Off the Shelf: Art History’s Funniest Bits – Verity Babbs

What are we missing out on when we take art too seriously? Join art historian and comedian Verity Babbs as she leads us through some of art history’s funniest bits. 

Sharing stories from her book The History of Art in One Sentence, Verity takes us on a journey of 500 years of artists behaving badly, jaw-dropping artworks and manifestos that’ll make you say “oh my!”.  Celebrate the power of laughing at art and see some of your favourite artists in a whole new light.  

Verity Babbs has a History of Art Degree from the University of Oxford and was named one of BBC HistoryExtra’s ’30 Under 30’ in 2024.  She regularly performs her Art Laughs events at the National Gallery. 

This event is part of Off the Shelf: Festival of Words from the University of Sheffield. The full festival programme is available here: https://offtheshelf.org.uk/events/ 

The event is organised by the Off the Shelf Festival. Views expressed at this event do not reflect those of Sheffield Museums.