Advanced Placement Art History

Syllabus

Course Description:

AP Art History is designed to provide a similarcurriculum as an introductory Art History college course. This course will emphasize an understanding and knowledge of architecture, sculpture, painting, as well as, other art forms within the diverse historical and cultural contexts. Students will examine major art forms throughout history. They will learn to critique master works of art using artistic vocabulary. Students will learn to analyze what they see with intelligence and sensitivity to the work. Students will also use critical thinking skills to problem-solve current issues that effect Art in our world today. A result of successfully completing this course and passing the AP Art History Exam, with a score of 3 to 5, many colleges and universities offer advanced placement credit. Colleges vary on exam scores needed to receive credit. Go to Collegeboard.com to determine what colleges recognize Advanced Placement and the scores needed to receive credit at a specific university.

Note: No prior exposure to Art History is required. However, students who have done well in courses in the arts “humanities”, language arts, and historyare especially encouraged to enroll.

Goals:

  1. Increase student awareness of the visual arts and their relationship to the culture of its time.
  2. Develop the ability to recognize and communicate aesthetic factors inherent in various forms of visual art.
  3. Develop the ability to write critical essays, including comparing and contrasting various artwork.
  4. Develop students’ ability to use proper art vocabulary when expressing opinions and ideas about art.
  5. Provide direction for taking quality notes from a lecture by exposing them to a college-type classroom environment.
  6. Enable students to make connections to their own artwork through better understanding art from the past.

Art History Discussion Themes:

  1. The study of art history as a consideration of: style, iconography, iconology
  2. Understand, respect and tolerate varying styles through broadened awareness of the art production.
  3. Identification of modern and contemporary art forms and issues along with consideration of historical antecedents.

Course Objectives:

Students will:

  1. Recognize significant art forms in each time period.
  2. Take notes from illustrated lectures in a manner that will provide a study guide (and similarly, take notes from their textbook)
  3. Compare/contrast two works of art from different time periods byusing style, medium, significance, and form.
  4. Visit local and regional museums to see first hand master works of art. Students will be responsible for specific tasks in relation to museum visits, (sketching, research paper, scavenger hunts etc.).
  5. Use 25,or more, new words appropriately from the vocabulary list
  6. Define, “What is Art?”

Course Requirements:

Students’ progress will be evaluated by visual, verbal, and written examinations with homework assignments in the following areas:

  • Identifying works of art
  • Identifying the media of works of art
  • Knowing facts contained in particular art movements relevant to the history of art
  • Using the language of the artist
  • Comparing and contrasting vastly different areas and/or time periods
  • Creating projects and oral presentations
  • Taking the AP Art History Exam in May

Assessments:

  • Written examinations
  • Special reports
  • Journal (related to slide identification)
  • Creative projects
  • Oral presentations
  • Homework
  • Class participation

Grade Criteria:(Each Semester)

Percentage of Grade

Quizzes (6 best marks)15%

Tests (2)20%

Final Exam20%

Compare/Contrast Reports (3)20%

Homework/Notebook 15%

Class Participation10%

AP Art History may include:

  • Slide presentations on the history of art
  • Demonstrations on processes, techniques and media
  • Lectures on the language of the artist
  • Museum trips with guided and unguided tours
  • Journal writing of museum and gallery experiences throughout the year
  • Research papers
  • Comparisons of themes in art
  • Contemporary and/or controversial art-related topics
  • Independent and/or original research
  • Supplemental lectures, trips, and seminars
  • Games such as Art Bingo, Jeop”art”y, Art Deck, Charades, Art Talbot
  • Oral presentations
  • Groups present term paper topics as a newscast team.
  • Academy Awards for best artist of the time period.
  • Developing study skills: check class notes, assign group essay and occasional “pop”quiz to check on reading
  • Textbook assignments to supplement lectures
  • Mock art auctions with masterpiece reproductions
  • Study parties/review sessions with themes in preparation for tests and slide ID quizzes
  • Toga Roman Review-students make their own laurel wreaths for this Art History review and discussion.
  • Michelangelo’s birthday party
  • Seminars and discussions involving critical thinking on issues in aesthetics
  • Cultural awareness and diversity appreciation (music, food and video presentation are especially interesting when studying the art of India, China, Japan, Mexico and the Americas
  • Research current archeological sites that have discovered artwork and architecture
  • Trips abroad to other countries to experience their art and culture

Course Overview:

Gardner, Art Through The Ages, 11th Edition

Semester 1: Art History Brief Overview (75 days) Page Numbers

  1. Overview, Books, Intro (3)xxxiii
  2. Ancient Art (2)

Chapter 1: The Birth of Art; Africa Europe, and the Near East in the1-16

Stone Age.

Chapter 14: The Arts of Ancient America; From Alaska to the Andes385-414

Chapter 15: Early African Art; South of the Sahara415-426

  1. The Ancient Near East (3)

Chapter 2: The Art of the Ancient Near East, The Rise of Civilization17-42

  1. The Art of Ancient Egypt (5)

Chapter 3: The Art of Ancient Egypt, Pharaohs and the Afterlife43-76

  1. The Art of Aegean (2)

Chapter 4: The art of the Prehistoric Aegean, Minos and the Heroes of77-96

Homer

  1. The Art of Greece (8)

Chapter 5: The Art of Ancient Greece, Gods Heroes and Athletes97-160

  1. Non-Western Art (10)

Chapter 6: The Ancient Art of South and Southeast Asia, Path to161-186

Enlightenment

Chapter 7: The Art of Early China and Korea, Daoism, Confucianism,187-214

And Buddhism

Chapter 8: The Art of Early Japan, Sacred Statues and Secular Scrolls215-230

  1. The Art of the Etruscans (2)

Chapter 9: The Art of the Etruscans, Italy before the Romans231-244

  1. The Art of Ancient Rome (7)

Chapter 10: The Art of Ancient Rome, From Seven Hills to Three245-300

Continents

Chapter 11: The Art of Late Antiquity, Pagans, Christians, and Jews301-324

Chapter 12: The Art of Byzantium, Rome in the East325-358

  1. Art of Islam (1)

Chapter 13: Islamic Art, Muhammad and the Muslims359-384

  1. Medieval Art in the West (8)

Chapter 16: Early Medieval Art in the West, Europe after the Fall of427-452

Rome

Chapter 17: Romanesque Art, The Ages of Pilgrims and Crusaders453-486

Chapter 18: Gothic Art, The Age of the Great Cathedrals487-532

  1. Early Renaissance, Italy (12)

Chapter 19: The Fourteenth Century in Italy, From Gothic to Renaissance533-558

Chapter 20: Fifteenth-Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain559-588

Of Piety, Passion and Politics

Chapter 21: Fifteenth-Century Italian Art, Humanism and the Allure of589-634

Antiquity

  1. High Renaissance and Mannerism (12)

Chapter 22: The High Renaissance and Mannerism, Beauty, Science and 635-688

Spirit in Italian Art

Chapter 23: Sixteenth-Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain, The689-718

Age of Reformation

Semester 2: Art History Brief Overview (60 days)

  1. Baroque and Rococo Art (8)

Chapter 24: Baroque and Rococo Art, Of Popes, Peasants, Monarchs,719-788

and merchants

  1. Later Non-European Art (4)

Chapter 25: The Later Art of South and Southeast Asia, Religious789-802

Change and Colonial Rule

Chapter 26: The Art of Later China and Korea, Incursion, Restoration803-816

And Transformation

Chapter 27: The Art of Later Japan, From the Shotguns to the Present817-834

  1. Neoclassicism, Romanticism (5)

Chapter 28: Neoclassicism through the Mid-Nineteenth Century, The835-888

Enlightenment and Its Legacy

  1. Rise of Modernism (15)

Chapter 29: The Later Nineteenth Century, The Rise of Modernism889-940

  1. Arts of the Americas after 1000 (5)

Chapter 30: Native Arts of the Americans after 1000, Before and after941-960

the Conquistadors

  1. Non-European Art Continued (5)

Chapter 31: The Arts of Oceania, Elders, “Big Men”, Cheifs, and Kings961-978

Chapter 32: Later African Art, Exploration, Colonization, and 979-1000

Independence

  1. Twentieth Century (15)

Chapter 33: The Early Twentieth Century, The Triumph of Modernist1001-1072

Chapter 34: The Later Twentieth Century, The Emergence of1073-1138

Postmodernism

  1. Review (3)
  2. Final Project

Language of Art:

Elements of Design:

Line: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved,

zigzag

Shape: 2-D, circle, square, rectangle,

triangle

Form: 3-D, sphere, cube, prism, pyramid

Color: primary, secondary, complementary,

warm/cool, tint/shade

Value: dark vs. light

Texture: rough, smooth, bumpy, etc.

Space:

Principles of Design:

Balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial

Contrast:

Emphasis:

Movement:

Rhythm:

Unity:

Pattern:

Art History Vocabulary:

A.aerial perspective, aesthetic, agora, allegory, altar, altarpiece, apprentice, amphora,

amphitheater, ancestor worship, animal style, animism, angular, anthropology, aqueduct,

archaeology, arena, archaic, ascetic, asymmetry, atrium, austere, axial approach

B.banquet, bapistry, barbarian, barrel vault, baroque, basilica, beaker, buttress

C.caryatid, camera obscura, cella, centaur, celestial, chiaroscuro, chivalry, citadel, classic, clerestory, code (as in Code of Hammurabi), codex (codices), coffer (as in coffered ceilings), collage, colossal, column, commemorative, component, conceptual, contrapposto, convention, corbelled arch, Corinthian, crenellation curvilinear

D. Doric, detail, dynasty

E. effigy, eclectic, elongation, embellishment, encaustic, engraving, entablature, entasis, enthroned, equestrian, essence, evaluate, exaggeration, expressionist

F.façade, Fauve, fetish, feudalism, flutes (fluting), flying buttress, font, Flemish, forum, fossil, fresco, frieze, foreshortening frontal, funerary

G.gate 9as in Ishtar Gate), Gaul, genre, gesso, gospel, Greek Key, groin vault, guild

H.Hellenic, Hellenistic, herald, heraldic, “horror vacui”, husbandry, humanism, hypostyle hall

I.icon, iconography, ideal, Idyll, illuminate, illusionism, impasto, impressionism, interlace, innovative, Ionic, intaglio

J.jamb, journeyman, juxtaposition

K.“ka”, keystone, kore, kouros, krater, kylix

L. labyrinth, linear perspective, lintel, lithography, lost wax, lyrical

M.mannerism, manuscript, mastaba, master, megalith, megaron, mercantile, metallurgy, metope, minaret, minimalist, minotaur, monastery, mosaic, mosque, motif, mural

N. narrative, naturalism, nave, necropolis, Neoclassic, Neolithic, niche, nocturne, nomad, nuance

O.obelisk, optical, order

P.pagan, pageantry, painterly, Paleolithic, palette, papyrus, parchment, pathos, pastoral, patron, pediment, pendentive, pensive, personification, Pharaoh, pier, pilaster, podium, portal, post and lintel, predella, prehistoric, primitive, pointillism, psalter, putto (putti), pylon, pyramid

Q. quatrefoil, quattrocento

R.rape (abduction), Reformation, relic, relief, repertoire, repousse, retinue, ribs, ribbed vaulting, Rococo, rustic

S. sarcophagus, satire, satyr, scribe, secular, sensuous, serpentine, site, society, Sphinx, stele, stupa, style, stylize, stylobate, sumptuous, symbol, symbolism, symmetric

T. taper, tapestry tempera, terra cotta, tessera, triptych, trompe l’oeil, tondo, transept, treatise, Tuscany, tumultuous

U.underpainting, utilitarian

V.values, vellum, voluptuous, votive

W.wash, woodcut, westwork

Z. ziggurat

Required Text:

De la Croix, Horst, et al.Gardner’s Art Through the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991.

Hudson, Suzanne; Morrissey-Noonan, Nancy. The Art of Writing About Art. 2002.

Enrichment Text:

Arnason, H.H. History of Modern Art. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. 1986.

Barnet, Sylvan.A Short Guide to Writing About Art. New York: HarperCollinsCollege, 1992.

Calo, Carole Gold. Viewpoints, Readings in Art History, 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, date unknown

Gardiner, Stephen.Inside Architecture. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1983.

Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.

Hartt, Frederick. Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994.

Janson, H.W. History of Art. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1991.

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, 2nd ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa, 2nd ed. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews and McMeel, 1992

Taylor, Brandon. Avant-Garde and After, Rethinking Art Now, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995

Post AP Exam Activities:

  • Build a tombstone which would visually represent your favorite artist.
  • Sketch or Paint in a style similar to your favorite artist
  • Visit an artist’s studio
  • Watch a video – based on an Artist’s life

  • “Pollock”
  • “My Left Foot

  • Group Mural Project
  • Graphic Design, photo editing - Student photos (heads only) attached to Art History bodies, labeled and grouped together
  • Trace a famous work of art twice. Copy 1 color like the original, Copy 2 change colors
  • Create an architectural model based on structures studied over the year. Journal the experience
  • Student philosophy of art history