AP Art History

What Students Learn

Students study artistic expression across cultures through the prescribed image set, examining form and context. Visual evidence and comparison support explanations of continuity and change in artistic traditions and relationships between a work's function and its audience.

Course Units

The units and learning focuses below follow the official AP course framework.

Unit 1: Global prehistory

Unit 2: Ancient Mediterranean

Unit 3: Early Europe and colonial Americas

Unit 4: Later Europe and Americas

Unit 5: Indigenous Americas

Unit 6: Africa

Unit 7: West and Central Asia

Unit 8: South, East, and Southeast Asia

Unit 9: The Pacific

Unit 10: Global contemporary

AP Assessment

The AP exam includes 80 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, worth 50%, and six free-response questions in 120 minutes, worth 50%. Written responses assess comparison and visual or contextual analysis, alongside attribution and continuity and change in artistic traditions. Students support explanations with knowledge of specific works and visual evidence.

References (2026–2027): College Board course framework; assessment information