Traditionally, art history has been viewed as a concern about the context of creation, curation,
critique, and classifi cation of art, but its range and focus is seldom agreed on. A conventional
view of art history may suggest that, as a fi eld, it is dedicated to issues of classifi cation and the
development of related expertise in curation and critique. Yet, if we follow the arguments of the
nineteenth-century philosopher Konrad Fiedler, 1 knowledge of historical form does not necessarily
entail a knowledge of art, while knowledge of the history of art does not necessarily give
one an understanding of art objects themselves, the material and symbolic qualities of an object of art, or deeper questions relating to the ontology of art.
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