The Courtauld Institute of Art

Short description: College of University of London

The Courtauld Institute of Art

Somerset House in the Strand, home of The Courtauld

Type| Public
Established| 1932 (1932)

Parent institution

| University of London
Endowment| £38.7 million (2023)[1]
Budget| £28.4 million (2022/23)[1]
Chancellor| The Princess Royal
(as Chancellor of the University of London)
Director| Mark Hallett[2]
Students| 495 (2018/19)[3]
Undergraduates| 220 (2018/19)[3]
Postgraduates| 280 (2018/19)[3]
Location|

London

United Kingdom

[ ⚑ ] : 51°30′39″N 0°07′02″W﻿ / ﻿51.51083°N 0.11722°W﻿ / 51.51083; -0.11722
Campus| Urban
Website| courtauld.ac.uk

The Courtauld Institute of Art (/ˈkɔːrtəʊld/), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist colleges for the study of the history of art in the world and is known for the disproportionate number of directors of major museums drawn from its small body of alumni.[4][5]

The art collection is known particularly for its French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and is housed in the Courtauld Gallery. The Courtauld is based in Somerset House, in the Strand in London. In 2019, The Courtauld's teaching and research activities temporarily relocated to Vernon Square, London, while its Somerset House site underwent a major regeneration project.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Academic profile
* 2.1 Research
* 2.2 Undergraduate study
* 2.3 Postgraduate study
* 2.4 Study resources
* 3 The Courtauld Gallery
* 4 Notable people associated with The Courtauld
* 4.1 Directors
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## History

The Courtauld was founded in 1932 through the philanthropic efforts of the industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, the diplomat and collector Lord Lee of Fareham, and the art historian Sir Robert Witt.[6]

Originally The Courtauld was based in Home House, a Robert Adam-designed townhouse in London's Portman Square. The Strand block of Somerset House, designed by William Chambers from 1775 to 1780, has housed The Courtauld since 1989.[6]

The Courtauld has been an independent college of the University of London since 2002.[7]

The Courtauld has featured several times on the BBC's arts programme Fake or Fortune.[8] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute offered digital "mini festivals" called "Open Courtauld Hour".[9][10]

## Academic profile

The Courtauld Institute of Art is the major centre for the study of the history and conservation of art and architecture in the United Kingdom. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to around 400 students each year.[11] Degrees are awarded by the University of London.

The Courtauld was ranked first in the United Kingdom for History and History of Art in The Guardian 's 2011 University Guide and was confirmed in this rank for research quality in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.[12][13] The Independent has called it "probably the most prestigious specialist college for the study of the history of art in the world."[14]

The Courtauld was ranked, again, first in the United Kingdom for History and History of Art in The Guardian 's 2017 University Guide.[15]

### Research

According to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, The Courtauld hosts the highest proportion of the UK's world-leading and internationally excellent research among all higher education institutions with 95% of research rated in the top two categories (4*/3*), 56% of which was rated in the 4* category, tied for highest in the UK with London Business School.[16]

### Undergraduate study

The only undergraduate course offered by The Courtauld is a BA in the History of Art. This is a full-time course designed to introduce students to all aspects of the study of art history.[17]

### Postgraduate study

Several taught courses are offered at postgraduate level: master's degrees in history of art, curating the art museum, the history of Buddhist art, and the conservation of wall painting are taught alongside diploma courses in the conservation of easel paintings and the history of art.[18] Students in the history of art master's programme have to choose a specialisation ranging from antiquity to early modern to global contemporary artwork. Special options are taught in small class sizes of 5–10 students.

Qalaat al-Marqab (Margat Castle), photographed by Anthony F. Kersting. Photograph held at the Conway Library, The Courtauld, London.

### Study resources

The Courtauld has two photographic libraries which originated as the private collections of two benefactors: the Conway Library, covering architecture, architectural drawings, sculpture and illuminated manuscripts, named after the Lord Conway of Allington and the Witt Library, after Sir Robert Witt, covering paintings, drawings and engravings and containing over two million reproductions of works by over 70,000 artists.[19][20] In 2009, it was decided that the Witt Library would not continue to add new material to the collection,[21] and in 2017 a mass digitisation project which will make both Witt and Conway items available online commenced as part of Courtauld Connects.[22][20]

The book library is one of the UK's largest holdings of art history books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues. There is a slide library which also covers films, and an IT suite.[23][24]

An online image collection provides access to more than 40,000 images, including paintings and drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, and over 35,000 photographs of architecture and sculpture from the Conway Library.[25] Two other websites sell high resolution digital files to scholars, publishers and broadcasters, and photographic prints to a wide public audience.[26][27]

The Courtauld uses a virtual learning environment to deliver course material to its students.[28] Since 2004, The Courtauld has published an annual research journal, Immediations, edited by current members of the research student body. Each cover of the journal has been commissioned by a leading contemporary artist.[29] Additionally, together with the Warburg Institute, the institute publishes The Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, an annual publication of about 300 pages (ISSN 0075-4390).[30]

## The Courtauld Gallery

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) by Édouard Manet, in the Courtauld Gallery's collection since 1934

The Courtauld's art collection is housed in The Courtauld Gallery. The collection was begun by the founder of The Courtauld, Samuel Courtauld, who presented an extensive collection of mainly French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in 1932. It was enhanced by further gifts in the 1930s and a bequest in 1948, and has since received many significant donations and bequests. The Gallery contains some 530 paintings and over 26,000 drawings and prints.[31]

Since 1989 the Gallery been housed in the Strand block of Somerset House, which was the first home of the Royal Academy, founded in 1768. The Courtauld Gallery is open to the public, having closed temporarily on 3 September 2018 until 19 November 2021 for a major redevelopment.[32][33]

In April 2013 the Head of the Courtauld Gallery was Ernst Vegelin.

## Notable people associated with The Courtauld

The Courtauld is well known for its many graduates who have become directors of art museums around the world.[5] These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Gallery, London; the National Portrait Gallery, London; the British Museum, London; the Tate, London; the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; and the Museo del Prado, Madrid. The number of notable alumni in the fine arts has earned graduates the "Courtauld Mafia" nickname.[34]

### Directors

The directors of The Courtauld have been:

William George Constable | 1932–1936

|

T. S. R. Boase | 1936–1947
Anthony Blunt | 1947–1974
Peter Lasko | 1974–1985
Michael Kauffmann | 1985–1995
Eric Fernie | 1995–2003
James Cuno | 2003–2004
Deborah Swallow | 2004–2023
Mark Hallett  | 2023–present[35]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022/23". Courtauld Institute of Art. https://courtauld.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Courtauld-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2022-23-SIGNED.pdf.
2. ↑ "Mark Hallett welcomed as Märit Rausing Director" (in en-US). 2023-08-01. https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2023/mark-hallett-welcomed-as-marit-rausing-director/.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Where do HE students study?". Higher Education Statistics Agency. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-study. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
4. ↑ Chaplin, Elizabeth (1994). Sociology and Visual Representation. New York: Routledge. pp. 53–56. ISBN 0415073626.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Simon, Robin (19 September 2007), "Masters of the Artistic Universe", The Spectator, http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/183321/masters-of-the-artistic-universe/, retrieved 5 August 2014
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "History" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/about/history.
7. ↑ Simon, Robin (14 September 2021). "Masters of the artistic universe". https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/masters-of-the-artistic-universe.
8. ↑ "Master forgery: '17th century work exposed as a fake'". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8612890/Master-forgery-17th-century-work-exposed-as-a-fake.html.
9. ↑ "Open Courtauld Hour: New Free Digital Events Series" (in en-US). 2020-04-23. https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2020/open-courtauld-hour-news/.
10. ↑ Busiakiewicz, Adam (23 April 2020). "Open Courtauld Hour". https://www.arthistorynews.com/articles/5426_Open_Courtauld_Hour.
11. ↑ Academic Staff, Information for students. The Courtauld Institute of Art. Accessed April 2013.
12. ↑ "University guide 2011: History and history of art | Education". theguardian. 7 June 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/education/table/2010/jun/04/university-guide-history-and-history-of-art.
13. ↑ "Results & submissions : REF 2014 : View results and submissions by UOA". Results.ref.ac.uk. http://results.ref.ac.uk/(S(ibomu4g5ummb1vemhbpyunmz))/Results/ByUoa/34.
14. ↑ "Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London) – A-Z Unis & Colleges – Getting into University". The Independent. 16 July 2014. https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/courtauld-institute-of-art-university-of-london-458902.html.
15. ↑ "University University league tables 2017 – the full rankings". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2016/may/23/university-league-tables-2017#S345.
16. ↑ "University Research Excellence Framework 2014 – the full rankings". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2014/dec/18/university-research-excellence-framework-2014-full-rankings.
17. ↑ "BA (Hons) History of Art" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/ba-history-of-art.
18. ↑ "Postgraduate Taught Courses". The Courtauld Institute of Art. http://courtauld.ac.uk/study/postgraduate.
19. ↑ Image Libraries: Witt Library. The Courtauld Institute of Art, 2009. Accessed April 2013.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Bilson, Tom (2020). "The Courtauld's Witt and Conway Photographic Libraries: Two approaches to digitisation" (in en). Art Libraries Journal 45 (1): 35–42. doi:10.1017/alj.2019.38. ISSN 0307-4722. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/art-libraries-journal/article/courtaulds-witt-and-conway-photographic-libraries-two-approaches-to-digitisation/3C71D74E1A97CE309A86E34192A519FF.
21. ↑ Courtauld Institute: Cuts Challenge Witt Library. ArtLyst, 30 March 2010. Accessed April 2013.
22. ↑ "Discoveries from Our Photographic Archives". https://connects.courtauld.ac.uk/stories/discoveries-from-our-photographic-archives/.
23. ↑ "Courtauld Image Libraries" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/study/resources/image-libraries.
24. ↑ "Student IT Services" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/study/resources/student-it-services.
25. ↑ Art and architecture. The Courtauld Institute of Art. Accessed April 2013.
26. ↑ Courtauld Images. The Courtauld Institute of Art. Accessed April 2013.
27. ↑ Courtauld Prints. Courtauld Gallery of Art. Accessed April 2013.
28. ↑ Virtual Learning Environment . The Courtauld Institute of Art. Accessed April 2013.
29. ↑ "About immediations" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/publications/immediations/about-immediations.
30. ↑ "Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes". https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/publications/journal-warburg-and-courtauld-institutes.
31. ↑ John Murdoch, The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House. London: Thames & Hudson, 1998, p. 7.
32. ↑ "Gallery Closure" (in en-US). 2015–2019. https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/closure.
33. ↑ Brown, Mark (23 November 2017). "Courtauld Gallery to close for two years for £50m revamp" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/23/courtauld-gallery-to-close-for-two-years-for-50m-revamp.
34. ↑ Simon, Robin (17 September 2007). "Masters of the Artistic Universe". http://www.spectator.co.uk/2007/09/masters-of-the-artistic-universe/.
35. ↑ "Mark Hallett welcomed as Märit Rausing Director" (in en-US). 2023-08-01. https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2023/mark-hallett-welcomed-as-marit-rausing-director/.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Universities in the United Kingdom

England|

| East Anglia|

* Anglia Ruskin
* Cambridge
* East Anglia
* Norwich University of the Arts
* Suffolk

|

London|

| University
of London|

* Birkbeck
* City
* Courtauld
* Goldsmiths
* Institute of Cancer Research
* King's
* London Business School
* LSE
* LSHTM
* Queen Mary
* Royal Academy of Music
* Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
* Royal Holloway
* Royal Veterinary College
* School of Advanced Study
* St George's
* SOAS
* UCL

|

Other|

* Brunel
* East London
* Greenwich
* Imperial
* Kingston
* London Met
* London South Bank
* Middlesex
* Ravensbourne
* Regent's University London
* Richmond, The American International University in London
* Royal College of Art
* Royal College of Music
* Roehampton
* St Mary's
* University of the Arts London
* Westminster
* West London

Midlands|

* Aston
* Birmingham
* Birmingham City
* Bishop Grosseteste
* Coventry
* De Montfort
* Derby
* Harper Adams
* Keele
* Leicester
* Lincoln
* Loughborough
* Newman
* Northampton
* Nottingham
* Nottingham Trent
* Staffordshire
* University College Birmingham
* Warwick
* Wolverhampton
* Worcester

North|

* Bolton
* Bradford
* Central Lancashire
* Chester
* Cumbria
* Durham
* Edge Hill
* Huddersfield
* Hull
* Lancaster
* Leeds
* Leeds Arts
* Leeds Beckett
* Leeds Trinity
* Liverpool
* Liverpool Hope
* Liverpool John Moores
* LSTM
* Manchester
* Manchester Metropolitan
* Newcastle
* Northumbria
* Salford
* Sheffield
* Sheffield Hallam
* Sunderland
* Teesside
* York
* York St. John

South|

* Arts University Bournemouth
* Bath
* Bath Spa
* Bedfordshire
* Bournemouth
* Brighton
* Bristol
* Buckingham
* Buckinghamshire New
* Canterbury Christ Church
* Chichester
* Cranfield
* Creative Arts
* Essex
* Exeter
* Falmouth
* Gloucestershire
* Hertfordshire
* Kent
* Oxford
* Oxford Brookes
* Plymouth
* Portsmouth
* Reading
* Royal Agricultural
* St Mark & St John
* Solent
* Southampton
* Surrey
* Sussex
* UWE Bristol
* Winchester

Northern Ireland|

* Queen's
* Ulster

Scotland|

* Aberdeen
* Abertay
* Dundee
* Edinburgh
* Edinburgh Napier
* Glasgow
* Glasgow Caledonian
* Heriot-Watt
* Highlands and Islands
* Queen Margaret
* Robert Gordon
* Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
* St Andrews
* Stirling
* Strathclyde
* West of Scotland

Wales|

* Aberystwyth
* Bangor
* Cardiff
* Cardiff Metropolitan
* South Wales
* Swansea
* Wales Trinity Saint David
* Wrexham Glyndŵr

Overseas territories|

* Bermuda College
* Cayman Islands Law School
* International College of the Cayman Islands
* Saint James School of Medicine
* St. Matthew's University
* University of Gibraltar
* University College of the Cayman Islands
* University of Science, Arts and Technology
* University of the West Indies Open Campus

Crown dependencies|

* University of the Channel Islands in Guernsey

Non-geographic|

* Arden
* BPP
* Law
* London International Programmes
* Open

Related|

* List by date of foundation (Third-oldest in England)
* List by endowment
* List by enrolment
* Colleges within universities
* Degree abbreviations
* National Union of Students
* Rankings
* Undergraduate degree classification
* UCAS
* HEFCE
* Scottish Funding Council

* Category
* Commons
* List

0.00

(0 votes)

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Organization:The_Courtauld_Institute_of_Art&oldid=3863868"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template