Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline *
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,800 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* there is no application deadline for postgraduate courses
** for international full-time | international part-time: 12,540 GBP/year | home full-time: 13,500 GBP/year | home part-time: 7,425 GBP/year
Key Summary
Introduction
Study the UK’s only Art Business MA of its kind.
Studying this MA in Art Business at Kingston University will give you the commercial acumen to secure roles in galleries, auction houses, insurance and more.
Through high-quality, interdisciplinary teaching, you’ll gain insights, develop practical skills and hone your academic rigour. You’ll explore core business and legal concepts alongside industry-specific knowledge, preparing for the diverse professional landscape you’ll enter when you graduate.
During the course, you’ll benefit from being close to London – Europe's art market capital. You’ll learn from both rising and established art market practitioners, and have opportunities to visit a range of galleries, auction houses and art fairs.
Because Kingston School of Art and Business School deliver this course in partnership, you’ll learn in a uniquely creative, stimulating environment. This is the only course of its kind in the UK.
Why choose this course?
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, our teaching staff have close professional links to keep your studies relevant to the changing work environment.
Keen to engage with the industry through an internship or work placement? Our partnership with the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers will help you find opportunities with contemporary art galleries, PR agencies and other organisations across the UK.
Kingston University has two on-site galleries, Dorich House and the Stanley Picker Gallery. We’re also a 30-minute train journey away from internationally acclaimed galleries and auction houses in London, including Tate Britain, the V&A, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and more.
Plus, you’ll experience the art market first-hand with trips to TEFAF in Maastricht and Art Basel. Other trips include visits to auction houses, market dealers, shippers, collections and foundations across London.
You’ll also have access to our learning resource centre (LRC) at Knights Park. Here, you’ll find specialist book and journal collections, a range of electronic resources and a large slide collection.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Course content
You will benefit from a systematic approach to understanding the core functions of the art market across different sectors and geographies, understanding the importance of pre-modern markets and learning about the complexities of today's international art market. This will allow you to cater your studies to your individual needs and future career interests.
The History of the Art Market focuses on your understanding of past and present art business practices and changes to the art market over the past 400 years. Object Analysis & Appraisal will teach you how to handle and value an artwork: how an artwork is catalogued, its commercial value established, and what happens during the process of selling a work of art. Art valuation classes are through lively and hands-on workshops and seminar sessions with teaching staff and art market professionals.
Through the Business and Art module, delivered at Kingston Business School, you will understand the complex and dynamic relationship between art and commerce. You will be taught the latest business practices, which will be tied to the context of the commercial art world.
Modules
This course gives you both an overview of the art market business and the opportunity to gain detailed knowledge in a specific area of fine art and collectables.
Fundamental to the course are modules which introduce you to wide-ranging subjects, from connoisseurship, object identification and authentication to cataloguing.
The modules will enhance your business practice skills, and through the research element of the programme, you'll develop your critical analysis skills as well as detailed knowledge within a chosen specialist area.
Core modules
- History of the Art Market
- Object Analysis & Appraisal
- Business and Art
- Major Project
Optional modules
- Professional Placement
Additional year with placement
Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the work placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Student Route visa.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
After you graduate
You’ll complete this course with globally recognised knowledge and skills. Many of our international graduates return to their home countries to apply their learnings. Some progress to roles in commercial galleries, major auction houses, and art insurance. Others have set up galleries and online platforms, managed collections and advised collectors.
Industry experts
During the course, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from a wide range of art market professionals. Previous speakers include valuation and art insurance experts, PR professionals, Christie's Auction House, independent evaluators, valuers, appraisers, gallerists, artists, fair organisers and recruitment agencies.
Research with impact
Many of our staff are active in research, which means they bring the latest thinking and best practice to your studies. Our research culture covers the critical practices of fine artists, curators, cultural commentators, historians, designers, filmmakers and architects.