The Story of Art
by E.H. Gombrich · E.H. Gombrich
Gombrich's single-narrative survey traces Western art from cave painting to modern experiment, explaining why artists changed course rather than cataloguing masterpieces. Readers finish with a coherent chronological framework and a sense of how each period answered the previous one.
This link may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
More resources on Art History
Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art course that uses works from MoMA's collection to trace how artists from the late 1800s onward responded to industrialization, war and new technologies, teaching learners to connect artworks with the ideas that shaped them.
smarthistory.org
Smarthistory.org provides free, student-friendly art history resources through expert-led short videos and concise essays that analyze major artworks, movements, and cultural contexts from around the world. It features visual analyses, contextual histories, and thematic comparisons suitable for students and educators.
Google Arts & Culture
Google's partnership with over 2,000 museums puts high-resolution artworks, gigapixel scans, virtual gallery walkthroughs, and curated exhibits online. Browsing by artist, movement, medium, or period builds visual familiarity with works you would otherwise never see in person.
Art History Basics
Khan Academy and Smarthistory introductory unit on the foundations of art history: why looking at art matters, formal analysis of composition, line and colour, and the materials and techniques behind painting, sculpture and other media. Learners can describe and analyse artworks systematically.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline
The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline pairs objects from the museum's collection with essays organized by region and period, from 8000 B.C. onward. Readers come away able to place a work geographically and chronologically and to see cross-cultural contemporaries.
Art History Basics
Explore art history from ancient to modern times! This course covers major movements, artists, and techniques.