Hey! I'm thinking about studying art history and I don't really know that much about it yet. Do you like studying it & what is it that you do exactly in this subject?:)
Okay, so this answer is longer than I thought it would be, so I am going to put it under a read more. I just really love that I am studying art history, and as it is an unpopular major, I would encourage anyone who is interested to at least try it in first year! Anyway, there are more details under the cut. Feel free to ask any more questions if you have any! :)
Hi! This is so exciting that you are thinking about studying art history! I really love it. It definitely isn’t one of the most popular majors. Art history was kind of an out of the blue, spur of the moment decision for me. For most of high school I was going to be an architect, but then I realised that I would really struggle with that. I have never been an artist, nor showed any real interest in art throughout high school, apart from the crazy admiration of architecture.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Choosing to pursue an art history degree is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. So what does it involve? To put it succinctly, you study the history of art. Subjects mostly tend to go by periods of art rather than overall themes. There are exceptions, but majority would be, for example, this semester I am taking ‘Renaissance Art in Florence and Venice’ and ‘Contemporary Art’. What a typical art history course would cover is the main ideas of the particular art movement within an art period. Using artworks as examples, the lecturer would discuss techniques, ideas, the artists’ personal philosophy, reactions to the artwork etc. This is what we mean by the history of the art. You learn the background of artworks and artists in order to understand art. Understanding art also allows you to understand the culture at the time in which the artwork was produced. So if you can understand art history, you can also understand cultural history outside of the art world.
Another aspect of art history is visual analysis. So assignments are all research essays, but there may be a couple of assignments that are visual analysis only, or a little bit of visual analysis may be required as part of your research essay. I love visual analysis (mainly because it can be an easy addition to the word count).
But then there are also classes that may be available that still discusses art, but in a different way. For example, this semester I am also taking a class, which is completely different from my other classes, called ‘Art, Market and Methods’. This class talks about the materials used in art, a little bit of methods of conservation, and analysing technique to be able to identify the artist of the work. Then there is also another class that is thematic based, rather than time period. It discusses how sex and gender is represented in art across art periods and movements.
I hope that this was helpful! If you have any other questions feel free to ask. If you are Australian like me, I do suggest attending open days, as there are lectures for every study area where actual lecturers from the University gives you the low down as to what to expect while studying that particular study area.
