About us
Undergraduate study
Undergraduate study in art history at Essex offers a unique combination of the historical and theoretical study of art, visual culture and
curating from the renaissance to the present.
Founded in 1967, we have long been recognised for our expertise across a wide range of areas in the history and theory of art, including the renaissance, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
European art, modern and contemporary art, curating and art from Latin America.
Our research was rated among the top ten art history departments in the UK in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise in 2008, and during the past decade we have been home to five
major research projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), looking at topics such as photography, surrealism and Latin American art.
Centre for Curatorial Studies
Our Centre for Curatorial Studies offers Masters courses in professional curatorial practice, and is a focus of research and teaching on the
practice and theory of contemporary curating and museology.
Essex Collection of Art from Latin American
The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) contains over 700 artworks and provides a unique research and teaching resource for our students. The
collection has regular exhibitions at Firstsite and runs an ongoing programme of talks, symposia and artists’ performances.
Art Exchange
Our Colchester Campus is also home to the Art Exchange gallery which runs a programme of exhibitions and talks, and other events as well as hosting
exhibitions organised by our Centre for Curatorial Studies students.
Seminars and events
Throughout the year, we run an exciting programme of events, including art history seminars, with speakers invited from across the UK and abroad,
as well as from our School. We also host our annual graduate conference, organised by our postgraduates, alongside a variety of other workshops and symposia.
Art works on our website
We would like to thank waterside contemporary, London for permission to reproduce the following artwork in the banner area of our website:
We would also like to thank Essex Collection of art from Latin America (ESCALA) for permission to reproduce the following artworks from their collection on our website:
- Raúl Piña, Doble eclipse de luna
(1998), © the artist, image courtesy of ESCALA.
- León Ferrari, Rua
(1980-2000), © the artist, image courtesy of ESCALA.
- Jorge Luis Macchi, Vidas paralelas
(1996), © the artist, image courtesy of ESCALA.
- Regina José Galindo, Lesson of dissection
(2011), © the artist, image courtesy of ESCALA.
Postgraduate study
We are internationally recognised as a leading centre of postgraduate study in art history and curatorial studies, both at Masters and PhD level.
PhD study
By undertaking PhD study at Essex, you will become a member of an exciting and active research community, and benefit from the expert supervision of
our internationally recognised staff.
News and events
Our news and events section contains the latest information about our research,
publications and conferences, as well as the activities of our staff and students.