(GPWA) Introduction to the AP Art History Course and Test

Introduction to the AP Art History Course and Test

The study of art history invites students to discover the diversity and connections among forms of artistic expression throughout history and from around the globe.

In AP Art History, students learn about how people have responded to and communicated their experiences through art making by exploring art in its historic and cultural contexts. The AP Art History course welcomes students into the global art world as active participants, engaging with its forms and content as they research, discuss, read, and write about art, artists, art making, and responses to and interpretations of art.

AP EXAM OVERVIEW

The AP Art History exam assesses the following:

Media Types:  Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Printmaking, Architecture, Other Media

Big Idea 1: Culture        

Big Idea 2: Interactions with Other Cultures

Big Idea 3: Theories and Interpretations

Big Idea 4: Materials, Processes, and Techniques

Big Idea 5: Purpose and Audience

 

The AP Art History framework is organized into 10 commonly taught units of study.

  • Content Area 1: Global Prehistory, 30,000 - 500 B.C.E…………………………………4%
  • Content Area 2: Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 B.C.E. - 300 C.E……………………15%
  • Content Area 3: Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200 - 1750 C.E………… 21%
  • Content Area 4: Later Europe and Americas, 1750 - 1980 C.E……………………. 21%
  • Content Area 5: Indigenous Americas, 1,000 B.C.E. - 1980 C.E…………………….   6%
  • Content Area 6: Africa, 1,110 B.C.E. - 1980 C.E…………………………………………..    6%
  • Content Area 7: West and Central Asia, 500 B.C.E. - 1980 C.E……………………   4%
  • Content Area 8: South, East, and Southeast Asia, 300 B.C.E. - 1980 C.E………..  8%
  • Content Area 9: The Pacific, 700 C.E. - 1980 C.E…………………………………………..  4%
  • Content Area 10: Global Contemporary, 1980 C.E. – Present………………………. 11%

The AP Art History framework included in the course and exam description outlines distinct skills, called art historical thinking skills that should be practiced throughout the year—skills that will help to learn, think, and act like art historians.

 

Section I:  80 Multiple-choice questions - 50% of the score - 60 minutes

The set-based questions include one or more images of works of art and include 3 to 6 questions per set.  Individual questions may also include images of works of art. The multiple-choice section will include images of works of art both in and beyond the image set.

 

SKILL

DESCRIPTION

EXAM WEIGHT ON MC TEST

1. Visual Analysis

Analyze visual elements of works of art.  

            15%–19%

 2. Contextual Analysis

 Analyze contextual elements of a work of art, and connect contextual and visual elements of a work of art.

              28%–32%

 3. Comparison of Works of Art

 Compare two or more works of art.

               11%–13%

 4. Artistic Traditions

 Analyze the relationships between a work of art and a related artistic tradition, style, and/or practice.

               20%–25%

 5. Visual Analysis of Unknown Works

 Analyze visual elements of a work of art beyond the image set.

                  6%–8%

 6. Attribution of Unknown Works

 Attribute works of art.

                   6%–8%

 7. Art Historical Interpretations

 Analyze art historical interpretations.

                   6%–8%

 8. Argumentation

 Develop and support art historical arguments.

 Not assessed in the multiple-choice section

 

 

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