Courtauld Institute of Art

Courtauld Institute of Art
Established	1932 (1932)
Type	Public
Chancellor	HRH The Princess Royal (University of London)
Director	Deborah Swallow
Students	460[1]
Undergraduates	155[1]
Postgraduates	305[1]
Location	London, United Kingdom
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	University of London
Website	www.courtauld.ac.uk

The Courtauld Institute of Art (UK /ˈkɔərtoʊld/), 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 institutions in the world for these disciplines and is widely known for the disproportionate number of directors of major museums that have come from its small body of alumni, often called "The Courtauld Mafia".^[2][3]

The art collection of the Institute is known particularly for its French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and is housed in the Courtauld Gallery. The Institute and the Gallery are both in Somerset House, in the Strand in London.

History

The Institute 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. Originally the Courtauld Institute 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 1775–1780, has housed the Courtauld Institute since 1989. The Courtauld celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2007–08 academic year.

Academics

The Courtauld Institute of Art is a centre for the study of the history and conservation of art and architecture. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to around 400 students each year.^[4] 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.^[5][6] The Independent has called it "probably the most prestigious specialist college for the study of the history of art in the world." ^[7]

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 western art.

Postgraduate study

Several taught courses are offered at postgraduate level: Masters degrees in the 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. Students in the History of Art Master program have to choose a specialization ranging from antiquity to early modern to global contemporary artwork. Special options are taught in small class sizes of 5-10 students, allowing an optimal discussion between faculty members and students.

Study resources

The Courtauld has two photographic libraries which started as the private collections of two ennobled benefactors: the Conway Library, covering architecture, architectural drawings, sculpture and illuminated manuscripts, named after Lord Martin Conway 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.^[8] In 2009, it was decided that the Witt Library would not continue to add new material to the collection.^[9] The Book Library is one of the UK's largest archives of art history books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues. There is a Slide Library which also covers films, and an IT suite.

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.^[10] Two other websites and sell high resolution digital files to scholars, publishers and broadcasters, and photographic prints to a wide public audience.^[11][12]

The Courtauld uses a virtual learning environment to deliver course material to its students.^[13] 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.

Courtauld Gallery

The art collection of the Institute is housed in the Courtauld Gallery. The collection was begun by the founder of the Institute, 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.^[14]

The Courtauld Gallery is open to the public. Since 1989 it has been housed in the Strand block of Somerset House, which was the first home of the Royal Academy, founded in 1768. In April 2013 the Head of the Courtauld Gallery was Ernst Vegelin.

Notable people associated with the Courtuald

Alumni

Courtauld is especially well known for its large number of graduates, often called "the Courtauld Mafia," who have gone on to direct major art museums around the world.^[15] Some of these museums include the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the National Gallery, London. However, alumni are prominent in many other areas of the arts and beyond:

• Reyner Banham – Critic
• Graham W. J. Beal – Director, Detroit Institute of Arts (1999–present)
• Anita Brookner – Novelist and art historian; winner of the 1984 Man Booker Prize
• Edie Campbell, model
• Thomas P. Campbell – Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2009–present)
• T. J. Clark – Marxist art historian
• Nicholas Cullinan - Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Anne d'Harnoncourt – Director, Philadelphia Museum of Art (1982–2008)
• Jeremy Deller – English artist; winner of the 2004 Turner Prize
• John Elderfield, Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art New York
• Kaywin Feldman – Director, Minneapolis Institute of Arts (2008–present)
• Gabriele Finaldi – Director, National Gallery (August 2015–)
• Andrew Graham-Dixon – Critic
• William M. Griswold – Director, Cleveland Museum of Art (2014–present)
• Sumaya bint El Hassan – Jordanian princess
• John Hayes – Director, National Portrait Gallery (1974–94)
• Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, former Director of the Soane Museum
• Sir Mark Jones – Director, Victoria and Albert Museum (2001–11)
• Narisa Levy of the royal family of Thailand
• Neil MacGregor – Director, National Gallery (1987–2002), British Museum (2002–present)
• Tim Marlow – Critic
• Sir Oliver Millar – Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures
• Nicholas Penny – Director, National Gallery (2008–2015)
• Griselda Pollock – Feminist art historian
• Vincent Price – Actor
• Sir Nicholas Serota – Director, Tate (1988–present)
• Brian Sewell – Critic
• John Shearman – Renaissance art historian
• Simon Shaw, Co-Head, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, Sotheby's
• Iain Sinclair – Novelist
• Alastair Sooke, art historian and journalist
• Simon Thurley, architectural historian, former Chief Executive of English Heritage and Director of the Museum of London
• Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Head of the Courtauld Gallery
• Jeff Wall – Canadian artist

Faculty

The Faculty of the The Courtauld includes:

• Caroline Arscott
• Aviva Burnstock
• John Lowden
• Susie Nash
• Mignon Nixon
• Satish Padiyar
• David Park
• David Solkin
• Julian Stallabrass
• Deborah Swallow
• Sarah Wilson
• Joanna Woodall
• Rebecca Arnold, fashion historian
• Gavin Parkinson
• Alixe Bovey

Directors

The Directors of the Courtauld Institute 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–

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Courtauld Institute of Art.

• Official website of the Courtauld Institute of Art
• "The Courtauld Institute of Art: An Introduction", Courtauld Institute, YouTube video

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