A history of German art: from Dürer to Kiefer
Weekend art history course
28 January 2023 10am - 5pm29 January 2023 10am - 5pm
Wolfson British Academy Room, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£420. Includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.
Friends of the RA book first
Making Modernism
Terms and conditions
Germany has only been a united nation since the nineteenth century, however some of Europe’s greatest art and artists have emerged from the Germanic lands. Join us as we track that history.
Please note: this is an on-site event only
This weekend course takes the RA’s exhibition, Making Modernism, as its starting point. This course, however, explores the whole breadth of the history of art in Germany since the Northern Renaissance. The course begins with the art and inspirations of Albrecht Dürer and the artists of the German Renaissance, thinking in particular about the links and trade routes that fostered connections across Europe. It explores a particularly German branch of Romanticism and the work of the Nazarenes, before heading into the great German art movements of the twentieth century.
The course gives an insight into the various groups creating art at the beginning of the century in Germany: from Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter through to Neue Sachlickeit and Dadaism; and the effect of Nazism on the arts. We think about the links between art across centuries and end with a number of great modern German artists, including Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer.
Each of the sessions will be led by art historians, auctioneers, curators and experts on the art of Germany and the Germanic lands. No prior knowledge is required but debate and discussion are encouraged.
Minimum age 18. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact academic.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk.
About the speakers
Professor Ulinka Rublack is Professor of Early Modern History at Cambridge University and Fellow of St John's College. Her recent books include The Astronomer & the Witch: Johannes Kepler’s Fight For His Mother (Oxford University Press: 2015), and Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe (Oxford University Press: 2010). Her monograph Dürer in the Age of Wonder: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World is published by Oxford University Press in 2023.
Rebecca Lyons is the Director of Collections & Learning at the Royal Academy with a remit covering the Collection, Library & Archive, Learning and Academic Programmes. For the last three years Rebecca has been Director of the Attingham Trust’s prestigious Royal Collection Studies for museum directors, curators and art-world professionals based at Windsor Castle. She was Curator for the National Trust at Knole and Ightham Mote. Prior to this, Rebecca was Director of the Fine & Decorative Art MLitt and MA programmes at Christie’s Education, London/University of Glasgow where she taught for fifteen years. Rebecca sits on the steering committee for the Society for the History of Collecting and is Chair of a large Academy Trust in east London. Educated at Oxford, the Courtauld and Cambridge, her most recent publications include an essay on 18th-century collector Welbore Ellis Agar for Getty Publications, 2019, and a chapter of the Royal Collection exhibition book for George IV: Art and Spectacle (2019).
Claude Piening is Senior Director and Head of Department at Sotheby's. He gained his BA in Modern Languages at Christ Church, Oxford, and his MA in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. He joined Sotheby’s 19th Century European Paintings department in New York in 1996, moving to the London office in 1999. German by birth, Mr Piening’s areas of specialisation include 19th Century German and Austrian art, and in 2000 he launched an annual auction dedicated to that field.
Professor Katrin Kohl is a Professor of German at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Jesus College. Her research focuses on German poetry and the theory and practice of metaphor, and she has published monographs and articles on authors from the 18th century to the present. From 2016 to 2020, she led the multi-disciplinary research project Creative Multilingualism as part of the Open World Research Initiative funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. In 2019, she co-curated the exhibition Babel – Adventures in Translation at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and she is currently co-curating an exhibition exploring the work of Franz Kafka.
Dr Niccola Shearman is a freelance art historian, with teaching affiliations to the Courtauld Institute and the University of Manchester. She specializes in German and Austrian twentieth-century art, with research interests in printmaking, in theories of perception originating in the Gestalt school of psychologists and in the careers of women artists and writers in 1920s Berlin and in exile in the UK. Academic articles and book reviews have covered similar themes and she is currently working on a book based on her PhD thesis; an examination of the emotional investment in the woodcut print in Germany after the First World War.
Dr Anne Reimers studied art history, philosophy and Italian in Bonn and Rome and holds a PhD in History of Art from University College London (UCL). She is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, and at the University for the Creative Arts.
Richard Aronowitz is the Global Head of Restitution at Christie's. He was appointed to his present position in March 2022, having previously been Head of Restitution, Europe at Sotheby's from 2006 to 2021. In his roles at Christie's and Sotheby's, Richard has been responsible for building relationships with restitution lawyers, researchers, families and heirs. With over 25 years' experience in the international art trade, Richard has also worked for Bloomsbury Auctions and the Ben Uri Gallery, as well as being Head of Research in the Impressionist & Modern Art department at Sotheby's. Richard is also an alumnus of the University of Oxford, and the Courtauld Institute of Art, where his dissertation focussed on the work of the German painter, Joerg Immendorff. He is also the author of several novels, and his poetry has also been shortlisted for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize.
Ben Street is an art historian and lecturer based in London. He is the author of numerous books, including How to Enjoy Art: A Guide for Everyone (Yale University Press, 2021) and the children’s book How to be an Art Rebel (Thames and Hudson, 2021). He has been a lecturer and educator for the National Gallery, Tate, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and is currently an Associate Tutor and Researcher at the University of East Anglia, specialising in postwar American painting.
Our courses and classes programme
Our varied programme of short courses and classes provides an opportunity to explore subjects ranging from life drawing to the history of exhibitions and arts management, led by expert tutors and practising artists. These courses introduce traditional art-making processes, as well as perspectives on art history, theory and business.
Give this course as a gift
All of our courses can be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member – giving the gift of education and a remarkable experience. To arrange a personalised Gift Voucher, please contact the Academic Programmes Team, by emailing academic.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk