What Subjects Are Needed for Art History?

Art|Art History

Art history is a field of study that seeks to understand and appreciate the visual arts of past cultures. It combines elements of art, history, and cultural studies to examine the impact of art on society, and how it has changed over time. Art historians look at a variety of works from different periods of time, and consider how they reflect the culture and values of the period in which they were created.

In order to succeed in studying art history, students need to be familiar with a variety of subjects.

These include art theory and principles, such as color theory, composition, perspective, line quality, shading, and light; aesthetics; art movements; iconography; symbolism; materials and techniques used in creating works; conservation practices for preserving works; current trends in art criticism; methods for researching works of art; and other topics related to understanding works from different historical eras.

In addition to these topics, students should also have a base knowledge in the humanities such as philosophy or literature. This is important because these subjects provide a context for understanding the role that art has played throughout history. A strong knowledge in one or more foreign languages is also essential because much of the available research material on visual arts is written in languages other than English.

Finally, those who want to pursue a career as an art historian should be familiar with computer technologies related to digital images. In addition to being able to identify digital images by their resolution or file type (such as TIFFs or JPEGs), they should also know how to create digital images using imaging software such as Adobe Photoshop.

Conclusion:

Overall, those who wish to pursue studies in Art History must be knowledgeable about many subjects including art theory, aesthetics, foreign languages, humanities such as philosophy or literature and computer technologies related to digital imagery.