As far as AP prep goes, there are fewer online resources and review books available. Part of this problem is that Art History just got revamped in 2016 and it’s not a very popular test: only 18,500 took it in 2021.
Online resources
Khan Academy Favorite Online Resource*
Smarthistory videos: LOVED them. Not good for review, but awesome for practicing analysis and memorizing. List of Required works
Ahimay we watched all over her Art videos and loved how she analyzed.
Albert.io If we had unlimited budget we totally would have purchased an account. Even if you don’t purchase the account, their sample questions are very helpful.
Textbooks and Review Books
Story of Art by Gombrich Despite the 6 million copies sold, I would not recommend as your AP Art history book since it is so focused on European Art. Though, it did do a good job of analyzing art.
Extra Reading
Fun books that add an extra dimension of personalities to the history, but don’t actually help prep for the test. Forger’s Spell Agony and the Ecstasy
Barron’s I really like how they included the images, though the practice questions were lower quality. I did end up creating all my flashcards from the book.
REA Images not included; not very well written.I would recommend just getting the Barron’s book.
Looking into other review books? Check out Alberto’s Article.
Study Strategies and Extra Tips
Visit as many art pieces as you can. Because we live right next to DC we took many field trips to visit as many as we could. One of the coolest visits was going to the National Gallery West Building’s Engraving and Printing collection to see the Coiffure by Mary Cassatt . If you have the chance to visit your local art museum, do it! Even if they don’t have pieces on the AP test, you can practice with the tour guide analyzing art. Map of locations of AP Art History pieces.
Over the summer we went through most of Khan Academy AP Art History list and learned most of the images. This was super helpful, because it made the rest of the year mostly review.
Watch videos!
Practice comparing art in writing and just talking it through.
Do lots of practice tests and especially practice time management on the Free Response.
Pick one art piece in each section and really study and have an in-depth knowledge.
Do these activities from Valerie Park: Research Papers, Greatest Artist, and Timeline. We didn’t end up using her other materials, as they were mostly applicable to her specific classroom environment.
And most of all Flashcards! Do them, just by writing the information down you can remember so much. Do not underestimate them!