AP® Art History 2021 Scoring Guidelines
Category
Scoring Criteria
E
Complexity
(0–1 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria for one point.
1 point
Demonstrates a complex understanding of the prompt, using evidence to corroborate,
qualify, or modify a claim that addresses the prompt.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
The response may demonstrate a complex understanding in a variety of ways, such as:
• Explaining relevant and insightful connections between the evidence and the claim
• Confirming the validity of a claim by corroborating multiple perspectives
• Explaining nuance of an issue by analyzing multiple variables
• Qualifying or modifying a claim by considering diverse or alternative views or evidence
This complex understanding must be developed in the response and consist of more than a phrase or reference.
Object 1
The Coiffure
Examples that earn this point might include the
following, if appropriate elaboration is provided:
• The development of the technology of
photog
raphy, and particularly ethnographic
photography, provided additional exposure to
non-Western cultural traditions.
• Breaking away from the Salon and challenging
the display of prints in private clubs and
exhibitions. The domestic setting of Cassatt’s
prints and use of Japanese conventions fit with
displays in these intimate interiors.
• Cassatt’s interest in Japanese art was part of a
broader cultural context of European interest
in/exoticizing of Japanese art/culture during the
mid–late 19
th
century that occurred in the wake
of the opening of Japanese markets and ports in
the 1850s and the 1853-54 expedition of
Commodore Perry.
• A major exhibition of Ukiyo-e prints at the École
des Beaux Arts in 1890 influenced Cassatt and
other artists. The exhibit included numerous
works by Kitagawa Utamaro, whose depictions of
women in intimate settings were a particular
inspiration to Cassatt.
Object 2
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Exam
ples that earn this point might include the
following
, if appropriate elaboration is provided:
• Adopting elements of the stylistic “otherness”
of African and other non-European art was
also a way for Picasso to reject the Salon and
prior established Western artistic traditions.
• Les Demoiselles d’Avignon can be seen as a
modernist take on 19
th
-century works that
explored female sexuality, sexual availability,
the male gaze, and the female nude, in some
cases in “exotic” settings, such as Manet’s
Olympia or Ingres’s Grande Odalisque.
• Picasso’s interest in archaic/prehistoric and
non-Western art was also founded in his
imagining of colonized cultures both as
“primitive” and as spiritually charged,
unfettered, or free.
• Picasso’s fascination with new ways of
depicting women that were influenced by
African or other non-Western cultures was
also tied to his fascination with prostitution,
venereal disease, and moral degradation
through his belief that these cultures were
more sexually free or primal.
Object 3
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are
We Goi
ng?
Examples that earn this point might include the
following
, if appropriate elaboration is provided:
• Gauguin ties together the palette of bright colors
derived from his tropical surroundings, textiles, etc.,
with the idea of a gold background that would have
been part of a Christian icon or spiritual painting.
• His palette is derived from both non-Western and
older European cultural references, tied into his
conception of a more “pure” spirituality.
• Gauguin ties together imagery of women and the
life cycle derived from his tropical surroundings
with spiritual metaphors tied to Christian belief. His
use of three stages is derived from the Christian
Trinity, but he then hints at Polynesian themes with
the animal and human imagery and gestures.
• Gauguin’s failure as a stock broker and/or his failed
marriage in France were part of his motivation to
reject European social norms and explore Tahitian
culture and sexual relationships, which were also
depicted in his paintings.
• Gauguin sent the work back to Paris shortly after it
was completed, together with detailed instructions
for its framing and exhibition, indicating his
continued awareness of and desire to participate in
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