Courtauld Institute of Art

The Courtauld Institute of Art is a specialist college of the University of London, focusing on art history and conservation. It occupies part of Somerset House, a grand 18th-century building on the Strand in central London. The institute moved to Somerset House in 1989 after decades in a Portman Square townhouse designed by Robert Adam. Between 2018 and 2021, the Somerset House site underwent major renovation as part of the Courtauld Connects project. Teaching temporarily relocated to Vernon Square during this work. A further £82 million redevelopment is planned to unify the institute’s activities on the Strand by the late 2020s. The Courtauld is recognised as the United Kingdom’s leading centre for art history and conservation. It was ranked the world’s top institution for history of art in 2026 by the QS World University Rankings. The institute offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to around 400 students each year. Degrees are awarded by the University of London, and its research was rated 95% world-leading or internationally excellent in 2014. The student body includes 270 undergraduates and 360 postgraduates, with a new MA in Art and Business launching in 2025. Visitors to the Courtauld Gallery find one of London’s finest collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. The gallery reopened in 2021 after a three-year transformation that improved access and display. The institute also houses two major photographic libraries: the Conway Library, with nearly three million architecture and art images, and the Witt Library, containing reproductions of works by over 70,000 artists. Both collections are now fully digitised and available online. The book library holds one of the UK’s largest holdings of art history publications, while the slide library and IT suite support study.