---
title: "Eurocentrism — AP Art History Definition & Exam Guide"
description: "Eurocentrism treats European art as the default standard. Learn how AP Art History Unit 10 artists like El Anatsui and Tuffery push back against it."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-art-history/key-terms/eurocentrism"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP Art History"
unit: "Unit 10"
---

# Eurocentrism — AP Art History Definition & Exam Guide

## Definition

Eurocentrism is the habit of treating European (and later American) art, values, and viewpoints as the universal standard, so everything else gets labeled 'other.' In AP Art History, it's the perspective that Global Contemporary artists (Topic 10.3) actively challenge and dismantle.

## What It Is

Eurocentrism is a way of seeing the world where Europe sits at the center and everyone else orbits around it. In art history, that meant survey courses and museums treated European painting and [sculpture](/ap-art-history/unit-1 "fv-autolink") as 'Art' with a capital A, while African masks, Pacific carvings, and First Nations objects got filed under 'artifacts' or 'craft.' For most of the 20th century, [contemporary art](/ap-art-history/key-terms/contemporary-art "fv-autolink") itself was presented as something that basically only happened in Europe and the United States.

The AP course names this directly. Per the CED (INT-1.A.32), art history surveys traditionally presented contemporary art as a European and American phenomenon, but today artists from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the First Nations receive the same attention, if not more. The shift away from Eurocentrism is tied to the waning of [colonialism](/ap-art-history/key-terms/colonialism "fv-autolink") (INT-1.A.33) and to activism since the 1960s, where artists of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations challenged the privileged place of white, heterosexual men in art history (CUL-1.A.54). Theories like feminist, deconstructionist, poststructuralist, and queer critique exposed perspectives that claimed to be universal but were actually exclusionary. Eurocentrism is exactly that kind of perspective.

## Why It Matters

Eurocentrism lives in Topic 10.3 (Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Global Contemporary Art) in [Unit 10](/ap-art-history/unit-10 "fv-autolink"). It supports learning objective 10.3.A, explaining how interactions with other cultures affect art and art making, and 10.3.B, explaining how cultural practices and belief systems affect art. Here's the bigger picture, though. The entire [AP Art History](/ap-art-history "fv-autolink") curriculum was redesigned around rejecting Eurocentrism. That's why the 250 required works span Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Indigenous Americas instead of just Europe. When you analyze a Global Contemporary work that mixes Yoruba traditions with Western consumer goods, or critiques museum collecting, you're watching artists respond to Eurocentrism in real time. Understanding the term lets you explain *why* these artists make the choices they make, which is exactly what contextual analysis FRQs reward.

## Connections

### [Dutch wax fabric (Unit 10)](/ap-art-history/key-terms/dutch-wax-fabric)

[Yinka Shonibare](/ap-art-history/key-terms/yinka-shonibare "fv-autolink") wraps headless figures in 'African' fabric that was actually designed by the Dutch and manufactured in Europe for colonial markets. The material itself is a trap for Eurocentric assumptions about what counts as authentically African.

### [Pisupo Lua Afe (Unit 10)](/ap-art-history/key-terms/pisupo-lua-afe)

[Michel Tuffery](/ap-art-history/key-terms/michel-tuffery "fv-autolink") builds a bull out of flattened corned beef cans, the processed food colonialism introduced to Samoa. The work flips the Eurocentric trade relationship by turning a Western import into a Pacific art statement about health, dependency, and culture.

### [Hollywood Africans (Unit 10)](/ap-art-history/key-terms/hollywood-africans)

Basquiat crosses out racial stereotypes about Black entertainers to expose how a white-centered art and [film](/ap-art-history/key-terms/film "fv-autolink") world reduced Black creators to caricatures. It's Eurocentrism critiqued from inside the New York art scene itself.

### [Looted cultural objects (Unit 10)](/ap-art-history/key-terms/looted-cultural-objects)

Debates over the Benin Bronzes and other looted works ask who gets to own and display art. Eurocentrism is the assumption that Western museums are the 'natural' home for the world's treasures, and repatriation movements push back on exactly that.

## On the AP Exam

You won't get a question that just asks you to define Eurocentrism. Instead, it shows up as the context behind Unit 10 multiple-choice stems and free-response prompts. Expect questions asking how an artist 'challenges traditional perspectives,' 'responds to colonialism,' or 'critiques established art institutions.' Those are all Eurocentrism questions in disguise. In a contextual analysis FRQ on a work like Pisupo Lua Afe or Shonibare's work, naming the Eurocentric tradition the artist is pushing against gives you the specific, evidence-backed context the rubric wants. No released FRQ uses the word verbatim, but the concept is baked into the essential knowledge for Topic 10.3, so use the term precisely and tie it to what the artist actually does in the work.

## Eurocentrism vs Colonialism

Colonialism is the political and economic system where European powers controlled other lands and peoples. Eurocentrism is the mindset that justified it and outlived it, the assumption that European culture is the standard everything else gets measured against. Colonies could gain independence (the 'waning of colonialism' the CED describes), but Eurocentrism stuck around in textbooks, museums, and art surveys long after. Global Contemporary artists fight the mindset, not just the history.

## Key Takeaways

- Eurocentrism is the perspective that treats European and American art and values as the universal standard, pushing everything else to the margins.
- The CED states that art history surveys traditionally presented contemporary art as a European and American phenomenon, but artists from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the First Nations now receive equal or greater attention (INT-1.A.32).
- Since the 1960s, artists of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations have challenged the privileged place of white, heterosexual men in art history (CUL-1.A.54).
- Critical theories like feminist, deconstructionist, poststructuralist, and queer theory exposed Eurocentric viewpoints that claimed universality but were actually exclusionary.
- Eurocentrism is connected to colonialism but isn't the same thing; it's the cultural mindset that persisted in museums and textbooks even after colonies became independent.
- On the exam, Eurocentrism is the context behind Unit 10 works like Pisupo Lua Afe and Shonibare's Dutch wax fabric pieces, where artists directly critique Western assumptions about art and culture.

## FAQs

### What is Eurocentrism in AP Art History?

Eurocentrism is the perspective that treats European (and American) art, values, and viewpoints as the universal standard while marginalizing art from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Indigenous Americas. It's the traditional bias that Global Contemporary artists in Unit 10 actively challenge.

### Is Eurocentrism the same thing as colonialism?

No. Colonialism is the political system of European control over other territories, while Eurocentrism is the cultural mindset that ranked European art and culture above everyone else's. The CED notes that even as colonialism waned, Eurocentric attitudes persisted in art history surveys and museums, which is what contemporary artists critique.

### Did art history actually used to ignore non-Western art?

Largely, yes. Per the CED (INT-1.A.32), traditional surveys presented contemporary art as a European and American phenomenon and gave little attention to art made elsewhere. Today, work by artists of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the First Nations receives the same attention, if not more.

### Which AP Art History works challenge Eurocentrism?

Strong examples include Michel Tuffery's Pisupo Lua Afe (corned beef cans critiquing colonial trade in Samoa), Yinka Shonibare's use of Dutch wax fabric to question what 'African' means, and Basquiat's Hollywood Africans, which attacks racial stereotypes in a white-centered art world.

### Will the AP Art History exam ask me to define Eurocentrism directly?

Probably not as a standalone definition. Instead, you'll use it as context, explaining how a Unit 10 artist challenges Western-centered traditions or institutions. Naming and applying the concept correctly strengthens contextual analysis responses for Topic 10.3.

## Related Study Guides

- [10.3 Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Global Contemporary Art](/ap-art-history/unit-10/interactions-within-across-cultures-global-contemporary-art/study-guide/g8YOl1l5Koox3vleKhft)

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