The Department of Art History unites high-impact research and student-centered teaching to make the global histories of visual and material culture accessible for all. Our faculty represents a diverse set of backgrounds, with advanced degrees in art history as well as anthropology, archaeology, and performance studies.
The Department is also home to the Emile H. Mathis Art Gallery and UWM Art Collection (comprising more than 8,000 objects), which has become a locus of dynamic research and innovative exhibitions by faculty and students, both graduate and undergraduate. Notable artists represented in the Gallery include Jean Arp, Joan Miro, Henry Moore, Victor Vasarely, Alexander Calder, and Pablo Picasso.
The history of art is the study of humanity’s efforts to express its ideas, experiences, and beliefs in visual and graphic form: in painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic art, design, film, and performance arts. It also is the historical study of the attempt to reorder the physical environment through urban and architectural planning. The Department of Art History helps train students to deal with such studies in the context of the cultural, social, political, economic, and religious climates of different historical eras, as well as to foster an understanding of the specific development, materials, theory, and parameters of art. Internships and colloquia in art museum studies afford qualified students more specialized experience in connoisseurship, curatorial practices, and arts management.