AP® Art History

“The function of the art is not only to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be.” -W.E.B. DuBois

What is art? How is it made? What inspires art styles and revolutions? How can we respond and describe our own reactions to art? The visual language of human beings speaks more directly and immediately through the ages than any other form of human communication. Exploring the world through the study of art and architecture enables us to understand our times as well as those that have come before all over the globe.

Advanced Placement® Art History builds the visual literacy and critical thinking skills needed to effectively analyze art across time and place. The framework of the AP® Art History course encourages students to develop deep understanding of representative art works from diverse cultures, including the fundamental knowledge that places these works in context and articulates the relationships among them.

The curriculum conveys the big ideas and essential questions at the center of an investigation into the world art and art production. Clear learning objectives that represent the art historical skills valued by art historians and higher education faculty will inform class assignments.

Students will acquire a comprehensive knowledge of historically significant artists, movements, aesthetic theories and practices, ranging from the prehistoric times to the significant contributions in the 21st Century. Art production of all cultures will be studied in relative proportion to their representation on the Art History Advanced Placement® Exam.

Students will see the development of trends, movements, and events in art, how they reflected and affected the times in which they occurred, gaining insight into typically misunderstood topics pertaining to the visual arts. Students will research and write knowledgeably on a number of art history topics, reflecting and synthesizing their own theories on the many works they will see in virtual museums and collections. They will be expected, through carefully structured assignments, to exhibit an extensive scholarship in conjunction with these experiences.

Students will be expected to enroll in My AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in My AP Classroom throughout the year. My AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple choice and free response questions.

Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through My AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.

This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.

• Be introduced to the discipline of art history and gain an understanding of the mechanisms of that field of study.
  
• Learn to visually "read", understand, and analyze a work of art.
  
• Understand the impact of art in human affairs and the impact of cultural and historical events on the creation of art.
  
• Be able to associate individual works of art/artists with major art movements.
  
• Develop informed opinions and responses to works of art.
  
• Demonstrate grasp of the above objectives on the AP® Art History Examination.

• Differentiate the components of form, function, content, and/or context of a work of art.
  
• Explain how artistic decisions about art making shape a work of art.
  
• Describe how context influences artistic decisions about creating a work of art.
  
• Analyze form, function, content, and/or context to infer or explain the possible intentions for creating a specific work of art.
  
  

• Describe features of tradition and/or change in a single work of art or in a group of related works.
  
• Explain how and why specific traditions and/or changes are demonstrated in a single work or group of related works.
  
• Analyze the influence of a single work of art or group of related works on other artistic production.

• Identify a work of art.
  
• Analyze how formal qualities and/or content of a work of art elicit(s) a response.
  
• Analyze how contextual variables lead to different interpretations of a work of art.
  
• Justify attribution of an unknown work of art.