NCEA Level 3 Art History
Course Description
Teacher in Charge: Ms V. Mentink.
“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist.” – René Magritte
Art History explores how art reflects the values, ideas and developments of the time through the study of key art works (painting, sculpture, architecture, design) and the artists who made them.
Students with an interest in the visual arts, classics, history and culture will gain skills in visual literacy and critical thinking that can be applied to a broad range of tertiary studies as well as many career pathways, in particular, architecture, art and design, visual communication and media. Students will be encouraged to make connections to their own world and contemporary culture.
No practical art skills are required to study Art History and the course is designed to both engage and extend students with no prior knowledge of the subject. Additional to the range of academic benefits gained, Art History is culturally enriching and leads to a lifetime of art appreciation.
Students can choose an internal-only course or a combination of internal and external assessment.
2025 COURSE
EARLY MODERNISM: 1900-1940
- Key movements and developments in painting and sculpture from the beginning of the 20th century: Cubism, Fauvism, De Stijl, Die Brucke, Futurism
- Key artists: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Constantin Brancusi, Umberto Boccioni, Ernst Kirchner
- Key ideas: impact of technology and science, class change and war, the self, Freud and the unconscious, modernity and the modern city
MODERN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE: 1900-1960
- Key movements and developments in architecture and design, including photography, graphic and furniture design and the developments that lead to the birth of the modern city: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modernism, Constructivism, De Stijl, the Bauhaus, International Style
- Key designers and architects: Walter Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Peter Behrens, Marianne Brandt, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Gerrit Rietveld
- Key buildings: Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, the Bauhaus Art School, Fallingwater
- the Industrial Revolution and Russian Revolution, and their impact on art and society
- Key ideas and philosophies of the 19th century and early 20th century including the theories of Charles Darwin and Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche
This course is supported by an extensive range of resources, including slides and video material, as well as two NCEA workbooks, designed specifically for both topic areas.
Achievement standards can be tailored to the needs of the students.
Art History at Level 3 focuses on early 20th-century developments in art providing students with a solid foundation in which to appreciate the great art movements and developments in the visual arts, design and architecture of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Recommended Prior Learning
Contributions and Equipment/Stationery
Approximately $64 for two workbooks (subject to publication cost)
Pathway
Art History provides values skills and knowledge that can lead to exciting careers, including architecture, interior design, visual media and IT, advertising, marketing, fashion, tourism as well as curating and conservation work in galleries, museums and libraries.
Assessment Information
Students can choose to complete an internal only option or a combination of internal and external standards. Although there is flexibility which standards students complete, they are not expected to complete more than 20 credits.Credit Information
You will be assessed in this course through all or a selection of the standards listed below.
This course is eligible for subject endorsement.
This course is approved for University Entrance.
External
NZQA Info
Art History 3.2 - Examine how meanings are communicated through art works
NZQA Info
Art History 3.3 - Examine the relationship(s) between art and context
NZQA Info
Art History 3.4 - Examine the impact of media and processes on art works
NZQA Info
Art History 3.5 - Construct an argument based on interpretation of research in art history
NZQA Info
Art History 3.6 - Examine the different values placed on art works
NZQA Info
Art History 3.8 - Analyse texts about art
Approved subject for University Entrance
Number of credits that can be used for overall endorsement: 24
Only students engaged in learning and achievement derived from Te Marautanga o Aotearoa are eligible to be awarded these subjects as part of the requirement for 14 credits in each of three subjects.