When the concept of Art was introduced to China in the early 20th century, it mainly included various types of art such as painting, sculpture, arts and crafts, and architecture. Therefore, scholars in the art community generally believe that "art history" refers to the history of art. Although some scholars believe that art history should include other art categories beyond fine arts, such as music and dance, the "art history" discussed in this article is mainly at the level of fine arts. The study of art history in China has a long history. In the Tang Dynasty of the 9th century, Zhang Yanyuan's "Records of Famous Paintings of All Dynasties" was the world's first comprehensive history of painting. The research object of traditional art history focuses on the aesthetic value of artworks such as painting, sculpture, architecture, craftsmanship, and calligraphy. Since the 1980s, the "New Art History" has emerged as a new force, and the research objects of art history have extended to broader visual fields such as tools, trademarks, advertising, photography, and art design and special effects in film and television. In addition to expanding the research object, new theories and methods are also constantly being introduced into the field of art history research. The study of traditional art history based on visual, aesthetic, and stylistic disciplines is tending towards a diversification of research methods. Archaeology, sociology, anthropology, and iconography are closely integrated with the study of art history, and these interdisciplinary studies have achieved rich research results. Although interdisciplinary research has solved some problems that are difficult to answer from an artistic perspective alone, this "collaborative research" model has also shown a trend of "eager to achieve results" by crossing boundaries and reorganizing - "crossing" itself has become the purpose of research, rather than the means of research. The charm of art history research lies in its profound analysis of artistic phenomena. Therefore, artistic works are undoubtedly the cornerstone and core of art history research, containing the creativity of artists, cultural development achievements, and human aesthetic experiences. Traditional methods of art history research, such as formal analysis and iconography, emphasize in-depth study of the form, symbols, and style of artistic works. The reason why these classic methods have persisted is because they deeply understand and analyze the "essence" of artistic works. Nowadays, with the intersection and integration of different disciplines, there has been a tendency in the study of art history in the process of "crossing", that is, there is more research on the history behind artworks, and less research on artworks. In fact, there has been a trend of interdisciplinary research weakening the study of art ontology in the development of art history disciplines abroad. The famous British art historian Gombrich has repeatedly pointed out that "today's art history studies everything, but it does not discuss art itself.". The study of art history requires innovation, but this "novelty" is not fashionable language, avant-garde concepts, or high-tech, but a new and accurate interpretation of art works, a new judgment and new cognition of art works. Only by truly understanding and analyzing the essence of an artwork can we better study the history and culture behind it. Therefore, art history researchers should not be satisfied with applying theories and methods from other disciplines, but should maintain insight into the essence of art works while crossing disciplines. Even if theories from other disciplines are applied, they should be integrated into the in-depth analysis of artistic works, adding luster to the study of art history, rather than just being mechanical