AP Art History

Ms. SheetsUHS 2014-2015

Whitney Sheetswhitney.sheets@tusd1.

org

• Graduate of UHS (2006)

• Bachelor of Arts with Honors from University of Arizona in Art History (2010)• Thesis: George

Romney’s portraits of actress Emma Hamilton

• Master of Arts from University of Arizona in Art History• Focus: 18th-century art,

specifically femininity, Rococo, and portraiture

• Thesis: Artwork of Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

AP Art History1) The study of art invites students to discover the

diversity in and connections among forms of artistic expression throughout history and from around the globe.

2) Students will learn about how people have responded to and communicated their experiences through art-making by exploring art in its historic and cultural contexts.

3) This course is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college art history survey course, which will cover prehistoric art through contemporary art.

AP Art History’s Big Ideas

1. What is art and how is it made?• Analyze form, function, content and context to explain or infer

possible artistic intentions• Artistic decisions shape a work of art• Context influences artistic decisions

2. Why and how does art change?• Describe features of tradition or change in a work(s) of art and

how they are demonstrated• Analyze influence of single work of art on related works

3. How do we describe our thinking about art?• Identify works of art• Analyze how formal qualities and/or content of a work elicit

responses• Analyze how contextual variables lead to different

interpretations of works of art• Justify an attribution of an unknown work of art• Analyze works of art based on similarities and differences

What does the AP Test cover?• 40-50% painting and drawing• 25% architecture• 25% sculpture• 5-10% other media

• Prehistoric art does not appear in the exam

I. Ancient Through Medieval (30%)I. Greece and Rome (10-15%)II. Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval (5-10%)III. Romanesque (3-7%)IV. Gothic (7-10%)

II. Renaissance to Present (50%)I. 14th-16th c. (12-17%)II. 17th-18th c. (10-15%)III. 19th c. (10-15%)IV. 20th – 21st c. (10-15%)

III. Beyond European Artistic Traditions (Non-Western) (20%)I. Africa; Americas; Asia; Near East; Oceania; Global Islamic traditions

What does the AP Test look like?

• Section I: 115 multiple choice questions– 40% of the AP Exam score– 60 minutes long– Western: Basic information about artists, schools, movements,

chronological periods, dates, cross currents among artistic traditions, subjects, styles, techniques

– Non-Western: geographic origin (for example, students should be able to identify a work of art as Chinese but would not be expected to distinguish among dynastic styles)

– PART A: 5 sets of questions based on color images– 20 minutes long: function, patronage, period styles, chronology, technique

– PART B: Remaining questions of 115• Section II: Essays

– 2 hours– 60% of the AP Exam grade– PART A: 2 questions (30-minute essays; 25% of score)

– Question 1: MUST include non-Western example– PART B: 6 questions (10-minute essays based on images/text;

35% of score)• Images are presented in COLOR• The AP World History Exam will take place on Thursday, May 7th 2015

at 12pm

Strategies for AP Art History• Print out PPTs (3 slides to a page with room for notes).

• Use a notebook for additional notes.

• Styles/Periods are of the utmost importance! Always learn works of art in accordance with their style/period.

• You must learn dates: try to find visual ways to help you remember dates.• Prior to 20th-century works, simply memorizing “early or late” X

century will suffice. For example, Michelangelo’s David is early 16th century.

• 20th-century works require memorization of the specific decade at the very least.

• Need to review images?• Flashcards (print images out and write important information on back)• Make folder of images on iPad/laptop (file information is ID information)

• Purchase a prep book (Annotated Mona Lisa or Barron’s)• Read your textbook! The history of art is, quite obviously,

enormous and cannot all be covered in class.

Prep Books and Study Guides