Short course

Revolutionaries and Romantics: art and literature in France

17 May 2025 10am - 5pm18 May 2025 10am - 5pm

Wolfson British Academy Room | Burlington Gardens

£420. Includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.

Sold out

Friends of the RA book first

Join now

Join us for a weekend exploring nineteenth-century French art and literature.

This weekend course takes our exhibition Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo as its starting point to explore the relationship between art and literature. Hugo was a renowned figure in nineteenth-century France, using both quill and brush to write, draw, and paint.

Over two days, dive into the rich and complex relationship between art and literature, and how this was forever altered during the nineteenth century. The course will explore the way nineteenth-century painters in France shifted focus from narrative to subject matter, whilst French literature saw the character of the artist enter the novel.

We will uncover the relationship between Delacroix’s paintings and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as well as examining realism - from Jean-François Millet’s take on rural life, to Gustave Courbet and Honoré de Balzac. We will discover Edouard Manet’s role in the evolving relationship between art and literature, and will explore the influence of impressionist painting on Emile Zola’s The Masterpiece.

Each session will be led by art historians, curators and experts on French art and literature. No prior knowledge is required, but debate and discussion are encouraged.

Minimum age 18. If you have any access requirements that you’d like to discuss, please contact public.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk.

If the course is sold out, please contact public.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk.

Terms and conditions

£420. Includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.

Sold out

Friends of the RA book first

Join now