Authentic assessment, although sometimes called performance-based assessment, is not a new idea; in fact, its history dates back to the 1950s. After more than half a century of debate on the subject in various branches of thought, this article will focus on some of the key concepts of authentic assessment as seen through the prism of an artist. A survey of the literature begins with a brief overview of the historical concept of mastery as it was practiced through the ancient system of patronage, workshops, and guilds. The following discussion will examine theoretical thinking on authentic assessment and implications for practice. The idea of ​​mastery dates back to Aristotle who "believed that artistic training included mastery of a medium and the acquisition of knowledge about its environment" (DeHoyas, M., Lopez, A., Garnett, R., Gower, S., Sayle, A., Sreenan, N., Stewart, E., Sweny, S. and Wilcox, K. (2005) The principle of mastery has been maintained for many centuries in various forms, “the”. medieval apprenticeship being one of the earliest examples of artistic education in the Western world” (DeHoyas et al., 2005), craft guilds played a major role in training apprentices, journeymen and masters, with the first recorded guild dating from 1099 (Madaus & Dwyer, 1999) Craft guilds played an important role in the European economy and became a powerful hierarchical organization by the 14th century (Madau et al.). , 1999), which we still find today in the form of professions and unions. Throughout the history of art, the relationship between apprentice and master has occupied a preponderant place in the training of young artisans. The apprentice generally began training at the age of 13, although Leon...... middle of article ......ional Forum, 59(1) 14-21.DeHoyas, M. , Lopez, A., Garnett, R., S. Gower, A. Sayle, N. Sreenan, E. Stewart, S. Sweny, and K. Wilcox. History of Art Education, University of North Texas. Retrieved from http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/HistoryofArtEd/index.htmlHerrington, J. and Herrington, A. (1998). Authentic and multimedia assessment: How university students respond to an authentic assessment model. Research and Development in Higher Education, 17(3), 305-322. Madaus, GF and O'Dwyer, LM (1999). A brief history of performance appraisal: lessons learned. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(9), 688-689. Newmann, FM and Archbald, DA (1992). The nature of authentic academic success. Toward a new science of educational testing and evaluation. State University of New York Press, Albany New York. 71-84. Wiggins, G. (1990). The case for authentic assessment. Summary ERIC.