In Defense of an Art History Degree
A painting of a king. A random landscape that portrays a field and trees, with no distinctive geographical features. Horses in motion. Two lovers, looking pained.
All images one could find upon walking into one’s local art museum, and tropes duplicated countless times to the point where one questions the significance of every new portrayal. Who cares to stare at art all day, and wonder about the meaning of a particular shade of blue in an oil painting, or the placement of a hand in a marble sculpture? The study of art history is often criticized as unemployable or worthless, the argument being that the skills learned are too narrow and specific to the degree, and therefore cannot be applied in other fields.
To this argument, I vehemently disagree. My art history major is paired with a journalism major, and to me serves as a complementary set of skills to the communication and analysis I regularly practice in the specialized program that is the SJMC. But an art history degree is more than a degree to be paired with another. It is for those who love history, studying civilizations, the way culture influences art and vice versa. It is for those who love color, poetry and storytelling. It is for the lover girl, the yearner, the gossiper and those who obsess over the details.
More than anything, art history is crucial to the study of how people have wanted to be perceived. A king commissions a portrait to boost his public image and look untouchable. A nobleman hangs a portrait in his parlor to appear respectable to guests. An artist sneaks something rebellious into the corner of a piece, because that is the only place they are allowed to speak. Nothing in art is accidental, ever. Art history is learning how to read between the lines and challenge what is in front of you in the same way journalists read between quotes. It is arguing that there is more than what is being presented, and knowing how to build your case.
I did not choose this major because I wanted a “fake” degree, or because I was not smart enough to pursue a STEM degree. I chose it because I like stories with evidence and reasoning. I chose it because I value others’ stories, others’ voices, and the risk it takes to create a piece of art and share it with the world. I enjoy knowing that a shade of blue once cost more than gold, that a sculpture dictated an election, and that a mural could get someone arrested. Art history makes past gossip feel scholarly, and history human. Curiosity does not need a career justification. This degree has already changed the way I view the world around me and the art I interact with every day. I have become more fluent in the one common language that the world shares.
And above all else, it has prepared me for the extensive reading and research skills I will need when I most likely, eventually, go to law school.