art history
academic study of objects of art in their historical development
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Art history is the academic study of how works of art have developed and changed over time. It matters because it helps us understand artworks not just as individual objects, but as products of their historical periods and contexts.
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Article
Soir Bleu by Edward Hopper, c.1914
Art history is an academic discipline devoted to the study of artistic production and visual culture throughout human history. Art historians use a historical method or a philosophy, such as historical materialism or critical theory, to analyze artworks. Among other topics, they study art's impact on societies and cultures, the relationship between art and politics, and how artistic styles and formal characteristics of works of art have changed throughout history. As a discipline, art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value for critiquing individual works, and aesthetics, which is a branch of philosophy.