Adult Learning Programme

The Adult Learning Programme offers a range of events for the public, including gallery talks, lectures and courses.


Free twenty-minute weekday Lunchtime Talks are offered every weekday at Somerset House, including at the Courtauld Institute Gallery, the Gilbert Collection and the Hermitage Rooms. Talks start at 13:15, Mondays to Fridays. The talks are themed and each focuses on a single work. They are given by art historians and curators as well as by students from the Courtauld Institute. On Saturdays we also have free 40-minute talks in the Courtauld Institute Gallery. These look at a range of objects under the theme Discover the Gallery.

We arrange public lectures throughout the year. In May and June we are having a series marking the exhibition Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands, with lectures given by experts in the field of Islamic art. The Learning Centre is home to our courses for adults.

We offer Courtauld Institute postgraduate students training and the chance to develop knowledge and experience as part of our team of speakers. Students are now giving talks in the Courtauld Institute Gallery and in the summer will also be giving talks in the Gilbert Collection and the Hermitage Rooms. These talks have been really rewarding, both for the speakers and the audience.

For further information, please email cecily.hennessy@courtauld.ac.uk or call 020 7848 2416.

Dr. Cecily Hennessy