For those seeking a career in the international art world, Sotheby’s Institute of Art offers a range of postgraduate and Master’s degree programmes at our Institutes located in three of the world’s major art capitals in LONDON, NEW YORK and SINGAPORE. All postgraduate programmes start in early September, 2010 and our admissions process is on a rolling basis throughout the year.

For forty years Sotheby’s Institute of Art has been preparing students for careers in the international art world. Our vision is to be universally acknowledged as the premier provider of advanced object-based art education, whose graduates combine passion for the visual arts with scholarship and market sophistication in order to flourish as leaders in the international art world. Our degrees are awarded by the University of Manchester in the UK and combine professional training with academic study.

The Institute has over 6,000 alumni worldwide, many of whom are working in a variety of arts-related careers. Students at the Institute learn by studying, observing and handling original objects. The acquisition of practical knowledge such as professional catalogue entry or installing an exhibition coupled with academic requirements form the basis of the unique learning experience at Sotheby’s Institute of Art

MA Art Business    LONDON  NEW YORK  SINGAPORE
This MA programme is not a business degree but a degree in the business side of art. It is designed for students with an art historical background who want to understand business theories and practice, as well as the technical and structural elements of the art market. This is a £30 billion plus industry, employing hundreds of thousands of professionals in small and medium-sized businesses as well as in a number of large enterprises, including auction houses, galleries, investment banks, insurance companies and other specialist service suppliers to the market.

MA Contemporary Art    LONDON  NEW YORK  SINGAPORE
This in-depth programme emphasises the artwork itself and how we approach and interpret art from 1960 onwards. Analysis of paintings, sculpture, installations, video art, performance, and conceptual works form a regular part of the curriculum, as do topical debates on the theoretical and institutional issues of the art world today. Visits to leading museums, galleries and art centres in London, Europe, the US and Asia Pacific form an integral part of the programme.

MA Fine & Decorative Art    LONDON  NEW YORK
This programme is taught from the perspective of an art expert, rather than an academic art historian. Based on Sotheby’s original training scheme, the Works of Art Course, this programme has been taught in London for nearly forty years. The New York campus offers a specific programme in American Fine 7 Decorative Art that prepares students in the understanding of art history as it relates to the cultural, historical, and stylistic significance of paintings, furniture, and decorative objects from the colonial period through to the modernist movements of the first half of the twentieth century.

MA East Asian Art    LONDON
This course focuses on the art history of China, Japan and Korea and is designed for those who wish to become Asian art specialists. The course offers an art historical training in key features and concepts, encouraging students to make cross-cultural links in the art history of East Asia. Graduates go on to pursue a variety of careers within the academic, museum and auction house world as well as opening their own specialist galleries. Handling sessions and study visits include visits to major collections in London and Germany as well as a longer study trip to East Asia.

MA Photography    LONDON
This programme is aimed at those who wish to study in-depth the significance of photography in modern visual culture and to pursue a career as a specialist in photographic imagery and objects. The primary focus of the courses is the critical analysis of the ways in which the earliest photographic experiments through to the latest contemporary photographic images have established a significant presence in private collections, public museums, commercial galleries and publishing.

MA Contemporary Design    LONDON
This new programme combines academic study of 20th century and contemporary decorative arts with an exploration of the professional design world. The course promotes an object-based methodology and the development of visual, analytical and interpretative skills that are relevant to a range of careers. Throughout the programme, assignments and contact with practitioners in the field introduce students to aspects of the professional design world.