AP® Art History

Flashcards

472 cards with the terms and ideas you need to know cold. The ones you find hard come back sooner.

Multiple choice practice

599 exam-style questions, timed like the real exam, with every answer explained.

Practice exam

The whole multiple choice section: 80 questions in 1 hour, weighted by unit like the real exam. A fresh mix every time.

Must-know sheet

The facts, rules and terms to know cold on exam day, on one page. Filter it by unit, or print it.

Free-response practice

16 free-response questions like the ones on the exam. Score your answer with the rubric and a model answer, or sign in for free AI scoring.

Global Prehistory, 30,000–500 BCE

3 topics · 22 videos

• Prehistoric art comes from people who left no written records
• Art changed as people moved from hunting and gathering to farming and settled villages
• Makers shaped bone, stone, clay and jade with real skill and care
• What we know comes from archaeology, and interpretations change with new finds

Ancient Mediterranean, 3500 BCE–300 CE

4 topics · 26 videos

• Rulers used art and architecture to show their power and their link to the gods
• Egyptian art valued permanence and order, especially for the afterlife
• Greek sculptors developed an idealized but natural-looking human body
• Romans borrowed Greek forms and added new engineering like concrete and the arch
• Trade and conquest spread styles across the Mediterranean

Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200–1750 CE

5 topics · 34 videos

• Christianity was the biggest patron of art in medieval Europe
• The Renaissance revived classical ideas and developed linear perspective
• Oil paint and printmaking changed how art looked and how far it traveled
• Baroque art used drama and emotion to move viewers, often for the Catholic Church
• In the Spanish colonies, European and Indigenous traditions met and mixed

Later Europe and Americas, 1750–1980 CE

4 topics · 27 videos

• Revolutions and new ideas about rights shaped Neoclassical and Romantic art
• Photography and industry changed what painting was for
• Modern artists traded realistic illusion for color, form and abstraction
• Steel, reinforced concrete and glass made new kinds of buildings possible
• Many artists used their work to question society, politics and identity

Indigenous Americas, 1000 BCE–1980 CE

4 topics · 27 videos

• Many sites were built to work with the landscape and the sky
• Rulers used art and architecture to link their power to gods and ancestors
• Textiles, feathers, beadwork and metal were among the most valued art forms
• Indigenous traditions changed and continued after European contact
• Many of these objects are sacred and belong to living cultures

Africa, 1100–1980 CE

3 topics · 20 videos

• Many African works were made to be performed, used or activated, not only displayed
• Art often expresses the authority of rulers and the status of leaders
• Masks and figures link communities with ancestors and the spirit world
• Materials such as brass, gold, wood and adobe carry meaning as well as form
• Outsiders' assumptions have shaped how African art was collected and explained

West and Central Asia, 500 BCE–1980 CE

3 topics · 20 videos

• Trade routes carried styles and ideas across West and Central Asia
• Islamic religious art favors calligraphy, geometry and plant-like patterns over figures
• Mosques are organized around prayer facing Mecca
• Luxury objects show the wealth and taste of royal courts
• Sacred sites were rebuilt and given new meanings by later rulers

South, East, and Southeast Asia, 300 BCE–1980 CE

4 topics · 25 videos

• Buddhist and Hindu art helps worshippers approach enlightenment or the divine
• Stupas and temples are designed for ritual movement, such as circling a sacred center
• Rulers used art and architecture to show power and order
• Chinese and Japanese painters prized brushwork, landscape and poetry
• Religion and trade carried ideas between India, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia

The Pacific, 700–1980 CE

3 topics · 20 videos

• The ocean linked Pacific peoples through voyaging, trade and shared ideas
• Art often marks rank, family lines and spiritual power
• Many works are ephemeral, or made for performance and gift exchange
• Feathers, shell, bark cloth and stone carry prestige
• Contact with Europeans brought new materials, beliefs and power struggles

Global Contemporary, 1980 CE to Present

4 topics · 26 videos

• Contemporary artists use any media, including installation, video and digital technology
• Many artists explore identity, such as race, gender, religion and nationality
• Globalization and migration mix artistic traditions
• Artists often challenge the stories told by museums and history books
• The site and the viewer's experience are often part of a work's meaning