The Courtauld

The Courtauld World-famous Gallery and international centre for the teaching, research and enjoyment of art history Look deeper, see further.
(1884)

Explore art across centuries and from around the globe.


Reality, vision, or artistic representation?20th century art is often thought of as a series of radical challenges to tr...
12/10/2026

Reality, vision, or artistic representation?

20th century art is often thought of as a series of radical challenges to tradition, as artists sought out new and ever more vital ways of representing the world.

This striking painting by Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte epitomises the idea of breaking into new unexpected territory. It depicts a shattered window, the broken pieces of which still bear the fantastical view of the eagle-topped mountain beyond it.

The title, ‘Le Domaine d’Arnheim', is taken from a 19th-century short story by Edgar Allen Poe that tells of land cultivated to a kind of perfection otherwise only attained by landscape painters. In taking up Poe’s themes of the ideal and the real, Magritte was knowingly recasting ideas present throughout Western art history.

See it as part of Modern Painting from the Courtauld and Reuben Collections, on display now in the 20th Century Gallery.

🎟️ Included with Gallery Entry. Find out more at the link in bio⁠
💛 Members go free⁠

📷 René Magritte (1898-1967), Le Domaine d’Arnheim (The Domain of Arnheim), 1949, oil on canvas, 99.7 x 81.3cm. Reuben Collection. © 2026 ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London

Welcome Week at the Courtauld Institute 🎉We were delighted to welcome a new cohort to explore the history, curation, con...
10/10/2026

Welcome Week at the Courtauld Institute 🎉

We were delighted to welcome a new cohort to explore the history, curation, conservation and business of art in September. Whether you’re joining us for nine months, three years or more, we hope you’ll enjoy your time with us studying in the heart of London.

Jiyoung, who won our Welcome Week competition, told us, “My first few weeks at the Courtauld Institute have been a happy blur. So much felt unfamiliar at first, but I soon realised how naturally a shared love of art connects people. I’m looking forward to all the moments still to come!”

Thanks to all our students who contributed photos 📷
Kris,
Nhu,
Courtauld Fashion Society,
Marie,
Melissa,
Olivia,
Divjyot,
Jiyoung,

“Artists have been at the forefront of working with new technologies and art historians have led the way in understandin...
09/10/2026

“Artists have been at the forefront of working with new technologies and art historians have led the way in understanding questions of representation, visual communication, and creativity. The critical and ethical understanding that art and art history can bring to AI is crucial, even as new technologies can make possible new methods of analysis and avenues of thinking.”

Lucy Bradnock, Dean for Research at the Courtauld Institute

We’re pleased to announce that the Courtauld has been awarded a grant that will enable researchers to pursue innovative projects at the intersection of AI and art history.

The Denise Coates Foundation Awards will enable the Courtauld to award research grants totalling £250,000 over five years to cross-disciplinary teams of advanced researchers at the Courtauld and King’s College London.

It builds on the 10-year strategic relationship between our institutions and cements a mutual commitment to path-breaking research that addresses urgent intellectual, cultural and societal challenges.

Read the story: courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2026/courtauld-institute-awarded-major-grant-to-support-innovative-research-in-art-history-and-ai/

09/10/2026

★★★★★ "One of the most sought after painters of his generation" - Time Out
"Sensual, dangerous, joyous" - Financial Times
"Luminous, dreamlike scenes" - British Vogue
"Electrifying pictures" - Guardian

Salman Toor: Someone Like You is the first solo exhibition in Europe of the celebrated New York-based painter Salman Toor (b.1983), whose paintings and drawings explore human interactions and the desire and struggle to experience a sense of belonging, both culturally and emotionally.

Explore some of the artist's most iconic, thought-provoking and at times humorous paintings, never-before-seen in Britain, that represent people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alientation.

The exhibition is accompanied by a display of Toor's drawings, showcasing his mastery of this medium and the way it informs his practice as a painter.

⏰Until 10 January 2027
🎟️ Book now: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-salman-toor-someone-like-you/
Courtauld Members go free.

Lead Support from Bukhman Foundation and the Salman Toor Exhibition Circle, with Additional Support from the Ryan Taylor Collection and Simon Nixon. The exhibition media partner is AnotherMan and Dazed.

This autumn, discover an overlooked innovator of the Bloomsbury Group, Winifred Gill (1891-1981) 🎨Coming soon to the Pro...
08/10/2026

This autumn, discover an overlooked innovator of the Bloomsbury Group, Winifred Gill (1891-1981) 🎨

Coming soon to the Project Space, Winifred Gill: A Bloomsbury Pioneer will spotlight a gifted artist and a central figure at Roger Fry’s avant-garde Omega Workshops, through works held in the Courtauld’s collection.

Gill studied at the Slade School of Fine Art before joining the Workshops as a designer, maker, and business manager, but her contributions have since remained largely overlooked.

On display will be a number of Gill’s inventive toy designs for the Omega Workshops, as well as a remarkable still life painting that is deeply characteristic of the Bloomsbury style in its response to colour and form. Later prints will show how Gill’s style developed in the 1920s, with sketchbooks and printing materials offering a deeper understanding of her practice.

⏰ 14 October 2026 - 20 January 2027
🎟️ Included with Gallery Entry. Find out more: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-winifred-gill/
💛 Members go free

📷 Winifred Gill (1891-1981), Toy Design - Shawl Dance, 1914-16, graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on wove paper. Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © Bodleian, Oxford

Winifred Gill (1891-1981), Miss Cashmore’s Office, around 1923-26, linocut hand-coloured with watercolour. Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © Bodleian, Oxford

Winifred Gill (1891-1981), Still Life with Glass Jar and Silver Box, 1914, oil paint on cardboard. Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © Bodleian, Oxford

Salman Toor’s work represents people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alie...
06/10/2026

Salman Toor’s work represents people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alienation 💚⁠
⁠
While Toor’s figures and scenes are fictional, they are rooted in his personal experiences and memories. Speaking of his works, he says they:⁠
⁠
“Depict q***r and immigrant lives that straddle different cultures and inhabit the tension between intimacy and exposure, belonging and estrangement. What it means to find a community, but also the daily costs associated with visibility.” 💭⁠
⁠
Experience Toor’s work for yourself in Salman Toor: Someone Like You, now open at the Courtauld Gallery. Read our latest blog, 5 things to know about Salman Toor, to find out more about the artist.⁠
⁠
✨ ★★★★★ “One of the most sought after painters of his generation” – TimeOut⁠
✨ “Sensual, dangerous, joyous” – The Financial Times⁠
✨ “Luminous, dreamlike scenes” - British Vogue⁠
✨ “Electrifying pictures” - The Guardian⁠
⁠
⏰Until 10 January 2027⁠
🎟️ Book now: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-salman-toor-someone-like-you/
Courtauld Members go free.⁠
⁠
📷 Portrait of Salman Toor by Hugh Rochfort. Other images by Fergus Carmichael.

Pre-applications for our PhD programme are now open! The PhD degree at the Courtauld Institute is an ambitious, rigorous...
03/10/2026

Pre-applications for our PhD programme are now open!

The PhD degree at the Courtauld Institute is an ambitious, rigorous, and internationally renowned programme with a global outlook and unparalleled strengths in art history, conservation and curating.

You can apply to join full-time over three years, or part-time over six-years. The deadline for the pre-application is Friday 6 November.

Want to find out more? Join our Virtual Open Day on Wednesday 21 October, 14:00 - 15:00. Led by Professor Gavin Parkinson, interim Head of Research Degrees Programme, you'll be able to find out about the programme, application process, scholarships, and more.

Book your place now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/phd-virtual-open-day-tickets-2002192530757?aff=oddtdtcreator

📷 Image credits:
An Indian Lady, perhaps 'Jemdanee', Bibi of William Hickey, c. 1791 National Gallery of Ireland

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), Poster »Down with the Abortion Paragraphs!«, 1923, crayon lithograph (transfer of a drawing on transparent paper), 470 x 435 mm, Kn 198 II, Kollwitz Museum Köln, Inv. Nr. 70300/05016, www.kollwitz.de

Workshop of Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, Mantlepiece with the Pazzi coat of arms, 1433-1442, effaced 1478. Florence, Santa Croce. Photo: Emma Iadanza, with permission of the Fondo Edifici di Culto, Ministero dell’Interno

Salomée Souag, , Studio Image

02/10/2026

Salman Toor: Someone Like You is now open at the Courtauld Gallery 💚

The first solo exhibition in Europe of the celebrated New York-based painter Salman Toor (b.1983, Lahore, Pakistan), whose paintings and drawings explore human interactions and the desire and struggle to experience a sense of belonging, both culturally and emotionally.

This exhibition brings together some of the artist's most iconic, thought-provoking and at times humorous paintings, never-before-seen in Britain, that represent people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alientation.

The exhibition is accompanied by a display of Toor's drawings, showcasing his mastery of this medium and the way it informs his practice as a painter.

⏰Until 10 January 2027
🎟️ Book now: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-salman-toor-someone-like-you/

Courtauld Members go free.

Lead Support from the Bukhman Foundation and the Salman Toor Exhibition Circle, with Additional Support from the Ryan Taylor Collection and Simon Nixon. The exhibition media partner is Another Man and Dazed.

It’s your last chance to step behind the scenes of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson’s London studio 🎨Explore a remarka...
29/09/2026

It’s your last chance to step behind the scenes of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson’s London studio 🎨

Explore a remarkable group of photographs of Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) and Ben Nicholson’s (1894-1982) shared London studio at 7 The Mall, Hampstead, taken in the early 1930s by the fine art photographer Paul Laib (1869-1958).

The photographs are among the most evocative and iconic studio images taken in Britain in the 20th century, offering a captivating insight into Hepworth and Nicolson’s London studio environment, which they occupied until moving to Cornwall in 1939. It was the setting for a period of intense collaboration and experimentation for the two artists.

⏰ Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio Photographs - closing this Sunday, 4 October

🎟️ Included with Gallery Entry. Book now - link in bio

📷 Paul Laib (1869–1958), The studio at 7 The Mall with various works by Ben Nicholson, June 1933. Modern gelatin silver print on paper 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

Paul Laib (1869-1958), Barbara Hepworth's carving studio at 7 The Mall, July 1933. Modern gelatin silver print from the original glass plate negative. The de Laszlo Collection of Paul Laib Negatives, Courtauld Institute of Art. Barbara Hepworth © Bowness; Paul Laib © The de Laszlo Foundation

Heading to Frieze Masters this year? Dr Devika Singh and Dr Sofia Gotti, who lead our MA Curating programme, will be cur...
28/09/2026

Heading to Frieze Masters this year? Dr Devika Singh and Dr Sofia Gotti, who lead our MA Curating programme, will be curating the Spotlight section – the largest edition to date.

Frieze Masters returns to The Regent’s Park 14 – 18 October 2026, and this year’s fair is a meeting point for both established and growing audiences to engage with new perspectives, research and curation. Since it launched in 2012, Spotlight has been a defining feature of Frieze Masters.

The section curated by Dr Devika Singh and Dr Sofia Gotti is dedicated to solo presentations of 20th century artists active in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North and West Africa and across Asia. Spotlight will bring forth new research into these figures, and showcase works produced between the 1950s and the late 1970s.

Visit the link in bio to learn more.

Image: Luce Turnier, Femme Assise, 1986, Oil on board, 40 x 43 inches (101.6 x 109.2cm), Courtesy the St Fleur Collection

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