffused.

On this year's Venice Biennale, Sofia commented:

"If we think about the Venice Biennale through the lens of populism, right and left, its complexities begin to untangle. The urgent call to express solidarity with those suffering war, genocide and oppression, is on display through the work of artists who set out to deconstruct the world orders that bring these events into being. It’s always ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ Some responses are violent; others are whispered in the titular minor keys. It’s impossible to silence the chaos at this biennale - and maybe that is a good thing."

Join us at the Art and Populism symposium and evening panel organised by Courtauld in collaboration with Oxford on June 11-12 - https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/art-and-populism/

Now open: Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio PhotographsDiacover the London studio of Barbara Hepworth and Ben...
06/06/2026

Now open: Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio Photographs

Diacover the London studio of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, through the photographs of fine art photographer Paul Laib 🎥

This display, now open in the Project Space, brings together a remarkable group of photographs from their shared studio, taken in the early 1930s by the fine art photographer Paul Laib (1869-1958).

⏰ 6 June - 4 October 2026
📍 Project Space
🎟️ Included with Gallery Entry. Book now - https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/hepworth-and-nicholson-the-hampstead-studio-photographs/

📷 Paul Laib (1869-1958), The studio at 7 The Mall with various works by Ben Nicholson, June 1933. Modern gelatin silver print from the original glass plate negative. The de Laszlo Collection of Paul Laib Negatives, Courtauld Institute of Art. Ben Nicholson © All rights reserved, DACS; Paul Laib © The de Laszlo Foundation

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