Major Overview

The Art History major offers students an in-depth, critical study of visual and material culture from the ancient to the modern period. You will learn how to interpret works of art, read major theoretical texts and explore the relationships between visual culture and society. Analyzing the power of images throughout history and the context of their production and mode of circulation is essential to understanding both the past and the present. Visual literacy – achieved through the study of a wide range of artistic practices, such as painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, film, architecture and performance art – can also help you approach broader, interdisciplinary questions relating to race, class, power, gender and sexuality. Outside of the classroom, you will benefit from unparalleled opportunities to study art history in Paris’s museums and monuments, as well as through study trips led by professors both within France and beyond. Frequent destinations include Venice, Rome and London.

Featured Course

VERSAILLES: KINGDOM OF THE SUN

This course examines the cultural and artistic history of Versailles in the 17th and 18th centuries...

Learning Outcomes

The educational goals for this major are as follows:

  • You will have in-depth knowledge of artistic periods.
  • You will have the ability to critique and analyze works of art in fluid English prose.
  • You will be able to situate works of art in historical and cultural contexts.
  • You will have the ability to identify artists, styles, time-periods of works.
  • You will be able to communicate orally and in writing about a variety of styles and genres.

 

Learning Environment

The Department of Art History and Fine Arts is a close-knit community of students and professors, and our small class sizes mean that you will be invited to engage in intellectual debate. Located in the newly renovated Monttessuy Center for the Arts, the department offers specialized classrooms for both studio art and art history as well as access to the Olivia de Havilland Theater, where concerts, talks and other events take place. During your time at AUP, you will likewise benefit from local resources and hands-on opportunities, including a student-run publication and a diverse array of internships.

The art history major provides excellent preparation for students considering careers in education, museum management and curation, cultural institutions, or the art market. Courses in art history also give you the skills needed to succeed in any career that requires critical thinking, reasoning through visual and textual sources, or clear written and oral communication. You can enrich your AUP liberal arts education by combining an art history major with other, closely connected disciplines, such as fine arts; philosophy; communication, media and culture; film studies; history; comparative literature; or fashion studies.

Sophie

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Professor Vanel

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Professor Vanel specializes in mid-twentieth century art and has...

Lucia's Thesis

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Lucia focused on Esther Ferrer’s ephemeral performance, The Musical Thread, as the subject of her Capstone research.

Major Components
Build Your Degree

With every single one of our majors, you’ll find a carefully curated medley of core courses and electives, which will provide you with the tools you need to establish an unshakeable foundation in the principles and concepts fundamental to your growth within your disciplines of choice. Many majors also enable you to specialize further within the broader area of study.

Core Courses

Core Courses

We aim to help you develop a range of skills, capacities, and modes of inquiry that will be crucial for your future since employers and graduate schools are looking for the critical thinking and innovative problem-solving skills that are associated with a liberal arts education, including sophisticated writing abilities, willingness to pose difficult questions, and an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts surrounding a topic or decision.

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Electives

Electives

Each elective provides you with entry to a variety of subject areas which you can choose among to further focus your studies. With the help of your academic advisor, you’ll be able to tailor your major so that it most effectively prepares you for the next step in your academic and professional journey.

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Browse all Majors and requirements

Core Courses

The Art History core courses, which you must take as part of the major requirements, will provide you with the tools you’ll need to ground your present and future studies. Your introduction to the fundamentals of Art History will help pave the way for your successful completion of other Art History courses.

OPTION I
AH1000 Introduction To The History Of Art I

This course covers the beginnings of art in Europe and the Mediterranean,from the earliest known representations in cave paintings through to the art of the great cathedrals. This will include Ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian,Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, African, and Western Medieval art. The course is structured chronologically and will also emphasize the themes of the classical tradition and its alternatives, as well as diverse expressions of sacred arts and architecture. Major monuments in all media-architecture,sculpture, painting, and the so-called "minor arts"-will be studied. Original works of art on view in Paris will form an essential part of the course and the assignments. We will also emphasize multiple perspectives and interpretations for works of art and their global receptions and contexts.

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AH2013 Renaissance Art & Architecture

This course will introduce you to the major works of the Italian and Northern Renaissance from 1300 to 1600. Emphasis will be placed on understanding artworks within their original cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the production and circulation of art in an age of exploration and discovery. Key themes and issues of consideration will include the idea of a classical revival and artistic self-fashioning, questions of imitation and style, courtly values, art collecting and the ethnographic print, as well as the religious debates of the period and the changing status of the sacred image.

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AH2014 Baroque & Rococo Art & Architecture

This course examines the reverberations and multi-faceted reactions to the reform movements known as the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and explores different notions of the Baroque in a global context. We will consider the art and architecture of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and France, as well as the art of colonial Latin America and East Asia. Key themes and issues of consideration will include the changing role of religious images; heresy and persuasion in art; colonial art and questions of transmission, reproduction and hybridity; the rise of artists' academies and art theory; the development of genre painting; cabinets of curiosity and collecting; and eroticism, artifice and Orientalism in Rococo art and architecture.

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AH2016 19th & 20th Cent. Art & Architecture

Introduces the principal arts and aesthetic issues of the 19th and 20th centuries from the French Revolution to World War II. Studies artists such as David, Turner, Monet, and Picasso, as well as movements such as Romanticism, Impressionism, and Surrealism, stressing continuities beneath apparent differences of approach. Regular museum sessions at the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou.

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OPTION II
AH1020 Introduction To The History Of Art II

Continues the study of selected monuments of painting, sculpture, and architecture, from the Renaissance to the 20th-century. Emphasizes historical context, continuity, and critical analysis. Includes direct contact with works of art in Parisian museums. The overall themes of the class may vary by semester.

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AH2011 Ancient Art & Architecture

We will study the visual arts from the Ancient Mediterranean in all media, including architecture, sculpture, vase painting, frescoes, mosaics, cameos, and jewelry. After a brief introduction about the legacy of Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian art, the first half of the course will cover Greek art from the Aegean Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era. The second half of the course will focus on Roman art from the Etruscans through the end of the Roman Empire. Themes we will consider include the ideal of beauty and the development of the "canon," portraiture and representations of the human body, and ideas about youth and age. To understand the relevance of studying ancient art in modern times, we will also include questions about forgeries and looting, and the contentious issue of cultural heritage. Students are expected to engage closely with original objects of ancient art on view in Paris.

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AH2012 Medieval Art & Architecture

This course will survey highlights of the painting, sculpture, architecture,mosaics, tapestries, metalwork, ivories, and stained-glass windows of the Middle Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean. We will proceed in a chronological framework, starting with the beginnings of Christian art, and ending in the late Gothic period. Works of art will be studied in their historical, social, cultural, and religious contexts. Thematically, we will examine continuities and breaks with the classical tradition; the recurring issue of iconoclasm; the rich diversity of materials; the fruitful effects of cross-cultural and interfaith exchanges; and the global context and long afterlife of medieval art.

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AH2013 Renaissance Art & Architecture

This course will introduce you to the major works of the Italian and Northern Renaissance from 1300 to 1600. Emphasis will be placed on understanding artworks within their original cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the production and circulation of art in an age of exploration and discovery. Key themes and issues of consideration will include the idea of a classical revival and artistic self-fashioning, questions of imitation and style, courtly values, art collecting and the ethnographic print, as well as the religious debates of the period and the changing status of the sacred image.

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