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Bauhaus
Online course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
This course tells the story of the Bauhaus, twentieth century Europe’s most influential school of art and design. Its curriculum became a global blueprint for later design education, and its stellar practitioners created a canon of modernist products in all fields of visual art.
Learn from our world-class experts wherever you are, whenever suits you: watch lectures live or view the recording later in your own time. You can experience the full breadth and depth of the V&A's collections with more than 10 hours of study over 5 weeks. Learn at your own pace: lecture recordings and study materials, lecture notes, copies of the presentations, and additional study materials are available in our secure Microsoft Teams environment for 5 weeks after the course ends, so you'll never miss a thing. And finally, join the conversation: share your perspective with your fellow students, and support each other in your further enquiries outside of class time.
This course is suitable for participants aged 18 and over.
Learn from our world-class experts wherever you are, whenever suits you: watch lectures live or view the recording later in your own time. You can experience the full breadth and depth of the V&A's collections with more than 10 hours of study over 5 weeks. Learn at your own pace: lecture recordings and study materials, lecture notes, copies of the presentations, and additional study materials are available in our secure Microsoft Teams environment for 5 weeks after the course ends, so you'll never miss a thing. And finally, join the conversation: share your perspective with your fellow students, and support each other in your further enquiries outside of class time.
This course is suitable for participants aged 18 and over.
V&A Academy Course Leader
Greg Votolato
Professor Greg Votolato is a regular contributor to the V&A’s learning programmes and to Oxford University’s MSt in Design History. His books include American Design in the Twentieth Century; Transport Design, A Travel History; Ship; and Car plus many essays on architecture, fashion, set design, furniture and industrial design.
The standard has been so high and they've all been immensely informative and enjoyable. Previous V&A Academy Online Course Attendee
Course overview
From our kitchens to our phones, cars and clothes, the appearance of today's world is deeply influenced by the Bauhaus, that unique, short-lived experiment in art and design education which flourished in Germany from 1919 until its closure under Nazi persecution in 1933. Its founder, architect Walter Gropius, established a radical pedagogical programme that evolved during the school's turbulent history but ultimately influenced the teaching and the nature of art and design around the world. Charismatic Bauhaus artists, designers and architects included, Mies van der Rohe, Johannes Itten, Josef and Anni Albers, Gunta Stolzl, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Marianne Brandt, Oscar Schlemmer, Wassily Kandinski and Marcel Breuer.
This course will trace the school’s background and history, introduce its complex educational theory, meet its fascinating cast of characters and discuss the classic objects designed and made there. Lectures will address the diaspora that followed its closure and describe how the school's ideas spread in response to the political, social and economic forces of the time.
A 5,000-year-old story of creativity. V&A Academy online art history courses bring you all the richness and rigour of V&A Academy art history courses in London.
Our courses are built using the latest Microsoft software. Tune in to expert lectures live or catch up on demand. Join discussions and continue your learning with downloadable handouts and presentations. Find out more >>
Enrol now
Online course: Bauhaus
20 January 2026 - 17 February 2026
£125.00
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
