Art History and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts

In our age of digital image proliferation, the history of art continues to demonstrate that arresting images do not arise out of nowhere and that analysis of their material substrate and social context is necessary for a historical understanding of their function and visual power. Works of art are products of interactions between visually sensitive artists and specific historical circumstances, and the history of art and archaeology make this creative process manifest in multiple ways. These closely related disciplines seek to understand a particular aspect of human history, for they research how artists translated ways of seeing and experiencing space into tangible objects and powerful images, into works of art and architecture that help people shape, question, and make sense of their worlds. Large segments of our culture share this interest, as ever-increasing museum attendance figures and burgeoning media coverage of the visual arts attest.

All faculty members and students the Institute of Fine Arts study the role of the visual arts in culture. Although the Institute’s faculty and students have varied historical interests and methods of research, they share a conviction that the visual arts form a potent and unique cultural force that merits the closest study, and that such study should start from the examination of actual objects and, if possible, their original sites. This commitment is supported by the Institute’s archaeological excavations and by close relations with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York’s many other art institutions. As art history and archaeology are inherently interdisciplinary, the Institute also encourages students to take advantage of the excellent humanities courses offered by New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science.