Art history "is a way to see what people thought, felt, believed, did, and imagined, by looking at the material things – buildings, paintings, gardens, sculptures, images, cities, objects – and the worlds that they made." (Griselda Pollock)
videos + essays
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Mudras in Buddhist art
Mudras are a set of hand gestures and finger positions that serve as symbols in Buddhist art.
Art history and world art history
“Art history is relevant” is not how the discipline of art history is typically framed in popular discourse.
Ever wondered…why study art of the past?
The reason people study the art of the past are varied - but all agree, it can tell us a lot about our own world.
Ever wondered… why people become art historians?
Studying art history isn't a conventional path to success — so why do people do it?
What is art history and where is it going?
Methods change, the canon expands, and we write history anew. Long focused on the West, the field is going global.
A brief history of the representation of the body in Western sculpture
Sculptors have had different goals at different times. Two recur: naturalism and abstraction.
A brief history of the representation of the body in Western painting
Respond to contemporary culture, or reclaim the past? Each artist decides how to approach the human form.
