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Accessibility statement
An image to illustrate Art and visual cultures in the modern world module
This module introduces you to the art and visual cultures of the modern period. It consists of five blocks, each centring on a crucial topic that helps to define the distinctiveness of art and visual cultures as they have developed between the mid-eighteenth century and the present day. They all feature major artists and art movements alongside much more unexpected material, such as taxidermy and satellite imaging. Each block also addresses the local and the global, with material relating both to the United Kingdom, its regions and nations, and to more distant contexts and diverse cultures.
The five blocks you'll study in this module are:
Block 1 – Art and its Institutions

In the first block, you'll explore the different ways in which art can be understood, practised and experienced in the modern world. Starting from the invention of the art museum or public gallery in the mid-eighteenth century, it shows how this type of institution has helped to define the work of art as a special category of object ever since. It examines a range of artistic practices, from painting and sculpture to ceramics and film, and considers the hierarchies and exclusions that determine why some images and objects are singled out for special veneration as art. Examples featured range from the Louvre Museum to the Hepworth Wakefield, from Josiah Wedgwood to Sonia Boyce.
Block 2 – Visual Cultures of Modernity

This block explores the transformation of visual cultures brought about by the massive diffusion of non-art images, thanks to a series of new reproductive technologies such as lithography, photography and digital image-making. It covers the expanded field of images that shape the modern visual environment, including not only works of art by figures such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Hannah Höch but also advertisements, scientific illustrations, political satire and family photographs. By analysing these images, you'll explore how modernity has been characterised by the mass reproduction of images, transforming not only how images are made but also how they are used and interpreted.
Block 3 – Art in the Modern World

In this block, you'll explore how art has been transformed since the late eighteenth century as artists have sought to engage with different aspects of modern life, from revolution and industrialisation to sexual politics and disability rights. You'll also be introduced to important concepts such as ‘modernism’ and ‘avant-garde’, which have been used by art historians to analyse and explain these artistic transformations. Key figures featured include Edouard Manet, Marcel Duchamp, Tina Modotti and Jackson Pollock. Overall, the block provides an engaging and accessible introduction to modern art, taking in developments not only in Europe and the United States but as far afield as Mexico and Japan.
Block 4 – The Past in the Present

This block explores the new and growing fascination with the past that has developed since the late eighteenth century in reaction to the upheavals of modernity. In studying the block, you will examine artefacts, images and institutions from a range of historical and geographical contexts that each engage with the past in some way. As you will discover, this engagement with the past is nevertheless profoundly shaped by the values and concerns of the present. The block also provides an introduction to heritage studies, an interdisciplinary field of inquiry closely related to art history. Examples featured range from paintings by the Pre-Raphaelites to dresses by Laura Ashley, from an open-air museum in Stockholm to a Shinto temple in Japan.
Block 5 – Visions of the Anthropocene

In the final block, you'll explore the contribution that art and visual cultures have made to the growing awareness of a rupture between humans and the natural environment over the course of the modern period. In so doing, you will examine a broad range of materials, from paintings to performance art, taxidermy to urban planning. The block examines the contribution of historical figures, such as William Morris, alongside the work of more recent artists and designers, such as the architect Buckminster Fuller and the photographer Edward Burtynsky. You'll also be introduced to the concepts of ‘The Anthropocene’ and ‘ecocriticism’, and consider how they can be used to analyse art and visual culture.
By studying this module, you will:
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You’ll be provided with five printed module books, and have access to a module website, which includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
A236 is a compulsory module in our:
A236 is an option module in our:
Art and visual cultures in the modern world starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2034.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
This is an OU level 2 module. OU level 2 modules build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at OU level 1. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably at the OU.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
Once you have registered on this module, you’ll have access to an art history forum and a variety of art history bridging activities that you can complete prior to the module starting.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying A236 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
StartEndRegister byEngland fee
03 Oct 202630 Jun 202710 Sep 2026£4,088
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