What is art and what is meant by art history? What approaches and methodologies are used to interpret and evaluate art? How have ideas regarding medium, gender, identity and difference informed representation? What perspectives can psychoanalysis, semiotics and social art histories bring to the study of the discipline?

Marxist and social art histories

Now in its second edition, this volume is an accessible introduction to the history of art. Using an international range of examples, it provides the reader with a toolkit of concepts, ideas and methods relevant to understanding art history.
This new edition is fully updated with color illustrations, increased coverage of non-western art and extended discussions of contemporary art theory. It introduces key ideas, issues and debates, exploring questions such as:

What is art and what is meant by art history?

What approaches and methodologies are used to interpret and evaluate art?

How have ideas regarding medium, gender, identity and difference informed representation?

What perspectives can psychoanalysis, semiotics and social art histories bring to the study of the discipline?

How are the processes of postcolonialism, decolonisation and globalisation changing approaches to art history?