Main picture:

Antiquity has provided a standard by which all subsequent periods have tended to be judged. The Jenkins Venus was thought during the neoclassical period to be the embodiment of love and beauty, so fundamental to contemporary ideas of art appreciation.

Students examining 17th century inlay work with William Lorimer, in Christie’s warehouse, London. Annibale Carracci was one of the greatest draftsman of the late 16th century. His use dynamic controposto combined with fluidity of line were much admired by his patrons. Students in the Piazzo del Popolo with the twin churches of Santa Maria del Monte Santo and Santa Maria dei Miracoli built at the expense of Cardinal Gastaldi after 1662. This small bronze group of Venus and Adonis with Eroti was made by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi in Florence, circa 1700. The dramatic compositional structure which captures a fleeting moment of engagement between the two lovers is typical of Baroque sculpture.
Adele Bloch-Bauer was one of Gustave Klimt's most important patrons, and, it has been suggested, one of the artist's secret lovers. Dressed in a loose-fitting, Wiener Werkstatte gown, she is the first in a series of paintings of women set against decorative backgrounds in the manner of Japanese bjin-e executed after 1912. The internationalism of the art nouveau is epitomised by Charles Rennie Mackintosh whose work inspired many of the Vienna Secession artists after 1900, such as Gustav Klimt, and Peter Behrens. Ruhlmann’s designs absorbed the modernity of contemporary art movements such as cubism while also celebrating in the French tradition of Luxury cabinetmaking This teapot was designed by Christopher Dresser in 1880. Considered by many to be the first industrial designer, he produced radical designs that were 50 years ahead of their time.
The materials and methods of production and the creative forces behind the style and design of furniture help us to understand how the maker and designer transcended his craft to produce lasting works of fine art. The artist Jean-François de Troy was himself a member of the wealthy sophisticated Salon society of Paris in the 1720s. His tableaux de modes depict the luxuriously furnished interiors and rich textiles worn by the wealthy elite. Understanding a work of art sometimes requires more than agility of mind. This bearded mask of Heraclitus is part of a Régence ormolu-mounted and Boulle brass-inlaid clock, probably made by André-Charles Boulle himself, c,1720
Developments in print making, during the 19th century, including lithography allowed artists to explore new and bold methods of communication. Here Toulouse Lautrec’s La Troupe De Mademoiselle Eglantine epitomises both the gaiety and the exploitative nature of the era. Giuseppe de Nittis was invited by Degas to join Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Cicely in the first Impressionist exhibition at the Nadar Gallery in Paris. Here, he is thought to show horses exercised before a race in Hyde Park, London, chronicalling the highlife and style in England and France during the Belle Epoque. Designed by Henri Guimard, the Paris métro sign is the epitome of Art Nouveau style, but Guimard also pioneered the industrial processes for mass production that would allow this new art to be disseminated to as wide a public as possible. The modern boulevards of Baron Haussman on a sleety autumn day were the inspiration for Béraud’s realistic depictions of modern Parisian life.
This painting is first recorded in the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden. It passed into the collection of the Dukes of Orléans and had only been seen in public once since 1844 before it was sold for a world record price by Christie’s in 1991 to the J. Paul Getty Museum, for over $13million. The maiolica technique was used in the Renaissance to promote classical historical scenes inspired by the new humanism, and made fashionable by the court at Urbino. Students on a study weekend at Harwood House examining the Giovanni Bellini Madonna and Child with Donor in the Gallery, an attribution which is in dispute. Titian was the greatest colourist of the Renaissance. This cross-section of vermillion pigment from Bacchus and Ariadne combined with x-radiographs and infra-red reflectography allow us to glimpse inside the workings of the master. Courtesy National Gallery, London.

Master’s Degree - Art, Style and Design: Renaissance to Modernism


Gain expertise in the core areas of the art market from old master paintings and drawings to modern works of art with our Art, Style and Design programme.

All the course work for this programme is directly related to a real-work experience. You will be asked to write reviews, artefact analyses, acquisition reports and curatorial reports. Your thesis will be a catalogue of an exhibition that you would like to stage. Whatever period of study you chose you will receive the same core training. We will teach you the Christie’s Auction House cataloguing procedures and you will be able to assess and write about all forms of art in the period you have chosen to study. As part of this course you will also be introduced to critical writing and thinking about art so that you can either enter the art-world immediately or go on to study further.

Course components

  • The core lecture series c.1450 – c.1930 underpins all components of the programme
  • You will participate in two international study trips a year to major events in Europe and visits to UK sites throughout the year
  • Object-based study is central to our teaching and will provide you with relevant training for the public and commercial art worlds. This includes practical and research based study of materials and techniques, scientific analysis, style, dating, quality and authenticity
  • You will be trained in cataloguing to auction house and museum standards. Handling sessions and warehouse and museum visits all occur during the course
  • Being engaged with current debates about curating will enable you to devise fresh approaches to the display of art works. You will explore practices in art criticism, developing skills to review exhibitions and produce reports
  • Our Culture and Ideology Seminars will enable you to discuss works of fine and decorative art in their cultural contexts. You'll gain the skills to deliver presentations and generate seminar discussion
  • You'll be involved in Methodology Seminars - the analysis of technical, art-historical and interpretative texts which provide transferable skills for independent research and individual development
  • If you're doing a Master's degree you will prepare a thesis. This is your opportunity to create an exhibition on a small group of objects, independently researched and catalogued, where the key academic and professional skills learned on the programme are utilised.

Topics on this option

  • Renaissance cultures in the North and South
  • Masters of the High Renaissance: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael
  • Counter cultures – Mannerism in Painting and Architecture
  • Power and propaganda in the Baroque
  • Ceramics, Science and Industry
  • Rococo delights – pleasure, politics and style in 18th Century Europe
  • Furniture and interiors in early modern society
  • Neo-classicism: tourists, artists and amateurs
  • Regency: formality, informality and social mobility
  • Arts & Crafts movement: ethics and reform
  • Art Nouveau from Mackintosh to Gaudi and beyond
  • Art Deco: the luxurious face of modernism

Entry requirements

A university degree. We welcome students from a wide range of disciplines, some of whom have not studied the history of art before. Others have studied the fine arts but have little knowledge of the decorative arts. Non-English speaking students must have IELTS 7 or equivalent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master's - Art, Style and Design

Course Dates

Orientation Week

Monday 24 September 2012 -
Friday 28 September 2012

Term 1

Monday 1 October 2012
– Friday 07 December 2012

Term 2

Monday 07 January 2013
– Friday 15 March 2013

Term 3

Monday 22 April 2013
– Friday 28 June 2013

Course Fees

£22,800

Course Director

Andrew Spira

Get to know Andrew Spira

Read the interview now

University of Glasgow

Visit the University of Glasgow’s website here.

Apply now

Submit your completed application to applications@christies.com.  Alternatively, your application can be returned to: Christie’s Education, 153 Great Titchfield Street. London W1W 5BD

Visit our admissions page