Ahead of the 20th Century Week at Christie’s New York, Christie’s Education will hold three one-day courses complementing the public highlights exhibitions around the US. Along with New York and Los Angeles, the first-ever course will be launched in San Francisco. During this tour, students will have the opportunity to examine the history and context of the artists and art works that sell at the top of the post-war and contemporary art market with Christie’s Education lecturers. All courses include a specialist-led walk-through of the highlights on view.

• On 15 April in Los Angeles, Up Close and Personal: Masterpieces of Post-War and Contemporary Art features masterpieces by Andy Warhol, Fernand Léger, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Alexander Calder. 

• On 25 April in San Francisco, Art Insight: Masterpieces, Makers and the Market presents works by Wayne Thiebaud, Diego Rivera, Tom Wesselmann and Richard Diebenkorn. 

• On 11 May in New York, students will be able to explore the entire auction preview of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on the Post-War and Contemporary Art on Top: The Artists and Art Works in Christie's Evening Sales course.

“By focusing on these masterpieces, there are multiple and diverse stories to be explored: about collectors and their collections, the emergence of certain artists in the secondary market and the artist’s creative process,” says Marisa Kayyem, Programme Director of Continuing Education in New York. “We like students to look closely at works of art, to take their time to experience them as they will most likely not be seen publicly again.” 

Christie’s Education will continue to organise tours complementing Christie’s sales and plans on expanding its courses to other cities across the country to provide students with the rare opportunity to study art up close.