Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. It is a discipline that covers virtually every aspect of human history and experience, as it looks at works of art not just as objects, but as a way of understanding the world and the societies in which they were created. Art historians analyze visual arts meaning (painting, sculpture, architecture) at the time they were created. The discipline of art history traditionally emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, and decorative arts, but today it examines broader aspects of visual culture, including the various visual and conceptual outcomes related to an ever-evolving definition of art.
Art history encompasses the study of objects created by different cultures around the world and throughout history that convey meaning, importance, or serve usefulness primarily through visual representations. By asking questions about the conscious and unconscious choices that led to an artwork’s form and subject matter, art historians gain insight into how people throughout time and across the world lived, thought, felt, and understood everything around them.
Art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value for individual works with respect to others of comparable style or sanctioning an entire style or movement, and art theory or "philosophy of art," which is concerned with the fundamental nature of art. One branch of this area of study is aesthetics. Art historical research has two primary concerns: to discover who made a particular art object and to understand the historic development of the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, the decorative arts, drawing, printmaking, photography, interior design, etc. .
