The Unexpected Opportunity in the Decline of Art History
December 08, 2025
The news is grim for art history enthusiasts. Across the United Kingdom, the subject is being systematically devalued and marginalized. Less than one per cent of state schools offer art history courses, with most institutions that do being fee-paying and located in the affluent southeast of England. The situation is even more dire in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, where art history has been discontinued entirely as a subject.
"Anecdotally, the association has observed schools encouraging students to study fewer A levels, and 'art history is a subject that's usually taken as a fourth'," says Gregory Perry, chief executive of the Association for Art History (AFAH). The numbers tell a stark story - just 80 institutions now offer art history, a 34 per cent decline in the past decade.
Challenging the Elitist Perception of Art History
Yet within this crisis lies an unexpected opportunity. The marginalization of art history presents a chance to redefine and democratize the field, challenging the traditional, elitist perception that has long dominated the discipline.
"Art, architecture and objects left behind by people who lived before are elemental; they are the history of us," as one anonymous commentator observed. But the reality is that art history has often been seen as the purview of a privileged few - an academic pursuit disconnected from the lived experiences of the majority.
"Art history faces 'constant scepticism even among those who claim to love learning', as Joan Kee, director of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, argues in her recent essay for the Irving Sandler series." This scepticism stems in part from the field's historical association with exclusivity and inaccessibility.
Towards a More Inclusive and Accessible Art History
However, the current crisis in art history education could catalyze a much-needed transformation. By acknowledging the systemic devaluing of the subject, we can begin to reimagine art history as a more inclusive and accessible field - one that embraces diverse perspectives, explores the art and cultural histories of underrepresented communities, and leverages digital technologies to make the subject more widely available.
The Seattle Art Museum, for example, has three locations that cater to a diverse range of audiences, from the main museum downtown to the Asian Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park. And the Hispanic Society Museum and Library's mission explicitly connects preservation with public engagement, offering "free, high-quality exhibitions and programs that engage audiences with the creativity, knowledge, and ideas of the arts, literature, and cultures of the Hispanic world."
These institutions demonstrate how art history can be reframed to be more inclusive and accessible, moving beyond the traditional, elitist model. By embracing this counter-intuitive angle, the field of art history can emerge from its current crisis stronger and more relevant than ever before.
The exhibition "Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei" at the Seattle Art Museum is a case in point. Featuring over 130 works spanning four decades from the 1980s to 2020s, this retrospective marks the Chinese artist's first US exhibition in over a decade and his largest-ever US show. By highlighting the work of a groundbreaking artist whose practice has been shaped by political activism and a global perspective, the exhibition challenges the Eurocentric canon that has long dominated art history.
Similarly, the scholarship of Princeton University's Jerome Silbergeld, the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History, has expanded the field's horizons. Silbergeld's 1993 book "Contradictions" became a New York Times notable book of the year and represented the first extensive study of any People's Republic of China artist. His prolific output of over eighty publications has helped to broaden the discipline's scope and incorporate non-Western narratives.
A Chance to Redefine Art History
The decline in art history education is undoubtedly a cause for concern. But by embracing this challenge as an opportunity, the field can evolve in ways that make it more inclusive, accessible, and relevant to a wider audience.
Rather than lament the marginalization of art history, we should see it as a chance to redefine the discipline - to move beyond the traditional, elitist model and create a more diverse, democratic, and technologically-savvy approach to understanding the visual world around us. In doing so, we can ensure that the "history of us" remains a vital and vibrant part of our cultural landscape, accessible to all.
