Short Course: A Grand Art Tour: Italy and Europe - Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery

A visit to Italy and the Grand Tour of Europe were key events in the lives of artists and patrons in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Our masterclass examines the wonderful art that originated from artists who travelled to classical and ‘exotic’ locations in an age before photography, picturing them for a British audience. Particularly pertinent are the Devon connections of a number of key artists: Thomas Patch from Exeter, Francis Towne from Exeter, and Samuel Prout from Plymouth.

This fascinating afternoon session is directly linked to the artworks currently on display as part of our ‘Sense of Place’ exhibition which is showcasing important works from RAMM’s fine art collection.

Course Tutor: Dr Jan Cox

Dr Jan D. Cox was awarded a B.A by Oxford Brookes University, which included the Jeanne Sheehy Memorial Prize for his work on Christopher Wood. An M.A. at Bristol followed, where his studies focused on John Minton, Keith Vaughan and British Neo-Romanticism. Subsequently, at the University of Plymouth, he placed online Wyndham Lewis's art criticism in 'The Listener' magazine (1946-51). He was awarded a PhD in History of Art from the University of Leeds in 2014, where he specialised in 19th century Nordic art. He shares his interests between this topic and British art of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In 2017, he was the major contributor to the catalogue for the exhibition ‘Romanticism in the North: From Friedrich to Turner’, where he wrote on the vast majority of the British art. Jan is a regular tutor for Oxford University weekly classes, and tutors an online course for Oxford on the Impressionists. He also tutors for Cambridge University (ICE) and lectures at many arts organisations throughout Britain, including Dillington House. He has addressed conferences in Copenhagen, Montreal, Rome, Oslo, and at Tate Britain and Tate St. Ives.