History of Art

The Course is offered over two years at AS Level, and is very useful as a supplement to the study of Art at Cranleigh. Pupils with an eagerness to learn about signs and symbols and meanings in Art will love this challenging but stimulating and inspiring course. They will study visual analysis and interpretation in their first year. This concentrates on the knowledge and understanding of the formal aspects of paintings, sculpture and architecture. In their second year they will study themes in the history of Art. The eight themes are: subjects and genres; materials, techniques and processes; form and style; form and function; Historical and social contexts; patronage; social and cultural status; and gender, nationality and ethnicity. At the end of their two years, they will be able to ‘read’ the three disciplines and take their working knowledge with them as a background to whatever subject they then decide to study.