Art History

Art History is the study of visual images and objects. We explore not only painting, drawing and sculpture, but also architecture, photography, video, performance, design and the decorative arts.

Art History develops the skills necessary to analyse and interpret a world that is saturated with images. It provides a deeper understanding of different cultural traditions and historical periods, and teaches us the importance of creativity and the freedom of the imagination.

Art History and your career

Studying Art History can build skills in creative thinking, design and planning, which are useful for careers in communication and media, marketing, journalism, conservation, exhibition management, galleries and auction houses, tourism, diplomacy, intellectual property and copyright law, and business management.

Art History has inspired curators, artists, performers, musicians, writers, politicians and entrepreneurs. It has also laid the basis for partnerships and joint projects with psychologists, social workers, community leaders and architects.

Study options in Art History

You have particular opportunities to study Māori and Polynesian visual cultures, the art of Aotearoa New Zealand, European and American art and visual culture throughout history and up to the contemporary period, and museums and curating.

• The Renaissance: Art and the City
• Shock of the Modern: Monet to Warhol
• Global Art Histories
• Bible and Popular Culture
• Images and Ideas: Art since Antiquity
• Themes in Art History
• Multimedia Histories
• Reading Images
• Art and Revolution 1750-1850
• Crisis and Change: Mid 19th Century Art in France and Britain
• Northern European Art 1400 – 1600
• Art Crime
• Framing the Viewer: 20th Century Art
• Artists and Patrons in Renaissance Italy
• Māori Art History: Mana Taonga
• Contemporary Art and Theory
• Modernism and Design
• Art and New Zealand: Pasts and Presents
• The Print in Northern Europe 1470-1600
• Contemporary Pacific Art
• Radical Transformations: Modern Art 1875-1950
• Power and Piety: the Baroque
• Imaging the Renaissance
• Gender, Ethnicity and Visual Culture
• Contemporary New Zealand Art
• The Art of Majesty: Tudors and Stuarts
• Special Topic: The Body in Contemporary Art
• Special Topic: Art and the Museum
• Special Topic

• General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level. A minimum of three A-Level subjects completed, with at least 'C' grade or higher attained. General Studies or similar general papers cannot be included.
• Complete the International Baccalaureate Diploma (minimum total score of 24).
• IELTS (Academic): Overall score of 6.0 and all bands 5.5 or better
• Internet-based TOEFL (iBT): Overall score of 80 plus a written score of 21
• Paper-based TOEFL: Overall score of 550 plus Essay (TWE) of 4.5
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) and Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE): Overall score of 169 and all bands 162 or better
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic: Overall score of 50 and no PTE communicative skills score below 42. You must authorise the University to view and verify your PTE scores. 
• Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB): 80

• University of Auckland International Student Scholarships

BA conjoint programme

You can combine study in two different areas, such as literature and law, politics and business, or engineering and languages. Most conjoint programmes take four years of full-time study to complete.
The communication and creative thinking skills you can develop through a BA can add value to other degrees. You can extend your skills and enhance your career prospects.