Art History Flashcards

What is Art History? 

The Mona Lisa… It is one of the most valuable historical paintings in the world. Aside from that, it is the most visited, the most written about, and the most parodied artwork of all time. While many people believe that it was painted by da Vinci, it is not. Da Vinci is not the last name of Leonardo, instead "da Vinci" simply means from the town “of Vinci”, a city in the region of Tuscany Italy.

Now, why is the Mona Lisa so famous? What is the mystery lurking behind the Mona Lisa’s smile? What caused its disappearance in 1911 at the Louvre? And perhaps, what’s more interesting is Mona Lisa’s eyebrows... Do you know why Mona Lisa lacks eyebrows? According to many art historians, sometime in the 15th century, women shave eyebrows and hairlines for fashion as it was attractive and desirable. Isn’t it cool to know these facts? Well, we study these in art history.

Art history might seem like an obvious concept –  “the history of art”. In practice, however, art history isn’t limited to listing all art projects and identifying when they were created on a timeline. It encompasses the study of human expression in the form of visual/tactile objects or any art materials, their historical development, stylistic contexts, cultural significance/influence, and other related principles associated with its development and uses.

Art history, as explained by Encyclopaedia Britannica, is the study of all art products, including identification, classification, description, evaluation, interpretation, and their historical development. We can understand aesthetics, religion, and world history through art history, as well as sociology, anthropology, and psychology.

Whether it be Mona Lisa, or other works of art (sculptures, cave arts, graffiti, ceramics, and architectural designs), art history helps us understand an art object’s meaning in the world. With art history, we also see how those meanings relate or contribute to our emotional, social, mental, political, physical, and spiritual life.

Careers in Art History

An Art History degree can be a gateway to careers such as Commercial art gallery manager, Museum/gallery curator, Heritage manager, Conservator, Higher education lecturer, Academic librarian, Arts administrator, Archivist, Museum education officer, Further education teacher, and other career alternatives for art historians.

Learning Art History

Art history is a fun and fascinating subject. It is not an easy class, but you don’t need to argue with Pablo Picasso, or Vincent van Gogh, or Claude Monet to pass a test or get a degree in art history.

While others believe that art history class means looking at different paintings, that is not the case. Art history is more than just staring at Leonardo da Vinci’s The Foetus in the Womb or looking at Caravaggio’s painting of John the Baptist’s beheading. Instead, art history studies the expression of the human condition, the wonders of living, and the portrayal of the mystery of humanity, which requires exceptional skills and passion for the arts.

If you are presently enrolled in an art history class, you probably heard other students or professors say, ‘memorization is the key’. This is correct at some point. Why? Because you’ll have to memorize artists’ names, masterpieces, and dates. Still, disorganized memorization begets temporary knowledge. To effectively acquire a greater understanding on art history, you should expand your learning outside your art history class, you can visit art history websites or try looking for documentaries or online videos about the artists because it will help you understand their choices on style, medium, and subject matter. Remember, contextual information will help you get a full picture of its meaning and relevance. Also, having a deck of structured flashcards is hugely advantageous because they help in painting pertinent information into your head.

A painter can create artworks with paint but, he won’t be able to mix color schemes as quickly as when he has a palette in his hands. Then and only then would he be efficient in creating a masterpiece. In the same way, a student must have complementary tools to make life easier. Brainscape works like a color palette, a handy tool for mixing and arranging sets of information consciously and harmoniously to maximize the use of time. With Brainscape, you can have an organized tool to guide you and help you make the most of your time studying art history.

Art History in Brainscape

In Brainscape, you will find various classes, decks, and study cards for Art History – starting with the most popular classes below. These include classes that are crafted by other users around the world (perhaps like you), that can help anyone to learn art history or pass Advanced Placement Art History exams, as well as study decks arranged in different categories/sets by period, artist, style, location, and medium.

Also, through a multi-year endeavor on Brainscape’s Knowledge Rehab, involving thousands of experts, professors, teachers, and students (and even a few hipsters), Brainscape was able to compile a vital base set of knowledge in Art history. This covers various artists, and their works, containing everything from the classics to modern art. This Art deck is sure to make you feel culturally literate, thanks to The Guardian, Wikipedia, and International Business Times for sharing their cultural knowledge with us.

Aside from ready-made flashcards, you can create your own personalized set of cards and study decks in Brainscape! Doing so gives you the power to customize them and make them better. So, don’t forget to check how to make your own flashcards.

Learn Faster in Brainscape

Brainscape is the world's best flashcard website and mobile app scientifically proven to optimize the use of study time. Brainscape synthesizes the existing cognitive theories of spaced repetition – Active Recall and Metacognition, as well as confidence-based learning, giving rise to a new technologically accessible pedagogy called Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR).

Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR) facilitates the breakdown of declarative knowledge into its most fundamental building blocks and repeats concepts in a careful, appropriately timed interval based on the learner’s confidence levels (how well the user knew the answer on a scale of 1-5).

Active Recall occurs when you make a mental effort to recall the answer before you turn over the flashcards and look (or check the correct answers). This effort to search your own mind palace or memory bank is termed as active recall. Research suggests that this process is useful for learning than merely picking answers in multiple-choice questions.

Metacognition is the act of reflecting while thinking, which positively contributes to active recall. It means that whenever you use flashcards and check the answers, you regularly ask yourself how close you were to the correct answer. All of these wondering, and rating of confidence level is a form of metacognition.

These techniques: Active Recall, Metacognition, and Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR) can help you keep the things you learned stay deeply embedded in your memory.

Are you interested in learning Art history faster? Try Brainscape!

How to Get Started

You can start by browsing some of the art history classes listed below. Once you’ve selected a class, search deeper and analyze how classes are structured into decks. Some decks are organized by time, artists, and location. Continue checking each deck to see if they are the right combinations that will benefit you most. Once you have identified classes that you want to use, launch your study session and join millions of students, test-takers, teachers, and corporate trainees who are doubling their learning results!