艺术史是有关艺术作品的历史发展及其风格的研究，风格可能包括其艺术类型、设计、形式及风格等。它也研究和描述在其当时和当地的美术感和世界观条件下的文化作用以及艺术家的创作过程。美术作品的内容、其在时间和空间的位置以及观众对这些作品的看法。美术作品的风格联系以及其历史关联被看作是每部作品的产生前提，在讨论一个作品时必须将这个前提条件结合讨论。

　　一般研究的对象会包括绘画、雕塑及建筑，也可会包括陶瓷、家具及其他装饰艺术。与艺术评论不同的，艺术史研究的作品往往是19世纪及更早时期创作，对当代的作品很少研究。

　　常见的研究对象是从中世纪早期开始至现代的欧洲和近东的绘画、制图、雕塑和建筑。从19世纪后半叶开始美术史也开始研究教会收藏的艺术作品和宝藏。史前史也研究文字出现之前的美术发展。考古学和埃及学的研究也包括地中海早期文明的美术发展。早期的美术史今限于从4世纪基督教成为罗马帝国的国教开始到现代的欧洲美术。在近代和现代其研究范围扩展到受到欧洲文化影响的所谓的西方世界，即也包括美洲或者世界其它地方的西方美术。

　　20世纪前半叶，研究范围也扩展到了其它文化圈(比如非洲或亚洲)的美术作品。新的表现形式如摄影、新媒体以及新的艺术种类如工艺美术和设计的作品也被纳入美术史的研究范围。艺术史的最新发展是忽视一部作品的图像而仅对其作用和发展的分析的图像科学(比如游戏学)。

　　正因为艺术史的学科历史悠久，全球约有300所高校开设艺术史相关专业，大约有160多所美国高校提供艺术史的研究生课程，60多所英国高校提供艺术史的研究生课程。

　　艺术史专业就业前景：

　　毕业的学生可以在博物馆、历史协会、艺术学院、社区学院、拍卖行和画廊等就业。常见职位有：美术史学家、美术老师、艺术总监、画廊助理、案卷保管人等。

　　以下以美国普林斯顿大学为例了解一下艺术史专业的分支设置：

　　Princeton University

　　艺术与考古系
 

　　一、关于本学院

　　Besides covering all periods of European art and architecture, current faculty members teach in areas as diverse as Chinese bronzes, pre-Columbian objects, Greek art, Japanese prints, African art, American art, the history of photography, and theory and criticism.

　　除了涵盖欧洲艺术和建筑的各个时期，目前的教师教授的领域非常广泛，包括中国的青铜器、前哥伦布时期的物品、希腊艺术、日本版画、非洲艺术、美国艺术、摄影史、理论和批评等

　　Today, coursework in art history is supported by the extraordinary art collection of the Princeton University Art Museum; by the resources of the Marquand Library, the world’s finest art history library; and by close relationships with numerous other departments on our campus.

　　艺术史课程得到了普林斯顿大学美术馆艺术收藏的支持;学生可以享受世界上最好的Marquand图书馆的资源;并与学校其他部门建立了密切的关系。

　　二、学位Degree

　　The graduate program is for Ph.D candidates only, the M.A. degree is incidental and cannot be applied for separately.

　　三、研究领域Areas of Study

　　East Asian Art and Archaeology 东亚艺术与考古学

　　Ancient Art and Archaeology 古典艺术与考古学

　　Byzantine and Medieval Art 拜占庭与中世纪艺术

　　Renaissance and Baroque Art 文艺复兴和巴洛克艺术

　　African Art 非洲艺术

　　Modern and Contemporary Art, including American Art and the History of Photography 现代和当代艺术，包括美国艺术和摄影史

　　The History of Architecture in all periods 不同时期的建筑史

　　三、申请要求

　　截止时间：12.1

　　无本科相关背景要求

　　GRE可选

　　托福100(口语不低于27) 雅思7.0(口语不低于8.0)

　　申请材料：

　　90$申请费、成绩单、PS、resume\cv、3封推荐信、25页writing sample

　　四、教授信息

　　Bridget Alsdorf Associate Professor

　　Profile

　　Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2008

　　Bridget Alsdorf’s area of specialization is European art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with an emphasis on art produced in France from the Second Empire to World War I. Her work explores visual art’s intersections with literature, philosophy, and social psychology, and considers the ways in which 19th-century transformations remain at the core of our contemporary world. An associated faculty member in the Department of French & Italian, she also contributes courses to the programs in Humanistic Studies and European Cultural Studies. Her research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program, the Luce Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has also worked at a number of museums, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

　　Teaching Interests

　　Professor Alsdorf teaches a broad range of courses on modern European art, including lecture-based surveys of painting and sculpture from Neoclassicism through Post-Impressionism to upper-level seminars on special topics. These topics have hinged on historical relationships between artistic media, the convergence of art and social theory, and new directions in the field. Other courses have addressed the work of a single artist (e.g. Manet), or the idea of the artist since the Renaissance period. All courses take advantage of local collections – including the Met, the MoMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the National Gallery of Art, and the Princeton Art Museum – for group discussion as well as individual projects. Special attention is paid to close looking, methodology, and interdisciplinary research.

　　https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/people/faculty/professors

　　五、院系规模

　　The program in art history is small, with about 9-12 students entering each year. There are about thirty-five students in residence at one time. The seminars are small with enrollment of approximately three to ten students. All graduate students have individual carrels in Marquand Library, one of the outstanding art research libraries in the world. In the same building are the Art Museum, the Index of Christian Art, and the research photograph collection.

　　https://artandarchaeology.princeton.edu/about-us/graduate/application-process

本文由石家庄鑫泉留学美国留学规划师    邸莉老师提供