ap art history short essay examples

Curated Guides > Syllabus > AP®︎ Art History

AP®︎ Art History

Below are short videos, essays, high-resolution photographs, and additional resources for each of the 250 required works of art that form the central curriculum for the AP®︎ Art History course. These works of art were selected by the College Board because they "represent foundational exemplars of global artistic traditions." You might find our free world art history textbook ( Reframing Art History ) useful—it contains many of the 250 required works, and will eventually include them all. It is officially listed on the College Board's textbook list in their Course Audit. AP®︎ Art History is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of this product.

Content Area 1: Global Prehistory, 30,000–500 B.C.E. -->

Viewers in front of Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware , 1851, oil on canvas, 378.5 x 647.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

• Introduction
• Ever wondered…why study art of the past?
• Common questions about dates
• Paleolithic art, an introduction
• The Neolithic revolution
• Neolithic period in China, an introduction
• Glossary for Global Prehistory
• Works of art
• 1. Apollo 11 Stones
• 1a. Origins of rock art in Africa
• 2. Great Hall of the Bulls
• 3. Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine
• 4. Running horned woman
• 5. Beaker with ibex motifs
• 6. Anthropomorphic stele
• 7. Jade cong
• 8. Stonehenge
• 9. The Ambum Stone
• 10. Tlatilco female figurine
• 11. Terra cotta fragment

Content Area 2: Ancient Mediterranean, 3,500 B.C.E.–300 C.E. -->

East porch of the Erechtheion, 421–407 B.C.E., marble, Acropolis, Athens

• A brief history of Western culture
• Ancient West Asia: Cradle of civilization
• Sumer, an introduction
• Babylonia, an introduction
• Assyria, an introduction
• Ancient Egypt, an introduction
• Ancient Egyptian art, an introduction
• Predynastic and Early Dynastic, an introduction
• Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period, an introduction
• Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period, an introduction
• New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, an introduction
• Introduction to ancient Greek art
• Kouroi and Korai, an introduction
• Greek Vase-Painting, an introduction
• Contrapposto explained
• Greek architectural orders
• The Etruscans, an introduction
• Introduction to ancient Rome
• Introduction to ancient Roman art
• An introduction to ancient Roman architecture
• Ancient Rome
• Pompeii, an introduction
• Roman wall painting styles
• 12. White Temple and its ziggurat
• 13. Palette of King Narmer
• 14. Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq)
• 15. Seated scribe
• 16. Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq)
• 17. Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) and Great Sphinx
• 17a. Pyramid of Khufu
• 17b. Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx
• 17c. Pyramid of Menkaure
• 18. King Menkaura and queen
• 19. The Code of Hammurabi
• 20. Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall
• 21. Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut
• 22. Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters
• 23. Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin
• 24. Last judgment of Hunefer, from his tomb (page from the Book of the Dead )
• 25. Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Iraq)
• 26. Athenian Agora
• 27. Anavysos Kouros
• 28. Peplos Kore from the Acropolis
• 29. Sarcophagus of the Spouses
• 30. Audience Hall ( apadana ) of Darius and Xerxes
• 30a. Capital of a column from the audience hall of the palace of Darius I, Susa
• 31. Temple of Minerva (Veii, near Rome, Italy) and sculpture of Apollo, Master sculptor Vulca
• 32. Tomb of the Triclinium
• 33. Niobides Krater
• 34. Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) , Polykleitos
• 35. Acropolis: the Parthenon
• 35a. Parthenon sculptures (pediments, metopes and frieze)
• 35b. Who owns the Parthenon sculptures?
• 35c. Plaque of the Ergastines
• 35d. The Many Lives of the Parthenon
• 35e. Nike Adjusting Her Sandal from the Temple of Athena Nike
• 36. Grave stele of Hegeso
• 37. Winged Victory of Samothrace
• 38. Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon
• 39. House of the Vettii
• 40. Alexander Mosaic from the House of Faun, Pompeii
• 41. Seated boxer
• 42. Head of a Roman patrician
• 42a. Veristic male portrait
• 43. Augustus of Prima Porta
• 44. Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater)
• 45. Forum of Trajan, Apollodorus of Damascus
• 45a. Column of Trajan
• 46. Pantheon
• 47. Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

Content Area 3: Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200–1750 C.E. -->

What is iconography? Background image: Crucifixion, from the Rabbula Gospels , 586, parchment, 25.5 x 33.5 cm (Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence)

• An introduction to iconography and iconographic analysis
• Who’s who? How to recognize saints…
• Christianity, an introduction
• Architecture and liturgy
• Introduction to the Middle Ages
• A new pictorial language: the image in early medieval art
• Medieval manuscripts, an introduction
• Byzantine art, an introduction
• Icons, an introduction
• Anglo-Saxon England
• Jewish history to the middle ages
• Gothic architecture, an introduction
• Introduction to Late Gothic art
• The Medieval and Renaissance Altarpiece
• How to recognize Italian Renaissance art
• Humanism in renaissance Italy
• Humanism in Italian renaissance art
• How one-point linear perspective works
• Toward the High Renaissance, an introduction
• Types of renaissance patronage
• An introduction to the Northern Renaissance in the 15th century
• Mannerism, an introduction
• An introduction to the Northern Renaissance in the 16th century
• Baroque art, an introduction
• How to recognize Baroque art
• Introduction to the Global Baroque
• The Protestant Reformation
• New Spain, an introduction
• Introduction to the Spanish Viceroyalties in the Americas
• Introduction to the Viceroyalty of Peru
• Defensive saints and angels in the Spanish Americas
• 48. Catacomb of Priscilla
• 49. Santa Sabina
• 50. Vienna Genesis
• 50a. Jacob Wrestling the Angel, from the Vienna Genesis
• 50b. Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well, from the Vienna Genesis
• 51. San Vitale
• 51a. Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
• 52. Hagia Sophia, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus
• 52a. Theotokos mosaic
• 52b. Deësis mosaic
• 52c. Hagia Sophia as a mosque
• 53. Merovingian looped fibulae
• 54. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
• 55. Lindisfarne Gospels : St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke portrait page; St. Luke incipit page
• 56. Great Mosque, Córdoba
• 57. Pyxis of al-Mughira
• 58. Church of Sainte-Foy
• 59. Bayeux Tapestry
• 60. Chartres Cathedral
• 61. Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France, Scenes from the Apocalypse from Bibles moralisées
• 61a. Moralized Bible (Paris-Oxford-London)
• 62. Röttgen Pietà
• 63. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Giotto di Bondone, introduction
• 63a. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Giotto di Bondone, fresco cycle
• 63b. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation
• 63c. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Giotto di Bondone, Last Judgment
• 63d. The Arena Chapel in virtual reality
• 64. Golden Haggadah (The Plagues of Egypt, Scenes of Liberation, and Preparation for Passover)
• 65. Alhambra
• 66. Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece), Workshop of Robert Campin
• 67. Pazzi Chapel, Filippo Brunelleschi
• 68. The Arnolfini Portrait, Jan Van Eyck
• 69. David , Donatello
• 70. Palazzo Rucellai, Leon Battista Alberti
• 71. Madonna and Child with Two Angels , Fra Filippo Lippi
• 72. Birth of Venus , Sandro Botticelli
• 73. Last Supper , Leonardo da Vinci
• 74. Adam and Eve , Albrecht Dürer
• 75. Sistine Chapel ceiling frescos, Michelangelo
• 75a. Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso), Michelangelo
• 75b. Sistine Chapel altar wall frescos, Michelangelo
• 75c. Who was Michelangelo?
• 76. School of Athens , Raphael
• 76a. Raphael, an introduction
• 77. Isenheim Altarpiece , Matthias Grünewald
• 78. Entombment of Christ , Jacopo da Pontormo
• 79. Allegory of Law and Grace , Lucas Cranach the Elder
• 80. Venus of Urbino , Titian
• 81. Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
• 82. Il Gesù, including Triumph of the Name of Jesus ceiling fresco
• 83. Hunters in the Snow , Pieter Bruegel the Elder
• 84. Mosque of Selim II, Mimar Sinan
• 85. Calling of Saint Matthew , Caravaggio
• 86. Henri IV Receives the Portrait of of Marie de’Medici , from the Marie de’Medici Cycle, Peter Paul Rubens
• 87. Self-Portrait with Saskia , Rembrandt van Rijn
• 88. San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Francesco Borromini
• 89. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa , Gian Lorenzo Bernini
• 90. Angel with Arquebus, Asiel Timor Dei , Master of Calamarca
• 91. Las Meninas , Diego Velázquez
• 92. Woman Holding a Balance , Johannes Vermeer
• 93. The Palace at Versailles
• 94. Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and hunting scene
• 95. The Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe) , Miguel González
• 95a. Virgin of Guadalupe
• 96. Fruit and Insects , Rachel Ruysch
• 97. Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo , attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez
• 98. The Tête à Tête , from Marriage a la Mode , William Hogarth

Content Area 4: Later Europe and Americas, 1750–1980 C.E. -->

Francisco de Goya, Third of May, 1808 , 1814, oil on canvas, 266 x 345.1 cm (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

• Art historical analysis with Goya’s Third of May, 1808
• The Age of Enlightenment, an introduction
• A beginner’s guide to Rococo art
• Neoclassicism, an introduction
• A beginner’s guide to Romanticism
• Romanticism in France
• Orientalism
• Early Photography: Niépce, Talbot and Muybridge
• The Daguerreotype (2 of 12)
• A beginner’s guide to Realism
• Introduction to lithography
• Impressionism, an introduction
• Introduction to Neo-Impressionism, Part I
• Art Nouveau
• Fauvism, an introduction
• Expressionism, an introduction
• Inventing Cubism
• Cubism and multiple perspectives
• 291—Little Galleries of the Photo Secession
• Introduction to Dada
• Surrealism, an introduction
• De Stijl, Part I: Total Purity
• Abstract Expressionism, an introduction
• Conceptual Art: An Introduction
• 99. Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Miguel Cabrera
• 100. A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery , Joseph Wright of Derby
• 101. The Swing , Jean-Honoré Fragonard
• 102. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson
• 103. The Oath of the Horatii , Jacques-Louis David
• 104. George Washington , Jean-Antoine Houdon
• 105. Self-Portrait , Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
• 106. Y no hai remedio (And There’s Nothing to Be Done) , from Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War) , plate 15, Francesco de Goya
• 107. La Grande Odalisque , Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
• 108. Liberty Leading the People , Eugène Delacroix
• 109. The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm) , Thomas Cole
• 110. Still Life in Studio , Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre
• 111. Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) , J.M.W. Turner
• 112. Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin
• 113. The Stone Breakers , Gustave Courbet
• 114. Nadar Raising Photography to the Height of Art , Honoré Daumier
• 115. Olympia , Édouard Manet
• 116. The Saint-Lazare Station , Claude Monet
• 117. The Horse in Motion , Eadweard Muybridge
• 118. The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel (El Valle de México desde el Cerro de Santa Isabel) , José María Velasco
• 119. The Burghers of Calais , Auguste Rodin
• 120. The Starry Night , Vincent van Gogh
• 121. The Coiffure , Mary Cassatt
• 122. The Scream , Edvard Munch
• 123. Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? , Paul Gauguin
• 124. Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, Louis Sullivan
• 125. Mont Sainte-Victoire , Paul Cézanne
• 126. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon , Pablo Picasso
• 127. The Steerage , Alfred Stieglitz
• 128. The Kiss , Gustav Klimt
• 129. The Kiss , Constantin Brancusi
• 130. The Portuguese , Georges Braque
• 130a. Pablo Picasso and the new language of Cubism
• 131. Goldfish , Henri Matisse
• 132. Improvisation 28 (second version) , Vasily Kandinsky
• 133. Self-Portrait As a Soldier , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
• 134. Memorial Sheet of Karl Liebknecht , Käthe Kollwitz
• 135. Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier
• 136. Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow , Piet Mondrian
• 137. Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan , Varvara Stepanova
• 138. Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) , Meret Oppenheim
• 139. Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright
• 140. The Two Fridas , Frida Kahlo
• 141. The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 49 , Jacob Lawrence
• 142. The Jungle , Wifredo Lam
• 143. Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park , Diego Rivera
• 144. Fountain (second version), Marcel Duchamp
• 145. Woman, I , Willem de Kooning
• 146. Seagram Building, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson
• 147. Marilyn Diptych , Andy Warhol
• 148. Narcissus Garden , Yayoi Kusama
• 149. The Bay , Helen Frankenthaler
• 150. Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks , Claes Oldenburg
• 151. Spiral Jetty , Robert Smithson
• 152. House in New Castle County, Robert Venturi, John Rausch and Denise Scott Brown

Content Area 5: Indigenous Americas, 1000 B.C.E.–1980 C.E. -->

Map of North America showing the regions of Native American cultures

• About geography and chronological periods in Native American art
• Terms and Issues in Native American Art
• Glossary for Indigenous Americas
• Introduction to Andean Cultures
• Introduction to Ancient Andean Art
• Mesoamerica, an introduction
• Defining “Pre-Columbian” and “Mesoamerica”
• Periods in Mesoamerican history
• The Maya, an introduction
• Introduction to the Aztecs (Mexica)
• Introduction to the Inka
• 153. Chavín de Huántar
• 154. Mesa Verde cliff dwellings
• 155. Yaxchilán
• 155a. Yaxchilán Lintels
• 156. Great Serpent Mound
• 157. Templo Mayor (Main Temple)
• 157a. The Coyolxauhqui Stone
• 157b. The Calendar Stone
• 157c. Olmec-style mask
• 158. Ruler’s feather headdress (probably of Motecuhzoma II)
• 159. City of Cusco, including Qorikancha (Inka main temple), Santo Domingo (Spanish colonial convent), and Walls at Saqsa Waman (Sacsayhuaman)
• 160. Maize cobs
• 161. City of Machu Picchu
• 162. All-T’oqapu tunic
• 163. Bandolier bag
• 163a. What is a bandolier bag?
• 164. Transformation mask
• 165. Painted elk hide, attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody)
• 166. Black-on-black ceramic vessel, Maria Martínez and Julian Martínez

Content Area 6: Africa, 1100–1980 C.E. -->

Linguist Staff (Okyeame), 19th–early 20th century (Ghana, Akan peoples, Asante), gold foil, wood, nails, 156.5 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

• Historical overview: to 1600
• Historical overview: from the 1600s to the present
• African art and the effects of European contact and colonization
• Form and meaning
• Aesthetics and African art
• Religion and the Spiritual Realm
• Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa
• The human figure, animals and symbols
• Art and politics
• Rites of passage
• 167. Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe
• 168. Great Mosque of Djenné
• 169. Wall plaque, from Oba's palace
• 169a. Benin plaques
• 169b. The Benin “Bronzes”: a story of violence, theft, and artistry
• 170. Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool)
• 171. Ndop (portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul
• 172. Power figure ( Nkisi n'kondi )
• 173. Female ( Pwo ) mask
• 174. Portrait mask ( Mblo )
• 175. Bundu mask
• 176. Ikenga (shrine figure)
• 177. Lukasa (memory board)
• 178. Aka elephant mask
• 179. Reliquary figure ( byeri )
• 180. Veranda post of enthroned king and senior wife (Opo Ogoga)
• 180a. Olowe of Ise, veranda post

Content Area 7: West and Central Asia, 500 B.C.E.–1980 C.E. -->

Mosaic, Great Mosque of Damascus (photo: american rugbier, CC BY-SA 2.0)

• A brief history of the cultures of Asia
• Introduction to Buddhism
• The historical Buddha
• Sacred arts of Tibet
• Introduction to Islam
• The complex geometry of Islamic design
• Introduction to mosque architecture
• Common types of mosque architecture
• Arts of the Islamic world: The early period
• The Umayyads, an introduction
• The vibrant visual cultures of the Islamic West, an introduction
• Arts of the Islamic world: The medieval period
• Arts of the Islamic world: The later period
• The Safavids, an introduction
• Introduction to the court carpets of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires
• 181. Petra, Jordan: Treasury and Great Temple
• 181a. Petra and the Treasury
• 181b. Petra and the Great Temple
• 182. Buddha, Bamiyan
• 183. The Kaaba
• 184. Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple
• 185. Dome of the Rock
• 186. Great Mosque (Masjid-e Jameh), Isfahan
• 187. Folio from a Qur’an
• 188. Basin ( Baptistère de Saint Louis ), Mohammed ibn al-Zain
• 189. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg , folio from the Great Il-Khanid Shahnama
• 189a. Folio from a Shahnama , The Bier of Iskandar (Alexander the Great)
• 190. The Court of Gayumars , folio from Shah Tahmasp’s Shahnama
• 190a. Making and Mutilating Manuscripts of the Shahnama
• 191. The Ardabil Carpet

Content Area 8: South, East, and Southeast Asia, 300 B.C.E.–1980 C.E. -->

Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi , 5th century (Gupta period), terracotta, 53.3 x 40.6. x 10.8 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

• Hinduism and Buddhism, an introduction
• Geographic regions of South Asia
• Beliefs made visible: Buddhist art in South Asia
• Buddhist monasteries
• Imperial China, an introduction
• Qin dynasty (c. 221–206 B.C.E.), an introduction
• Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.), an introduction
• Period of Division (220–589 C.E.), an introduction
• Tang dynasty (618–907), an introduction
• Nara period, an introduction
• Hindu temples
• Song dynasty (960–1279), an introduction
• Chinese calligraphy, an introduction
• Chinese landscape painting
• Kamakura period, an introduction
• Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), an introduction
• Chinese porcelain: decoration
• Ming dynasty (1368–1644), an introduction
• Nanbokuchō and Muromachi periods, an introduction
• A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Edo period
• Modern China (1912–present), an introduction
• 192. Great Stupa at Sanchi
• 193. Terra cotta warriors from mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of China
• 193a. The Tomb of the First Emperor
• 194. Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)
• 194a. The Tomb of Lady Dai
• 195. Longmen caves
• 196. Gold and jade crown
• 196a. Gold crown and gold belt from the north mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb
• 197. Tōdai-ji
• 198. Borobudur Temple
• 199. Angkor, the temple of Angkor Wat
• 199a. The city of Angkor Thom
• 199b. Bayon Temple 
• 200. Lakshmana Temple
• 201. Travelers among Mountains and Streams , Fan Kuan
• 202. Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja)
• 203. Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace
• 204. The David Vases
• 205. Portrait of Sin Sukju (1417–1475)
• 206. Forbidden City
• 207. Ryōan-ji
• 208. Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings , Bichitr
• 209. Taj Mahal
• 210. Red and White Plum Blossoms , Ogata Kōrin
• 211. Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura) , also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Katsushika Hokusai
• 212. Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan , Liu Chunhua

Content Area 9: The Pacific, 700–1980 C.E. -->

Figure of the war god Ku-ka’ili-moku, probably 1790–1810 (Hawai’i), 272 cm high (© The Trustees of the British Museum, London)

• Polynesia, an introduction
• Melanesia, an introduction
• What is the impact and legacy of Cook’s voyages?
• Glossary for AP Content Area 9: The Pacific
• 213. Nan Madol
• 214. Moai on platform ( ahu )
• 214a. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Moai
• 215. ‘Ahu ‘ula (feather cape)
• 216. Staff god
• 217. Female deity
• 218. Buk (mask)
• 219. Hiapo (tapa)
• 220. Tamati Waka Nene , Gottfried Lindauer
• 221. Navigation chart
• 222. Malagan display and mask
• 223. Presentation of Fijian Mats and Tapa Cloths to Queen Elizabeth II

Content Area 10: Global Contemporary, 1980 C.E. to present -->

Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans , 1962, synthetic polymer on 32 canvases, each 20 x 16 inches (The Museum of Modern Art, New York)

• Contemporary art, an introduction
• The Pictures Generation
• 224. The Gates , Christo and Jeanne-Claude
• 225. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin
• 226. Horn Players , Jean-Michel Basquiat
• 227. Summer Trees , Song Su-Nam
• 228. Androgyne III , Magdalena Abakanowicz
• 229. A Book from the Sky , Xu Bing
• 230. Pink Panther , Jeff Koons
• 231. Untitled #228, from the History Portraits series, Cindy Sherman
• 232. Dancing at the Louvre , from the series The French Collection , Part 1; #1, Faith Ringgold
• 233. Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People) , Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
• 234. Earth’s Creation , Emily Kame Kngwarreye
• 235. Rebellious Silence , from the Women of Allah series, Shirin Neshat (artist); photo by Cynthia Preston
• 236. En la barberia no se llora (No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop) , Pepón Osorio
• 237. Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000) , Michel Tuffery
• 238. Electronic Superhighway , Nam June Paik
• 239. The Crossing , Bill Viola
• 240. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry
• 241. Pure Land , Mariko Mori
• 242. Lying with the Wolf, Kiki Smith
• 243. Darkytown Rebellion , Kara Walker
• 244. The Swing (After Fragonard) , Yinka Shonibare
• 245. Old Man’s Cloth , El Anatsui
• 245a. Untitled , El Anatsui
• 246. Stadia II , Julie Mehretu
• 247. Preying Mantra , Wangechi Mutu
• 248. Shibboleth , Doris Salcedo
• 249. MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Zaha Hadid
• 250. Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds) , Ai Weiwei

Your donations help make art history free and accessible to everyone!

All Subjects

2024 AP Art History Exam Guide

12 min read • june 18, 2024

Your Guide to the 2024 AP Art History Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Art History exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day.  Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions. 

Format of the 2024 AP Art History Exam

Going into test day, this is the exam format to expect:

• 80 multiple-choice questions with 60 minutes to complete them.- - There will be around 40 questions put together in sets of 3-6 that will be based around color images of works of art.- - There will also be around 40 individual questions centered around color images of works of art.
• 6 free-response questions with 120 minutes to complete them.- - Question 1 is a long essay focusing on comparison. You should spend ~35 minutes on this question.- Question 2 is another long essay focusing on visual and contextual analysis. It is recommended you devote 25 minutes to this response.- - Questions 3-6 are short essay questions and it is recommended that you spend 15 minutes on each one.- Question 3 focuses on describing using  visual analysis .- Question 4 is based on describing using  contextual analysis .- Question 5 focuses on  attribution .- - Question 6 is based on analyzing  continuity and change . 👉 Check out the 2023 AP Art History Free-Response Section posted on the College Board site.

Scoring Rubric for the AP Art History Exam

View an example set of questions and the corresponding  scoring guidelines from the College Board to get an idea of what they look for in your responses!

Check out our study plan below to find resources and tools to prepare for your AP Art History exam.

When is the 2024 AP Art History Exam and How do I Take it?

Tests will be taken in person at your school. Here is what we know from College Board so far:

• The exam date will be in-person and on paper at your school on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 12 pm, your local time. You will have 3 hours to take the exam. We will have more updates from the College Board soon, but as of now this is what we know!

How Should I Prepare for the Exam?

• First, download the  AP Art History Cheatsheet PDF - a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
• We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via  Cram Mode . Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized. 

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also, create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First, set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

AP Art History 2024 Study Plan

🗿 unit 1: global prehistory, 3000–500 bce, unit summary:.

The artists of the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods didn't have access to the same materials that we do nowadays, and instead used media, or materials, that were readily available, like natural pigments, stone, and bone. Also, people had very little time to create art before the specialization of labor, which is when people were assigned specific jobs and responsibilities. This makes the artistic works of this unit all the more impressive ( cue the round of applause 👏).

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• Unit 1 Overview: Global Prehistory, 30,000-500 BCE
• 1.1 Cultural Influences on Prehistoric Art 
• 1.2 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Prehistoric Art 
• 1.3 Theories and Interpretations of Prehistoric Art 
• 1.4 Unit 1 Required Works

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💻  Learn about the best prep books so you can start studying early:

• Best AP Art History Textbooks and Prep Books

🏛 Unit 2: Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE–300 CE

When people ask AP Art History students about their favorite work in the course, many of them say ones from this unit, and with good reason. The ancient Mediterranean is home to some of the most renowned artworks and historical sites of all time, like the Pyramids of Giza and the Colosseum . The people of this area also developed new artistic techniques that are used to this day, showing the influence of groups like the Mesopotamians , Greeks , and Romans on art throughout history.

• Unit 2 Overview: Ancient Mediterranean, 3500-300 BCE
• 2.1 Cultural Contexts of Ancient Mediterranean Art 
• 2.2 Interactions Across Cultures in Ancient Mediterranean Art 
• 2.3 Purpose and Audience in Ancient Mediterranean Art 
• 2.4 Theories and Interpretations of Ancient Mediterranean Art 
• 2.5 Unit 2 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE-300 CE [Part 1]

Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE-300 CE [Part 2]

Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE-300 CE [Part 3]

Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE-300 CE [Part 4]

💻  It is never to early to want to prepare for the exam:

• How to Get a 5 in AP Art History

⛪️ Unit 3: Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200–1750 CE

Now that the Roman Empire and ancient civilizations of unit 2 have fallen (or at least settled down a little bit), we get to discover their respective countries and some new ones, too! This unit will go over the artistic movements of Europe from 200 to 1750 CE and explain how peoples' conversions to religions like Christianity and Islam and historical events influenced the art made there. Later in the unit, we'll also get to travel to European-conquered areas of the Americas and see how those traditions have syncretized with the continent's native artistic traditions. 

• Unit 3 Overview: Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200-1750 CE
• 3.1 Cultural Contexts of Early European and Colonial American Art 
• 3.2 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Early European and Colonial American Art 
• 3.3 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Early European and Colonial American Art 
• 3.4 Purpose and Audience in Early European and Colonial American Art 
• 3.5 Theories and Interpretations of Early European and Colonial American Art 
• 3.6 Unit 3 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200-1750 CE [Part 1]

Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200-1750 CE [Part 2]

Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200-1750 CE [Part 3]

Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200-1750 CE [Part 4]

⚔️ Unit 4: Later Europe and Americas, 1750–1980 CE

In this unit, we'll get to see how different historical events and social problems from 1750 to 1980 have influenced the art made in each period and how that has influenced the works that we see today. We'll also get to see artists in each movement break traditional rules by choosing to depict subjects that have never been painted before, create new techniques, use newly invented media, and expose issues that have historically not been acknowledged.

• Unit 4 Overview: Later Europe and Americas, 1750-1980 CE
• 4.1 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Later European and American Art 
• 4.2 Purpose and Audience in Later European and American Art 
• 4.3 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Later European and American Art 
• 4.4 Theories and Interpretations of Later European and American Art 
• 4.5 Unit 4 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Later Europe and Americas, 1750-1980 CE [Part 1]

Later Europe and Americas, 1750-1980 CE [Part 2]

Later Europe and Americas, 1750-1980 CE [Part 3]

Cultural Interactions in Later European and American Art [Part 1]

Cultural Interactions in Later European and American Art [Part 2]

Purpose and Audience in Later European and American Art [Part 1]

Purpose and Audience in Later European and American Art [Part 2]

Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Later European and American Art

🌽 Unit 5: Indigenous Americas, 1000 BCE –1980 CE

We're going to move on to some of the cultures that weren't covered in that section. In unit 5, we'll be exploring works made by indigenous (native) American artists, both before and after European colonization (pre-Columbian and post-Columbian), and see how the region's distinctive cultures have influenced the art made there. As we go through this unit, be sure to make note of the similarities and differences that you see between these works and those made by mestizo (part indigenous, part European) artists in Unit 4.

• Unit 5 Overview: Indigenous Americas, 1000 BCE-1980 CE
• 5.1 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Indigenous American Art 
• 5.2 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Indigenous American Art 
• 5.3 Purpose and Audience in Indigenous American Art
• 5.4 Theories and Interpretations of Indigenous American Art 
• 5.5 Unit 5 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Indigenous Americas, 1000 BCE-1980 CE [Part 1]

Indigenous Americas, 1000 BCE-1980 CE [Part 2]

⚱️ Unit 6: Africa, 1100–1980 CE

With more than 3,000 different ethnic groups and 2,100 languages spoken on the continent 🗣️, Africa is extremely ethnically diverse, and we can see this through its art. Unlike in Europe, where art styles vary by nation or region (Central Europe, Western Europe, etc.), African art can look completely different in neighboring villages because of religious, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic dissimilarities. 

• Unit 6 Overview: Africa, 1100-1980 CE
• 6.1 Cultural Contexts of African Art 
• 6.2 Purpose and Audience in African Art 
• 6.3 Theories and Interpretations of African Art 
• 6.4 Unit 6 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Africa, 1100-1980 CE [Part 1]

Africa, 1100-1980 CE [Part 2]

🕌 Unit 7: West and Central Asia, 500 BCE–1980 CE

Unit 7 may be one of the shortest units in AP Art History at 11 required works, but it still packs a mighty punch. The works from West and Central Asia are incredibly diverse in media (materials used to create a work), function, and pretty much every other identifier, which is why so many AP Art History students enjoy this part of the course. 

• Unit 7 Overview: West and Central Asia, 500 BCE-1980 CE 
• 7.1 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in West and Central Asian Art 
• 7.2 Purpose and Audience in West and Central Asian Art 
• 7.3 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in West and Central Asian Art
• 7.4 Unit 7 Required Works

🛕 Unit 8: South, East, and Southeast Asia, 300 BCE–1980 CE

In unit 7, we learned about West and Central Asia, but now, we're going to move east to the areas that we haven't explored yet; welcome to South, East, and Southeast Asia! In this unit, you'll learn about the influence of different religions and philosophies on people's beliefs and how this translates to their artworks. We'll also learn more about cross-cultural interactions on the continent between Europeans and native groups, and how this led to artistic syncretism (fusion of different cultures).

• Unit 8 Overview: South, East, and Southeast Asia, 300 BCE-1980 CE 
• 8.1 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in South, East, and Southeast Asian Art 
• 8.2 India and Southeast Asia
• 8.3 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in South, East, and Southeast Asian Art 
• 8.5 Unit 8 Required Works

🐚 Unit 9: The Pacific, 700–1980 CE

Spread across approximately 25,000 islands, the Pacific region is one of the most expansive and remote places studied in AP Art History. Because of this unique characteristic, many of its people have not had contact with those living in nearby areas, keeping artistic styles to their islands of origin and not allowing for syncretism (the blending of elements from another region into native art). 

• Unit 9 Overview: The Pacific, 700-1980 CE 
• 9.1 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Pacific Art 
• 9.2 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Pacific Art 
• 9.3 Theories and Interpretations of Pacific Art 
• 9.4 Unit 9 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Pacific Art

[ Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Pacific Art [Focus: Polynesia ] ]( https://youtu.be/EwMngz2o_Uo )

[ Theories and Interpretations of Pacific Art [Focus: Polynesia & Melanesia ] ]( https://youtu.be/b04yJiFNMxg )

🏢 Unit 10: Global Contemporary, 1980 CE to Present

This is the final unit of AP Art History ( cue the round of celebratory applause 👏  )! Unit 10 is a great way to finish off this course because its works are unlike any that we've seen previously with respect to theme, media (things used to make a work), and technique. Unfortunately, though, contemporary art (art made in the second half of the 20th or the 21st century) gets a bad rap from many viewers.

• Unit 10 Overview: Global Contemporary, 1980 CE to Present 
• 10.1 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Global Contemporary Art 
• 10.2 Purpose and Audience in Global Contemporary Art 
• 10.3 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Global Contemporary Art -  coming soon
• 10.4 Theories and Interpretations of Global Contemporary Art 
• 10.5 Unit 10 Required Works 🎥Watch these videos from the College Board:

Purpose and Audience in Global Contemporary Art [Part 1]

Purpose and Audience in Global Contemporary Art [Part 2]

Purpose and Audience in Global Contemporary Art [Part 3]

Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Contemporary Art [Part 1]

Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Contemporary Art [Part 2]

💻  Use these Quizlet decks to help you study for the exam:  

• Best Quizlet Decks for AP Art History

Key Terms to Review ( 26 )

© 2024 fiveable inc. all rights reserved., ap® and sat® are trademarks registered by the college board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website..

AP Art History Practice Tests

An overview of ap art history exam.

The AP Exam in Art History is a 3-hour test composed of an hour of multiple-choice, followed by a short break, and then 2 hours of free-response. The format is as follows:

SECTION I: MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS. 1 hour.

This section features 80 multiple-choice questions. Some of the questions have images accompanying them, some do not. All of the images on the exam will be in color. You may move freely throughout this section. It is wise to answer those questions that you do know immediately and go back to ponder those that might cause a problem.

There is no penalty for guessing! Every answer should be filled in. Nothing should be left blank. If you are told by the proctor that you only have a few minutes left, bubble in all the remaining answers.

This is extremely important because the multiple-choice questions account for 50 percent of the grade!

SECTION II: FREE-RESPONSE SECTION. 2 hours.

This section is composed of six free-response questions, most associated with illustrations. There are two 30-minute essays and four shorter essays that are timed at 15 minutes apiece.

The two 30-minute essays usually allow students to choose from a wide array of options spanning much of the course. More rarely, they address one or two periods. You are free to move among the essays; they are not individually timed. You can answer them in any order, but make sure you answer all of them. Even if you draw a complete blank, do the best you can to respond.

AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Tests

• AP Art History Practice Test 1: Prehistoric Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 2: Ancient Near Eastern Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 3: Egyptian Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 4: Greek Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 5: Etruscan Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 6: Roman Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 7: Late Antique Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 8: Byzantine Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 9: Islamic Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 10: Early Medieval Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 11: Romanesque Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 12: Gothic Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 13: Gothic Art in Italy
• AP Art History Practice Test 14: Renaissance in Northern Europe
• AP Art History Practice Test 15: Early Renaissance in Italy: Fifteenth Century
• AP Art History Practice Test 16: High Renaissance and Mannerism
• AP Art History Practice Test 17: Baroque Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 18: Art of New Spain: Spanish Colonies in the Americas
• AP Art History Practice Test 19: Rococo and Neoclassicism
• AP Art History Practice Test 20: Romanticism
• AP Art History Practice Test 21: Late-Ninteenth-Century Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 22: Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 23: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 24: Chinese and Korean Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 25: Japanese Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 26: Art of the Americas
• AP Art History Practice Test 27: African Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 28: Pacific Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 29: Contemporary Art
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 30
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 31
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 32
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 33
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 34
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 35
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 36
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 37
• AP Art History Practice Test 38
• AP Art History Practice Test 39
• AP Art History Practice Test 40
• AP Art History Practice Test 41
• AP Art History Practice Test 42
• AP Art History Practice Test 43
• AP Art History Practice Test 44
• AP Art History Practice Test 45
• AP Art History Practice Test 46
• AP Art History Practice Test 47
• AP Art History Practice Test 48
• AP Art History Practice Test 49
• AP Art History Practice Test 50
• AP Art History Practice Test 1
• AP Art History Practice Test 2
• AP Art History Practice Test 3
• AP Art History Practice Test 4
• AP Art History Practice Test 5
• AP Art History Practice Test 6
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 7
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 8
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 9
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 10
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 11
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 12

AP Art History Free-Response Practice Tests

• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 1: Prehistoric Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 2: Ancient Near Eastern Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 3: Egyptian Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 4: Greek Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 5: Etruscan Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 6: Roman Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 7: Late Antique Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 8: Byzantine Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 9: Islamic Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 10: Early Medieval Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 11: Romanesque Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 12: Gothic Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 13: Gothic Art in Italy
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 14: Renaissance in Northern Europe
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 15: Early Renaissance in Italy: Fifteenth Century
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 16: High Renaissance and Mannerism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 17: Baroque Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 18: Art of New Spain: Spanish Colonies in the Americas
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 19: Rococo and Neoclassicism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 20: Romanticism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 21: Late-Ninteenth-Century Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 22: Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 23: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 24: Chinese and Korean Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 25: Japanese Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 26: Art of the Americas
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 27: African Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 28: Pacific Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 29: Contemporary Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 30
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 31
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 32
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 33
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 34
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 35
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 36
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 37
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 38
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 39
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 40
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 1
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 2
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 3
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 4
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 5
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 6

HIGH SCHOOL

• ACT Tutoring
• SAT Tutoring
• PSAT Tutoring
• ASPIRE Tutoring
• SHSAT Tutoring
• STAAR Tutoring

GRADUATE SCHOOL

• MCAT Tutoring
• GRE Tutoring
• LSAT Tutoring
• GMAT Tutoring
• AIMS Tutoring
• HSPT Tutoring
• ISAT Tutoring
• SSAT Tutoring

Search 50+ Tests

Loading Page

math tutoring

• Elementary Math
• Pre-Calculus
• Trigonometry

science tutoring

Foreign languages.

• Mandarin Chinese

elementary tutoring

• Computer Science

Search 350+ Subjects

• Video Overview
• Tutor Selection Process
• Online Tutoring
• Mobile Tutoring
• Instant Tutoring
• How We Operate
• Our Guarantee
• Impact of Tutoring
• Reviews & Testimonials
• About Varsity Tutors

FREE AP Art History Practice Tests

All ap art history resources, free ap art history diagnostic tests, ap art history diagnostic test 1, ap art history diagnostic test 2, ap art history diagnostic test 3, ap art history diagnostic test 4, ap art history diagnostic test 5, ap art history diagnostic test 6.

Thinking about taking AP Art History? Already in an AP Art History class and want to get a better sense of what you’ve signed up for? Nervous about how you will do on the AP Art History exam and looking for the best resources to use to prepare yourself? If any of these descriptions apply to you, you’ve found yourself in the right place. This guide will take a general look at the topics and structure of AP Art History classes, the formatting and structure of the AP Art History exam, and a great resource that you can use to shore-up your Art History knowledge by recognizing and filling gaps in your understanding of AP Art History material. By the time you’ve finished reading this guide, you’ll have all the information and resources that you need to be confident about tackling AP Art History! Like all AP courses, AP Art History is a college-level class that high schoolers can take to cover the same content as a college-level introductory art history course and potentially earn college credit for their work. AP Art History does not assume that a student has any background in art, but above-average performance in previous history, literature, and studio art classes may suggest that a student has the potential to be successful in AP Art History. AP Art History involves a good amount of memorization in that students must familiarize themselves with famous artists, works, schools, media and styles of art in both the European tradition and in other traditions; however, the goal of the class is more ambitious than basic fact retention: students learn to analyze works of art in detail in different historical contexts, drawing out the relationships that exist between different works and the way in which these works have influenced, and have been influenced by, different cultural phenomena. As far as how the class is organized, about 30% of the material covered concerns Ancient through Medieval art, including Ancient Greek, Roman, Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval, Romanesque, and Gothic art; about half of the class’s content pertains to Renaissance through Contemporary art, made from the fourteenth through the twenty-first centuries; and about 20% of class material covers art beyond European artistic traditions, focusing on the art of Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Near East, Oceania, and global Islamic traditions. Students who take AP Art History conclude the class by taking the AP Art History exam, a cumulative assessment of their knowledge and determines whether or not they will receive college credit for their AP Art History course. The AP Art History exam consists of two halves: the multiple-choice section and the free response section. The multiple-choice section consists of 115 multiple-choice questions that students are given one hour to answer. The multiple-choice section is divided into two parts: Part A and Part B. Part A contains about one-third of all the multiple-choice questions on the exam (approximately 39 questions), and these questions concern color images that are included in a test booklet. Part B contains the rest of the exam’s multiple-choice questions; these questions are not necessarily accompanied by images, but when they are, they are printed in black-and-white in the text booklet. The multiple-choice section accounts for 40% of a student’s exam grade; the other 60% of the student’s exam score is calculated from the essays they write for the free response section. Like the multiple-choice section, the free response section is also split into Parts A and B. Part A asks students to compose two “long essays,” for which they are given thirty minutes each. These two essays determine about 25% of an AP Art History exam score. Essay prompts address issues that are significant in art history and require students to reference example works of art that they have studied. Certain questions will prompt students to discuss works of art from beyond the European tradition. Students are required to include pertinent details, such as the works’ title, artist or culture of origin, time, period, and media, as well as to describe the work in detail; this description is particularly crucial in the case that the work has no title. It is important to note that because the AP Art History’s long essay question prompts concern the ways in which art interacts with culture, prehistoric works of art, such as Stonehenge, the Woman of Willendorf, and the Caves of Lascaux are not accepted by graders as appropriate examples, as the cultural contexts of these works cannot be determined. Section B of the AP Art History exam’s free response section consists of six short essay questions. Students are given an hour to compose their answers, which are worth 35% of the total AP Art History exam score. Each of these questions involves an image or a pair of images, and of the questions also or solely involves a primary source quotation. For this question, the student is expected to come up with an example work of art to discuss in his or her response. If you find yourself in need of the best free AP Art History resources, whether to review for your impending AP Art History exam or try to get a sense of what you’ll be learning in an AP Art History course you’ve signed up for, look no further than Varsity Tutors’ free AP Art History Practice Tests! Each AP Art History Practice Test consists of between ten and twelve problems; you can choose to use these Practice Tests to answer questions drawn from each of the topics covered in AP Art History, or focus on one particular topic. After you complete an AP Art History Practice Test, you will receive a detailed report of your performance in comparison to those of other test-takers. You can also see a detailed explanation of the reasoning that was used to determine the correct answer, so if you miss any questions, you can find out where you went wrong so you can avoid repeating an error. You can also take Full-Length AP Art History Practice Tests. These are comprehensive exercises that ask you questions spanning the full range of concepts you’ll be expected to know for the exam. You may want to kick off your review by taking one of the complete practice tests, as the insights you’ll receive can help you to build a custom AP Art History study plan. The results page for the free comprehensive online tests includes the same helpful information you get from the concept-specific practice tests, but can also help you focus your study sessions by showing you which topics you’ve got down pat, and the topics on which you’ll want to spend some time. After you brush up on your skills with the other Learning Tools, return to the Full-Length AP Art History Practice Tests to see how your knowledge level is progressing. With the knowledge of what you’re up against and Varsity Tutors’ variety of free AP Art History resources at your disposal, you can feel completely confident walking into AP Art History on the first day of class or walking into your AP Art History exam!

Free AP Art History Practice Tests

Practice tests by concept, 2d art practice test, 2d art beyond european artistic traditions practice test, 2d art in global islamic traditions practice test, analyzing 2d art in global islamic traditions practice test, answering other questions about 2d art in global islamic traditions practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of 2d art in global islamic traditions practice test, understanding terminology that describes 2d art in global islamic traditions practice test, 2d art of the americas practice test, answering other questions about 2d art of the americas practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of 2d art of the americas practice test, understanding terminology that describes 2d art of the americas practice test, asian 2d art practice test, analyzing asian 2d art practice test, answering other questions about asian 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of asian 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes asian 2d art practice test, near eastern 2d art practice test, analyzing near eastern 2d art practice test, answering other questions about near eastern 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of near eastern 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes near eastern 2d art practice test, ancient through medieval 2d art practice test, ancient grecian and roman 2d art practice test, answering other questions about ancient grecian and roman 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of ancient grecian and roman 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes ancient grecian and roman 2d art practice test, early christian, byzantine, and early medieval 2d art practice test, analyzing early christian, byzantine, and early medieval 2d art practice test, answering other questions about early christian, byzantine, and early medieval 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of early christian, byzantine, and early medieval 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes early christian, byzantine, and early medieval 2d art practice test, gothic 2d art practice test, answering other questions about gothic 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of gothic 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes gothic 2d art practice test, romanesque 2d art practice test, answering other questions about romanesque 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of romanesque 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes romanesque 2d art practice test, renaissance to contemporary 2d art practice test, fourteenth- through sixteenth-century 2d art practice test, analyzing fourteenth- through sixteenth-century 2d art practice test, answering other questions about fourteenth- through sixteenth-century 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of fourteenth- through sixteenth-century 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes fourteenth- through sixteenth-century 2d art practice test, nineteenth century 2d art practice test, analyzing nineteenth-century 2d art practice test, answering other questions about nineteenth-century 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of nineteenth-century 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes nineteenth-century 2d art practice test, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2d art practice test, analyzing seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2d art practice test, answering other questions about seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2d art practice test, twentieth and twenty-first-century 2d art practice test, analyzing twentieth- and twenty-first-century 2d art practice test, answering other questions about twentieth-century 2d art practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of twentieth- and twenty-first-century 2d art practice test, understanding terminology that describes twentieth and twenty-first-century 2d art practice test, 3d art practice test, architecture practice test, ancient through medieval architecture practice test, ancient greek and roman architecture practice test, analyzing ancient greek and roman architecture practice test, answering other questions about ancient greek and roman architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of ancient greek and roman architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes ancient greek and roman architecture practice test, early christian, byzantine, and early medieval architecture practice test, analyzing early christian, byzantine, and early medieval architecture practice test, answering other questions about early christian, byzantine, and early medieval architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of early christian, byzantine, and early medieval architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes early christian, byzantine, and early medieval architecture practice test, gothic architecture practice test, analyzing gothic architecture practice test, answering other questions about gothic architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of gothic architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes gothic architecture practice test, romanesque architecture practice test, answering other questions about romanesque architecture practice test, architecture beyond european artistic traditions practice test, african architecture practice test, answering other questions about african architecture practice test, architecture in global islamic traditions practice test, analyzing architecture in global islamic traditions practice test, answering other questions about architecture in global islamic traditions practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of architecture in global islamic traditions practice test, understanding terminology that describes architecture in global islamic traditions practice test, architecture of the americas practice test, analyzing architecture of the americas practice test, answering other questions about architecture of the americas practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of architecture of the americas practice test, understanding terminology that describes architecture of the americas practice test, near eastern architecture practice test, answering other questions about near eastern architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of near eastern architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes near eastern architecture practice test, oceanian architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of oceanian architecture practice test, renaissance to contemporary architecture practice test, fourteenth- through sixteenth-century architecture practice test, analyzing fourteenth- through sixteenth-century architecture practice test, answering other questions about fourteenth- through sixteenth-century architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes fourteenth- through sixteenth-century architecture practice test, nineteenth-century architecture practice test, analyzing nineteenth-century architecture practice test, answering other questions about nineteenth-century architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of nineteenth-century architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes nineteenth-century architecture practice test, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture practice test, analyzing seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture practice test, answering other questions about seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes seventeenth- and eighteenth-century architecture practice test, twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture practice test, analyzing twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture practice test, answering other questions about twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture practice test, understanding terminology that describes twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture practice test, sculpture practice test, ancient through medieval sculpture practice test, ancient grecian and roman sculpture practice test, analyzing ancient grecian and roman sculpture practice test, answering other questions about ancient grecian and roman sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of ancient grecian and roman sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes ancient grecian and roman sculpture practice test, early christian, byzantine, and early medieval sculpture practice test, analyzing early christian, byzantine, and early medieval sculpture practice test, answering other questions about early christian, byzantine, and early medieval sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes early christian, byzantine, and early medieval sculpture practice test, renaissance to contemporary sculpture practice test, fourteenth- through sixteenth-century sculpture practice test, analyzing fourteenth- through sixteenth-century sculpture practice test, answering other questions about fourteenth- through sixteenth-century sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of fourteenth- through sixteenth-century sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes fourteenth- through sixteenth-century sculpture practice test, nineteenth-century sculpture practice test, analyzing nineteenth-century sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of nineteenth-century sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes nineteenth-century sculpture practice test, seventeenth- and eighteenth century sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sculpture practice test, twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture practice test, analyzing twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture practice test, answering other questions about twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture practice test, sculpture beyond european artistic traditions practice test, african sculpture practice test, analyzing african sculpture practice test, answering other questions about african sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes african sculpture practice test, asian sculpture practice test, analyzing asian sculpture practice test, answering other questions about asian sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of asian sculpture practice test, near eastern sculpture practice test, analyzing near eastern sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of near eastern sculpture practice test, understanding terminology that describes near eastern sculpture practice test, oceanian sculpture practice test, answering other questions about oceanian sculpture practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of oceanian sculpture practice test, sculpture of the americas practice test, answering other questions about sculpture of the americas practice test, identifying artists, works, or schools of sculpture of the americas practice test, understanding terminology that describes sculpture of the americas practice test.

• [email protected]
• (650) 338-8226

Cupertino, CA

• Our Philosophy
• Our Results
• News, Media, and Press
• Common Application
• College Application Essay Editing
• Extracurricular Planning
• Academic Guidance
• Summer Programs
• Interview Preparation

Middle School

• Pre-High School Consultation
• Boarding School Admissions

College Admissions

• Academic and Extracurricular Profile Evaluation
• Senior Editor College Application Program
• Summer Program Applications
• Private Consulting Program
• Transfer Admissions
• UC Transfer Admissions
• Ivy League Transfer Admissions

Graduate Admissions

• Graduate School Admissions
• MBA Admissions

Private Tutoring

• SAT/ACT Tutoring
• AP Exam Tutoring
• Olympiad Training

Research Programs

• Science Research Program
• Humanities Competitions
• Passion Project Program
• Ad Hoc Consulting
• Athletic Recruitment
• National Universities Rankings
• Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings
• Public Schools Rankings

Acceptance Rates

• University Acceptance Rates
• Transfer Acceptance Rates
• Supplemental Essays
• College Admissions Data
• Chances Calculator
• GPA Calculator

National Universities

• College Acceptance Rates
• College Overall Acceptance Rates
• College Regular Acceptance Rates
• College Early Acceptance Rates
• Ivy League Acceptance Rates
• Ivy League Overall Acceptance Rates
• Ivy League Regular Acceptance Rates
• Ivy League Early Acceptance Rates

Public Schools

• Public Schools Acceptance Rates
• Public Schools Overall Acceptance Rates
• Public Schools Regular Acceptance Rates
• Public Schools Early Acceptance Rates

Liberal Arts

• Liberal Arts Colleges Acceptance Rates
• Liberal Arts Colleges Overall Acceptance Rates
• Liberal Arts Colleges Regular Acceptance Rates
• Liberal Arts Colleges Early Acceptance Rates

The Ultimate Guide to Acing the AP Art History Exam

By Eric Eng

For high school students who are determined to make the most out of their four years at high school, learn the most, and fill their college applications with fantastic details for college admissions officers to fawn over, enrolling in numerous AP courses per year is one of the best ways to achieve all of those goals. One of the most exciting and eye-opening courses that students can take through the AP program is the AP Art History Exam.

AP, which stands for Advanced Placement , courses is a program offered in both the United States and Canada and is aimed at providing children the chance to take part in college-level curricula and exams at the high school level. Students who perform amongst the best in the country can earn college credits and placement at many schools nationwide .

This placement is ultimately decided by an end-of-course exam, which students all over the country will take to test the knowledge that they have gained as well as their ability to understand and explain related material at a critical and analytical level.

What is the AP Art History exam?

The AP Art History exam is a rigorous assessment designed to test your understanding of artworks, artistic movements, and cultural contexts throughout history . It is a college-level course and exam offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement (AP) program. The exam evaluates students’ knowledge of global art history from prehistoric to contemporary times.

The AP Art History Exam is one of the rare classes that high school students take. In fact, in 2019, just under 25,000 high school students took the AP Art History Exam. More than 5 million students took AP exams last year. Just because it is rare, however, does not mean that it is not an incredibly worthwhile course for students to take, especially if they are interested in pursuing a college degree and a professional career in the arts, history, or the humanities.

Suppose you are amongst those students who plan on taking the AP Art History course and studying for the AP Art History Exam . In that case, we at AdmissionSight want to help you prepare by giving you a quick breakdown of everything you will face on the exam. On top of that, we will also go over the most effective way to study and prepare for this kind of exam.

What you will learn in the AP Art History course?

Overall, the AP Art History course allows high school students to dive deeply into the nature of art and artistic creation. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to consider the uses, meanings, and production of art throughout the history of human civilization.

Beyond that, students will also be expected to learn and be able to explain the societal responses and impact that art has garnered and created throughout human history. In all, the class is aimed at immersing students into the wonderful world of an artistic tradition that spans across time, culture, and more. It is also aimed at fostering an immense and educated appreciation of art and the history of art.

Artistic analysis

One of the significant things that students can expect to gain out of taking the AP Art History Exam is the ability to learn visual, contextual, and comparative analysis that is applied to the many different forms of art. Beyond that, students will also gain a distinct understanding of some of the tremendous individual works. They will also learn about the evolution of processes and products that were used throughout history to help some of the man’s greatest artists create some of the man’s most significant works of art.

While there is no official prerequisite for the AP Art History Exam, students are most likely to excel and love this course if they have shown a distinct interest in and passion for courses such as literature , studio art classes, history, and other similar focuses.

One important thing to keep in mind

Before we at AdmissionSight start breaking down the many exciting ins and outs of the AP Art History Exam itself, there is one thing that we should go over with the class and the exam.

The course was dramatically overhauled during the 2015-16 school year and is now presented and taught specifically with the AP Art History Exam in mind. That is not to say that most of the information itself is not the same; it certainly is! However, the course now has a more direct objective of teaching students to prepare for the exam. This means that the scope of the course overall has been changed to focus on teaching students how to understand art from a more conceptual standpoint, as well as encouraging deep critical thinking regarding art and analytical skills.

With the emphasis being put on these skills that certainly go far beyond just helping in the study of art history , less emphasis has subsequently been put on memorizing knowledge and facts regarding specific works of art. That said, the course itself will still require students to gain familiarity with specific works of art. Still, the number of particular works has been downsized from approximately 500 pieces to just about half of that since the redesign back in 2015-16.

What is on the AP Art History exam?

Typically, the course itself is broken down into ten unique units. Here at AdmissionSight , we think preparation is one of the best ways to increase the chances of success. With that in mind, we have made it a priority to allow you to take a look at the ten units below:

Throughout the exploration of these topics, you will also be encouraged to think conceptually about the content of the course by using the three big ideas. These are the overarching concepts of the course itself and are specifically inclined to try to help a student learn how to think critically and analyze and appreciate art regardless of when or where the art was from. The three big ideas are below:

• Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object or event. Essential question: What is art, and how is it made?
• Art-making is shaped by tradition and change. Essential question: Why and how does art change?
• Interpretations of art are variable. Essential question: How do we describe our thinking about art?

Throughout studying the course material through these three big ideas related to the system, students are expected to develop foundational knowledge and thinking skills for understanding art and art critique. There are eight different art history skills that students will be asked to create in the course itself. Below is a breakdown of how much each skill will be tested on the AP Art History Exam:

The Fundamentals of the AP Art History Exam

Before you sign up for the AP Art History course, it is essential to know a lot of fundamental facts about the AP Art History Exam itself. First off, it is essential to understand that the exam itself is one of the longest exams within the AP curriculum. In total, it clocks in at three hours and – much like most of the other available AP courses – is broken into two halves: a multiple-choice section of questions and a free-response section.

Let’s break down the chances of students scoring a perfect 5 out of 5 on the AP Art History Exam. When it comes to scores of AP exams, students must score a 3 out of 5 to pass the exam. When gaining credit and placement from colleges, students will typically have to score at least a 4, and sometimes only a 5 will do. Beyond that, it is essential to keep in mind that the credit amount that placement students receive is based on the college or university that they are interested in attending.

Back to the AP Art History Exam, last year, just over 10 percent of students who took the exam scored a perfect 5 out of 5. Here is a breakdown of what percentage of students earned what score. While it may be difficult, scoring a 5 out of 5 on any AP exam will increase your chances of getting into the school of your dreams .

Multiple choice

The very first section of the exam is the multiple-choice section and will take up the first hour of the exam. Within that hour, a student will be tasked to answer 80 total questions, which account for exactly half of the total score of the exam.

Of the 80 total questions, there are about 40 of them that will be based on an image of a work of art. The remaining questions will be grouped into eight separate sets made up of three to six questions, each of which is based on a different color image. Once students complete the first portion of the exam, they will move on to the section of the exam, the free-response questions.

Free response

The second section of the AP Art History Exam is the free-response section and takes up the remaining two hours of the exam. Overall, this section includes six total questions and will make up the remaining half of the exam’s total score.

First, students will tackle two essays and get 30 minutes each to answer each question. From there, students will then be expected to answer four remaining questions and will get 15 minutes to answer each of the four questions.

For the 30-minute questions, students will be provided with three to five different works of art that share some unifying concept or idea. Students may also be expected to call upon an artwork they either covered in the course or learned about outside the course.

• The first 30-minute free response question will ask students to focus on art comparison. Here, students will have to compare specific artwork from the course while focusing on the similarities and differences between the works.
• The second 30-minute free response question will test the student on their visual and contextual analysis. Here, students will be chosen to analyze the contextual and visual features of a work of war directly from AP Art History and use evidence to defend and argue their theory.
• The third question (the first 15-minute question) will test a student’s ability to analyze a work of art from a visual standpoint. It will require students to examine elements of a work of art and use them to deduce things such as tradition, practice, era, style, and more.
• The fourth short answer question will test a student’s ability to analyze a work of art from a contextual standpoint. Here, students will evaluate the contextual elements from a specific image of a work of art and use it to explain how the context of the art can influence an artist’s decision.
• The fifth question will ask students to attribute a work of art to a specific artist and justify their attribution based on visual evidence they break down.
• Finally, the sixth question will ask students to focus on continuity and change within art. Here, students will have to identify relationships, such as tradition, style, practice, and more, between different works of art.

Sample questions from previous exams

Here are some sample questions from previous exams that might be helpful:

The above questions require students to choose a work of art that represents cultural or national identity and compare it to another relevant work. They must identify one similarity and one difference in how both works convey cultural or national identity and describe specific visual characteristics of both works to support their explanation.

Additionally, students must explain one similarity in how both works express the values of the society in which they were created, supported by relevant iconographic or contextual information from both works. This question aims to evaluate students’ ability to analyze and compare artworks in terms of cultural and national identity, visual characteristics, and societal values, demonstrating their understanding of art history and its cultural contexts.

How to study for the AP Art History exam

As you begin preparing for the AP Art History Exam, there are some great preparation styles and tools to remember throughout the process. To make sure that you get the very most out of your studying, we at AdmissionSight have broken down the very best way to study and prepare.

Analyze your knowledge and skill

The first step to preparing for the AP Art History Exam effectively is to analyze the knowledge and skills that you have already gained from the course itself. The best way to do this is to take a practice exam that you will either be able to find online or through one of the many great study guides that you can purchase in paperback. While it is helpful to time yourself when you take this practice exam to familiarize yourself with the speed at which you will be expected to take this course, it is unnecessary.

There are several tests and practices that you can either purchase or utilize without charge.

The most important thing to remember here is that you should cross-reference the answers that you came up with along with the answers that are provided in whatever resource you are using to study. From there, you can effectively manage your strengths and weaknesses to know what to do in the next step.

Study the material

Of course, what you will want to do next is take what you have learned about your mastery of the material and apply it to how you break up your studying the rest of the way. Make sure to focus on areas of weakness so that you may strengthen your overall knowledge while making sure not to forget to study and test yourself on your areas of strength.

The goal here is to not only familiarize yourself with the specific pieces of art that you will be expected to know for the exam but also gain a great understanding of the Big Ideas and overarching concepts of the course itself. This will give you the very best chance at success and scoring that coveted 5 out of 5.

Practice both sections of the exam

The next step is to return to sample questions and start quizzing yourself on both the multiple-choice and free-response style questions.

This will not only help you familiarize yourself with the facts and questions that you may face on the exam itself, but it will also help you gain total comfort with all the different kinds of questions and formats that they may come in. Here at AdmissionSight , we believe the goal for an AP exam is to test yourself not only on the content but also on the format of the exam. Going through practice sessions of multiple-choice and free-response questions is a great way to do just that.

Take more practice tests

When preparing your mind for the rigors of taking an AP exam, especially one as long as the AP Art History Exam, the best way is to take as many practice tests as possible.

Ideally, you will be able to take many complete practice exams before the date of the actual exam approaches. One thing to keep in mind is that you will want to give yourself the amount of time that is allotted during the actual exam. That means one hour for the multiple-choice section and two hours for the free-response section.

That way, you will be guaranteed that your body and mind are prepared to answer all those fascinating questions and deal with all those great topics when the exam finally arrives.

Form study groups

Collaborate with your peers and discuss different artworks, concepts, and historical periods. Sharing perspectives and knowledge can deepen your understanding of art history. Consider organizing study sessions where each group member presents a specific artwork or topic, leading a discussion and encouraging critical thinking. This collaborative approach can help you gain new insights and perspectives, as well as reinforce your understanding of the material.

Seek teacher guidance

Consult your art history teacher or instructor for advice and clarification on challenging topics. They can provide valuable insights and resources to enhance your understanding of art history. Take advantage of their expertise and ask questions to deepen your knowledge. Additionally, consider forming study groups with classmates and meeting with your teacher to discuss specific artworks or concepts. This personalized guidance can significantly contribute to your preparation for the AP Art History exam.

How hard is the AP Art History exam?

The difficulty of the AP Art History exam can vary depending on your level of interest, prior knowledge, and study habits. Some students find the exam challenging due to its expansive content and the need to analyze and interpret artworks within their broader historical and cultural contexts.

Studying for the AP Art History exam requires a deep dive into the art world, spanning various periods and cultures. From ancient Egyptian sculptures to Renaissance masterpieces and from African tribal art to contemporary installations, the exam covers a wide range of artistic styles and movements. This breadth of content can be overwhelming for some students, as it requires them to become familiar with a vast array of artworks and their historical significance.

Furthermore, the exam demands a high level of critical thinking and analytical skills. It is not enough to memorize names and dates; you must be able to analyze artworks and understand their cultural and historical contexts. This involves interpreting the meaning behind the painting, identifying the techniques used by the artist, and recognizing the influences and connections between different art movements.

However, with dedicated study and practice, it is possible to succeed in the AP Art History exam. The key is to develop strong visual analysis skills and a solid understanding of art historical concepts. Effective study strategies, such as creating study guides flashcards, and practicing timed essays, can help you overcome any difficulties you may encounter.

Immerse yourself in the art world by visiting museums, galleries, and exhibitions. Engage in discussions with art enthusiasts and experts to gain different perspectives and insights. By actively engaging with art, you will deepen your understanding and appreciation for the subject, making it easier to tackle the exam.

Additionally, take advantage of online resources and textbooks designed explicitly for AP Art History. These resources often provide detailed explanations of critical artworks, historical contexts, and influential art movements. Supplement your learning with online quizzes and practice exams to test your knowledge and identify areas that require further study.

Remember, your innate artistic talent does not solely determine success in the AP Art History exam. It tests your ability to analyze, interpret, and connect artworks to their historical and cultural contexts. With consistent effort, a passion for art, and a well-rounded study plan, you can conquer the challenges posed by the exam and achieve a high score.

When is the AP Art History exam in 2024?

In 2024, the AP Art History exam is scheduled for May 6th . It is crucial to know the exam date well in advance and plan your study schedule accordingly. Mark your calendar and ensure you have ample time to review the content, practice exam questions, and feel confident leading up to the exam.

The AP Art History exam is an important milestone for students interested in art history. This exam allows students to showcase their knowledge and understanding of various art movements, styles, and historical contexts. It is a comprehensive assessment that tests not only factual knowledge but also critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze and interpret works of art.

Remember, the AP Art History exam is not just about memorizing facts and dates. It is about developing a deep appreciation and understanding of art and its role in human history. By immersing yourself in the subject matter, actively engaging with the artworks, and honing your analytical skills, you will be well-prepared to excel on the AP Art History exam in 2024.

Here is the complete schedule for 2024’s AP examinations:

How long is the AP Art History exam?

The AP Art History exam lasts approximately three hours and is divided into two sections. The multiple-choice section accounts for about 50% of the total score and consists of 80 questions to be completed in one hour. The free-response area contributes to the remaining 50% of the score and requires you to respond to two questions over two hours.

When taking the AP Art History exam, time management is crucial. With three hours, it is essential to allocate your time wisely to ensure you have enough time to answer all the questions. The multiple-choice section, which makes up 50% of your score, should be completed within one hour. This means that you have approximately 45 seconds to answer each question. It is advisable to read the questions carefully and eliminate any incorrect answers to maximize your chances of selecting the correct option.

After completing the multiple-choice section, you will move on to the free-response area, contributing to the remaining 50% of your score. This section requires you to respond to two questions for two hours. It is essential to read each question and plan your response accordingly carefully. Take your time to analyze the prompt, gather your thoughts, and organize your ideas before beginning to write. Remember, the quality of your response is more important than the quantity, so focus on providing well-developed and insightful answers.

Preparing for the AP Art History exam involves not only studying the content but also practicing timed exams to build your time management skills. Set specific time limits for each section and practice completing the questions within those time constraints. This will help you become familiar with the pace at which you need to work and ensure that you can effectively manage your time during the actual exam.

In addition to time management, it is also beneficial to familiarize yourself with the format and structure of the exam. Understanding how the questions are presented and what is expected in your responses can help you feel more confident and prepared on exam day. Take advantage of any available practice materials, such as sample questions or previous exams, to understand the types of questions you may encounter and the level of detail required in your answers.

Remember, the AP Art History exam is not just a test of your knowledge of art history but also your ability to effectively communicate your understanding. By practicing time management, familiarizing yourself with the exam format, and honing your analytical and writing skills, you can approach the exam with confidence and maximize your chances of success.

When do AP scores come out?

AP scores for the Art History exam are typically released in early July. You will receive an email notification when your scores are available. Additionally, you can access your scores online through the College Board’s AP scores website. Remember that specific score release dates may vary slightly each year, so it is always a good idea to check the College Board’s official website for the most accurate information.

By following this ultimate guide and implementing effective study strategies, you will be well-equipped to ace the AP Art History exam. Remember, success in art history requires not only knowledge but also a passion for the subject. Embrace the beauty of art, immerse yourself in its history, and enjoy exploring the art world through the AP Art History exam.

If you want to discuss the matter to a greater extent or inquire about college admissions, look no further! Our experts here at AdmissionSight can help you! Here at AdmissionSight, we have over a decade’s worth of experience guiding students through the competitive admissions process to get accepted to the top universities in the world. Feel free to set up an appointment today to book your initial consultation .

Want to assess your chances of admission? Take our FREE chances calculator today!

Why College Admissions Isn’t Perfect

US News Rankings

The Personal Statement: The Holy Grail of College Admissions

The Modern Day 4.0 and 1600 SAT Score Student Is No Longer Impressive

The Competitive Nature of College Admissions for Asian Americans

The College Application

Our Comprehensive Approach

Ivy League Schools

How Early Should You Prepare for College?

Featured in US News & World Report Best Colleges Publication

Congratulations to AdmissionSight Students and their Acceptances!

College Rejection

College Rankings

College Consultants Could Make A Difference

College Admissions Scandal and Higher Education

What Is the Columbia ED Acceptance Rate for 2024?

Everything You Need to Know About UCLA’s Campus Tour

Discover the Best Calculators for Calculus

Everything You Need to Know About Interact Club

Fun Facts About UCLA: A Deep Dive into One of America’s Top Universities

20 Fun Debate Topics for High School Students

Discover the Best Film Schools in California this 2024

Everything You Need to Know About an AB Degree

Why Brown University? 6 Reasons to Consider

How to Get a 1500+ on the SAT: Insights and Tips

Best High School Clubs for Ivy League Admissions

Discover the Best Marine Biology Colleges in California

How Many Letters of Recommendation for College Do I Need to Submit?

Best Colleges for Creative Writing: What You Need to Know About Majors for Writers

A Deeper Look into Life After College

Joining the National Business Honor Society (NBHS)

How Long After Interview to Send Thank You: Tips + Email Templates

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recent Articles

What Is the Columbia ED...

Everything You Need to Know...

Discover the Best Calculators for...

Fun Facts About UCLA: A...

20 Fun Debate Topics for...

Discover the Best Film Schools...

Why Brown University? 6 Reasons...

How to Get a 1500+...

Best High School Clubs for...

Discover the Best Marine Biology...

Sign up now to receive insights on how to navigate the college admissions process..

Admissions Counseling

• Academic & Extracurricular Profile Evaluation

Copyright © AdmissionSight 2024

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

Ultimate Guide to the AP Art History Exam

Do you know how to improve your profile for college applications.

See how your profile ranks among thousands of other students using CollegeVine. Calculate your chances at your dream schools and learn what areas you need to improve right now — it only takes 3 minutes and it's 100% free.

In 2019, only about 24,476 of the more than five million students taking AP exams took the AP Art History exam. If you’re planning to take the AP Art History exam, whether you’ve taken the class or have self-studied, read on for a breakdown of the test and CollegeVine’s advice for how to best prepare for it.

When is the AP Art History Exam?

The 2020 AP Art History exam takes place on Friday, May 8, at 12 pm. For more information on all of the AP exams and their 2020 test times, check out our blog post 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know . 

What Does the AP Art History Exam Cover?

The AP Art History course teaches students the nature of art (its uses, meanings, and production) and societal responses to art throughout history. It seeks to immerse students in rich artistic traditions across cultures dating from prehistory to the present while fostering an in-depth understanding and appreciation of the history of art.

In this class, you can expect to learn “visual, contextual, and comparative analysis applied to a variety of art forms, understanding of individual works and connections between processes and products throughout history.” Although there are no official prerequisites for the coursework, students who have excelled in the humanities, such as literature or history, or in studio art classes, will find that these experiences enrich their perspective as they undertake the studying of art history. 

The AP Art History course was redesigned for the 2015-2016 school year, and while much of the course content remains the same, it is now presented alongside clear learning objectives for the exam. The scope was also narrowed to focus more on conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and analysis skills, with less emphasis placed on knowledge of specific artworks. The course does still require that students become familiar with a set of specific artwork, but this set shrunk from over 500 pieces in the previous curriculum to 250 included in the course redesign. 

The AP Art History course is commonly broken into 10 units. Below is a sequence of the units suggested by the College Board, along with the percentage of questions from each unit that will appear on the multiple-choice section of the AP Art History exam. 

AP Art History Exam Content

The AP Art History exam is one of the longer AP exams, clocking in at three hours. It comprises two sections: one section of multiple-choice questions, the other of free response questions. 

Section 1: Multiple Choice 

1 hour | 80 questions | 50% of score

The first section lasts one hour, is made up of 80 multiple-choice questions, and accounts for 50% of your total score. Of these 80 questions, there are approximately 40 individual questions, some of which are based on a color image of a work of art. The other 40 questions are grouped into eight sets of 3-6 questions, each set based on a different color image. 

Section 2: Free Response 

2 hours | 6 questions | 50% of score

The second section is the free response section, which lasts for two hours, includes six questions, and accounts for the remaining 50% of your total score. This section is divided into two 30-minute essays and four 15-minute essays, which often include images of art as stimuli for the given prompt.

30-Minute Essays: The longer of the free response questions will provide you with 3-5 works of art from the AP Art History course with a unifying idea. They may also call upon you to respond with a choice of artwork of your choosing, either from within or outside of the required course content. 

Question 1: The first 30-minute free response question focuses on comparison, tasking you with comparing select artwork from the course (images provided), and articulating the similarities and differences between the works. 

Question 2: The second long-answer free response question is about visual/contextual analysis, requiring you to analyze the visual and contextual features of a work of art from the AP Art History course (this is the only free response question which will not provide an image of artwork), and respond to a prompt with a thesis supported by evidence.  

Question 3: This question tests visual analysis, and requires you to examine the visual elements of a work of art—image provided—and connect it to a tradition, style, or practice. 

Question 4: The fourth question covers contextual analysis and asks you to evaluate the contextual elements from an image set and explain how context can influence artistic decisions. 

Question 5: This question focuses on attribution. Here, you must attribute a work of art to an artist and justify your assertion using visual evidence. 

Question 6: The final free response question spotlights continuity and change. You’ll need to identify the relationships—including artistic tradition, style, and/or practice—between works of art. 

AP Art History Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate

The AP Art History exam is a tough one to master, though many students pass it with average scores. In 2019, 63.1% of students who took the AP Art History received a score of 3 or higher. Of these, only 11.9% of students received the top score of 5, with another 24.6% scoring a 4. If you’re curious about other score distributions, see our post Easiest and Hardest AP Exams .

Keep in mind, credit and advanced standing based on AP scores varies widely from school to school. Though a score of 3 is typically considered passing, it is not always enough to receive credit. Regulations regarding which APs qualify for course credits or advanced placement at specific colleges and universities can be found on the College Board website . 

A full course description that can help to guide your studying and understanding of the knowledge required for the exam can be found in the College Board’s course description .

Read on for tips for preparing for the exam.

Best Ways to Study for the AP Art History Exam

Step 1: assess your skills.

Take a practice test to assess your initial knowledge of the material. Although the College Board AP Art History website provides a number of sample test questions and exam tips, it does not provide a complete sample test. However, practice tests are readily available in commercial study guides such as Barron’s AP Art History, 3rd Edition . Varsity Tutors also offers a handful of free diagnostic tests for AP Art History . You can also find an older version of test questions from the College Board’s 2011 exam or image-based questions from the 2013 exam to get a general idea of the test’s structure and content.

Step 2: Study the Material

The content and curriculum of the AP Art History course are based on three sets of big ideas and essential questions. These overarching concepts are intended to encourage critical thinking, analysis, and appreciation of art throughout time and place, and to foster your understanding of the field of art history. The big ideas and their associated essential questions are:   

• Big Idea 1: Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object, act, or event. Essential Question: What is art and how is it made?
• Big Idea 2: Art making is shaped by tradition and change. Essential Question: Why and how does art change?
• Big Idea 3: Interpretations of art are variable. Essential Question: How do we describe our thinking about art?

Through the exploration of big ideas and answering essential questions, you should develop a foundational set of art historical thinking skills. Below are eight distinct art history skills you’ll develop in the AP Art History course and the percentage of the multiple-choice section of the AP Art History exam you can expect them to represent. 

In addition to these specific art history thinking skills, you will also need to be familiar with the official AP Art History image set which contains “250 works of art categorized by geographic and chronological designations, beginning with works from global prehistory and ending with global contemporary works.” These works are found in the College Board AP Art History Course Description .   

The College Board refers students to Khan Academy’s comprehensive AP Art History Study Guide . This website has a wealth of free material for effectively and efficiently learning what you’ll need to know for the exam. The College Board also provides a series of useful videos on the AP Art History teacher site that give an overview of the curricular framework, exam format, and writing tips.

There are also a number of free study resources available online. Many AP teachers have posted complete study guides, review sheets, and test questions—for example, this website from Valerie White , a ceramics teacher. Be careful when accessing these, as many will be from previous versions of the exam.

Finally, another convenient way to study is to use one of the recently-developed apps for AP exams. These can make studying on-the-go a lot easier. Make sure you read reviews before choosing one—their quality varies widely. Here’s an AP Art History app from Varsity Tutors that currently has 4.2 stars.

Step 3: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Once you have your theory down, test it out by practicing multiple-choice questions. You can find these in most study guides or through online searches. You could also try taking the multiple-choice section of another practice exam.

The College Board Course Description includes many practice multiple-choice questions along with explanations of their answers. There are additional questions available in commercial study guides. As you go through these, try to keep track of which areas are still tripping you up, and go back over this theory again. Focus on understanding what each question is asking and keep a running list of any vocabulary that is still unfamiliar.

Step 4: Practice Free Response Questions

All free response questions on the AP Art History exam include either images of works of art (from the required course content, except in the case of attribution questions) or a list of works from the required course content to prompt student responses. For questions that ask you to identify a piece of work, you should try to include all available identifiers including title or designation, name of the artist and/or culture of origin, date of creation, and materials. You should be able to provide at least two correct identifiers, but you will not be penalized for any additional identifiers that are incorrect. 

On the free response section of the AP Art History exam, a distinct emphasis is placed on the strength of your writing. To be successful, you will need to use clear, appropriate, and descriptive language. Your ideas should be organized logically with coherent evidence to support your assertions. You will need to make fact-based inferences and closely align your writing with the prompt’s directives.

As you complete the free response questions, make sure to keep an eye on the time. Though you will be reminded of the time remaining by the exam proctor, you will not be forced to move on to another question. Make sure you stay on track to address each section of every question. No points can be awarded for answers left completely blank when time runs out.

A fantastic way to prepare for the free response questions on the AP Art History exam is to practice with them. The College Board has the free response questions from the 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , and 2016 exams posted on its website. Another helpful resource when preparing for the AP Art History exam is also found on the College Board website— this presentation from Heather Madar of Humboldt State University provides a small sampling of the free response questions, along with insight into how students performed and the places they struggled.

Step 5: Take Another Practice Test

As you did at the very beginning of your studying, take a practice test to evaluate your progress. You should see a steady progression of knowledge, and it’s likely that you will see patterns identifying which areas have improved the most and which areas still need improvement. If you have time, repeat each of the steps above to incrementally increase your score.

Step 6: Exam day specifics

If you’re taking the AP course associated with this exam, your teacher will walk you through how to register. If you’re self-studying, check out our blog post How to Self-Register for AP Exams .

For information about what to bring to the exam, see our post What Should I Bring to My AP Exam (And What Should I Definitely Leave at Home)?

Wondering what your odds of acceptance are to your dream school? Using your GPA, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, and other data points, our chancing engine lets you know your chances of acceptance to over 500 colleges in the U.S. You can also see how you stack up against other applicants, and learn how to improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account to start using our chancing engine today!

Looking for more great information about AP exams? Check out these other posts from CollegeVine: 

2020 AP Exam Schedule

How Long is Each AP Exam?

Easiest and Hardest AP Exams

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

AP United States History Score Calculator

The AP United States History Score Calculator by examples.com helps students estimate their exam scores by converting raw scores from multiple-choice and free-response sections into a scaled score, aiding in effective preparation.

How to Calculate AP United States History Score

The AP United States History (APUSH) score is determined by combining raw scores from multiple sections of the exam. Each section contributes to the final scaled score.

1. Multiple-Choice Section:

• Number of Questions: 55 questions.
• Scoring: Each correct answer earns one point, with no penalty for incorrect answers.
• Raw Score: The total number of correct answers forms your raw score for this section, which accounts for 40% of your final score.

2. Short-Answer Section:

• Number of Questions: 3 questions.
• Scoring: Each question is scored on a scale from 0 to 3 points.
• Raw Score: The combined score from all short-answer questions forms the raw score for this section, contributing 20% to your final score.

3. Document-Based Question (DBQ) Section:

• Number of Questions: 1 question.
• Scoring: The DBQ is scored on a scale from 0 to 7 points.
• Raw Score: The score from the DBQ contributes 25% to your final score.

4. Long Essay Section:

• Number of Questions: 1 question (choose 1 out of 3 prompts).
• Scoring: The long essay is scored on a scale from 0 to 6 points.
• Raw Score: The score for this section contributes 15% to your final score.

5. Converting Raw Scores to Scaled Scores:

• Combination: The raw scores from all sections are combined according to their weightings.
• Conversion: The combined raw score is converted to a scaled score between 1 and 5 using a conversion table provided by the College Board.
• Adjustment: This conversion process accounts for exam difficulty, ensuring consistent and fair scoring across different test versions.

The final scaled score, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest), represents your overall performance on the AP United States History exam.