Art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences across space and time. Research has shown art affects the fundamental sense of self. Art preserves what fact-based historical records cannot: how it felt to exist in a particular place at a particular time.

Studying the art of the past teaches us how people have seen themselves and their world, and how they want to show this to others. Art history provides a means by which we can understand our human past and its relationship to our present, because the act of making art is one of humanity’s most ubiquitous activities.

Art historians use visual analysis to describe and understand this experience. Often called formal analysis because it focuses on form rather than subject matter or historical context, this typically consists of two parts: description of the visual features of a work and analysis of their effects.

Findings suggest these teachers use the arts as historical evidence roughly for three purposes: First, to teach the spirit of an age; second, to teach the history of ordinary people invisible in official historical records; and third, to teach, both with and without art, the process of writing history.

On Father’s Day, us art historians should remember the painter, architect and biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574).

The discipline of art history developed in Europe during the colonial period (roughly the 15th to the mid-20th century). Early art historians emphasized the European tradition, celebrating its Greek and Roman origins and the ideals of academic art.

Michael Jackson

Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 257.7 million certified sales. Second is Elvis Presley with almost 207 million sales, followed by Michael Jackson with 169.7 million.