ART HISTORY
ART HISTORY
EDEXCEL 9HT0
‘ The study of Art History teaches us first to look and then to understand.’
Art History is an academically rigorous essay-based discipline that demands we first look at works of art and architecture, then try to understand them. We study social, political and religious context: we examine the history behind works of art, as well as learning the technical language to describe them. Lessons are visual and academically testing. We are often out of the classroom using the resources of Treasury, the Fellows’ Library and the buildings of Winchester College. There are study visits to museums and galleries in the UK each term. Every year there is a trip abroad. Recent destinations have included Florence, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and New York. The Kenneth Clark Society organises a variety of events such as lectures and visits to exhibitions.
The Edexcel A-level course ranges across art that is ancient and modern, figurative and nonfigurative, Western and non-Western. The list of artists you will study is a wide one, amongst them Jackson Pollock, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Monet, Renoir and van Gogh.
You will take two papers: the first tests your ability to analyse painting, sculpture and architecture from 500 BCE to 2,000 ACE. The two themes we study for the second half of Paper 1 are War and Identity, allowing you to examine a wide range of works, from the buildings of Christopher Wren to the anti-war paintings of Paul Nash. Paper 2 tests historical topics, including the Renaissance 1420-1520; and Britain and France, 1848-1898.
The subject is inherently interdisciplinary. It complements other humanities, languages and sciences. It is particularly appropriate for those wishing to read Architecture.
Former pupils have studied the subject at Cambridge, UCL, the Courtauld Institute, Edinburgh and many other leading universities. Their subsequent careers range from journalism and the law to interior design and filmmaking.