AP Art History Self Study and Textbook

<p>I am going into my junior year. I am wondering whether or not I should self study AP Art History. I also plan on self studying the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics courses this year (I already know most of the material though from FBLA). My school offers a limited number of APs and Art History is not one of them. My career interest doesn't have much to do with art. However, I am taking and plan to continue taking art classes in high school. I understand art history is totally different from an actual "studio art" course, but I am really interested in learning the material.</p>

<p>I've looked at the different options for textbooks for this course, and Gardner's Art Through the Ages looks like a good choice that covers all of the material. However, there are many editions of this book. I don't want anything where I have to buy multiple volumes of a book, so the 13th and the 14th editions interest me. I was wondering if there are any major differences between these two editions. Would it be okay if I bought the 13th edition since it would be cheaper?</p>

<p>13th edition is fine. You should also buy Strickland’s The Annotated Mona Lisa.</p>

<p>I’m self-studying AP Art History this year also, and ended up with Barron’s AP Art History and Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History, both Volumes 1 and 2. I also plan to purchase The Annotated Mona Lisa, and I think that should be enough books to sufficiently self-study the whole course. </p>

<p>A Global History goes in-depth into specific time periods split between Volumes 1 and 2, so it has more overview and commentary than one textbook overviewing all of history. </p>

<p>Thanks for the responses! I’ve ordered Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History 13th Edition (one book). It looks like it’s a good book. For studying APs I usually just read the entire textbook through. Closer to the test, I skim through the entire book again, looking at each subtitle and rereading anything that I don’t remember that well. That usually takes a few hours to review, which isn’t that bad at all. When you can tell me a specific detail from the book and I can name the chapter and relative location of that detail in the chapter, that’s when I know I am ready. And usually I don’t buy prep books for the APs, but since this is a self study, I will probably buy Barron’s. I use Barron’s for everything else (SAT, Subject Tests, etc.). Even though Barron’s is generally more difficult than the actual test, I rather be over prepared and know more than I have to than be under prepared and be shocked at some of the questions. So I don’t know if I will get The Annotated Mona Lisa; I will see how I do with Gardner’s first and the decide. </p>

<p>Since the actual test is going to want you to know/recognize 500+ works of art, any book that can help you study the works themselves would be fantastic. Hence, The Annotated Mona Lisa. Gardner’s deals more with the actual art history, while T.A.M.L. tackles the works of art themselves. </p>

<p>Here’s a free resource that is geared toward AP art history - the Famous Paintings ebook, with info about 250 of the most influential paintings in art history. Here’s the link:<a href=“http://www.themasterpiececards.com/famous-paintings-ebook-oct”>http://www.themasterpiececards.com/famous-paintings-ebook-oct&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Masterpiece Cards, the ebook publisher, makes a set of 250 art history flashcards spanning Renaissance through Pop art - these Cards will last a lifetime. Learn more here: <a href=“http://www.themasterpiececards.com/”>http://www.themasterpiececards.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I just made a video on how to pass AP Art History (and about the material)!</p>

<p>The class is very content heavy. Some dedication and commitment is needed. However, I have friends that studied less than I did and got the same score. I got a 4, by the way.</p>

<p><a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;

<p>@collegestorm‌ Do you mind linking me to the pages where you ordered the books. I would like to self-study for the Art History exam as well, but I do not want to order the wrong one.</p>