The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844–1926).

Art refers to a diverse range of human activities and artifacts, and may be used to cover all or any of the arts, including music, literature and other forms. It is most often used to refer specifically to the visual arts, including mediums such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. However it can also be applied to forms of art that stimulate the other senses, such as music; an auditory art. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy which considers art. This article is about Arts as a group of disciplines. ... Art may refer to: Art - the manifestation of creative expression. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (691x1053, 143 KB)Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), The Bath Oil on canvas, 1891-92 100. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (691x1053, 143 KB)Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), The Bath Oil on canvas, 1891-92 100. ... Self-portrait (1878) by painter Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. ... This article is about Arts as a group of disciplines. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... The Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable artistic paintings in the Western world. ... “Painter” redirects here. ... Sculptor redirects here. ... Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... Music is a word whose accepted definitions vary with time, place and culture. ... The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ...

Visual art is defined as the arrangement of colors, forms, or other elements "in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium".^[1] The nature of art has been described by Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture".^[2] It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation.^[3] Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another.^[3] Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art therefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator.^[4][5] Art as form has its roots in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and was developed in the early twentieth century by Roger Fry and Clive Bell.^[3] Art as mimesis or representation has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle.^[3] Richard Wollheim (5 May 1923 – 4 November 2003) was a British philosopher. ... Look up formalism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mimesis (μίμησις from μιμεîσθαι) in its simplest context means imitation or representation in Greek. ... It is generally agreed that people know and understand the world and reality through the act of naming it; thus, through language and representations (Oxford English Dictionary, cited in Vukcevich 2002). ... Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy(Lyof, Lyoff) (September 9 [O.S. August 28] 1828 – November 20 [O.S. November 7] 1910) (Russian: , IPA:  ), commonly referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer – novelist, essayist, dramatist and philosopher – as well as pacifist Christian anarchist and educational reformer. ... Benedetto Croce (February 25, 1866 - November 20, 1952) was an Italian critic, idealist philosopher, and politician. ... Robin George Collingwood (February 22, 1889 - January 9, 1943), British philosopher and historian. ... In philosophy, idealism is any theory positing the primacy of spirit, mind, or language over matter. ... Kant redirects here. ... River with Poplars, circa 1912, Tate Gallery. ... Arthur Clive Heward Bell (September 16, 1881 – September 18, 1964) was an English Art critic, associated with the Bloomsbury group. ... This article is about the philosopher. ...

Traditionally the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".^[6] Romantics redirects here. ...

Generally art is a (product of) human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind; by transmitting emotions and/or ideas. Beyond this description, there is no general agreed-upon definition of art, since defining the boundaries of "art" is subjective.

The evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the 20th century. Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans.^[7] Moral realism is the view in philosophy that there are objective moral values. ... For other uses of objectivity, see objectivity (disambiguation). ... Relativism is the view that the meaning and value of human beliefs and behaviors have no absolute reference. ... Aesthetic relativism is the philosophical view that the judgement of beauty is relative to individuals, cultures, time periods and contexts, and that there are no universal criteria of beauty. ...

An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.

The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, Vincent van Gogh, September 1888.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2539, 604 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Vincent van Gogh Arles Cafe Terrace at Night ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2539, 604 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Vincent van Gogh Arles Cafe Terrace at Night ... Cafe Terrace at Night, also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, is a painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh which he rendered in Arles, France in September 1888. ... van Gogh redirects here. ...

Usage

The most common usage of the word "art," which rose to prominence after 1750, is understood to denote skill used to produce an aesthetic result. ^[8] Britannica Online defines it as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."^[9] By any of these definitions of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art. A skill is an ability, usually learned and acquired through training, to perform actions which achieve a desired outcome. ... The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ... This article is about modern humans. ... In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

Many books and journal articles have been written about the concept of "art".^[10] Where Adorno said in 1970 "It is now taken for granted that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more[...],"^[11] in 1998, Walt Weaver claimed that "It is self-evident that nothing concerning art is self-evident anymore."^[12] Adorno (front right) and Horkheimer (front left); Habermas in back, right. ...

The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft," and also from an Indo-European root meaning "arrangement" or "to arrange". In this sense, art is whatever is described as having undergone a deliberate process of arrangement by an agent. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology. The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the scientific study of insects. ...

The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art. Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of the finer things. Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it will be considered Commercial art instead of art. On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art. Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitional difference.^[13] However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically-, spiritually-, or philosophically-motivated art; to create a sense of beauty (see aesthetics); to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions. The purpose may also be seemingly nonexistent. Commercial art refers to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ... Example of a cup figuring a tortise. ... For beauty as a characteristic of a persons appearance, see Physical attractiveness. ... The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... For other uses, see Emotion (disambiguation). ...

Painting by Song Dynasty artist Ma Lin, c. 1250. 24,8 × 25,2 cm.

The ultimate derivation of fine in fine art comes from the philosophy of Aristotle, who proposed four causes or explanations of a thing. The final cause of a thing is the purpose for its existence, and the term fine art is derived from this notion. If the final cause of an artwork is simply the artwork itself, "art for art's sake", and not a means to another end, then that artwork could appropriately be called fine. The closely related concept of beauty is classically defined as "that which when seen, pleases". Pleasure is the final cause of beauty and thus is not a means to another end, but an end in itself. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1950, 302 KB) Description: Title: de: Erwartung der Gäste bei Laternenlicht Technique: de: Tusche und Farben auf Seide Dimensions: de: 24,8 × 25,2 cm Country of origin: de: China Current location (city): de: Formosa Current location (gallery): de: Palastsammlung... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1950, 302 KB) Description: Title: de: Erwartung der Gäste bei Laternenlicht Technique: de: Tusche und Farben auf Seide Dimensions: de: 24,8 × 25,2 cm Country of origin: de: China Current location (city): de: Formosa Current location (gallery): de: Palastsammlung... Northern Song in 1111 AD Capital Kaifeng (960–1127) Linan (1127–1276) Language(s) Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 960-976 Emperor Taizu  - 1126–1127 Emperor Qinzong  - 1127–1162 Emperor Gaozong  - 1278–1279 Emperor Bing History  - Zhao Kuangyin taking over the throne of the Later Zhou... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... This article is about the philosopher. ... Purpose is deliberately thought-through goal-directedness. ...

Art can describe several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience’s experience with the creative skill. The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of disciplines (arts) that produce artworks (art as objects) that are compelled by a personal drive (art as activity) and echo or reflect a message, mood, or symbolism for the viewer to interpret (art as experience). Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative interpretations of limitless concepts or ideas in order to communicate something to another person. Artworks can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted based on images or objects.

Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. It is also an expression of an idea and it can take many different forms and serve many different purposes.

Although the application of scientific theories to derive a new scientific theory involves skill and results in the "creation" of something new, this represents science only and is not categorized as art.

Theories

Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. 1917

In the nineteenth century, artists were primarily concerned with ideas of truth and beauty: typically the aesthetic theorist John Ruskin, who championed the raw naturalism of J. M. W. Turner, saw art's role as the communication by artifice of an essential truth that could only be found in nature. ^[14] There was a radical break in the thinking about art in the early twentieth century with the arrival of Modernism, and then in the late twentieth century with the advent of postmodernism. Clement Greenberg's 1960 article "Modernist Painting" defined Modern Art as "the use of characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize the discipline itself".^[15] Download high resolution version (594x814, 59 KB) The copyright status of this work is difficult or impossible to determine. ... Download high resolution version (594x814, 59 KB) The copyright status of this work is difficult or impossible to determine. ... Marcel Duchamp (pronounced ) (July 28, 1887 – October 2, 1968) was a French artist (he became an American citizen in 1955) whose work and ideas had considerable influence on the development of post-World War II Western art, and whose advice to modern art collectors helped shape the tastes of the... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy, François Lemoyne, 1737 For other uses, see Truth (disambiguation). ... For beauty as a characteristic of a persons appearance, see Physical attractiveness. ... Upper: Steel-plate engraving of Ruskin as a young man, made circa 1845, scanned from print made circa 1895. ... Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775[1] – 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. ... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ... Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Clement Greenberg (January 16, 1909 - May 7, 1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with the abstract art movement in the United States. ...

Greenberg originally applied this idea to the Abstract Expressionist movement and used it as a way to understand and justify flat (non-illusionistic) abstract painting:^[15]

Realistic, naturalistic art had dissembled the medium, using art to conceal art; modernism used art to call attention to art. The limitations that constitute the medium of painting – the flat surface, the shape of the support, the properties of the pigment — were treated by the Old Masters as negative factors that could be acknowledged only implicitly or indirectly. Under Modernism these same limitations came to be regarded as positive factors, and were acknowledged openly.

Though only originally intended as a way of understanding a specific set of artists, this definition of Modern Art underlies most of the ideas of art within the various art movements of the 20th century and early 21st century. The art of Marcel Duchamp becomes clear when seen within this context; when submitting a urinal, titled fountain, to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit in 1917 he was critiquing the art exhibition using its own methods. Marcel Duchamp (pronounced ) (July 28, 1887 – October 2, 1968) was a French artist (he became an American citizen in 1955) whose work and ideas had considerable influence on the development of post-World War II Western art, and whose advice to modern art collectors helped shape the tastes of the...

Andy Warhol became an important artist through critiquing popular culture, as well as the art world, through the language of that popular culture. The later postmodern artists of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s took these ideas further by expanding this technique of self-criticism beyond high art to all cultural image-making, including fashion images, comics, billboards and pornography. Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 — February 22, 1987), better known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist who became a central figure in the movement known as Pop art. ... The art world is all artists and non-artists involved in the production, commission, preservation, promotion, and sale of art. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century...

Art and class

Versailles: Louis Le Vau opened up the interior court to create the expansive entrance cour d'honneur, later copied all over Europe

Art has been perceived as belonging to one social class and often excluding others. In this context, art is seen as an upper-class activity associated with wealth, the ability to purchase art, and the leisure required to pursue or enjoy it. For example, the palaces of Versailles or the Hermitage in St. Petersburg with their vast collections of art, amassed by the fabulously wealthy royalty of Europe exemplify this view. Collecting such art is the preserve of the rich, in one viewpoint. Download high resolution version (1278x542, 182 KB)Versailles, the Cour dHonneur Source: French Wikipedia: Image:Chateau-de-versailles-cour. ... Download high resolution version (1278x542, 182 KB)Versailles, the Cour dHonneur Source: French Wikipedia: Image:Chateau-de-versailles-cour. ... Louis Le Vau (1612 – 1670) was a French architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. ... Blenheim Palace, The Cour dHonneur is the large central court formed by the secondary wings containing kitchens and domestic offices flanking the Corps de logis Versailles: Louis Le Vau opened up the interior court to create the expansive entrance cour dhonneur, later copied all over Europe Cour d... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The State Hermitage Museum (Russian: ) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of the largest museums in the world, with 3 million works of art (not all on display at once), [1] and one of the oldest art galleries and museums of human history and culture in the world. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and...

Before the 13th century in Europe, artisans were often considered to belong to a lower caste, however during the Renaissance artists gained an association with high status. Fine and expensive goods have been popular markers of status in many cultures, and continue to be so today. There has been a cultural push in the other direction since at least November 8, 1793 when the Louvre, which had been a private castle of the king of France, was opened to the public as an art museum during the French Revolution. Most modern public museums and art education programs for children in schools can be traced back to this impulse to have art be available to everyone. Since then both the earlier examples were also converted into public museums. The palaces of Versailles also as part of the French Revolution, the Hermitage much later after the Soviet revolution of 1917. Museums in the United States tend to be gifts from the very rich to the masses (The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, for example, was created by John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum.) But despite all this, at least one of the important functions of art in the 21st century remains as a marker of wealth and social status. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race, ethnicity, // 1555, a race of men, from L. casto chaste, from castus pure, cut off, separated, pp. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1793 (MDCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Soviet redirects here. ... There is also the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), located in Manhattan. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Performance by Joseph Beuys, 1978 : Everyone an artist — On the way to the libertarian form of the social organism

There have been attempts by artists to create art that can not be bought by the wealthy as a status object. One of the prime original motivators of much of the art of the late 1960s and 1970s was to create art that could not be bought and sold. It is "necessary to present something more than mere objects"^[16] said the major post war German artist Joseph Beuys. This time period saw the rise of such things as performance art, video art, and conceptual art. The idea was that if the artwork was a performance that would leave nothing behind, or was simply an idea, it could not be bought and sold. "Democratic precepts revolving around the idea that a work of art is a commodity impelled the aesthetic innovation which germinated in the mid-1960s and was reaped throughout the 1970s. Artists broadly identified under the heading of Conceptual art... substituting performance and publishing activities for engagement with both the material and materialistic concerns of painted or sculptural form... [have] endeavored to undermine the art object qua object."^[17] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Joseph Beuys (IPA: ; May 12, 1921 – January 23, 1986) was an influential German artist who came to prominence in the 1960s. ... This article is about Performance art. ... Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and is comprised of video and/or audio data. ... Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965) Conceptual art is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. ...

In the decades since, these ideas have been somewhat lost as the art market has learned to sell limited edition DVDs of video works,^[18] invitations to exclusive performance art pieces, and the objects left over from conceptual pieces. Many of these performances create works that are only understood by the elite who have been educated as to why an idea or video or piece of apparent garbage may be considered art. The marker of status becomes understanding the work instead of necessarily owning it, and the artwork remains an upper-class activity. "With the widespread use of DVD recording technology in the early 2000s, artists, and the gallery system that derives its profits from the sale of artworks, gained an important means of controlling the sale of video and computer artworks in limited editions to collectors."^[19] Another example of this shift is the art of Chris Burden. Chris Burden is most famous for his 1971 performance art piece Shoot in which he had a friend shoot him in the arm with a 22 rifle (and in which nothing was sold). By the late 1980s in exhibitions and a museum retrospective he was exhibiting "relics" of early performance art pieces in plexiglass boxes, including two nails that he used to nail himself to the back of a Volkswagen Beetle in the 1974 artwork Trans-Fixed.^[20] By 2003 he was selling the artwork Gold Bullets, 22-karat gold bullets that called to mind his most famous work, in plexiglass boxes set on a high pedestal at the Gagosian Gallery.^[21] This allowed collectors to buy bullets that allude to this important work, are by this artist, seem to have other added value in that they are made of gold, and will be understood as important by others that know the history of conceptual art. Chris Burden during the performance of his 1974 piece Trans-fixed where he was nailed to the hood of a Volkswagen Chris Burden (born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1946) is an American artist. ... The Gagosian Gallery is a contemporary art gallery, owned by Larry Gagosian, with branches in the United Kingdom and the US. There is an extensive list of exhibited artists, including Damien Hirst, Frank Stella, Rachel Whiteread, Jake and Dinos Chapman, John Currin, Jasper Johns, Gilbert and George and Nan Goldin. ...

Utility

One of the defining characteristics of fine art as opposed to applied art is the absence of any clear usefulness or utilitarian value. However, this requirement is sometimes criticized as being class prejudice against labor and utility. Opponents of the view that art cannot be useful, argue that all human activity has some utilitarian function, and the objects claimed to be "non-utilitarian" actually have the function of attempting to mystify and codify flawed social hierarchies. It is also sometimes argued that even seemingly non-useful art is not useless, but rather that its use is the effect it has on the psyche of the creator or viewer. This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. ...

Art is also used by art therapists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy. Art can also be used as a tool of Personality Test. The end product is not the principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy. Art therapy was invented by the great philosopher David Chapelle of the enlightenent era. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Spray-paint graffiti on a wall in Rome.

Graffiti art and other types of street art are graphics and images that are spray-painted or stencilled on publicly viewable walls, buildings, buses, trains, and bridges, usually without permission. This type of art is part of various youth cultures, such as the US hip-hop culture. It is used to express political views and depict creative images. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2014x318, 823 KB) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2014x318, 823 KB) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Aerosol paint can. ... For other uses, see Graffiti (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Graffiti (disambiguation). ... Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, in the streets — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. ... Spray painting is painting using a device that sprays the paint. ... Visual diagram of a basic stencil. ... For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation). ...

In a social context, art can serve to boost the public's morale. Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood. In some cases, artworks are appropriated to be used in this manner, without the creator having initially intended the art to be used as propaganda. Soviet Propaganda Poster during World War II. The text reads Red Army Fighter, SAVE US! Chinese propaganda poster from the time of the Cultural Revolution. ...

From a more anthropological perspective, art is often a way of passing ideas and concepts on to later generations in a (somewhat) universal language. The interpretation of this language depends upon the observer’s perspective and context. So conversely the very subjectivity of art demonstrates its importance in facilitating the exchange and discussion of rival ideas, or to provide a social context in which disparate groups of people might congregate and mingle.

Classification disputes

Main article: Classificatory disputes about art

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It is common in the history of art for people to dispute whether a particular form or work, or particular piece of work counts as art or not. In fact for much of the past century the idea of art has been to simply challenge what art is. Philosophers of Art call these disputes “classificatory disputes about art.” For example, Ancient Greek philosophers debated about whether or not ethics should be considered the "art of living well". Classificatory disputes in the 20th century included: cubist and impressionist paintings, Duchamp’s Fountain, the movies, superlative imitations of banknotes, propaganda, and even a crucifix immersed in urine. Conceptual art often intentionally pushes the boundaries of what counts as art and a number of recent conceptual artists, such as Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin have produced works about which there are active disputes. Video games and role-playing games are both fields where some recent critics have asserted that they do count as art, and some have asserted that they do not. Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Lascaux2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Lascaux2. ... This article is an overview of the history of art worldwide. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Woman with a guitar by Georges Braque, 1913 Cubism was an avant-garde art movement that revolutionised European painting and sculpture in the early 20th century. ... See also Impressionist (entertainment): A girl with a watering can by Renoir, 1876 Impressionism was a 19th century art movement, which began as a private association of Paris-based artists who exhibited publicly in 1874. ... Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 - October 2, 1968) was a French/American artist. ... Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... A £20 Ulster Bank banknote. ... Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965) Conceptual art is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. ... The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst (1991) Damien Hirst (born June 7, 1965) is an English artist and the most prominent of the group that has been dubbed Young British Artists (or YBAs). ... Tracey Emin (born 1963) is an English artist, one of the so-called Young British Artists (YBAs). ... This article is about computer and video games. ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ...

Philosopher David Novitz has argued that disagreement about the definition of art are rarely the heart of the problem. Rather, "the passionate concerns and interests that humans vest in their social life" are "so much a part of all classificatory disputes about art" (Novitz, 1996). According to Novitz, classificatory disputes are more often disputes about our values and where we are trying to go with our society than they are about theory proper. For example, when the Daily Mail criticized Hirst's and Emin’s work by arguing "For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces. Today, pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all" they are not advancing a definition or theory about art, but questioning the value of Hirst’s and Emin’s work. The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... Tracey Emin RA (born 3 July 1963) is an English artist of Turkish Cypriot origin, one of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists). ...

Controversial art

Theodore Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa" (1820), was a social commentary on a current event, unprecedented at the time. Edouard Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe" (1863), was considered scandalous not because of the nude woman, but because she is seated next to fully-dressed men. John Singer Sargent's "Madame Pierre Gautreau (Madam X)" (1884), caused a huge uproar over the reddish pink used to color the woman's ear lobe, considered far too suggestive and supposedly ruining the high-society model's reputation. Théodore Géricaults Insane Théodore Géricault (September 26, 1791 in Rouen, Normandy - January 26, 1824) was a famous French painter, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings. ... The Raft of the Medusa is the name applied to an infamous catastrophic shipwreck of the French ship Medusa (original French name: La Méduse) in 1816 in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. ... Édouard Manet (portrait by Nadar) Édouard Manet (January 23, 1832 - April 30, 1883) was a noted French painter. ... The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur lherbe), originally titled The Bath (Le Bain), is an oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet. ... Self Portrait, 1906, oil on canvas, 70 x 53 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. ... John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau, 1884, oil on canvas, 234. ...

In the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso's Guernica (1937) used arresting cubist techniques and stark monochromatic oils, to depict the harrowing consequences of a contemporary bombing of a small, ancient Basque town. Leon Golub's Interrogation III (1981), depicts a female nude, hooded detainee strapped to a chair, her legs open to reveal her sexual organs, surrounded by two tormentors dressed in everyday clothing. Andres Serrano's Piss Christ (1989) is a photograph of a crucifix, sacred to the Christian religion and representing Christ's sacrifice and final suffering, submerged in a glass of the artist's own urine. The resulting uproar led to comments in the United States Senate about public funding of the arts. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... “Picasso” redirects here. ... Guernica is one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso, depicting the consequences of the bombing of Guernica. ... Le guitariste by Pablo Picasso, 1910 Portrait of Picasso, 1912, oil on canvas by Juan Gris Woman with a guitar by Georges Braque, 1913 Still Life with Fruit Dish and Mandolin, 1919, oil on canvas by Juan Gris Cubist villa in Prague, Czech Republic Cubist House of the Black Madonna... Leon Golub (January 23, 1922 - August 8, 2004) was an American painter. ... Andres Serrano Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer who has become most notorious for his controversial piece Piss Christ, a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in the artists own urine. ... Piss Christ. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Type Upper House President of the Senate Richard B. Cheney, R since January 20, 2001 President pro tempore Robert C. Byrd, D since January 4, 2007 Members 100 Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party Last elections November 7, 2006 Meeting place Senate Chamber United States Capitol Washington, DC United States...

In the twenty-first century, Eric Fischl created Tumbling Woman as a memorial to those who jumped or fell to their death in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Initially installed at Rockefeller Center in New York City, within a year the work was removed as too disturbing.^[22] (20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries) Definition In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing, lasting from 2001-2100. ... Eric Fischl (born 1948) is an American painter. ... For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation). ... The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ... Lower Plaza at Rockefeller Center. ...

Forms, genres, mediums, and styles

The creative arts are often divided into more specific categories, such as decorative arts, plastic arts, performing arts, or literature. So for example painting is a form of visual art, and poetry is a form of literature. The decorative arts are traditionally defined as ornamental and functional works in ceramic, wood, glass, metal, or textile. ... Plastic Arts are those visual arts that involve the use of materials that can be moulded or modulated in some way, often in three dimensions. ... The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artists own body, face and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... “Painter” redirects here. ... This article is about the art form. ...

An art form is a specific form for artistic expression to take, it is a more specific term than art in general, but less specific than genre.

Some examples include, but are by no means limited to:

An artistic medium is the substance the artistic work is made out of. So for example stone and bronze are both mediums that sculpture uses sometimes. Multiple forms can share a medium (poetry and music, both use sound), or one form can use multiple media. “Painter” redirects here. ... For scale drawings or plans, see Plans (drawings). ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play. ... Look up Choreography in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about building architecture. ... Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. ... Sculptor redirects here. ... Ancient Egyptian ceramic art: Louvre Museum. ... Graphics are often utilitarian and anonymous,[1] as these pictographs from the US National Park Service illustrate. ... For other uses, see Tattoo (disambiguation). ... Computer-generated image created by Gilles Tran using POV-Ray 3. ... Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... NanoArt is a new art discipline related to the micro or nanosculptures created by artists or/and scientists through chemical or/and physical processes and visualized with powerful research tools like scanning electron microscopes and atomic force microscopes. ... This article is about the art form. ... Game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a game. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... Photography [fәtɑgrәfi:],[foʊtɑgrәfi:] is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or electronic sensor. ... A scale model of the Tower of London. ... A cartoonist at work. ... This article is about paper folding. ... This article is about a decorative art. ... For other uses, see Graffiti (disambiguation). ... Internet art (often called net. ... Carved wooden cranes Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool held in the hand (this may be a power tool), resulting in a wooden figure or figurine (this may be abstract in nature) or in the ornamentation of a wooden object. ... This article is about Performance art. ... A recording medium is a physical material that holds information expressed in any of the existing recording formats. ...

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), colored woodcut print

Detail of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, showing the painting technique of sfumato

A genre is a set of conventions and styles within an art form and media. For instance, well recognized genres in film, for example, are western, horror and romantic comedy. Genres in music include death metal and trip hop. Genres in painting include still life, and pastorial landscape. A particular work of art may bend or combine genre but each genre has a recognizable group of conventions, clichés and troupes. (One note: the word genre has a second older meaning within painting, genre painting was a phrase used in the 17th to 19th century to refer specifically to paintings of scenes of everyday life and can still be used in this way.) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 552 pixelsFull resolution (4335 × 2990 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 552 pixelsFull resolution (4335 × 2990 pixel, file size: 2. ... The Great Wave off Kanagawa[1] The Great Wave off Kanagawa ) is a famous woodblock printing by Hokusai. ... Katsushika Hokusai, (葛飾北斎), (1760—1849[1]), was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period . ... Detail of the face of Mona Lisa showing the effect of sfumato. ... Detail of the face of Mona Lisa showing the effect of sfumato. ... “Da Vinci” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Mona Lisa (disambiguation). ... Detail of the face of Mona Lisa showing the use of sfumato, particularly in the shading around the eyes. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Horror can mean several things: Horror (emotion) Horror fiction Horror film This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Romantic comedy films are movies with light-hearted, humorous dramatic stories centered around romantic ideals such as a true love able to surmount most obstacles [1] or the perfect couple. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... Trip hop (also known as the Bristol sound) is a term coined by United Kingdom dance magazine Mixmag, to describe a musical trend in the mid-1990s; trip hop is downtempo electronic music that grew out of Englands hip hop and house scenes. ... A still life is a work of art which represents a subject composed of inanimate objects. ... Landscape art depicts scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests. ... Genre painting, also called genre scene or petit genre, attempts to depict aspects of everyday life, via portraits of ordinary people engaged in common activities. ...

An artwork, artist’s, or movements style is the distinctive method and form that art takes. Any loose brushy, dripped or poured abstaract painting is called expressionistic (with a lower case "e" and the "ic" at the end). Often these styles are linked with a particular historical period, set of ideas, and particular artistic movement. So Jackson Pollock is called an Abstract Expressionist. Because a particular style has very specific cultural meanings it is important to be sensitive to differences in technique. Roy Lichtenstein's paintings are not pointillist, even though it uses of dots, because it is not aligned with the original proponents of Pointillism. Lichtenstein used Ben-Day dots: they are evenly-spaced and create flat areas of color. These types of dots were used to color comic strips and are intended to combine the high art of painting with the low art of comics - to comment on culture and its unreality. Pointillism employs dots that are spaced in a way to create variation in color and depth - it was an attempt to paint images that were closer to the way we really see color - an attempt to get closer to reality. They both use dots but the meaning is opposite. An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement more or less strictly so restricted (usually a few months, years or... Controversy swirls over the alleged sale of No. ... American post-World War II art movement. ... Roy Fox Lichtenstein (27 October 1923 – 29 September 1997) was a prominent American pop artist, whose work borrowed heavily from popular advertising and comic book styles, which he himself described as being as artificial as possible. // Roy Lichtenstein was born on 27 October 1923 into an upper-middle-class family... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

These are all ways of beginning to define a work of art, to narrow it down. "Imagine you are an art critic whose mission is to compare the meanings you find in a wide range of individual artworks. How would you proceed with your task? One way to begin is to examine the materials each artist selected in making an object, image video, or event. The decision to cast a sculpture in bronze, for instance, inevitably effects its meaning; the work becomes something different than if it had been cast in gold or plastic or chocolate, even if everything else about the artwork remained the same. Next, you might examine how the materials in each artwork have become an arrangement of shapes, colors, textures, and lines. These, in turn, are organized into various patterns and compositional structures. In your interpretation, you would comment on how salient features of the form contribute to the overall meaning of the finished artwork. [But in the end] the meaning of most artworks... is not exhausted by a discussion of materials, techniques, and form. Most interpretations also include a discussion of the ideas and feelings the artwork engenders." ^[23]

History

Main article: History of Art

Venus of Willendorf

Art predates history; sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings, and petroglyphs from the Upper Paleolithic starting roughly 40,000 years ago have been found, but the precise meaning of such art is often disputed because so little is known about the cultures that produced them. The oldest art objects in the world: a series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000yrs old, ^[24] were discovered in a South African cave, see Art of South Africa. This article is an overview of the history of art worldwide. ... Venus of Willendorf File links The following pages link to this file: Obesity Venus of Willendorf Categories: Sculptures containing nudity | Images with unknown source ... Venus of Willendorf File links The following pages link to this file: Obesity Venus of Willendorf Categories: Sculptures containing nudity | Images with unknown source ... Venus of Willendorf Venus of Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is an 11. ... Cave, or rock, paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to pre_historic times. ... Petroglyphs on a Bishop Tuff tableland Petroglyph on Petroglyph Point Petroglyphs on Petroglyph Point Petroglyphs on Petroglyph Point Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument Petroglyphs from Scandinavia (Häljesta, Västmanland in Sweden). ... The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... art forms of southern africa, is beautifully painted vases and wood made into animals Categories: Africa-related stubs ...

The great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the great ancient civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, Greece, Rome or Arabia (ancient Yemen and Oman). Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in their art. Because of the size and duration these civilizations, more of their art works have survived and more of their influence has been transmitted to other cultures and later times. They have also provided the first records of how artists worked. For example, this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty and anatomically correct proportions Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ... edit Geographical extent of Iranian influence in the 1st century BCE. The Parthian Empire (mostly Western Iranian) is shown in red, other areas, dominated by Scythia (mostly Eastern Iranian), in orange. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. ...

In Byzantine and Gothic art of the Western Middle Ages, art focused on the expression of Biblical and not material truths, and emphasized methods which would show the higher unseen glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned (i.e. "flat") forms. The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople - the image of Christ Pantocrator on the walls of the upper southern gallery. ... The Western (Royal) Portal at Chartres Cathedral ( 1145). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...