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INTRODUCTION TO ART HISTORY

Art history is an academic discipline dedicated to the

reconstruction of the social, cultural, and economic

contexts in which an artwork was created. The basic

goal of this work is to arrive at an understanding of art

and its meaning in its historical moment, taking into

consideration the formal qualities of a work of art, the

function of a work of art in its original context, the goals

and intentions of the artist and the patron of the work of

art, the social position and perspectives of the audience

in the work’s original time and place, and many other

related questions. Art history is closely related to other

disciplines such as anthropology, history, and sociology.

In addition, art history sometimes overlaps with the

fields of aesthetics, or the philosophical inquiry into

the nature and expression of beauty; and art criticism,

or the explanation of current art events to the general

public via the press.

This brief introduction to the discipline of art history

will help you understand the kinds of questions that one

may ask in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of

a work of art. We will put these ideas into practice as we

proceed through case studies related to the specific topic

of the resource guide.

Methods and Inquiries of Art

History

Art historians today generally define “art” very

broadly and include in their inquiries almost any

kind of visual material that is created by people and

invested with special meaning and/or valued for

its aesthetic appeal. In the past, art historians often

limited their focus to what was called “fine art,”

which generally included paintings, prints, drawings,

sculpture, and architecture, usually produced

specifically for appreciation by an audience who

also understood these objects as works of art. Today

we define art much more broadly, also taking into

consideration objects that in the past were dismissed as

“craft”: textiles, pottery, and body art such as tattoos,

for example. Art historians also consider objects that

might not be considered art by their intended audience,

including mass-produced posters and advertisements

and even the design of ordinary household items like

telephones, forks, and the living room sofa.

Art historians acknowledge that the meaning of a work

of art can shift over time, and that an artwork may

be perceived differently by viewers who approach it

from different perspectives. To give one hypothetical

example, Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the

Sistine Chapel would have certainly been significant

in different ways in the eyes of 1) the Pope, who

commissioned the work and who had sophisticated

theological knowledge and nearly exclusive access to

this private space within the Vatican and 2) a worker

who was charged with cleaning the floors of the chapel

and whose level of literacy was probably quite low.

Differences such as social status, education, physical

access to a work of art, religious background, race,

and gender have an impact on the construction of the

meaning of a work of art. Similarly, the paintings’

meaning to a twenty-first-century Protestant, Muslim,

or atheist is certainly different from the meaning they

had for a practicing Catholic in the sixteenth century,

even though the works may be equally admired for

their aesthetic value by all of these viewers. In other

words, the meaning of a work of art is not fixed; it is

sometimes open to multiple interpretations taking into

consideration factors such as historical context.

The Nature of Art Historical Inquiry

Art historians generally analyze works of art in two

ways that are distinct from one another, but also

interrelated. These two modes of analysis are called

formal analysis and contextual analysis. Formal

analysis focuses on the visual qualities of the work of

art itself. A basic assumption of formal analysis is that

the artist makes decisions related to the visual aspects

of the artwork that can reveal to us something about its

meaning. From this point of view, aspects of meaning

are intrinsic to the work of art. Terms associated with

the formal qualities of works of art, or the “elements

of art,” are discussed in detail a bit later in this section

of the guide. Formal analysis requires excellent skills

in observation and description. Beginning our study

of an artwork with formal analysis keeps the focus on

the object itself, which to the art historian is always

primary.

Contextual analysis involves looking outside of the

work of art in order to determine its meaning. This

involves examining not only the context in which the

work was created, but also later contexts in which the

work was and continues to be consumed. Contextual

analysis focuses on the cultural, social, religious, and

economic context in which the work was produced. Art

historians may examine issues of patronage, viewer

access to the work, the physical location of the work

in its original context, the cost of the work of art, the

subject matter in relation to other artworks of the time

period, and so on.

Art history often emphasizes a chronological

development with the assumption that within one

cultural setting the work of one generation of artists

will have an impact on following generations. Art

historians often use comparative study. For example,

by contrasting a Gothic with a Renaissance artwork,

we can understand more clearly the unique features of

each and the series of stylistic changes that led from

one to the other. Then, we can seek to relate these

changes to historical context. Art history provides

information and insights that add background to

the meaning and significance of the works of art we

study. As we place these works of art in their cultural

and historical context, they are connected to the long

history of events that has led up to our present culture.

Sources, Documents, and the Work of

Art Historians

Art historians often begin their analysis with a close

examination of a work of art. Direct examination of

the work of art is ideal because much is lost when we

look at a reproduction rather than an original object. In

the case of sculpture, it is often difficult to get a proper

sense of the scale and the three-dimensional qualities

of a piece from a photograph. We lose the texture and

some of the rich colors when we experience paintings

in reproduction. Even photographs can appear flatter,

lacking their subtle transitions from light to dark

when seen reproduced in books. It is quite common,

though, for art historians to settle for studying from

reproductions due to practical constraints. In some

cases, works of art might be damaged or even lost over

time, and so art historians rely on earlier descriptions

to aid in their formal and contextual analysis. In

addition to examining the work of art in question, art

historians will also seek to understand any associated

studies (sketches, preparatory models, etc.) and other

works by the artist and their contemporaries.

Art historians also use many written sources in the

quest for contextual information about a work of art.

Often these texts are stored in archives or libraries.

Archival sources may include items such as letters

between the artist and patron, or other documents

pertaining to the commission, and art criticism

produced at the time the work of art was made. An art

historian might also search for written documentation

about the materials used to produce the work of art,

such as their cost and source, and about the function of

the artwork—how a particular sculpture was used in

ritual practice, for example. Art historians also seek to

situate the work in the context of the literature, music,

theater, and history of the time period.

Art historians may also rely on interviews with artists

and consumers of works of art. This is especially the

case in cultures that rely more on oral history than on

written documents. Guided by the field of anthropology,

some art historians also use methods such as participant

observation to understand the context of a work of art.

An art historian studying masquerade traditions in West

Africa, for example, may participate in a performance

while carefully documenting the event in order to better

understand art traditions.

The Development of Art History

As an academic discipline, art history arose in the

mid-eighteenth century. However, we can look at the

work of much earlier writers to see how commentary

on art has developed over time. The ancient Roman

historian Pliny the Elder (23–79 ce) sought to analyze

historical and contemporary art in his text Natural

History. During the Renaissance, the author and artist

Giorgio Vasari (1511–74) gathered the biographies

of great Italian artists, past and present, in The Lives

of the Artists. Vasari’s text provides us with insights

into the changing roles of artists in society during this

period and the developing concept of artistic genius.

Modern art history was strongly influenced by

eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophy. Johann

Joachim Winckelmann (1717–68) was a German

scholar who shifted away from Vasari’s biographical

emphasis to a rigorous study of stylistic development

as related to historical context. Through the nineteenth

and twentieth centuries, art historians continued to

develop approaches that placed increasing emphasis on

an understanding of the interrelationship between the

formal qualities of a work of art and its context.

When considering contemporary views of art history

as well as perspectives on art history from the past,

it is important to keep in mind that all histories are

individual stories and thus will inevitably reflect

certain biases. More recently, art history has been

revised, particularly by feminist historians, who have

noted that the traditional version of art history has

largely focused on white men, whether as artists or as

patrons. As a result of such revisions, art history has

expanded its scope in recent years and has become

a field that is broader, more international, more

multicultural, and more inclusive than in the past,

often involving Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic

methods and viewpoints. Moreover, the concern with

great artistic geniuses and masterpieces has lessened

as the full range of “visual culture,” ranging from

advertisement posters to film to photography and

television imagery, has come to view.