From Invisibility to the Spotlight: Women Artists from the 20th and 21st Centuries You Need to Know

Courses and workshops

Online

Other activities

General Public

Museum Members

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is now offering accessible online art courses where you can learn about key concepts and ideas in the history of modern and contemporary art from an up-to-date perspective.
Taught by renowned experts in a variety of fields and drawing on the Museum Collection and its dynamic, variegated art program, art courses are designed to offer an overview of each subject while kindling interest and the desire for further knowledge.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Duration of the Course: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
With a few rare exceptions, women artists remained in the shadows for many centuries, until impressionist artists drew attention to their creative work in the late 19th century.
The first online course to be offered by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, taught by Lourdes Cirlot, Professor Emeritus of History of Art at the University of Barcelona, will deal with the role played by women artists in the 20th and 21st centuries. Among others, the course’s learning goals are:
<ul>
<li>To understand the virtually invisible role played by women in the history of art by focusing on individual female modern and contemporary artists.</li>
<li>To discuss the real contributions made by women, placing them in the history of 20th- and 21st-century art.</li>
<li>To analyze the important role played by women artists in disciplines like weaving, performance, and, more recently, video-creation.</li>
</ul>
Introduction, Structure and Course Syllabus <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2022/01/Intro-EN.pdf">[+info]</a>
Taught by 
Lourdes Cirlot, Emeritus Professor of Art History at Universitat de Barcelona

Online Art Course. From Invisibility to the Spotlight: Women Artists from the 20th and 21st Centuries You Need to Know

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is now offering accessible online art courses where you can learn about key concepts and ideas in the history of modern and contemporary art from an up-to-date perspective.

Online Art Course. From Invisibility to the Spotlight: Women Artists from the 20th and 21st Centuries You Need to Know | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Courses: Films and Museums

In this online course, we will explore the relationship between films and museums, revisiting some of the most remarkable moments of the dialogue between them.
Conducted by: Juan Zapater, cultural agent and author writing about art and film
Target audience: Adults 
Type of course: Online 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Language: Spanish 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, participants will get a certificate
What will you learn in this course?
<ul>
<li>The ways in which the language of film interacts with museums in a rich and complex dialogue.</li>
<li>Examples of films and filmmakers focusing on this relationship.</li>
<li>Simple tools to analyze films from various perspectives using different methods.</li>
<li>The work of women filmmakers and the role they have played in the history of film.</li>
</ul>
Introduction
The earliest motion pictures date back to 1895. They were screened in fairs by precursors like George Méliès and the Lumière Brothers. Confined within the realm of popular culture, cinema rose to the form of art in the first decades of the twentieth century thanks to pioneering filmmakers such as D. W. Griffith. However, it would take a few more decades for films to make their way into museums. This would only happen after the emergence of digital media, in the later decades of the twentieth century. Before, their humble origins kept films within the sphere of low culture, unable to cross the line that separated entertainment from art.
Even though the avant-garde and surrealism explored the expressive possibilities of cinema in their creative experiences, and despite the existence of experimental film, the dominance of Hollywood and the American film industry kept films away from museums of contemporary and modern art for decades. Ironically enough, it was only when it went from celluloid to digital that cinema found its way to museum galleries and exhibitions.
Contents and Method
The course is divided into four modules, each module revolving round a key film.
Module I: Russian Ark, by Alexander Sokurov (Russia-Germany, 2002)
Module II: Une visite au Louvre, by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub (France, 2003).
Module III: Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock (United States, 1958).
Module IV: The Square, by Ruben Östlund (Sweden, 2017).
Each module will consist of a discussion of the corresponding film in context, followed by an analysis of the connections between the film and the museum featured in it.
In the video lessons, other examples will be provided of film/museum matches, which will offer a wider view of the changes in narratives, uses, and creations in the history of film.
Each module will use a different combination of methods and media, including films, images, and texts.
Participants are encouraged to watch the films on their own before the course starts, if they have never watched them before.

In this online course, we will explore the relationship between films and museums, revisiting some of the most remarkable moments of the dialogue between them.

Online Art Courses: Films and Museums | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

ITP Aero

Courses: Drawing for Beginners 

Families

Children and Families

Drawing for Beginners is a course designed to explore a variety of drawing processes and techniques in a stimulating and fun environment. In a series of activities using paint, ink, paintbrushes, crayons, and other materials, we will learn concepts such as symmetry, gradient, and composition, experiment with textures, and create images step by step.
Saturday, January 24 and Sunday 25 
Controlled Print
Using India ink and brushes, we will get familiar with drawing strokes and learn how to regulate our energy when drawing.
Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1 
Symmetrical Drawing
Using techniques like monotyping and string printing, we will create images that are perfectly symmetrical.
Saturday, February 7 and Sunday 8 
Dawns: An Introduction to Color Theory
Using chalks and crayons, we will discover techniques like blending and gradient. The idea is to combine colors or tones so that they blend smoothly, as in a sunrise picture.
Saturday, February 14 and Sunday 15 
Animals in the Snow
Using templates and masking techniques, we will be able to create contrast and texture.
Saturday, February 21 and Sunday 22 
Upside Down! Figure and Background
Using animal pictures, we will learn how to master charcoal drawing.
Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1 
Hidden Drawing
We will discover an amazing technique: tempera resist, where the drawing emerges under water, as if we were developing a photo.
Conducted by: Raúl Domínguez Pazo
Time: 5:30 pm
Ages: 6–10
Language: Spanish
Limited capacity | Limited spaces available

Courses: Drawing for Beginners

Drawing for Beginners is a course designed to explore a variety of drawing processes and techniques in a stimulating and fun environment

Courses: Drawing for Beginners | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Art as a Mirror of the World Around Us

“Approaching Art” is a series of introductory courses to contemporary art that deal with seminal key concepts with an instructive, accessible approach. Each course is divided into three easy-to-grasp modules, which also work as independent units, for the enjoyment and understanding of contemporary art, the Museum’s exhibitions, and the works in the Collection.
Conducted by: Iñigo Sarriugarte Gómez, Professor of History of Art at the University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV) 
Type of course: on-site (it can be done online) 
Day and time: Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30 pm 
Target audience: adults interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
<ul>
<li>You will get acquainted with a series of relevant contemporary artists, their production, contributions, and influences, and with a number of specific artworks, placed in their historical, social, political, and artistic context.</li>
<li>In this approach to modern and contemporary art, you will acquire some basic notions to gain confidence in this field.</li>
<li>You will explore the work of female artists and the place they deserve in the history of art.</li>
<li>You will discuss common threads in contemporary art that have acquired great importance and notoriety at a social level, such as equality, diversity, and sustainability.</li>
</ul>
CONTENTS
Module I: Utopias and Shattered Dreams
October 21: Social, Scientific, and Cultural Transformations 
From the late 19th century to the outbreak of World War II, the world witnessed a number of profound political, social, and technological transformations: the growth of cities powered by the late Industrial Revolution; unprecedented advancements in science and technology; the rise of new social classes and social movements. World War I meant the disruption of the existing world order, leaving in its wake a devastated European continent and paving the way for both revolutionary and authoritarian movements. In addition, the profound economic crisis of 1929 aggravated the situation of uncertainty and lack of stability, which led to the rise of totalitarianism in several countries.
Fundamental discoveries in physics, chemistry, and biology led to unprecedented progress in science and technology, transforming the way the world was viewed and bringing in modern times. New philosophical, psychological, and artistic schools—positivism, psychoanalysis, and the avant-garde movements—encouraged men and women to question traditional values and explore new means of expression and knowledge.
November 4: The Emergence of Utopia and Other Looks 
Avant-garde art movements, like Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, or Surrealism reflected the uncertainty and the need for renewal of the day. New artistic languages and ways of thinking, under the influence of utopian and idealistic notions, were used in an effort to build a better world through art. Meanwhile, the language of abstraction that emerged in the previous century took root, and the new perspectives and forms of expression helped artists find forms of representation that were far away from reality.
Selected artists: Giacomo Balla, Marcel Duchamp, Vasily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, René Magritte, Kazimir Malevich, Maruja Mallo, Piet Mondrian, Kurt Schwitters.
November 18: Artistic Communities and Settlements—Monte Verità and Bauhaus 
In the early 20th century, artistic communities were established in Europe and America as spaces to experiment, break away from the established norm, and collectively find new ways of living and creating. Inspired by utopian ideals and driven by the will to challenge social conventions, these communities gathered artists, intellectuals, and reformers.
An emblematic case in Europe, Monte Verità, Switzerland, was considered a forerunner of alternative movements. It brought together artists, writers, and thinkers in search for freedom, life in contact with nature, and experimentation in the spheres of art and ideas in the early 20th century. Monte Verità became a laboratory for new practices combining art, dance, spirituality, vegetarianism, and communal life, anticipating some of the aspects of the countercultural movements of later years.
There were other, similar, initiatives across Europe. The Bauhaus in Germany, for instance, was a creative, interdisciplinary community where art, architecture, and designed were integrated under a transformative, and collective approach.
Selected artists: Josef and Anni Albers, Marcel Breuer, Isadora Duncan, Walter Gropius, Alexej von Jawlensky, Paul Klee, Rudolf von Laban, László Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, Gunta Stölzl, Marianne von Werefkin, Mary Wigman.
December 2: Tour of the exhibition Maria Helena Vieira da Silva. Anatomy of Space.
Module II: In Search for New Freedoms
January 20: Social, Scientific, and Cultural Transformations 
The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new era of transformations and a new global order. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, Europe and Japan undertook their reconstruction, which led to unprecedented economic growth in the Western world. Decolonization began in Africa and Asia, changing the political map of the world.
Among the most relevant scientific innovations of the period, the Space Race and man’s first landing on the Moon in 1969, advances in nuclear power and medicine, or the development of new technologies revolutionized communications and everyday life.
Existentialism, structuralism, hermeneutics, postmodernism, and liberation movements framed and gave voice to mankind’s concerns associated with the uncertainty of the post-war world, the reconstruction efforts, and the need to find new meanings for life and new forms of freedom.
February 3: Organicism, St Ives School, Informalism, New York School v. Pop Art 
The visual arts reflected the profound changes experienced in the world in the aftermath of World War II, with the tensions and aspirations that characterized societies in need of change. The emerging art movements broke away from traditional aesthetics, promoting artistic languages that were essentially abstract.
In the 1950s, as London was grappling with the consequences of the war, a group of artists gathered in the Cornish town of St Ives. The St Ives School and organic sculpture led the avant-garde in Britain: they promoted the use of nature-inspired forms and the harmonious integration of the artwork and its environment. In France and Spain, the art scene was dominated by Informalism or Art Informel, while in America, Abstract Expressionism promoted abstract, non-representational art on an international level, while Pop Art championed popular culture and figurative art.
Selected artists: Arman, Marisol Escobar, Richard Hamilton, Barbara Hepworth, Roy Lichtenstein, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Andy Warhol.
February 17: The Dematerialization of Art and the Emergence of New “Exhibition Spaces” 
In the 1960s and 1970s, against the backdrop of the pacifist and feminist movements, art turned once again to nature, landscape, and the Earth, albeit not under a traditional, figurative approach. Movements like Land Art or Earth Art, Arte Povera, or Atmospheric Art flourished in the art world, seeking new forms of representation or interventions in reality where nature was used as material (soil, wood, the elements, etc.) and/or as creative tool. This led to the emergence of new spaces for artistic creation and exhibition, such as natural or open environments, which transcend the walls of museums and galleries .
Through performance art and certain feminism and pacifist claims, the human body acquires and unprecedented visibility.
Selected artists: Giovanni Anselmo, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Fujiko Nakaya, Robert Smithson, James Turrell, Yoko Ono.
March 3: Tour of the Permanent Collection and the exhibition Arts of the Earth, part 1
Module III: Without Borders: Mother Earth
March 17: Social, Scientific, and Cultural Transformations 
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the end of the Cold War and ushered in a new era, characterized by rapid globalization and significant political transformations. Social movements for the advancement of civil rights, gender equality, and diversity spread across the globe.
The rise of the internet and digital technology revolutionized communications, education, and relationships in society and at the workplace. The Human Genome Project, the use of renewable energy, and space research broadened the horizon of knowledge.
Following postmodernism, philosophy embraced pluralism and diversity while focusing on topics such as democracy, global justice, the ethics of technology, environmental awareness, ecofeminism, and decolonial perspectives.
New artistic practices appear to open up new spaces for reflection about social and environmental issues as well as collective identity.
April 7: Beyond Modern Art in the West: New Ideas and Creative Avenues 
In 1989, a contemporary art exhibition was held in Paris under the title Magiciens de la terre, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin. The show had a huge impact in that it challenged Eurocentric and colonial practices within contemporary art exhibitions, featuring both Western and non-Western artists shoulder to shoulder.
Later, the awareness of the true place that each artist occupies opens a continuous debate and reflection on decolonization in contemporary art, questioning the "official" historiography, almost always told from a single point of view, and giving visibility to other artistic practices that previously had no voice.
Selected artists: Agnes Denes, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Barbara Kruger, Cildo Meireles, Ana Mendieta, Huang Yong Ping, Susana Solano, Cecilia Vicuña
April 21: Tour of the exhibitions Ruth Asawa and Arts of the Earth, part 2 
May 5: Contemporary Art and Environmental Sustainability: Art as a Driver of Change? 
Over the past few decades, growing awareness of climate change and humankind’s responsibility in it has inspired a generation of artists whose creative purpose and processes try to shed light on this threat through art. Practices such as agriculture, agronomy, botany, geology, chemistry, physics, or biology inevitably intersect with the arts.
Contemporary art practices reflect the way in which we have related and relate to the natural world and the environment around us, how we have gone from being "spectators" to having greater awareness and involvement.
Selected artists: El Anatsui, Olafur Eliasson, Fernando García-Dory, Julie Mehretu, Asunción Molinos Gordo
&nbsp;
Image: 
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908–1992) 
Figure de ballet, 1948 
Oil and graphite on canvas, 27 × 46 cm 
Courtesy Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger, Paris–Lisbon 
Inv. CR587

“Approaching Art” is a series of introductory courses to contemporary art that deal with seminal key concepts with an instructive, accessible approach. Each course is divided into three easy-to-grasp modules, which also work as independent units, for the enjoyment and understanding of contemporary art, the Museum’s exhibitions, and the works in the Collection.

Art as a Mirror of the World Around Us | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Creative Processes: Music – Fazıl Say 

On stage

The Museum has organized a meeting with renowned Turkish pianist Fazıl Say, who is coming to Bilbao to perform with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (BOS) in the concert Madre Tierra, under the baton of Italian-Turkish conductor Nil Venditti. The event, to be held in the Museum’s Auditorium, will be led by BOS technical director Borja Pujol.
An activity organized with BOS within the framework of the TopARTE program of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, in the context of the exhibition Arts of the Earth.
Language: English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish
Duration: 55 min.
*Program subject to change. Limited spaces available
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-526364" src="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro-300x87.png" alt="TopARTE" width="114" height="33" srcset="https://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro-300x87.png 300w, https://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro-1024x298.png 1024w, https://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro-768x223.png 768w, https://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro-1536x447.png 1536w, https://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/06/TopArte-negro.png 1835w" sizes="(max-width: 114px) 100vw, 114px" />

Creative Processes: Music – Fazıl Say

The Museum has organized a meeting with renowned Turkish pianist Fazıl Say, who is coming to Bilbao to perform with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (BOS) in the concert Madre Tierra

Creative Processes: Music – Fazıl Say | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Course in Art: What Materials Tell Us about Modern and Contemporary Art

The Museum’s online art courses offer a unique chance to gain accessible, rigorous training on key themes and concepts in the history of modern and contemporary art from today’s perspective.
Drawing on contributions from experts in specific fields, these courses are based on the Museum’s Collection and dynamic art program.
The study of the materials used in art–their composition, their chemical properties, and their transformation–is a concern with many artists. This course focuses on the stories behind the use of certain materials and the scientific phenomena associated with them, analyzing why they are used to make art, how they are obtained, what their practical applications are, and how they influence aesthetic perception.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
The learning objectives of this course are:
<ol>
<li>Offering the keys to the use of materials in modern and contemporary art–their importance, the reasons why they are used, and their technical and aesthetic implications.</li>
<li>Providing basic scientific concepts to understand how the history of art runs parallel to the history of science, and how the developments in the science of materials, in chemistry, physics and engineering have changed the course of modern and contemporary art, and the other way around.</li>
<li>Introducing the materials artists resort to as part of the code of symbols they use to communicate.</li>
<li>Discussing the importance of color and its effects on the perceptions of art.</li>
<li>Shedding light on women artists and their real contributions, thus giving them the place they deserve in the history of 20th- and 21st-century art.</li>
</ol>
Taught by 
Deborah García Bello, chemist, science communicator, and researcher of the materials applied to modern and contemporary art.
Structure and contents <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2023/10/WEB-PROGRAMA-CURSO-DE-ARTE-ONLINE-MATERIALES-.pdf">[+info]</a>

The Museum’s online art courses offer a unique chance to gain accessible, rigorous training on key themes and concepts in the history of modern and contemporary art from today’s perspective.

Online Course in Art: What Materials Tell Us about Modern and Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Courses: Female Masters in Modern and Contemporary Art

Learn why some female artists should be called “Masters”—a term traditionally used to refer to men of skill.
This course has been designed as a continuation to From Invisibility to the Spotlight: 20th- and 21st-Century Female Artists You Need to Know, offered by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao a few years ago.
Conducted by: Susana Blas Brunel, art historian specializing in contemporary art and feminism
Target audience: people 18+ interested in contemporary art 
Type of course: online 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Language: Spanish 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, participants will get a certificate
What will you learn in this course?
<ul>
<li>The role played by women in the history of art, especially women whose work was a turning point in the history of modern and contemporary art.</li>
<li>The contributions made by women to 20th- and 21st-century art, and their place in contemporary art.</li>
<li>Women as pioneers in the development of certain artistic expressions, challenging social norms and defying convention.</li>
<li>The links between female artists and particular narrative or concepts rather than technical details.</li>
</ul>
CONTENTS
Module I: Spiritualism 
Female artists and spiritism, anthroposophy, dowsing, Taoism, and other spiritual or religious movements, or the place where they lived or the natural world.
Video 1: Georgiana Houghton 
Video 2: Hilma af Klint 
Video 3: Georgia O’Keeffe 
Video 4: Agnes Martin
Module II: Propaganda 
Female artists and politics or ideology: denunciation and defense of ideals.
Video 1: Lyubov Popova 
Video 2: Leni Riefenstahl 
Video 3: Barbara Kruger 
Video 4: Julie Mehretu
Module III: Feedback 
Female artists and creative processes that feed on the circulation of energy and information intellectually, mentally, performatively, or in connection with the land.
Video 1: Tarsila do Amaral 
Video 2: Ana Mendieta 
Video 3: Esther Ferrer 
Video 4: Yayoi Kusama
Module IV: Equality 
Female artists and social convention: fighting society for equality through clash or delicacy.
Video 1: Maruja Mallo 
Video 2: Guerrilla Girls 
Video 3: Kara Walker 
Video 4: Mona Hatoum
&nbsp;
Image credits: Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room — A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe, 2020.

Learn why some female artists should be called “Masters”—a term traditionally used to refer to men of skill.

Online Art Courses: Female Masters in Modern and Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course: Abstract Painting Since the Second World War

Learn about the scope and evolution of abstract painting from 1945 to the present with Manuel Fontán del Junco.
In 1945, after the fall of idealism in the modern world, the horrors of the war and the consequent dehumanization, a new generation of artists pondered how to tackle this situation without describing it, without including external references to the artistic medium itself. In this context, American Abstract Expressionism and European Informalism emerged as a reaction to the prevailing figuration in art of that time, integrating highly diverse forms and formal languages.
This online course seeks to build on other content offered by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao that has included the subject of abstraction, providing an expanded view of the scope and evolution of this style, as well as the work of its most prominent figures in the US and Western Europe from the Second World War to the present day.
Led by Manuel Fontán del Junco, PhD in Philosophy and Director of Museums and Exhibitions at Fundación Juan March.
Duration: 6 hours, self-paced 
Audience: Adults interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Access: Through the online platform 
Certification: Automatic, after completion of the course. 
4 modules, 16 video classes and additional materials
WHAT WILL WE LEARN?
<ol>
<li>The true scope and evolution of abstract painting, after briefly analyzing late 19th century art and the historical avant-gardes, from the Second World War to the present.</li>
<li>The work of selected prominent artists, as well as the social, political, and cultural driving forces behind new processes and forms of creation and representation.</li>
<li>Mediums and materials used to develop some of the painting styles and processes shown and which represented a new and innovative way of making art.</li>
<li>The idea of the “coexistence” of styles, abstraction, and figuration, in the evolution of the history of art regardless of fashions and trends.</li>
</ol>
PROGRAM [<a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2025/04/PROGRAMA-CURSO-LA-ABSTRACCIOìN-EN-LA-PINTURA_EN.pdf">+info</a>]
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Helen Frankenthaler 
Requiem, 1992 
Acrylic on canvas 
79.1 x 243.8 cm 
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa 
© 2025 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation / VEGAP

Online Art Course: Abstraction in Painting since the Second World War

Learn about the scope and evolution of abstract painting from 1945 to the present with Manuel Fontán del Junco.

Online Art Course: Abstraction in Painting since the Second World War | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Courses: The Emergence of Photography and its Presence in Contemporary Art

Would you like to get an overview of the history of photography and how it entered the art scene, becoming a discipline in its own right? In this course, you can follow the development of photography, learning about photographers and techniques, from 19th-century Daguerreotype to the present.
Conducted by: Jon Uriarte, photographer and exhibition curator, currently working on the digital transformation of images on the Internet
Target audience: people 18+ interested in contemporary art 
Type of course: online 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Language: Spanish 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, participants will get a certificate
What will you learn in this course?
<ol>
<li>Overview of the history of photography, from the earliest forms to the present.</li>
<li>Most popular photography techniques, from Daguerreotype to digital photography.</li>
<li>The importance of photography and how it slowly became part of the art world. Considered as a mere tool for creation at first, it came to be a form of art in its own right.</li>
<li>Selected works from art photography and related industries like fashion, where photography plays a fundamental role.</li>
</ol>
CONTENTS
The course will be divided into four thematic modules, with examples by photographers and other artists.
Module I: The Origins of Photography; Timeline 
The development of photography from the 16th-century camera obscura to 19th-century Daguerreotype and calotype to “You Press the Button, We Do the Rest”.
Video 1: The camera obscura and studies in optics 
Video 2: The invention of Daguerreotype and the birth of photography 
Video 3: The close relationship of photography with books and cinema. 
Video 4: Camera mass production and new ways of relating to images
Module II: The Emergence of Photography in Art 
For a long time, photography was neglected as a mere tool for the representation of reality, used by artists for technical support. Over time, little by little, it became part of the art world and, since the 1980s, it has been considered a form of art in its own right. The videos in this module illustrate these developments.
Video 1: Imogen Cunningham, Diane Arbus. 
Video 2: Alfred Stieglitz, Seydou Keïta 
Video 3: Andy Warhol, Nan Goldin 
Video 4: Bernd &amp; Hilla Becher, Thomas Struth
Module III: Photography and Fashion 
The relationship between photography and fashion dates back to the 19th century, when the first photos of garments for advertising purposes were taken. It became stronger with the emergence of the first fashion magazines in the 1920s. Throughout the 20th century, renowned photographers added their creative touch to fashion photography, leading to its development. The videos in this module illustrate this.
Video 1: Richard Avedon 
Video 2: Helmut Newton 
Video 3: Louise Dahl-Wolfe 
Video 4: Corinne Day
Module IV: Art Photography in the Digital Age 
The widespread use of smartphones led to the democratization of digital photography. This changed the nature of art photography, its relevance to artistic creation, and the role played by photographers. To this we should add the current discussion of the digital transformation of images on the internet. The videos in this module illustrate these developments.
Video 1: Andreas Gursky 
Video 2: Paul Pfeiffer 
Video 3: Penelope Umbrico 
Video 4: ImageNet
&nbsp;
Thomas Struth (Geldern, Germany, 1954) 
Audience 1, Florence, 2004 
Chromogenic print 
Ed. 7/10 
179.5 x 286.5 cm 
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa 
© Thomas Struth, Bilbao 2024
&nbsp;

NEW! Online Art Courses: The Emergence of Photography and its Presence in Contemporary Art

Would you like to get an overview of the history of photography and how it entered the art scene, becoming a discipline in its own right? In this course, you can follow the development of photography, learning about photographers and techniques, from 19th-century Daguerreotype to the present.

NEW! Online Art Courses: The Emergence of Photography and its Presence in Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Courses

In this course, we dive into neuroscience to explore individual aesthetic experiences, learning that there is no such thing as universal beauty in art.
The evolution of “beauty” is constantly influenced by physiological and circumstantial reasons with strong ties to our emotions. The perception of beauty—the quality of that which is beautiful—in art has traditionally been associated with balance and harmony, eliciting pleasure or satisfaction of the mind. This has been the prevailing view in Western art since the 18th century and the Enlightenment. Early-20th-century avant-gardes, Dadaism in particular, subverted this view, changing the ways in which we saw and understood the world around us. Today, we also tend to take into account the creative, divergent minds of individual artists.
This course will be conducted by Mara Dierssen, Doctor in Neurobiology and science communicator with an interest in the connections between neurobiology and art.
Target audience: adults interested in contemporary art 
Type of course: online 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Language: Spanish 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, participants will get a certificate
What will you learn in this course?
<ol>
<li>The experience of beauty and the beautiful in contemporary art from the perspective of neuroscience.</li>
<li>The role of the artist not just through the creative process (as it is usually understood), but also through their divergent intelligence.</li>
<li>A multidisciplinary approach to the Museum Collection and to art at large.</li>
<li>A more “porous” and “democratic” view of contemporary art, with the presence of multiple and diverse aesthetic experiences and their scientific basis.</li>
</ol>
Program
The course will be divided into four thematic modules, with examples by relevant artists.
Module I: The Neurobiology of Art
Understanding the human brain as the organ where the mind is and art as a result of brain layout and social behavior, neuroscience offers some of the keys to approach the brain from a scientific/biological perspective.
In this module, we will explore the work of relevant scientists and the role played by diversity in the contemporary view on beauty, which has traditionally been seen as unique or canonical.
Video 1: Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s Drawings of Neurons
Video 2: Art and Perception
Video 3: Is there Such Thing as Universal Beauty?
Video 4: Semir Zeki and Neuroaesthetics
Module II: The Artistic Mind 1: Creativity and Divergence
There are many different kinds of creative minds. In modern and contemporary art, those that stand out tend to have a capacity for divergence and disruption, breaking away from tradition, contributing new techniques, or shifting the beauty paradigm.
Examples of artists and works revealing this kind of minds are:
Video 1: Claude Monet’s Water Lillies and Pablo Picasso’s The Poet (A Fragmented View of Reality)
Video 2: Marcel Duchamp’s Bottle Rack and Andy Warhol’s Coca-Cola (The Everyday Object as Objet d’Art)
Video 3: Jackson Pollock’s Enchanted Forest and Helen Frankenthaler’s Santorini (New Painting Techniques: Drip and Soak-stain)
Video 4: Jean Dubuffet’s Will to Power and Louise Bourgeois’s Maman (Beauty in What Is Ugly or Strange)
Module III: The Artistic Mind 2: Synesthesia
People with synesthesia experience a merging of senses where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in another. This means they see the world differently. This ability can be used in art, as well as in other creative processes.
In this module, we focus on artists who were synesthetes, including:
Video 1: Vincent Van Gogh (The Color of Sound)
Video 2: Wassily Kandinsky (Improvisations and Compositions)
Video 3: Joan Mitchell (“Secret Magic”)
Video 4: David Hockney (Stage Designs: Color, Lighting, Music)
Module IV: Art and Emotion
What do we feel when we look at a work of art? Do other people feel the same? The emotions—or lack thereof—expressed by artists have different effects on those viewing or experiencing their work.
Using the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao’s educational project Artetik: From the Art as starting point, in this module we will take a few works of art and discuss the emotions they evoke in their viewers.
Video 1: Anish Kapoor’s Tall Tree and the Eye and fascination; Cristina Iglesias’s Jealousy and curiosity; Gilbert and George’s Waking and fun.
Video 2: Anselm Kiefer’s The Paths of World Wisdom and puzzlement; Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Bilbao and harmony; Gerhard Richter’s Seascape and calm.
Video 3: El Anatsui’s Rising Sea and inspiration; José Manuel Ballester’s The Raft of the Medusa and fear; Jenny Holzer’s Installation for Bilbao and wonder.
Video 4: Robert Motherwell’s Iberia and boredom; Jeff Koons’s Puppy and love; Javier Pérez’s Mask of Seduction and fear.

Online Art Courses: Art and Neuroscience – Beyond Beauty: The Creative and Divergent Mind of the Artist

In this course, we dive into neuroscience to explore individual aesthetic experiences, learning that there is no such thing as universal beauty in art.

Online Art Courses: Art and Neuroscience – Beyond Beauty: The Creative and Divergent Mind of the Artist | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course: Film & Video, moving image as an Artistic Medium

The online art courses at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao are accessible yet thorough, offering a unique opportunity to learn about key topics and concepts in the history of modern and contemporary art from a current perspective.
With the participation of experts in each field, the courses take as their starting point the Museum’s collection and its dynamic and varied artistic programming.
For a decade now, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao's Film &amp; Video exhibition programme has examined the different currents and modalities of contemporary artistic practices using film and video media.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
The learning outcomes of this online course are, among others:
<ol>
<li>To provide key references that allow you to easily learn the main features of the evolution of moving image in contemporary art and its main ramifications and numerous possibilities.</li>
<li>To present a selection of works and projects based on the Film &amp; Video exhibition history.</li>
<li>To offer a sequence of different case studies, divided into four thematic modules.</li>
</ol>
Taught by 
Yara Sonseca, Art Historian and Independent Curator.
Structure and Programme <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2024/03/Programa-web-FilmVideo.pdf">[+info]</a>
&nbsp;
Photo: 
Christian Marclay 
Video still from The Clock, 2010 
Single channel video with stereo sound 
24 hours, looped 
Courtesy the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

The online art courses at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao are accessible yet thorough, offering a unique opportunity to learn about key topics and concepts in the history of modern and contemporary art from a current perspective.

Online Art Course: Film &amp; Video, moving image as an Artistic Medium | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course: Film & Video, moving image as an Artistic Medium | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course

Structures of Contemporary Art: The Everlasting Question of How Works of Art Are Created and What They Mean
The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern art, addressed from contemporary perspectives.
Drawing on contributions from experts and based on the Museum’s Collection and its dynamic program, offering a wide range of different activities, the courses are designed to give participants an overview of the subjects under study while awakening their curiosity and kindling their desire to study and learn.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
This online course is aimed at:
<ul>
<li>Exploring the reasons why artists create art, emphasizing the importance of the creative processes (both physical and mental) that lead to the creation of works of art.</li>
<li>Analyzing how the stories and messages conveyed by artists through a variety of visual languages cause moods, feelings, and responses in the viewer, thus adding a beneficial layer to art.</li>
<li>Focusing on the power of art, as well as on the artist’s commitment to the writing and rewriting of history on the basis of personal perspective and historical context.</li>
<li>Highlighting the future potential of art, based on the understanding of the present.</li>
</ul>
Conducted by: 
Miguel López-Remiro Forcada, independent art consultant and curator. Artistic Director of the Picasso Museum in Malaga
COURSE STRUCTURE, INTRODUCTION, AND CONTENTS <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2024/12/PROGRAMA-curso-Estructuras-del-arte-REVISADO.pdf">[+info]</a>

Online Art Course. Structures of Contemporary Art

Structures of Contemporary Art: The Everlasting Question of How Works of Art Are Created and What They Mean

Online Art Course. Structures of Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Courses: Art and Machines: From Locomotives to AI

This online course focuses on the undeniable historical connection between art and machines. In the Renaissance, machines played a fundamental role in the development of architecture and perspective in painting and sculpture. In the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution led to the introduction of new materials like iron, concrete, and glass. Machines became a symbol of progress and modernity, and new inventions like the camera or the cinematograph opened new roads for creation. The 20th century witnessed the consolidation of photography and cinema first and then the emergence of new kinetic and robotic mechanisms that made it possible to make complex video installations. And today we are witnesses to the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
Although machines are human inventions that contribute to the development of new forms of artistic production while mirroring the transformations in society and the perception of the world, their use in art has always stirred debate, mostly in connection with their role in creative processes vis-à-vis more conventional or handcrafted methods.
The course will be conducted by Josu Rekalde, a multidisciplinary artist whose production includes experimental videos, sculpture installations, and new technologies. Rekalde was a faculty member at the School of Art in the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
Target audience: Adults interested in contemporary art 
Type of course: online (accessed from the online platform) 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Language: Spanish 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, participants will get a certificate.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
<ol>
<li>Keys to understand and examples to illustrate the relationship between art and machines from the 19th century to the present.</li>
<li>Leading artists and most relevant works.</li>
<li>Other forms of artistic production coexisting with more conventional or non-technology-based techniques to broaden your understanding of modern and contemporary art.</li>
<li>New role and social impact of artists in the age of AI.</li>
</ol>
CONTENTS
The course will be divided into four thematic modules, with examples by relevant artists.
Module I: Machines as Objects of Representation and Symbols of Modernity
In the 19th century, art was transformed by the rise of machines as mass production engines, brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Artists like the Impressionists or the Futurists laid their eyes on machines and technology developments as symbols of progress, modernity, and dynamism.
Video 1: From J. M. W. Turner to Impressionism
Video 2: A new machine: the cinematograph
Video 3: Fernand Léger and the painting of the industrial and mechanical world
Video 4: Futurism: a celebration of the power and speed of machines
Module II: Light and Movement, New Art Materials
In the early 20th century, the use of machines as tools for change in society and in art became part of the program of several revolutionary movements, as well as those breaking away from traditional forms of artistic production. Meanwhile, mobile and kinetic elements entered the art scene and found their place among artistic practices.
Video 1: Constructivism: Antoine Pevsner, Naum Gabo, Vladimir Tatlin
Video 2: Dadaism and Surrealism: Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray
Video 3: Mobiles: László Moholy-Nagy, Alexander Calder
Video 4: Kinetic Art: Jean Tinguely, Theo Jansen
Module III: Bodies and Machines
Artists have focused on the role of bodies in connection with technology, particularly from the 1960s to the present. This has led to the discussion of the social and anthropological consequences of man-machine hybrids and new forms of experimentation in art.
Video 1: Art and robotics: Nam June Paik, Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca, Juan Muños, Vito Acconci
Video 2: Cyborgs in contemporary art: Stelarc and Orlan, Neil Harbisson
Video 3: Video cameras, a new way of looking at reality: Peter Weibel, Michael Snow
Video 4: Multimedia installations: Yayoi Kusama, Edwin van der Heide, Mark Leckey
Module IV: Looking into the Future: From Digital Art to New Ways of Making Art
With the emergence of digital art in the 1960s, the first computers made their way into artistic creation. More recently, the use of AI enabled artists to go beyond traditional concepts and roles. Finally and the hybridizations between art and science are beginning to open up new perspectives for understanding reality.
Video 1: Computational Art: Vera Molnár, A. Michael Noll, Centro de Cálculo UCM (José María Yturralde, Elena Asins)
Video 2: Net.art (New Media Art): Vuk Ćósic, Olia Lialina, Daniel Guzmán
Video 3: AI and Generative Art: Refik Anadol
Video 4: Art and science: future questions.
Juan Muñoz 
Shadow and Mouth, 1997/2017 
Polyester resin, cloth, pigment, wood and motor 
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

This online course focuses on the undeniable historical connection between art and machines. In the Renaissance, machines played a fundamental role in the development of architecture and perspective in painting and sculpture

Online Art Courses: Art and Machines: From Locomotives to AI | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Courses Pop Art

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and contemporary art, addressed from current perspectives. Drawing on the participation from experts in specific fields, these courses are inspired by the Museum Collection and its dynamic exhibition program.
Pop art was an art movement characterized by a return to representation, drawing inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture—hence the name of the movement. Emerging in Britain in the 1950s, Pop art flourished in America in the 1960s, where a sudden boom in the economy triggered the growth of consumerism. Some of the artists in the Pop art movement reacted by incorporating images from mass culture and using techniques that emulated (or parodied) industrial production. Pop art drew on billboards, commercial ads, films, television, pulp magazines, comic strips, or even shop windows.
This course offers a broad overview of the relevance of Pop art and its various manifestations in the international art scene, its main representatives, and its influence on contemporary art practices.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
This online course is aimed at:
<ul>
<li>Analyzing the keys to the most salient characteristics of Pop art, as well as the social, political, economic, and cultural background that led to its emergence and development internationally.</li>
<li>Exploring the work of the leading Pop artists, including several women, and their most iconic creations.</li>
<li>Showing the influence of Pop art on other forms of culture beyond the visual arts, e.g. music or fashion.</li>
<li>Understanding the legacy of Pop art and its influence on contemporary art from a 21st-century perspective.</li>
</ul>
Conducted by: 
José Lebrero Stals, culture and art manager, exhibition curator. He has been artistic director of the Picasso Museum in Malaga.
Structure and Contents <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2024/03/Programa-Curso-online-arte-pop-para-web.pdf">[+info]</a>

Online art courses Pop Art: Past and Present

Los cursos de arte online del Museo Guggenheim Bilbao ofrecen una oportunidad única de formarse de manera accesible a la vez que rigurosa sobre temas y conceptos clave de la historia del arte moderno y contemporáneo desde una perspectiva actual. Contando con la participación de expertos en cada campo, los cursos toman como punto de partida la Colección del Museo y su dinámica y variada programación artística.

Online art courses Pop Art: Past and Present | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course. The Body and Identity in Contemporary Art

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern art, addressed from contemporary perspectives.
Drawing on contributions from experts and based on the Museum’s Collection and its dynamic program, the courses are designed to give participants an overview of the subjects under study while awakening their curiosity and kindling their desire to study and learn.
Our new online course, The Body and Identity in Contemporary Art, is aimed at:
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
<ul>
<li>Highlighting the importance of the human body as a motif for representation, a tool for creation, and a work of art in itself in twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic practices.</li>
<li>Discussing how the notions of identity, gender, and diversity challenge established norms and contribute to the emergence of new models and creative manifestations.</li>
<li>Giving visibility to artists from minority groups and their contributions, granting them the place they deserve in the history of twentieth- and twenty-first-century art.</li>
<li>Offering an overview of new forms of creation and new constructions of identity in today’s global artistic milieu.</li>
</ul>
Course structure, Introduction, and Contents <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2023/03/PROGRAMA-curso-arte-online-Cuerpo-e-Identidad-23-03-15.pdf">[+ info]</a> 

Conducted by 
Aimar Arriola, art curator, editor, and researcher
&nbsp;
Elssie Ansareo. El baile de las flâneuses 2007. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern art, addressed from contemporary perspectives.

Online Art Course. The Body and Identity in Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online art courses Drawing in Contemporary Art

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and contemporary art, addressed from current perspectives. Drawing on the contributions from experts in specific fields, these courses are inspired by the Museum’s Collection and its dynamic exhibition program.
Drawing was the first form of artistic representation used by man to communicate or convey ideas. Its development has followed the evolution of history and art since its emergence as such in the sixteenth century.
Moreover, a drawing, either on paper or in the mind, is often the starting point of the creative process for many artists – a sort of “skeleton” of their work. And many drawings have come to be considered as works of art in their own right, given their complexity, their uniqueness, or the skill with which they were drafted. Many artists in the old days were celebrated for their dexterity in the mastery of this technique, which continues to be a fundamental discipline in contemporary art.
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
This online course is aimed at:
<ul>
<li>Offering an overview of the history of drawing, illustrating it with pieces from the old masters, particularly Francisco de Goya, as a predecessor of contemporary drawing.</li>
<li>Reviewing non-Western drawing practices with an influence on contemporary drawing.</li>
<li>Highlighting the importance of drawing, both as a technique and as an independent discipline.</li>
<li>Illustrating all of the above with a selection of works from the Museum Collection that show the key role played by drawing in artists’ creative processes and accomplished works of art.</li>
</ul>
Conducted by: 
José Manuel Matilla, art historian, Chief Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Prado Museum.
Structure and contents <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2024/04/Curso-dibujo-PROGRAMA-WEB-.pdf">[+info] </a>
&nbsp;
Yoshitomo Nara 
Joey, 2008 
Lápiz sobre papel 
51,5 × 36,5 cm 
Colección del artista 
© Yoshitomo Nara 2008 
Cortesía Yoshitomo Nara Foundation

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and

Online art courses Drawing in Contemporary Art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online art course: The garden in contemporary art

Through this four-part program, we will be exploring the theme of the garden in contemporary art.
Rather than offering an exhaustive overview of the garden throughout art history, the course provides key insights and examples of how gardens have served—and continue to serve—as sources of inspiration, as well as spaces for intervention and artistic action.
The relationship between humankind and the garden can be traced back thousands of years, to the Garden of Eden and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Among the most evocative aspects of this form are the apparent freedom of English gardens, the contemplative spirit of Japanese Zen gardens, the dazzling beauty of Versailles, and the quiet charm of the humble allotment.
Traditionally, a garden has been understood as a space for cultivating plant life—flowers, trees, and fruit—augmented with decorative elements designed to delight the senses or arranged with symbolic or functional intent.
The design and purpose of gardens have evolved over time, reflecting the political, philosophical, social, economic, and technical contexts of each era. As spaces that “order” nature, gardens are closely linked to ideas of nature itself, landscape, and the land.
WHAT WILL WE LEARN?
<ul>
<li>How the relationship between art and the garden has evolved, particularly from the late 19th century to the present day.</li>
<li>Key examples of artists and seminal works.</li>
<li>References to the artistic context and interrelations.</li>
<li>The importance of environmental sustainability in contemporary art.</li>
<li>The work of women artists in this context and the recognition of their place in art history.</li>
</ul>
The course is led by Lola Durán Úcar, PhD in Art History and Visual Culture from the Autonomous University of Madrid, exhibition curator, and art critic.
Course hours: 6 hours, self-paced.
Audience: Adults interested in contemporary art
Language: Spanish
Access: Through the online platform
4 modules, 16 video classes and additional materials
Certification: Automatic, after completion of the course
PROGRAM
Module I: Introduction and background 
In ancient art, gardens were merely decorative, backdrops against which artists set scenes of religious iconography, especially in the Middle Ages. The landscape as an artistic genre and also the representation of the garden emerged in the Renaissance as a background for scenes or portraits; fidelity was not considered imperative at the time of capturing nature, a field in which the importance of the link between the human and the divine was revealed.
During the Baroque period, cities were featured in art works (Villa Médici), in Rococo art, nature became exuberant, and Romanticism showed a very sensitive vision of nature through gardening and landscape.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, the garden became a key source of inspiration and theme of representation. In the work of impressionist and post-impressionist artists, the garden reflects the union between nature and subjectivity, directly capturing light and colour, everyday life, intimacy and modernity.
Video 1. From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Earthly Delights. Images of the garden in the Islamic world and East Asia. 
Video 2. From Baroque artifice to romantic naturalism (Diego Velázquez, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, John Constable, Claude Lorrain). 
Video 3. Breakthroughs and modern visions: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: (Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre – Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh).Women illustrators who expand the representation of the garden through a female gaze (Maria Sibylla Merian, Marianne North). 
Video 4. Dreamlike and imaginary gardens: from the Avant-Garde to Surrealism (Henri Matisse, Vasily Kandinsky, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Remedios Varo).
Module II: The garden as a symbol of memory, transformation, metaphor and creation 
In 20th century art, the garden also becomes a symbol of memory and transformation. Many authors use it to explore issues related to identity, loss, fragility of existence, reconstruction and evolution; and others, as a metaphor for everything it implies or awakens in onlookers. Some artists were also gardeners and created their own gardens, which have now been turned into museums or are an integral part of them.
Video 1. Memory (Louise Bourgeois, Paloma Navares, Miquel Navarro, Doris Salcedo, Kapwani Kiwanga). 
Video 2. Transformation (Patrick Blanc, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama). 
Video 3. Metaphor (Cristina Almodóvar, Chus García Fraile, Françoise Vanneraud, Daniel Verbis). 
Video 4. Gardener-artists and garden-museums (Vanessa Bell and the Bloomsbury group, Derek Jarman, Roberto Burle Marx, Claude Monet, Alejandra Riera, Daniel Spoerri).
Module III: The garden as a space for intervention and action 
In the 1960s, artistic movements such as Land Art emerged, which used nature as a material and creative space, generating immersive and reflective experiences. Ecofeminist art establishes a link between the subjugation of women and the taming of nature. Progressively, new artistic proposals appear sensitive to climate change and the scarcity of resources.
Video 1. Land Art and Conceptual Art (Agnes Denes, Hans Haacke, Robert Smithson). 
Video 2. The garden in Ecofeminism (Yto Barrada, Fina Miralles, Mierle Laderman Ukeles). 
Video 3. Gardens and climate change (Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Olafur Eliasson). 
Video 4. Collectives and collaborative projects (Campo Adentro, Futurefarmers, Guerrilla Gardening, Gabriel Orozco).
Module IV: The garden in multimedia and digital art. 
The garden in multimedia and digital art is a space for inquiry, metaphor, dialog and debate between nature and technology, where the interaction between human being and machine redefines the relationship between nature and culture. The ability to devise and transform gardens invites us to rethink our connection with nature and to explore new forms of creativity and experimentation in 21st century art.
Video 1. Post-nature (Thomas Demand, Violet Forest, Allora &amp; Calzadilla). 
Video 2. The garden as a multimedia and virtual space (Jennifer Steinkamp, Miguel Chevalier, teamLab). 
Video 3. The garden in digital art and collective creativity (Esther Rollinson). 
Video 4. Generative Art (Andy Lomas).

Through this four-part program, we will be exploring the theme of the garden in contemporary art.

Online art course: The garden in contemporary art | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Online Art Course. What Do We Mean by Contemporary Sculpture?

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and contemporary art, addressed from current perspectives.
Drawing on contributions from experts in specific fields, these courses are based on the Museum Collection and its dynamic art program.
According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word sculpture means: 
a: the action or art of processing (as by carving, modeling, or welding) plastic or hard materials into works of art 
b     (1): work produced by sculpture 
(2): a three-dimensional work of art (such as a statue)
Upon reading these definitions, works like the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s David, or even that equestrian statue in a town square come to mind. However, as an artistic discipline, sculpture has changed significantly over the past 150 years, so that its scope today goes well beyond the traditional works we are familiar with that we identify as sculptures.
This course offers an answer—one among many—to the question “What do we mean by ‘contemporary sculpture’?”
Workload: 6 hours (at your own pace) 
Target audience: People over 18 who are interested in contemporary art 
Language: Spanish 
Structure: 4 modules, 16 video lessons, additional resources 
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will get a certificate 
Availability: Three months from date of purchase
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE?
This online course is aimed at:
<ul>
<li>Providing the key concepts to understand the development of sculpture from the late 19th century to the present.</li>
<li>Analyzing a series of formal and technical issues that are essential to understand this development, such as taking sculptures off their plinths or using new materials.</li>
<li>Exploring new forms of creation in today’s sculpture, in terms of both object and space, and analyzing the ways in which they interact with the viewer.</li>
<li>Shedding light on women artists and their real contributions, thus giving them the place they deserve in the history of 20th- and 21st-century art.</li>
</ul>
Conducted by: 
Brigitte Leal, Emeritus Deputy Director, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Structure and Contents <a href="http://cms.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/uploads/2023/09/WEB-CURSO-ARTE-ONLINE-ESCULTURA-PROGRAMA-FINAL.pdf">[+info]</a>
&nbsp;
Hatoum credits: 
Mona Hatoum, Home, 1999 
Wood, galvanized steel, stainless steel, electric wire, crocodile clips, light bulbs, computerized dimmer switch, amplifier, and speakers 
76.2 x 198.1 x 73.7 cm (table) 
Overall dimensions variable 
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The online art courses of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offer accessible yet rigorous training in key concepts and topics in the history of modern and contemporary art, addressed from current perspectives.

Online Art Course. What Do We Mean by Contemporary Sculpture? | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

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Guggenheim Museum Bilbao’s activities calendar. Concerts, lectures, courses, family activities, films, shared reflections...

Calendar of activities | Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

15€ Adults - 7.5€ Senior - 7.5€ Students

TopARTE, an initiative of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, remains firmly committed to local cultural actors and organizations. The result of this fruitful collaboration is a multidisciplinary program offering a wide range of content and formats, reaching all kinds of audiences.
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