MA Art Market, Provenance and the History of Collecting

The minimum entry level required for this course is as follows:

• A first or second-class honours degree from a recognised university or,
• A recognised professional qualification

Mature students

Age is no barrier to learning and we welcome all applications from suitably qualified students. Due to their flexibility, our London-based MAs attract a wide variety of applicants from a range of backgrounds, including people in full-time employment and retirees. Our current students range in age from 21 to 75.

International students

We are happy to consider all international applications and if you are an international student, you may find it useful to visit our international pages for details of entry requirements from your home country.

The University is a UKVI Student Sponsor.

English levels

If English is not your first language, please check our postgraduate English language requirements. If your English levels don’t meet our minimum requirements, you may be interested in applying for our Pre-sessional English Language Foundation Programmes.

Selection process

Candidates apply online, sending in their supporting documents, by clicking the ‘Apply now’ button. Applications will be assessed by the Programme Director. For help in applying, please contact the Admissions Office: humanitiespg-admissions@buckingham.ac.uk

Buckingham prides itself on the focused and high-quality teaching that it provides to students. With one of the most favourable staff-to-student ratios in the United Kingdom, the University is able to give students individualised supervision tailored to their needs. Its small-group seminars have therefore been a strength of the University from its founding.

The MA in Art Market, Provenance and History of Collecting employs a stimulating variety of teaching strategies, including traditional lectures and seminar discussions, workshops with partner institutions, class visits to relevant museums, galleries and archive collections, and Study Weeks to various English country houses and to Vienna or Florence.

The course starts in September and finishes the following September. It comprises four terms, three of which are taught: during the third and fourth terms, and under supervision, students research a dissertation which will be submitted at the end of September. Subject to the agreement of the Programme Director, the course can be taken part-time over two years by deferral of the dissertation.

For more details, please feel free to contact the Programme Director Adriano Aymonino.

Modules studied on this course

The Practice of Research / Provenance

This module provides students with a thorough understanding of the methodologies, skills and critical thinking required for the study, research and writing of History of Art at MA degree level. The focus is on developing ability at conducting Provenance Research at a professional level. The course emphasises the significance of verifying the origin of archaeological material, Nazi-looted art, and ethnographic items acquired through looting, theft, seizure, or coercion during the colonial period, in line with contemporary legal and ethical standards.

Collectors, Patrons and Dealers

This module seeks to give students a systematic understanding of the history of collecting, patronage and the art market in early modern and modern periods, in a global context. It places emphasis on analysing and debating the historical development of the subject and discusses the changing perceptions of collecting from private to public, requiring students to engage critically with the major themes and debates in the existing literature.

Art across Borders: Networks, Collecting, and Conquest

This module, taught in partnership with the MA in Migration History, focuses on the changing status of objects and artefact when they move between different cultural, religious and political contexts. Organised thematically, the module seeks to develop awareness of the current theoretical and methodological approaches to the history of collecting, patronage, the art market, and museums, as well as to provide the critical tools to assess these approaches and debates. It is also intended to equip students to take full account of collection ethics associated with the trans-national movement of cultural objects and with societal displacement.

Architecture, Power and Display: The Town and Country House in Europe

This module, taught in partnership with the MA Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors, gives students a thorough understanding of the Town House and Country House in Europe as sites of political and cultural power, achieved in part through architecture, furnishings and the display of collections. This module revolves around the Country House Study Week, when students will tour country houses and gardens of Buckinghamshire and the vicinity and examine their collections. Additional visits in the London area include Chiswick House, Syon House, Strawberry Hill and the Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Objects Interpretation Project

This module, taught in partnership with the MA Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors, fosters collaboration with external parties and will enable students to put their research, writing and analytical skills into practice to create object-based catalogue entries, commentaries and blogs. The module has a vocational aim, to train students in curatorial practices of object research and public interpretation. Recent projects include the exhibition catalogue Treasures from Faraway, realised by our students in in 2023 in collaboration with Strawberry Hill House.

Cabinets of Curiosities and the Shaping of Knowledge

This module seeks to give students a systematic understanding of the role that Cabinets of curiosities and the Kunst- and Wunderkammer played in the evolution of western collecting practices and in shaping the evolution of European knowledge. The module revolves around a five-day study week to Vienna or to Florence, where students gain first-hand knowledge of some of the most relevant Kunst- and Wunderkammer assembled in central Europe or Italy.

Projects and Achievements

Recent Projects and Achievements include the exhibition catalogue Treasures from Faraway, realised by our students in in 2023 in collaboration with Strawberry Hill House.

The course provides a vocational and academic training to a new generation of art historians, museum curators and archivists, art dealers and auctioneers as well as providing a stepping-stone towards further postgraduate research. However, we also welcome enquiries from those students wishing to pursue the study of the History of Collecting and the Art Market for its own sake.

The University’s Course Directors, students’ supervisors, and the Research Officer and Tutor for Graduate Students are available to discuss students’ post-graduation plans and how they may utilise most effectively.

The University reserves the right to increase course fees annually in line with inflation linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the University intends to increase your course fees it will notify you via email of this as soon as reasonably practicable.

Course fees do not include additional costs such as books, equipment, writing up fees and other ancillary charges. Where applicable, these additional costs will be made clear.

Postgraduate loan scheme

A system of postgraduate loans for Masters’ degrees in the UK is supported by the UK Government. The loan will provide up to £11,222 for taught and research Masters’ courses in all subject areas. The loans can be used for tuition fees, living expenses or both.

You may also find it useful to visit our External Funding page.

You can apply directly using our online application form.