Art history

Art history is an academic discipline devoted to the study of artistic production and visual culture throughout human history. Art historians use a historical method or a philosophy, such as historical materialism or critical theory, to analyze artworks. Among other topics, they study art's impact on societies and cultures, the relationship between art and politics, and how artistic styles and formal characteristics of works of art have changed throughout history.

Extends: [Art history](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Art history), [Art criticism](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Art criticism), [Fields of history](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Fields of history), Humanities