NOTES FROM A CULTURAL PHILISTINE by HENRY WARNER (2007)
It is quite possible that you may be signing onto The Course, as I did, completely unaware that there is a single history of art bone in your body. Worry not. When I walked in to the large conference room in the Sainsbury wing of the National Gallery I knew about as much about art and its creators as most people know about Siberian tigers, however, this was all to change.
After nine weeks on The Course my mind was utterly overflowing with information about the art world as it was but what was even more amazing was that I was not complaining about this fact. The Course delivers this information, crucial to the continuation of the human race, in such a relaxed and interesting manner that it is hard not to enjoy it. You will find the lecturers to be keen and exceedingly knowledgeable about their fields, with the exception of one P. Lauritzen whose exact field of knowledge has yet to be defined. After A Levels I thought that as far as note taking and turning up to lessons was concerned I was done, but in Venice I found that I did not actually want to miss anything. Part of the secret of The Course is not only the clear advantage of spending six weeks in Venice but that it is not just history of art. The topics covered included music, poetry, history and the environment all alongside the main history of art focus.
So the idea that I am trying to put forward here is that no matter what you do not think you are interested in this course will get you hooked on a whole range of subjects you previously considered taboo. So if you can think of any reason not to sign up, do not let it be on account of no previous interest in art history.
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