Just when we thought we were going to lose art history A level, the government recently announced a reprieve. As Anish Kapoor said: ‘Art and art history are the study of what inspires and guides the poetic in us.’
Studying art can have a dramatic effect on our brain activity, too. What we know changes how we look at things and this is easy to prove in the art world. Scientists have tracked the movements of an art historian’s eyes: the results show how they scan, fixate and linger on particular points of the canvas reveals their skill and is entirely different to someone with an untrained eye.
We know that every area of expertise changes our view of the world, so why concentrate on art historians? Simply because they are the easiest to study, as they’re often focusing on one static image at a time – unlike film critics, racing drivers or neurosurgeons. This may reassure parents worried about the gravitas of the subject. Now they know that if their children immerse themselves in art history, they will develop such a specialist skill it will produce a change in their brains. Maybe more government ministers should study it, too.
Dr Daniel Glaser is director of Science Gallery at King’s College London
The mental benefits of art history: why we must keep the A level | Daniel Glaser
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