Advanced Placement Art History (AP Art History, AP Art, or APAH) is an Advanced Placement Art History course and exam offered by the College Board.
AP Art History is designed to allow students to examine major forms of artistic expression relevant to a variety of cultures evident in wide variety of periods from present times into the past. Students acquire an ability to examine works of art critically, with intelligence and sensitivity, and to articulate their thoughts and experiences.
The main topic is European Art, with focuses on African, Hindu, South Asian, East Asian, Islamic, and Prehistoric art.
Starting in the 2015-2016 school year, College Board has introduced a new curriculum and exam for students to apply art historical skills to questions.
Topic Outline
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The ETS's outline for the exam is as follows:
Ancient Through Medieval (30%)
- Greece and Rome: 10-15%
- Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval: 5-10%
- Romanesque: 3-7%
- Gothic: 7-10%
Renaissance to Present
- 14th-16th Centuries: 12-17%
- 17th-18th Centuries: 10-15%
- 19th Century: 10-15%
- 20th Century: 10-15%
Beyond European Tradition
- Africa (including Egypt), the Americas, Asia, Near East, Oceania, and Global Islamic Tradition: 20%
Exam
Multiple Choice (50% of Score)
- 80 Questions in 1 Hour
- Approximately 8 Sets of 3-6 Questions Based on Color Images
- 35% Individual Multiple Choice Questions
- Based on the Knowledge of the 250 Required Images
Free Response (50% of Score)
- 8 Essay Questions in 2 Hours
- Two 30-Minute Essay Questions
- 7 Points Each
- Six 15-Minute Essay Questions
- 5 Points Each
- Essay Questions Often Include Images of Works of Art as Stimuli
- Based on the Knowledge of the 250 Required Images
- Response Written in Academic Essay Format
Scoring
The multiple choice section of the exam is worth 50% of a student's score and the free-response is worth 50%. Each correctly answered multiple choice question is worth one point. As of 2011, wrong and omitted questions do not affect the raw score. For the free-response section, the four short essays are each is graded on a scale of 0 to 5 and the two long essays are each graded on a scale of 0 to 7.
While the criteria varies from year to year, receiving a "5" from the ETS usually entails earning around 70% of the total points on the test, or having a raw score of 140.
Grade distribution
The score distributions since 2016 are as follows:
References
Further reading
- The College Board, AP® Art History Course and Exam Description, Effective Fall 2015, November 20, 2015; revised and corrected edition April 21, 2017. Includes sample tests and curricula, with appendices on 250 required works.
- Harris, Beth; Zucker, Steven (January 25, 2017). "Required works of art for AP Art History". Smarthistory. Retrieved June 14, 2018. An open educational resource for art history, with free images and texts on 250 required works of art in revised exam.
- Kahn Academy, AP® Art History, free study resource keyed to revised exam.
- Nici, John A. (2015). Barron's AP Art History (3rd. ed.). Hauppage, NY: Barron's. ISBN 978-1-4380-0493-8. Text with CD-ROM ISBN 978-1-4380-7513-6 Third edition focused on 250 required works in revised exam.
External links
- AP Art History at CollegeBoard.com
