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The art of making friends at the Courtauld

‘When we enrolled in a Courtauld Summer School course on German art and politics in the Weimar Republic taught by Niccola Shearman in 2023, we expected first-class tuition and hoped for a congenial group of fellow-learners. ��In fact, what we found was even better! Four of us, from varying backgrounds in medicine, law, journalism and accountancy, met on that course and stayed in touch afterwards. In 2023, inspired by the course, we took a trip to Leicester to see the large and exceptional collection of German Expressionist works there (and to enjoy a lovely dinner in an Indian restaurant!). Then, in January 2024, three of us went to Stockholm for a retrospective of the work of Lotte Laserstein – a fascinating artist we hadn’t known about before the course – and we all found ourselves in 2024 in Niccola Shearman’s Vienna Summer School course and subsequently in her autumn Study tour to Vienna. Further events and exhibitions ��have followed and in short we’ve become great friends; sharing our enthusiasm for art and art history has definitely enhanced the experience for each one of us.’�� ��– Carolyn Watson