About

Welcome to UCL History of Art 

Welcome to the History of Art Department at UCL. In 2025, History of Art celebrates sixty years as a separate department at UCL, although its roots at the university go back to the nineteenth century. In that time, we’ve become established as one of the most exciting places in the world to study art history and visual culture. Our lecturers are leading researchers in their fields, working in all periods from medieval to contemporary, and with expertise across diverse histories and geographies. We’re committed to pushing the critical boundaries of studying art in all its forms, shaping academic and public understanding of art and visual culture through the books and articles we write, the exhibitions we curate, and the research events we host. We bring this expertise into our teaching at every level, often making use of London’s exceptional galleries and collections, including those at UCL. We’re particularly proud of the extraordinary achievements of our current and former students, many of whom have pursued successful careers in the arts, as well as in many other domains.

With a longstanding engagement with feminist art histories and with questions of gender and sexuality, race and class, the Department is committed to widening access to the discipline and to developing a more inclusive environment for the study of art and visual culture. History of Art, as it’s taught at UCL, teaches you to engage critically with society, to think about the multiple identities that determine human lives and thought, to think rigorously across disciplines, and to engage with artworks in their theoretical, historical, and material complexity. Recently, we’ve expanded our commitment to material histories and conservation with the launch of our MSc in the Conservation of Contemporary Art and Media at UCL East, joining the Department’s established undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Bloomsbury. As we approach UCL’s bicentennial in 2026, we’re looking forward to celebrating the achievements of History of Art at UCL, as well as continuing to shape the discipline’s future.

Richard Taws, Head of Department 

Image: Wall Street, Paul Strand, 1915