Art History - Definition and Overview

Art history usually refers to the history of the visual arts. Although ideas about the definition of art have changed over the years, the field of art history attempts to categorize changes in art throughout time and better understand how art shapes and is shaped by the outlooks and creative impulses of its practitioners. Although many think of Art history as purely the study of European art history, the subject encompasses all art, from the megaliths of Western Europe to the paintings of the Tang dynasty in China. Subdivisions in the art history section include:

• Pre-historic art
  • Pre-Historic Art of Europe
  • Pre-Historic Art of Asia
  • Native Arts of Africa
  • Native Arts of the Americas
  • Native Arts of Oceania
• Art of the ancient world
  • Arts of Ancient Mesopotamia
    • Sumeria
    • Babylon
    • Assyria
  • Ancient Egyptian art
  • Arts of the ancient Agean
    • The Minoan civilization
    • The Mycenaen civilization
    • Arts of Ancient Greece
  • Greco-Buddhist art
  • Roman culture
  • Early Christian art
• European art history
  • Christian art
  • Medieval art
  • The Renaissance, Early Renaissance painting, and Renaissance Classicism
  • Mannerism, Baroque, and Rococo
  • Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Academism, and Realism
  • Modern art
• Islamic art
• Arts of the Far East
  • Buddhist art
  • Chinese art
  • Japanese art
  • Tibetan art
  • Thai art
  • Art of Laos
• Arts of the Americas
  • Visual arts of the United States
  • Culture of Mexico
  • Arts of Central America
  • Arts of South America
  • Arts of Canada
• Contemporary art
• Media Art

See also

• Art
• Art styles, periods and movements
• Aesthetics
• Cultural movement
• History of painting
• List of artworks
• List of painters

External link

• NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History (http://metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm?HomePageLink=toah_l)