The Courtauld

Photo London 2024 – Ticket Offer

Caitlin Brooker — Wed, 15 May 2024 09:56:17 +0000

Photo London opens on 15 May at Somerset House and we are delighted to offer ticket holders 20% off standard adult tickets to The Courtauld Gallery between 15 – 19 May 2024.

Visit our world-famous collection and enjoy our iconic Impressionist masterpieces such as Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Manet’s A Bar at the Folies Bergère.

This ticket offer entitles Photo London ticket holders to redeem one standard adult ticket to The Courtauld Gallery’s permanent collection, valid on 16 – 19 May 2024 (10am – 6pm, last entry 5:15pm) only. Tickets must be booked in person at The Courtauld Gallery ticket desk. Please show your Photo London ticket to access the offer.

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Sony World Photography Awards 2024 – Ticket Offer

Caitlin Brooker — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:27:58 +0000

returns to Somerset House from 19 April to 6 May 2024, and we are delighted to offer SWPA ticket holders 20% off standard adult tickets to��The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads at The Courtauld Gallery between 19 April and 6 May.

You can also visit our world-famous collection and enjoy our iconic Impressionist masterpieces, such as Van Gogh’s��Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear��and Manet’s��A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

*This ticket offer entitles SWPA ticket holders to redeem 20% off one standard adult ticket to The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads, valid from 19 April to 6 May 2024 (10am – 6pm, last entry 5:15pm) only.

Tickets must be booked in person at The Courtauld Gallery ticket desk. Please show your SWPA ticket to access the offer.

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5 things you didn’t know about… Samuel Courtauld

Caitlin Brooker — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:17:49 +0000

Samuel Courtauld was a man of many talents. As chairman of Courtaulds Ltd he was an important industrialist and government advisor, and as a philanthropist and art collector he helped to establish the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1932, as well as contributing to the collections at the National Gallery. He began the art collection at The Courtauld Gallery, now home to one of the world’s great art collections, including iconic Impressionist masterpieces. Read on to find out more about the��character of this fascinating and influential man.

Despite his wealth, he considered himself a bit of a maverick and an outsider

Although Samuel Courtauld was, thanks to his family business, part of the wealthy middle class, he was proud of his independent spirit. This applied to his taste in art of course: his niece recalled how shocked his friends were when he started buying Impressionist paintings and hanging them in his elegant 18^th-century townhouse. However, it is also evident in the way that he viewed his role in the Courtaulds company. Unusually amongst industrialists at the time, he wanted workers to have large shares in the company so they could reap the profits of their labour. He also promoted education, childcare, sick leave and pension benefits among his employees, and lobbied the government to extend them to other businesses.

Samuel Courtauld in the mid-1930s

He never went to university

Born in prosperous family, Samuel went to a prestigious boarding school. He did not go on to university, unlike his siblings (including his sisters, a rare occurrence at the time). Instead, he became an apprentice in textile factories in Germany and France, which enabled him to learn the family business. He then joined one of the Courtaulds textile mills in Essex and rose through the ranks. He became chairman of the company in 1921.

His wife, Elizabeth, bought their first works of modern art

In 1901, Samuel married Elizabeth Kelsey, who shared his passion for art. A patron of music and progressive benefactor of social causes in her own right, Elizabeth is the one who initiated their purchases of French modern art. In 1922, she bought two recently painted works, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Woman Tying her Shoe and Saint-Paul, Côte d’Azur by a young artist in the Cubist vein, Jean Marchand. Her taste seems to have been more avant-garde than Samuel’s. For example, she loved Picasso, which he didn’t.

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Woman tying her shoe, circa 1918, oil on canvas, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

He exhausted his friends going to exhibitions

Samuel and his wife Elizabeth were avid travellers: they went to Aix-en-Provence to trace Paul Cézanne’s footsteps, met dealers, artists and collectors all over Europe and America, and visited many exhibitions. One of their friends commented on Samuel’s endless energy for looking at art: ‘pictures excite Sam so much that he spends sleepless nights, he visited … Degas, Braque and Constantin Guys’ exhibitions [in one day]’.

He wrote poetry about works of art

Poetry had always been an important part of Courtauld’s life but it was only after he retired that he was able to fulfil his long-standing desire to publish his own poetry. Entitled Pictures into Verse, the book of poems showcased Courtauld’s responses to old master and Impressionist paintings that he loved. Two paintings in his own collection were included, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s La Loge (The Theatre Box) and Spring, Chatou. Courtauld was proud of the volume and sent it to friends and correspondents in the art world. He died a few weeks after its publication. One of his friends said that Courtauld had been ‘a businessman with the soul of a poet’.

Pier-Auguste Renoir, La Loge, 1874, oil on canvas, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Le Printemps, Chatou, circa 1873, oil on canvas. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

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5 things you didn’t know about… Impressionism

Caitlin Brooker — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:17:43 +0000

Who were the Impressionists? How did they work, and what made them different? We now know all about Monet, Cézanne, Pissarro, and many more, and how their approach to art changed art history. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the First Impressionist Exhibition, held in Paris in April 1874, read on to find out some things you may not know about the Impressionist movement.

The term was originally an insult

The group of artists we now know as the Impressionists came together to show their work in Paris in 1874, after having been rejected from the annual state-sponsored exhibition where artists’ reputation had typically been made. They wanted to promote a new way of painting and rented a small studio to display their work. Critics initially dismissed it as unfinished and too sketchy, giving only the impression of things, and not a finished, accurate depiction. This is in fact what the painters sought to do, with Monet calling one of his paintings Impression, Sunrise. The artists adopted the insult as their own and organised seven more ‘Impressionist’ exhibitions over the next decade.

Exhibition catalogue of the First Impressionist Exhibition, taking place at 15 April to 15 May 1874, 35 boulevard des Capucines, in the former workshops of photographer Nadar. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

A simple technical innovation made the movement possible

Up until the middle of the 19^th century, artists were a bit stuck in their studios because the paints they used had to prepared right before they started to work (many artists had assistants do this, mixing ground pigments with oil to create a thick coloured paste). The invention of the small tin tube allowed oil paint to be stored without drying and squeezed out in small quantities as needed. Paint could be carried around easily, thus allowing artists to leave the studio and work out of doors. They could also use many different colours at a time.

Claude Monet (1840-1926), Antibes, 1888, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

Working out of doors could be challenging

Painting landscapes was an important part of the Impressionists’ mission. It enabled them to study the changing light on the same feature at different times of day for example, or to render reflections on the water with their characteristic short brushstrokes. Earlier painters had made sketches in nature but finished their landscape paintings in the studio. The Impressionists most often painted theirs entirely outside; bits of sand or insects are regularly found embedded in the paint. Monet even had a small boat fitted as a studio so he could paint views of the river. He was also one of the few Impressionist painters who continued to paint outside in winter, creating beautiful snow scenes.

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899), Snow at Louveciennes, circa 1874, oil on canvas. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

The Impressionists were excited to represent modern life

In their formal training, painters were usually taught that certain themes were more worthy of being represented than others. These included religious or historical scenes (preferably from ancient Rome) and portraits of statesmen for example. The Impressionists argued that life around them was more interesting and set out to paint their surroundings and their friends, documenting the exciting developments that Paris was experiencing in the late 19^th century. New cafés and places of entertainment were opening, department stores encouraged a new society of consumers, people spent more leisure time in parks, along riverbanks and on the coast, which they could reach thanks to the expanding railroad. Paris was an exciting place to be at that time, although the Impressionists also painted those exploited by this boom, such as impoverished factory and service workers.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, (1841- 1919) La Loge, 1874, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

England played an important role in the development of Impressionism

In 1870-71, many French artists settled in London, fleeing the Franco-Prussian war that had left Paris isolated and starving. In London, they were able to start painting again and expand their networks. It was in London for example that two Impressionist painters, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, met the French dealer that would become their champion, Paul Durand-Ruel. Thanks to him, Impressionist works were regularly exhibited in London throughout the 1870s and beyond. However, no gallery was buying these works and it wasn’t until the 1920s that Impressionism was properly represented in public collections in the UK, thanks to Samuel Courtauld’s purchases and support.

Archive poster from when The Courtauld Gallery moved to its new home in Somerset House in the 1990s. Image © The Courtauld

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Watch: An interview with Frank Auerbach

Ashleigh Toll — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 12:55:37 +0000

In this new film, hear artist Frank Auerbach reflect on his life and artistic practice.

During his early years as a young artist in post-war London, Auerbach produced one of his most remarkable bodies of work: a series of large-scale portrait heads made in charcoal. Auerbach spent months on each drawing, working and reworking them during numerous sessions with his sitters.

The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads at The Courtauld Gallery is the first time these extraordinary post-war drawings, made in the 1950s and early 1960s, have been brought together as a comprehensive group. They are being shown together with a selection of paintings he made of the same sitters; for Auerbach, painting and drawing have always been deeply entwined.

The exhibition is a unique opportunity to see early masterpieces by one of the world’s most celebrated living artists.

The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads
9 February – 27 May 2024

Title partner: Griffin Catalyst. Supported by Kenneth C. Griffin, The Huo Family Foundation and The Garcia Family Foundation

Produced by Fergus Carmichael, 2024.
Music by Cameron Graham

Exhibition, The Courtauld Gallery, What’s On Highlights

Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads

9 Feb – 27 May 2024

A remarkable group of large-scale drawings by Frank Auerbach is being presented together for the first time at The Courtauld Gallery….

The Courtauld Gallery, What’s on Highlights

The Courtauld Lates – Frank Auerbach

6:30pm, 24 May 2024 | Over 18s only. £5- £14

Join us for The Courtauld Lates, a series of after-hours art, cocktails and music, and a last chance to experience our latest exhibition….

Visit The Courtauld Gallery

Book your visit to see The Courtauld Gallery’s much-loved collection of masterpieces ranging from the Middle Ages to the 20th century….

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Courtauld alumnus Dr. Nicholas Cullinan appointed as Director of The British Museum

Caitlin Brooker — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 12:45:28 +0000

We are delighted to report the appointment of alumnus Dr. Nicholas Cullinan OBE (BA 2002, MA 2003, PhD 2010) as the new Director of The British Museum.

Nicholas Cullinan is an art historian, curator and current Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, a position he has held since 2015. He completed his BA, MA and PhD at The Courtauld and his PhD thesis, The Archaeology of Knowledge: Excavating Arte Povera, was supervised by Professor Sarah Wilson. During his student days Nicholas worked as a visitor services assistant at the National Portrait Gallery, little knowing that he would later become its director, aged just 37. Nicholas was responsible for leading the £35.5m transformation of the gallery, which reopened in June 2023 to critical acclaim. He received a well-deserved OBE this year for his services to Art.

Prior to taking the helm at the National Portrait Gallery, Nicholas worked in some of the most prestigious museums and galleries in the world, including the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao, New York and Venice, Tate Modern and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

We wish Nicholas every success in his new role.

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Reworking Manet project nominated for London Higher Awards

Caitlin Brooker — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 17:58:04 +0000

We are delighted that Reworking Manet, a live project brief for state school students aged 14-18, ��has been nominated for a for London creative arts initiative of the year.

Developed by The Courtauld’s learning team in collaboration with a group of young people and Turner Prize-winning artist and Courtauld alumnus Jeremy Deller, the project began as a pilot project in 2021/22, encouraging students from all subjects to research, interrogate and respond creatively in any media to Édouard Manet’s famous painting��A Bar at the Folies-Bergère��(1882) in The Courtauld’s collection. The project opened to UK-wide submissions in Spring 2023, engaging over 300 young people (aged 14-18) and 20 teachers in 40 UK state schools and colleges through online, in-person and in-school workshops.

An outstanding selection of works by 59 students were exhibited in The Project Space between October 2023 – February 2024, exploring a wealth of themes drawn from the painting and seeking to raise important issues in our everyday lives.

The project also produced an online toolkit, for anyone who wants to dive further into Manet’s artwork, designed to support your research and inspire your creative responses to the painting.

Young people’s conversations sketched live by Courtauld Educator Toya Walker during an online workshop with artist Jeremy Deller © Toya Walker, The Courtauld

London Higher Awards 2024

London Higher is a membership organisation for universities and higher education colleges across the capital. Their annual awards recognise initiatives delivered by London universities, and this year’s awards will also celebrate their 25th birthday.

Ahead of the 2024 awards, received 159 application submissions from 38 institutions across 12 award categories. The winners will be announced on 6 June 2024, at a ceremony in London.

Explore the Reworking Manet Project

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The Courtauld Book Sale returns on 25-26 March

Ashleigh Toll — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 10:28:28 +0000

The Courtauld’s much-loved Book Sale returns on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 March 2024 after a 4-year hiatus.

The Courtauld Student’s Union will open its doors once again to sell thousands of books on art and architecture at bargain prices.�� The sale will be a two-day event at our Vernon Square campus.

Monday 25 March, 10:00 – 12:00��
The 2024 sale opens with a preview for Courtauld Friends and Patrons, Students, Staff, and Alumni.

Monday 25 March,12:00 – 17:00 and Tuesday 26 March,12:00 – 19:00
Public Book Sale open.

A vast number of interesting tomes have been donated, including some old and rare publications as well as some poetry and fiction on related topics. The books will be sold at a range of low prices, from as little as £1.50. They will be arranged into different themes, so that everyone can find something of interest. Come and peruse at your leisure!

All proceeds from the Book Sale go directly to��The Courtauld Fund,��supporting vital areas of need including student grants to assist with the rising cost of living, student welfare services, our careers and mentoring programmes and much more.

Please come along with friends, family, and colleagues (the more the merrier), find some beautiful books, and help to support the next generation of Courtauld students in the process.

Please note that the Book Sale is card payments only.

For all enquiries please contact:��students.union@courtauld.ac.uk

This event is organised by the��Courtauld Students’ Union.��

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The Courtauld appoints Elena Crippa as new Curator of Contemporary Art and Lynda Nead as a Visiting Professor

Caitlin Brooker — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 14:55:06 +0000

We are delighted to announce two new appointments as part of The Courtauld’s ongoing strategy to expand our curatorial and academic expertise. Beginning in May, Dr Elena Crippa will join the institution as its first Curator of Contemporary Art: Exhibitions and Projects and Professor Lynda Nead FBA will become a new Visiting Professor, starting in the autumn. ��

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The positions will enhance The Courtauld’s resources and ambitions as an internationally renowned centre for the teaching, research and curation of art. Elena Crippa’s role will focus on the development and delivery of original and stimulating exhibitions of contemporary art, building on the success of The Courtauld’s recent programme, which has featured displays by artists such as Peter Doig (2023), and Claudette Johnson (2023) and the current exhibition The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition:��Frank Auerbach. The Charcoal Heads. As Visiting Professor, Lynda Nead will develop a series of major research projects and conferences at the Courtauld, as well as contributing to teaching programmes and mentoring PhD students.

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Professor��Mark Hallett, Märit Rausing Director, The Courtauld, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Elena and Lynn to The Courtauld, which has been at the forefront of the study of art since its foundation in 1932. Their profound knowledge and experience will play a significant role in expanding the organisation’s innovative teaching programme and in delivering an exciting programme of exhibitions and events.”��

Dr. Elena Crippa, Curator of Contemporary Art: Exhibitions and Projects

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Dr Elena Crippa is the current Head of Exhibitions at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. She is a renowned curator of modern and contemporary art, with a wealth of experience and an international reputation. Prior to her appointment at the Whitechapel last year, she was Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary British Art at Tate Britain. There, she curated such exhibitions as��Paula Rego��(2021),��Frank Bowling��(2019), and��All��Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life��(2018). She also curated the 2022 Duveen Commission at Tate Britain, Hew Locke’s��The Procession. She is the author and editor of numerous publications, including the catalogues for the exhibitions mentioned above.

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Professor Lynda Nead FBA,Visiting Professor

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Professor Nead, previously Pevsner Professor of History of Art at Birkbeck, is one of the UK’s most distinguished art-historians, and an internationally renowned specialist in the visual culture of Victorian and modern Britain.��Her books include��The Tiger in the Smoke: Art and Culture in Post-War Britain��(2017). She is currently completing a book called��British Blonde: Women, Desire and the Image in Post-War Britain, which will come out next year.��

Images (left to right): Portrait of Dr Elena Crippa, photo courtesy of Elena Crippa. Portrait of Professor Lynda Nead, photo courtesy of Lynda Nead.

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New films on Hew Locke’s The Procession (2022) featuring Courtauld scholars released

Caitlin Brooker — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 17:56:41 +0000

Courtauld Institute of Art scholars have contributed to a series of newly commissioned films on The Procession (2022) by British sculptor and contemporary visual artist Hew Locke, which are now available to .

The Procession was a large-scale installation displayed in Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries from 22 March 2022 – 22 January 2023. It invited visitors to ‘reflect on the cycles of history, and the ebb and flow of cultures, people and finance and power.’

Each of the 10 films approaches The Procession from a different perspective and focuses on a distinctive topic or theme. Contributors from The Courtauld Institute of Art include Professor Mark Hallett, Märit Rausing Director; Dr Esther Chadwick, Lecturer in Art History; Indie A. Choudhury, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art and Professor Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History.

Other films feature Hew Locke himself, along with Elena Crippa, Saloni Mathur, Richard Drayton, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert and Sria Chatterjee.

The films are part of a wider project organised by the Paul Mellon Centre to generate fresh and original perspectives on what is emerging as a major artwork of our time.

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