The great story of art, from its startling beginnings in the caves of Europe over 20,000 years ago to the exciting and unsettling explosion of artistic movements witnessed in the modern age is the substance of the two semester-length Art History courses offered.  Art is a richly complex and poetic form of human communication, one that is symbolic of the cultural matrix of social and political history, philosophy, religion and science.  Through the study of Art History we gain an insight into the way people perceive, and have perceived their place in relation to the physical world of nature and the spiritual world of human thought. Through image illustrated lectures and critical discussions focusing on the evolving story of humanity’s creative impulse, students learn to see the world around them with an increased sensitivity to its rich variety of form, texture, color, and a deeper understanding of its cultural and historical context.

These rigorous courses encourage the development of analytical and critical thinking and writing skills.  Students also become familiar with the major cultural and historical movements from pre-history through the current day.  The fascinating part of this learning process is that the learning is always linked to the visual, tangible artistic accomplishments of our rich past. 

Each semester the students spend a day exploring the collections of one of the outstanding art museums within day-trip range of Tabor Academy, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Harvard University’s Fogg and Sackler Art Museums in Cambridge, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, and New York City’s Metropolitan Museum, Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.