Take a Class
We're now offering a greater number of art classes, at a lower cost. We also have need-based scholarships to help make art accessible for everyone.
Learn to connect works of art to history. What was happening politically, socially, and culturally at the time the piece was made? How did these circumstances shape the artist’s formal choices?
The Barnes-de Mazia Certificate Program
This special track offers an immersion in the Barnes method and an introduction to other interpretive approaches.
Seurat’s Models: The Artist’s Studio as Metaphor
Look closely at Seurat’s innovative technique, his engagement with optical theory, and his dialogue with the history of art.
Looking at African American Art
Explore the rich history of African American art from the early 20th century to the present. This class provides a wider context for our upcoming 30 Americans exhibition.
Medievalisms in Modern Art
Some of the most prominent artists collected by Dr. Barnes adapted medieval forms to interpret and shape modernity. How has their work affected our understanding of the past?
Painting with Pissarro: The Journey into Modernism
Learn about Pissarro’s relationships with his contemporaries and his central role in the development of modern art.
Inspiration and Impact: The Art of Paul Cézanne
What was it about Cézanne’s work that inspired early modernists like Monet and Bonnard and continues to influence painters today?
Jean-Luc Godard: Four Chapters of Genius
This course surveys the career of one of the great geniuses of cinema, from his groundbreaking French New Wave films to his contemporary work in digital media.
Blurred Lines: Intersections of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture
This one-day workshop looks at modern artists and architects who have pushed the limits of traditional painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Introduction to Contemporary Art: Critical Explorations
What makes art “contemporary”? How do we decide what’s “good” in the art of our time? The answers to these questions are complex—much like contemporary art itself.
Inside the Mind of Matisse: The Artist’s Tour
Using examples from the collection, we will explore the art and objects that mattered to Matisse at the different phases of his career in this one-day workshop.
Van Gogh
Delve into the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, one of the greatest—and most mythologized—painters of the modern era.
Rhythm in Chinese Art
This course explores how Chinese artists have expressed rhythm in sculpture, painting, calligraphy, and ceramics.
A Jewish Perspective: Pissarro, Modigliani, Soutine & Pascin
These four painters were central to the avant-garde scene in early 20th-century Paris. How did their faith influence their outlook and their artwork?
30 Americans: Black Art Across Time, Space, and Practice
Inspired by our fall exhibition, this class explores the dynamic intersection of race, identity, and sexual politics in the work of several influential black artists featured in the show.
African Art in the Barnes Foundation: Context and Meanings
Learn the traditional meanings and uses of the African sculpture collected by Dr. Barnes while considering the impact of colonialism and imperialism.
Inspiration and Impact: The Art of Paul Cézanne
What was it about Cézanne’s work that inspired early modernists like Monet and Bonnard and continues to influence painters today?
Painting with Pissarro: The Journey into Modernism
Learn about Pissarro’s relationships with his contemporaries and his central role in the development of modern art.
The Ancient World: Treasures from Egypt, Greece, and Rome
This class takes an in-depth look at the major artistic and architectural moments of the ancient world.