History of art

History of art usually refers to the history of the visual arts. The term also encompasses theory of the visual arts which is not necessarily historical. 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 some may 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.

Further Reading

• Vernon Hyde Minor, "Art History's History." Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001, 1994.
• Donald Preziosi, "Seeing through Art History" in: Ellen Messer-Davidow,David R. Shumway, David J. Sylvan, eds., Knowledges. Historical and Critical Studies in Disciplinarity, Charlotteville, University Press of Virginia 1993, pp. 215-231