Stories of art 1900-Present

Event information

• Type: Courses: Course
• Date: 22 July - 26 August 2026
• Tickets: From £85.50
• Location: Online
• Official page: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/stories-of-art-1900-present-summer-2026

Details

About

What is modern and contemporary art? Where did it come from, and can it always be considered ‘art’ at all? These questions have long shaped responses to the art of the last century and continue to resonate today. This course explores key ideas around modernity and beyond, helping to demystify both 20th- and 21st-century art.

The 20th century saw a dramatic change in the visual arts, from representational works on canvas to conceptual art. By the end of the First World War, many artists no longer depicted figurative images. A new kind of art emerged where performance, collage and the found object all came into play. We see a trajectory from traditional paint on canvas and bronze or marble statues on plinths, to works made of wool, sand, plastic, rice and even sound, evolving even further into conceptual art, installations, interventions, performance and video art.

Across six sessions, we will explore how artists responded to modern life and its legacies, tracing a trajectory that continues into the present day. We consider abstraction, new media, feminism, gender politics, race and global perspectives, as well as the shifting centres of the art world, from Paris to New York and, increasingly, to a global network of cities and practices in the 21st century.

We will also examine the evolution of the art market and institutions, from the rise of commercial galleries in the 19th century to the global contemporary art scene today. As artists continue to question what art is and who it is for, this course offers a framework for understanding how modern and contemporary art has developed, and where it might go next.