The Art Institute - United Kingdom

I was hoping that this course would help convert me from being somewhat philistine and a lifelong technocrat. It has certainly achieved this aim. I now have a far greater interest in, and enjoyment of, art as a result of the course. My intention now is to continue, in retirement, with further learning.It has taken me some time to get through the course due to conflicting time constraints (no fault of the course), and I have found the work challenging yet enjoyable. The modules are generally very well written by experts in their particular field. The subject matter of each of the modules has been carefully chosen. The order of the modules is ideal, with the inability to move to a subsequent module until each has been successfully completed.My tutor, Stephen Farthing, has provided superb feedback on each assignment, occasionally inspiring me and often improving my confidence when this has been waning. I am more than tempted to buy one or two of Professor Farthing's books to further enhance my learning. I now look forward to visiting as many of the course listed galleries that I can, when permitted to do so in these Covid times.The whole experience has been very rewarding and, I believe, a catalyst for further learning and enhanced enjoyment of art.

I found this course really interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. I have learnt so much and have expanded my knowledge of art history in an engaging way. The depth of information gained from each module and from writing my assignments provided me with the opportunity to further investigate and build up my knowledge. The excellent and encouraging support and positive feedback received from my tutor, Libby Anson, was invaluable and helped me exceed my expectations. I appreciated the flexibility to study at my own pace without the pressure of deadlines. This has inspired me to learn more. I will definitely feel more competent and knowledgeable next time I visit an art gallery. Well done, a fabulous course.

The course has far exceeded my expectations, and I am sorry to have come to the end of this excellent journey through the history of western art.The modules are well written and presented, and the assignments are thought-provoking. I have enjoyed the challenge of saying something interesting in 250 words, and the prompt and succinct feedback is both helpful and stimulating.My appreciation of artworks from the Renaissance to the present day has increased immeasurably, and my artist husband and I now spend happy hours discussing his portraits in the light of my new knowledge. He actually listens to me now!Thank you, and can we have more Advanced Modules, please?

I am a retired pensioner in my late 70s, and I have successfully completed The art Institute course on Art History without putting myself under any unmanageable pressure. It has, at times, been quite challenging, which is what I was looking for. The modules are all very well written, and my tutor has questioned my response to the assignments when needed but always in a constructive way.I have a life-long interest in art which this course has enabled me to explore at my own pace and in my own time, expanding my understanding and giving me a context for my own practical artwork as well as the ability to look with hopefully more learned eyes at the art on gallery walls.

This is my first online course, and I have never regretted starting it. I found the course very enjoyable and interesting and now am confident in having sufficient knowledge to appreciate and understand the evolution of Western art to a far greater depth than I anticipated. My tutor Libby Anson was very friendly and helpful and always returned my work promptly with plenty of constructive comments.Of course, each module has required sufficient time and study to gain the satisfaction I now feel. The whole experience has left me knowing time has been well spent. I'm now keen to pursue further research, study and opportunities to view art as recommended in the where to see" lists at the end of each module.I'm happy to recommend the course to anyone who wants to learn about Western art at home in their own time."

After retirement, with a little more time on my hands, I decided to enrol in this History of Art course, a subject that had always interested me but I knew little about.What a wonderful experience it has been! I have thoroughly enjoyed every module, even those periods of art history I initially thought I was less interested in. It has really broadened my tastes and interest.The course materials have been prepared to a very high standard, directing me to further reading and inspiring some gallery outings.I even enjoyed the written assignments and looked forward to my tutor's feedback, which was always timely, insightful and considered.I took the full year to complete the course due to rationing myself to only one module each month and will miss the excitement of each new module, but I fully intend to access the additional modules and revisit some of the earlier ones.I cannot recommend it enough. I have learned so much, and my family love visiting art galleries with me these days to hear about what I know!

I was excited to find this course and registered early this year. By the second module, we were in lockdown! Imagine what a boon this has been during these past months. The course is stimulating and encourages extra research. Unable to visit galleries I have discovered endless online resources I hardly knew existed. I have read, watched and listened to artists and experts and in so doing have learnt a huge amount.The course is well laid out, the modules excellently presented. From the early Renaissance to modern days, the modules take you through the history of art, covering as well changes in society and how art and artists were influenced. My tutor was very supportive, giving good insight and advice when required. Mostly she was happy to let me find my own way and encouraged me to find my own voice.I would recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in art. I can now answer more questions on University Challenge than ever before! And throughout this pandemic, the course has kept me sane. Thank you, Art Institute.

I have actually loved my experience with The Art Institute. The Modules are bite-sized history and social history lessons. All of the art and the respective periods in art were contextualised and largely sequential. The Institute used experts in their field to guide me through this wonderful experience. I found myself looking at art more critically and wanting to know more about artists and subjects. I also found myself appreciating works that I would formally have said 'weren't for me'. It's a whole new world! The breadth and depth of this subject are enormous, but The Art Institute gives you the desire and resources to carry on and 'do it yourself'. And my tutor?...very encouraging and supportive. I struck gold here!Linda Oatley

I have thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this course. It has been insightful, inspiring, thought provoking and reignited my thirst for knowledge and learning about a subject I have always been passionate about. The assignments were challenging and developed my skills in assessing and understanding the modules, and I would not hesitate to recommend this course to anyone who is considering it. My course tutor was always very thorough with feedback and marking and quick to respond. Five stars.

Having recently retired, I was looking for an art appreciation course to give me a greater understanding of the broad sweep of art history. Having seen the advertisement for The Art Institute in The Art Fund magazine and browsed the course on the website, I decided to give it a go. It took me nearly a year to complete the course because I chose to do it at a leisurely pace and to intersperse the modules and assignments with additional reading and visits to galleries.I found the course to be very interesting, filling many of the gaps in my knowledge and encouraging me to look at the works of artists I had never previously encountered. Prior to starting the course, I would never have expected that I would be making a train trip to Bath just to look at a set of prints from Duhrer's woodcuts or attending an exhibition of Ai Weiwei's work at the Design Museum (both of which were highly impressive).My initial thought on the assignments was that they were just something to be completed to unlock the next module, as I wasn't really that bothered about gaining a qualification. However, I quickly realised that they were the way to gaining a much greater insight by reading beyond the course notes to discover more about the artists and their works. I was also encouraged by the excellent and encouraging feedback from my tutor, Francesca, which made the whole journey very rewarding.Now that I have completed the course, I have already embarked on the next stage of my art appreciation journey, having signed up for a lecture series over the Winter and having noted down a considerable list of exhibitions to visit over the next year.Thank you to The Art Institute for helping to re-open my eyes to the wonderful world of art!