History of Art

If you enjoy travelling, discussing, forming your own opinions about art, architecture and design AS and A2 History of Art provide both a stimulating and challenging study.

The subject is popular with a diverse range of students who wish to develop their interest and enjoyment in the study of art history, fostering its value in lifelong learning.

A number of trips and visits during the course support students' learning, including visits to the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, Florence and Rome.

Courses at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, London, Birmingham, St Andrews and Edinburgh not only develop further interest in the History of Art, but also use the analytical and interpretative skills that are transferable to many other fields and directly to archaeology, auction houses and art galleries.

In the AS level, students study:

• Early Renaissance Italian Art, including the work of Duccio, Giotto, Ghiberti, Donatello Fra Angelico, Uccello, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Montegna, Verrocchio and Bottichelli. Technical and aesthetic developments are studied as well as the Classical influence and the rise of Humanism that took place in the 15th Century.
• Painting 1880-1945, studying the Expressionist work of the first half of the 20th Century, including Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter along with other independent Expressionists.
• Greek Architecture, looking at Greek temples, their religious and sociological functions and their development up to and including the Hellenistic era. The theatre and town planning of Ancient Greece are also studied. The Classical orders are an important part of this as are the material and methods used.
• Three-dimensional craft and design, starting with the Great Exhibition of 1851 followed by the Arts and Craft Movement led by William Morris’ reaction to industrialisation. The elegant, but functional furniture of the Shakers is examined as are the fluid lines of Art Nouveau.

 At A2 level, girls go on to study:

• High Renaissance and Mannerist Art, studying painting and sculpture within a period of philosophical, religious and scientific questioning as well as the Mannerist style that took place in what was a traumatic time for Italy.
• Painting 1945-1970, studying the work of the American Abstract Expressionists in a climate of the Great Depression and the Cold War period. In contrast, artists of the Pop era with their reaction to post-war austerity and consumerism are looked at.
• Roman Architecture, examining the Greek and Etruscan influences on religious and civic building, taking into account the materials and methods. The different types of Roman housing are also addressed.
• Textiles and Fashion 1945 – present, studying the textiles of Issey Miyake and Zandra Rhodes as well as the rise of Haute couture featuring designers including Vivienne Westwood and Christian Dior. Ready to wear is also considered in the work of, among others, Giorgio Armani and Mary Quant.