AP Art History cheat sheet

Paleolithic cave paintings (e.g., Lascaux, Altamira) use mineral pigments (ochre, charcoal) and depict animals, often in profile and overlapping.

Venus figurines (e.g., Venus of Willendorf) are small, portable, exaggerated female forms, likely associated with fertility.

Neolithic Revolution: shift from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture, leading to permanent settlements (e.g., Çatalhöyük) and megalithic structures.

Stonehenge (c. 2500 BCE) is a megalithic circle with trilithons, aligned to solstices, indicating astronomical knowledge.

Rock art (e.g., Tassili n'Ajjer, San rock art) often depicts humans, animals, and hybrid figures, reflecting shamanistic beliefs.

Prehistoric sculpture includes carved bone, ivory, and clay figures; ceramic vessels appear in Neolithic cultures (e.g., Jomon).

Architecture: megaliths (menhirs, dolmens, passage graves) served as tombs, markers, or ceremonial sites.

Art served ritual, communicative, and possibly shamanistic purposes; interpretation relies on archaeological context.

Mesopotamian art: ziggurats (stepped temples), votive figures (wide-eyed, clasped hands), and cylinder seals.

Egyptian art: consistent canon of proportions, composite view (profile head, frontal shoulders, profile legs), hieroglyphs, and afterlife-focused tomb art.

Greek art periods: Geometric (patterned), Archaic (kouros/kore, archaic smile), Classical (contrapposto, idealism), Hellenistic (emotion, movement).

Roman art: veristic portraiture, concrete architecture (Pantheon, Colosseum), relief sculpture (Ara Pacis), and mural painting (Pompeii).

Aegean art: Cycladic figurines (abstract, folded arms), Minoan frescoes (bull-leaping), Mycenaean citadels and gold masks.

Near Eastern: Assyrian reliefs (hunting scenes), Persian Persepolis (processional reliefs, column capitals).

Materials: marble, bronze (lost-wax), terracotta, fresco, mosaic; techniques reveal trade and technology.

Function: art served religion, propaganda, commemoration, and daily life; context (temple, tomb, agora) is key.

Early Christian: catacomb frescoes, basilica-plan churches, and symbolic imagery (fish, Good Shepherd).

Byzantine: mosaic-covered churches (Hagia Sophia), gold backgrounds, hieratic scale, and iconoclasm controversy.

Medieval: Romanesque (thick walls, small windows, tympanum sculpture) and Gothic (pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, stained glass).

Renaissance: linear perspective, humanism, classical revival; Northern Renaissance emphasizes detailed realism and oil paint.

Baroque: dramatic light (chiaroscuro), dynamic composition, emotional intensity, and theatricality.

Colonial Americas: syncretic art blending European and indigenous traditions (e.g., Mexican featherwork, Peruvian paintings with Inca motifs).

Materials: illuminated manuscripts, panel paintings, tapestries, and sculpted reliquaries.

Patronage: church and state commissions reflect political and religious power.

Neoclassicism: order, rationality, classical subjects; Romanticism: emotion, individualism, nature's sublime.

Realism: depiction of everyday life and social issues; Impressionism: capture fleeting light and atmosphere with loose brushwork.

Post-Impressionism: emphasis on form and structure (Cézanne) or expressive color (Van Gogh, Gauguin).

Cubism: fragmented forms, multiple viewpoints (Picasso, Braque); Futurism: movement and technology.

Dada: anti-art, absurdity; Surrealism: dream imagery, automatism (Dalí, Magritte).

Abstract Expressionism: gestural (Pollock) and color field (Rothko); Pop Art: mass culture imagery (Warhol, Lichtenstein).

Photography and film emerge as new media; modern architecture (Bauhaus, International Style) emphasizes function.

Key movements respond to industrialization, war, and changing social roles.

Mesoamerica: Olmec colossal heads, Maya stelae and codices, Aztec sun stone and temple architecture.

Andean: Chavín (Lanzón), Moche portrait vessels, Inca masonry (Sacsayhuamán) and quipu.

North America: Mississippian mounds (Cahokia), Southwestern kivas and pottery, Pacific Northwest totem poles.

Art often integrates cosmology, agriculture, and social hierarchy; materials include jade, gold, textiles, and feathers.

Colonial encounter: syncretic forms (e.g., Virgin of Guadalupe with indigenous motifs).

Contemporary indigenous art addresses identity, politics, and tradition (e.g., Fritz Scholder, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith).

Architecture: pyramid temples, ball courts, cliff dwellings, and earthworks.

Symbolism: animal spirits, ancestor veneration, and calendrical cycles.

Ife: naturalistic brass heads and terracotta figures; Benin: royal plaques and ivory carvings (British Museum).

Great Zimbabwe: dry-stone walls (c. 1100–1450) show indigenous engineering.

Mali: Djenné mosque (Sudano-Sahelian style) with toron (buttresses) and annual replastering.

Kongo: nkisi power figures with nails; masks used in rituals (e.g., Dan, Baule).

Textiles: Kente cloth (Asante) and adire (Yoruba) convey status and meaning.

Colonial impact: art forms adapted, some suppressed; tourist art and new media emerge.

Contemporary: El Anatsui (bottle-cap tapestries), Yinka Shonibare (Victorian fabric).

Function: art serves religious, political, and social roles; often performed (masquerade).

Persian: Persepolis reliefs, Sasanian silver, and Islamic architecture (Isfahan mosques with iwan and muqarnas).

Islamic art: aniconic, geometric and vegetal patterns (arabesque), calligraphy as high art.

Ottoman: Sinan's mosques (Süleymaniye), Iznik tiles; Safavid: Shah Mosque, miniature painting.

Central Asia: Silk Road influences, Buddhist cave temples (Bamiyan) and textiles.

Modern: Iranian modernism (e.g., Parviz Tanavoli), contemporary art addressing politics and identity.

Architecture: caravanserais, madrasas, and domed tombs.

Materials: lusterware, silk, and metalwork.

Calligraphy: various scripts (Kufic, Naskh) with aesthetic and religious significance.

India: Buddhist stupas (Sanchi) with toranas, Hindu temples (Khajuraho) with erotic sculpture, Mughal architecture (Taj Mahal).

China: bronze vessels (Shang), terracotta army, Buddhist cave temples (Longmen), landscape painting (Song), porcelain.

Japan: Jomon pottery, Haniwa, Buddhist temples (Todaiji), ukiyo-e prints (Hokusai, Hiroshige).

Southeast Asia: Angkor Wat (Hindu/Buddhist), Borobudur (Buddhist mandala), Thai wats.

Techniques: ink painting, woodblock printing, silk tapestry (kesi), and lacquerware.

Iconography: mudras, mandalas, and narrative reliefs (Ramayana, Jataka tales).

Modern: Chinese political pop, Japanese superflat (Murakami).

Art reflects religious philosophies (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto).

Polynesia: moai (Easter Island), Hawaiian feather cloaks, Maori whakairo (carving) and haka.

Melanesia: Asmat bisj poles, Malagan masks (New Ireland), and Sepik River art.

Micronesia: Nan Madol (stone city) and navigation charts.

Art forms: tapa cloth, tattoos, and canoe prow ornaments.

Function: art connects to ancestors, spirits, and social hierarchy; often performed.

Colonial impact: tourism and Christian missions altered traditions; contemporary artists blend styles.

Materials: wood, shell, feathers, and stone.

Symbolism: mana (spiritual power) and tapu (sacred restrictions).

Globalization: biennales, art fairs, and digital media expand art world beyond Western centers.

Themes: identity politics, postcolonialism, environmentalism, and technology.

Installation and performance art challenge traditional media and museum display.

Artists: Ai Weiwei (political critique), Yayoi Kusama (infinity rooms), Kara Walker (silhouettes).

Street art and graffiti (Banksy) blur boundaries between high and popular culture.

Digital art: NFTs, virtual reality, and social media as platforms.

Museums confront decolonization and repatriation of looted artifacts.

New materials: plastic, video, and found objects.