The Best European Art Schools

The Louvre Museum in Paris inspires arts students.

With its long history and diverse, fascinating culture, Europe is an excellent place to study the arts. With history that can be traced back to the ancient world, Europe won't fail to inspire art students. It has also been home to many great and famous artists, including Michelangelo and Da Vinci from Italy and Salvador Dali and Picasso from Spain.



Europe is also not short on art museums for students to visit, including the Louvre in Paris and the National Gallery in London. The Louvre houses a massive collection of 35,000 works, including the sculpture "The Rebellious Slave" by Michelangelo and the famous "Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci. The National Gallery houses 2,300 paintings, including "The Virgin of the Rocks" by Da Vinci, "Sunflowers" by Van Gogh, "Self Portrait at the Age of 34" by Rembrandt and "The Madonna of the Pinks" by Raphael.

England

England has more than 100 colleges and universities offering art and design subjects, but the best of them all and currently top of the league for 2011 is University College London. UCL received a Nobel Prize for the 21st time in 2009 and counts Alexander Graham Bell and Gandhi among its alumni. It has excellent facilities, an on-campus theater, a student union and a fitness center.

UCL offers B.A. programs in ancient world studies, language and culture and modern languages. It also offers a master's degree in comparative literature, film studies, gender studies and language, culture and history.

For contemporary arts, UCL has the Slade School of Fine Arts, which offers master's and doctorate programs in fine arts.

Italy

Italy's University of Bologna offers art courses, including Object of Historic and Artistic Arts, Culture and Techniques of Costume and Fashion, Arts, Music and Entertainment, Theater and Film Studies, and Cinema, Television and Multi-Media Production.

For non-EU students, the university sets an annual quota of places. If you want to request a pre-enrollment program, you need to contact the Italian embassy-consulate in your country. You also need to pass an Italian language proficiency test and an admission test.

France

The Universite Paris Sorbonne, Paris IV is considered the best arts university in France and one of the world's most prestigious universities. It offers two courses under the Creative and Performing Arts Department. Arts courses include Archaeology and Art History and Music and Musicology.

If you are not part of an exchange program and you want to apply for a place at the Sorbonne, you need to get in touch with the admission office for bachelor's and master's degrees.

Austria

One of the best arts universities in Austria is the University of Vienna. It offers three art-related programs, including history of art and architecture, musicology, linguistics and comparative literature, and a doctoral program in theater, film and media studies.

To apply for a degree program, you need to have an Austrian equivalent high school diploma or certification stating you have passed a university entrance test. You also need to pass a proficiency test in German.

References

• Louvre Museum
• National Gallery: Collection Overview
• UCL: Programmes
• University of Bologna: Enrollment for 1st cycle degree programmes and One-long Cycle 2nd Degree programmes
• Paris-Sorbonne University: Subjects
• University of Vienna: Student Point

Resources

• University Guide: University College London
• University College London: Contact List
• University of Bologna: Contact
• Paris-Sorbone University: Contact Us
• University of Vienna: Contact Us