New York City is home to the largest concentration of American art in the world and the city’s cultural resources – its vast network of museums, galleries, collectors, and auction houses – are unsurpassed.

Additionally, New York’s proximity to other major centers of American art like Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston allow unprecedented opportunities for field study. These features make New York a key hub of the art market and a vibrant and inspiring place to study American art.

The American Fine and Decorative Art program exposes students to an intensive year of lectures, seminars, and object study in classroom settings as well as in museums, galleries, and conservation facilities.

By supplementing traditional classroom lectures with sessions that bring students into contact with the objects they are studying, the program provides a unique blend of academic rigor and practical skills. Through observation, comparison, and analysis, students learn the major artists and movements in a variety of media: painting, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, glass, silver, textiles, and more.

The core curriculum builds connoisseurship skills while examining the diverse cultural histories of objects, makers, and markets of each period. Travel to key sites – both locally and beyond – allows students to experience those qualities of art directly that slides alone cannot convey: the texture of a painted surface, the tone and sheen of furniture, and the weight of an object in hand. Learning from leading scholars, curators, and dealers, students emerge with a first-rate education and are exposed to a network of experts that is unsurpassed. Alumni of the program find a range of options evident in the diverse positions recent graduates now hold: PhD candidate, auctioneer, collection consultant, gallerist, museum educator, and development officer.

This MA program may be combined with study in Interior Design. Over two years, students study two semesters of the MA program plus an additional two semesters at the New York School of Interior Design. On completion of these studies, students are awarded an MA degree as well as a Basic Certificate in Interior Design. More information is available on request.