Art history is the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and look.[1] Moreover, art history generally is the research of artists and their cultural and social contributions.[2]

As a term, Art history (also history of art) encompasses several methods of studying the visual arts; in common usage referring to the study of works of art and architecture. The definition is, however, wide-ranging, with aspects of the discipline overlapping upon art criticism and art theory. Ernst Gombrich observed that "the field of art history [is] much like Caesar's Gaul, divided in three parts inhabited by three different, though not necessarily hostile tribes: (i) the connoisseurs, (ii) the critics, and (iii) the academic art historians".[3] Works of art criticism and of art theory frequently have been the pivots upon which the understanding of art history has turned.

As a discipline, art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value upon individual works with respect to others of comparable style, or sanctioning an entire style or movement; and art theory, which is concerned with the fundamental nature of art, and is more related to aesthetics and determining the essence of beauty, i.e. artistic appeal. Technically, art history is not these things, because the art historian uses historical method to answers the questions: How did the artist come to create the work? Who were the patrons? Who were his or her teachers? Who were his or her disciples? What historical forces shaped the artist's oeuvre and How did he or she and the creation, in turn, affect the course of artistic, political, and social events?