Why study Art History?
September 7 2015
Picture: AAH
In Apollo Magazine, Christine Riding looks at who studies art history, and why. For those in the state sector, the omens are not encouraging:
Out of some 3,000 state secondary schools, only 17 schools offered A-level history of art, and only 15 sixth–form colleges. This compared with over 90 fee-paying schools – which only 7 per cent of UK-based children attend – that offered the subject.
Such statistics are rather grim, and reflect a general trend in state education away from anything vaguely 'arty'.
But fear not, art history aspirants: studying art history at school or university is not necessarily the best way to learn about, or have a career in, the history of art (and the history of art is often something entirely different from the academic discipline of 'art history').
I never studied art history at school or university, and thank goodness - I'm not sure I could have coped with all that theorising - it makes my brain ache. My particular stroke of luck in education was to have a series of brilliant history teachers who taught me the value of assessing evidence. The art stuff I first picked up in my spare time. So if you're wondering what A-level subjects or degree to do, then think about doing history. But most of all, do what you enjoy.
I'm often asked which books people should read before they start an art history degree. My general advice is to skip the books, and instead look at as many pictures as you can. There's no right or wrong way to interpret paintings, and very few artists gave us instructions on how to do so.
But on the subject of books, Christine Riding, who is Chair of the Association of Art Historians, enthuses in her Apollo piece about a new art history book aimed at A-level students called 'Thinking About Art' (above). The book has its own website here. Like the A-level syllabus itself, it doesn't follow a chronological approach to art, but instead takes a thematic one.
