index
Acknowledgements 7
Introduction How to use this book 8
Chapter 1 Introducing art history

What do art historians do? The object of art history
11
What is `art?

A working definition of art

What is `history'?

Why is art history important?
16
Art history and related disciplines
19
Art criticism

Sociology

Anthropology

Aesthetics

Cultural studies

Visual culture studies

Connoisseurship

Art history's toolbox: formal and contextual analysis
22
Museum accession numbers

Reading captions for information
23
Conclusion
26
Chapter 2 Formal analysis

Formal analysis
27
Formal elements
28
Colour

Line

Space and mass

Scale

Composition

Two-dimensional art: painting, graphic arts, photography
31
Sculpture
35
Wolfflin and formal analysis
36
Architecture
40
Installation art
42
Performance and video art
43
Digital art
46
Textile and decorative arts
48
Patrick Heron analyzes a painting by Matisse
51
Conclusion
51
Chapter 3 Contextual analysis

Art and context
52
Contextual questions
53
Art out of context? Museums and art history
56
A brief history of museums

Museums and the experience of art

Sarah Symmons analyzes a print by Goya
57
The process of interpretation: confronting your assumptions
61
The challenges of cross-cultural interpretation

The challenges of historical interpretation

Historical interpretation in practice

Is African art anonymous?
65
Art and its controversies
69
Style and meaning
71
Conclusion
73
Chapter 4 Writing art history essays and papers

Art historical arguments: opinion vs. interpretation
74
Formal analysis essays
76
Taking notes

Structuring your essay

The comparison essay

Research papers
83
Developing a topic and starting your research

Keeping notes

Resources for research
91
Books

Periodicals

Websites

Reference works

How many sources should I use?
91
Critical moments in art history writing
97
Developing a thesis

Writing an introductory paragraph

Sustaining the argument

Dealing with intentions

The conclusion

Editing

If you experience writer's block
107
Citations and bibliographies
108
MLA citations

Chicago citations

Bibliography or Works Cited

Plagiarism's grey zone

Writing style
113
Common stylistic pitfalls of art history writing

Finding a voice

Putting together those illustrations
116
Conclusion
117
Chapter 5 Navigating art history examinations

Slide identifications and short-answer questions
118
Why are slide identifications important?

How to succeed at slide identifications

Three-step slide memorization

Memory aids

Unknowns

Test-taking strategies for art history exams
126
Art history essays
128
Studying for essay tests

Types of essay question

Effective note-taking
140
Taking good notes during lectures

Developing a consistent short hand

Taking notes on readings

Participation - why bother?
142
Conclusion
143
Chapter 6 Art history's own history

Ancient world
144
Excerpt from Pliny's Natural History
145
Middle Ages
146
Renaissance
147
Excerpt from Vasari's Lives of the Artists
148
Seventeenth-century writers on art
150
Felibien in conversation with Poussin
151
Winckelmann on the Laocoon
153
Age of Enlightenment
154
The nineteenth century: foundations of modern art history
155
Twentieth-century formalists, iconographers and social historians
158
After 1970: the `new' art history
160
The feminist art history revolution
163
Do other cultures practise art history?
165
China

West Africa

Early art history in China
166
Conclusion
169
Glossary 170
Bibliography 172
Table of parallel illustrations in art history surveys 178
Index 180
Picture credits
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