Note: Instructor-led courses offer many opportunities for interaction with the teacher and fellow students; self-guided courses have no opportunities for interaction. Instructor-led courses have specific start and end dates; self-guided courses have rolling admission (within 24–48 hours after registering, you will receive an e-mail from MoMA Courses, with a link to your course).

To learn more about how online courses work, see About/FAQ.

Experience postwar abstract painting from an artist’s point of view. This course leads students in a hands-on examination of the materials and techniques that created some of the 20th century’s greatest masterpieces. Two introductory classes cover the basics of preparing a canvas and mixing and applying paint, and each subsequent class focuses on a major artist in MoMA’s collection, using slide lectures, videos shot on location in MoMA’s galleries, and studio demonstrations to enrich understanding. Every week, students will paint a canvas based on the work of an iconic artist from the period—from Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman—with the aid of an online discussion forum and digital images shared among students and the instructor. Combining studio techniques, visual analysis, and art historical insight, the class offers students a unique appreciation of how the materiality of paint and the activity of painting affected the development of abstract art. Students will have assigned readings, and will be given access to a wide range of multimedia educational resources.

A digital camera is required in order to photograph and post work for weekly discussions. Students will need to purchase materials and supplies for this course (costs range from $20 to $200, depending on your paint preferences). View the supply list.

Week 1: Introduction to the New York School
Week 2: Introduction to Painting Materials and Color Theory
Week 3: Barnett Newman
Week 4: Robert Ryman
Week 5: Willem de Kooning
Week 6: Jackson Pollock
Week 7: Mark Rothko
Week 8: Philip Guston
Week 9: Ad Reinhardt
Week 10: Frank Stella

Corey D'Augustine is a painting conservator who worked for many years at MoMA. He is also an artist who has exhibited in New York and abroad.

Note: Instructor-led courses offer many opportunities for interaction with the teacher and fellow students; self-guided courses have no opportunities for interaction. Instructor-led courses have specific start and end dates; self-guided courses have rolling admission (within 24–48 hours after registering, you will receive an e-mail from MoMA Courses, with a link to your course).

To learn more about how online courses work, see About/FAQ.

Experience postwar abstract painting from an artist’s point of view. This course leads students in a hands-on examination of the materials and techniques that created some of the 20th century’s greatest masterpieces. Two introductory classes cover the basics of preparing a canvas and mixing and applying paint, and each subsequent class focuses on a major artist in MoMA’s collection, using slide lectures, videos shot on location in MoMA’s galleries, and studio demonstrations to enrich understanding. Every week, students will paint a canvas based on the work of an iconic artist from the period—from Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Combining studio techniques, visual analysis, and art historical insight, the class offers students a unique appreciation of how the materiality of paint and the activity of painting affected the development of abstract art. Students will have assigned readings, and will be given access to a wide range of multimedia educational resources.

Students will need to purchase materials and supplies for this course (costs range from $20 to $200, depending on your paint preferences). View the supply list.

Module 1: Introduction to the New York School
Module 2: Introduction to Painting Materials and Color Theory
Module 3: Barnett Newman
Module 4: Robert Ryman
Module 5: Willem de Kooning
Module 6: Jackson Pollock
Module 7: Mark Rothko
Module 8: Philip Guston
Module 9: Ad Reinhardt
Module 10: Frank Stella

Note: Instructor-led courses offer many opportunities for interaction with the teacher and fellow students; self-guided courses have no opportunities for interaction. Instructor-led courses have specific start and end dates; self-guided courses have rolling admission (within 24–48 hours after registering, you will receive an e-mail from MoMA Courses, with a link to your course).

To learn more about how online courses work, see About/FAQ.

In this class, you will discover the fascinating stories, key works, and iconic figures of modern art, from its origins in Post-Impressionism to the beginnings of the New York School. Moving chronologically through the Museum's collection, you will explore an array of renowned and provocative objects—from paintings that challenged the official Academy and revolutionized the conventions of representation to works that are completely abstract—by such artists as Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, among others.

Classes combine brief art history lectures, readings, and video shot on location in MoMA’s galleries.

Week 1: Van Gogh and Post-Impressionism
Week 2: Klimt and Symbolism
Week 3: Matisse and Fauvism
Week 4: Kandinsky and Expressionism
Week 5: Picasso and Cubism/Boccioni and Futurism
Week 6: Modigliani and the School of Paris
Week 7: Malevich, Mondrian, and Utopian Visions
Week 8: Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus
Week 9: Dada and Duchamp
Week 10: Dalí and Surrealism

Deborah A. Goldberg (PhD, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts and lectures regularly for The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA. She coedited and contributed to the book Alexander Archipenko Revisited: An International Perspective (2008).

Larissa Bailiff (PhD, ABD, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) is a specialist in 19th-century French art and social history. Formerly an associate educator at MoMA, she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at both the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Pratt Institute.

Note: Instructor-led courses offer many opportunities for interaction with the teacher and fellow students; self-guided courses have no opportunities for interaction. Instructor-led courses have specific start and end dates; self-guided courses have rolling admission (within 24–48 hours after registering, you will receive an e-mail from MoMA Courses, with a link to your course).

To learn more about how online courses work, see About/FAQ.

In this class, you will discover the fascinating stories, key works, and iconic figures of modern art, from its origins in Post-Impressionism to the beginnings of the New York School. Moving chronologically through the Museum's collection, you will explore an array of renowned and provocative objects—from paintings that challenged the official Academy and revolutionized the conventions of representation to works that are completely abstract—by such artists as Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, among others.

Classes combine brief art history lectures, readings, and video shot on location in MoMA’s galleries.

Module 1: Van Gogh and Post-Impressionism
Module 2: Klimt and Symbolism
Module 3: Matisse and Fauvism
Module 4: Kandinsky and Expressionism
Module 5: Picasso and Cubism/Boccioni and Futurism
Module 6: Modigliani and the School of Paris
Module 7: Malevich, Mondrian, and Utopian Visions
Module 8: Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus
Module 9: Dada and Duchamp
Module 10: Dalí and Surrealism