View source for Fine art

{{Short description|Art developed primarily for aesthetics}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

[[File:Rembrandt Self-portrait (Kenwood).jpg|thumb|250px|''[[Self-Portrait with Two Circles]]'' by [[Rembrandt]], c.1665–1669. [[Kenwood House]], London]]
[[File:Jan Vermeer - The Art of Painting - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[The Art of Painting]]''; by [[Johannes Vermeer]]; 1666–1668; oil on canvas; 1.3 × 1.1 m; [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] ([[Vienna]], [[Austria]])]]
[[File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel (Vienna) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|'' [[The Tower of Babel (Bruegel)|The Tower of Babel]]''; by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]]; 1563; oil on panel: 1.14 × 1.55 m; Kunsthistorisches Museum]]
In European academic traditions, '''fine art''' (or '''fine arts''') is made primarily for [[aesthetics]] or [[creativity|creative expression]], distinguishing it from [[popular art]], [[decorative art]] or [[applied art]], which also either serve some practical function (such as [[pottery]] or most metalwork) or is generally of limited artistic quality in order to appeal to the masses. In the aesthetic theories developed in the [[Italian Renaissance]], the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fine Art: Definition, Meaning, History |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/fine-art.htm |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=www.visual-arts-cork.com}}</ref> unrestricted by any of the practical considerations involved in, say, making and decorating a [[teapot]].  It was also considered important that making the artwork did not involve dividing the work between different individuals with specialized skills, as might be necessary with a piece of furniture, for example.<ref>Blunt, 48–55</ref> Even within the fine arts, there was a [[hierarchy of genres]] based on the amount of creative imagination required, with [[history painting]] placed higher than [[still life]].

Historically, the five main fine arts were [[painting]], [[sculpture]], [[architecture]], [[music]], and [[poetry]]. Other "minor or subsidiary arts" were also included, especially performing arts  such as [[theatre]] and [[dance]], which were counted as "among the most ancient and universal."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Fine Arts |volume= 10 |last= Colvin |first= Sidney |author-link= Sidney Colvin | pages = 355&ndash;375 }}</ref> In practice, outside education, the concept is typically only applied to the [[visual arts]].  The [[old master print]] and [[drawing]] were included as related forms to painting, just as prose forms of literature were to poetry.  Today, the range of what would be considered fine arts (in so far as the term remains in use) commonly includes additional modern forms, such as [[film]], [[photography]], and [[video production]]/[[Video editing|editing]], as well as traditional forms made in a fine art setting, such as [[studio pottery]] and [[studio glass]], with equivalents in other materials.

One definition of ''fine art'' is "a visual art considered to have been created primarily for [[aesthetic]] and intellectual purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fine+art |title=Fine art |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref> In that sense, there are conceptual differences between the fine arts and the decorative arts or applied arts (these two terms covering largely the same media).  As far as the consumer of the art was concerned, the perception of aesthetic qualities required a refined judgment usually referred to as having good [[taste (sociology)|taste]], which differentiated fine art from popular art and entertainment.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aesthetic-judgment/ |title=Aesthetic Judgment |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=22 July 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Gustave Caillebotte - Paris Street; Rainy Day - Google Art Project.jpg|250px|thumb|''[[Paris Street; Rainy Day]]''; by [[Gustave Caillebotte]]; 1877; oil on canvas; 2.12 × 2.76 m; [[Art Institute of Chicago]] (US)]]

The word "fine" does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline according to traditional European canons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=CLOWNEY |first=DAVID |date=2011 |title=Definitions of Art and Fine Art's Historical Origins |journal=The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=309–320 |issn=0021-8529 |jstor=23883666 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6245.2011.01474.x}}</ref> Except in the case of architecture, where a practical utility was accepted, this definition originally excluded the "useful" applied or decorative arts, and the products of what were regarded as [[craft]]s.  In contemporary practice, these distinctions and restrictions have become essentially meaningless, as the concept or intention of the artist is given primacy, regardless of the means through which it is expressed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maraffi |first=Topher |title=Using New Media for Practice-based Fine Arts Research in the Classroom |url=https://www.uscb.edu/academics/academic_departments/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/visual-art-and-design/research/pdfs/EVA2016_Maraffi_PracticeBasedResearch.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.uscb.edu/academics/academic_departments/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/visual-art-and-design/research/pdfs/EVA2016_Maraffi_PracticeBasedResearch.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=University of South Carolina Beaufort }}</ref>

The term is typically only used for Western art from the Renaissance onwards, although similar genre distinctions can apply to the art of other cultures, especially those of [[East Asia]].  The set of "fine arts" are sometimes also called the "major arts", with "minor arts" equating to the decorative arts.  This would typically be for medieval and ancient art.

== Origins, history and development ==
{{Main|Art history}}
{{History of art sidebar}}
According to some writers, the concept of a distinct category of fine art is an invention of the [[early modern period]] in the West.  Larry Shiner in his ''[[The Invention of Art: A Cultural History]]'' (2003) locates the invention in the 18th century:
"There was a traditional "system of the arts" in the West before the eighteenth century. (Other traditional cultures still have a similar system.) In that system, an artist or artisan was a skilled maker or practitioner, a work of art was the useful product of skilled work, and the appreciation of the arts was integrally connected with their role in the rest of life. "Art", in other words, meant approximately the same thing as the Greek word "techne", or in English "skill", a sense that has survived in phrases like "the art of war", "the art of love", and "the art of medicine".<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=519 |title=A Third System of the Arts? An Exploration of Some Ideas from Larry Shiner's ''The Invention of Art: A Cultural History'' |journal=Contemporary Aesthetics |author=Clowney, David |access-date=7 May 2013 |archive-date=28 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428005534/http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=519 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Similar ideas have been expressed by [[Paul Oskar Kristeller]], [[Pierre Bourdieu]], and [[Terry Eagleton]] (e.g. ''The Ideology of the Aesthetic''), though the point of invention is often placed earlier, in the [[Italian Renaissance]]; [[Anthony Blunt]] notes that the term ''arti di [[disegno]]'', a similar concept, emerged in Italy in the mid-16th century.<ref>Blunt, 55</ref>

But it can be argued that the [[classical world]], from which very little theoretical writing on art survives, in practice had similar distinctions. The names of artists preserved in literary sources are Greek painters and sculptors, and to a lesser extent the carvers of [[engraved gem]]s.  Several individuals in these groups were very famous, and copied and remembered for centuries after their deaths.  The cult of the individual artistic genius, which was an important part of the Renaissance theoretical basis for the distinction between "fine" and other art, drew on classical precedent, especially as recorded by [[Pliny the Elder]].  Some other types of object, in particular [[Ancient Greek pottery]], are often signed by their makers or the owner of the workshop, probably partly to advertise their products.

[[File:Willem van Haecht (II) - Apelles painting Campaspe - 2.jpg|thumb|250px|''Apelles painting Campaspe'', by [[Willem van Haecht]]; {{Circa|1630}}; [[Mauritshuis]]]]

The decline of the concept of "fine art" is dated by [[George Kubler]] and others to around 1880. When it "fell out of fashion" as, by about 1900, [[folk art]] was also coming to be regarded as significant.<ref name="Guerzoni 2011 p. 27">{{cite book |last=Guerzoni |first=G. |title=Apollo and Vulcan: The Art Markets in Italy, 1400–1700 |publisher=Michigan State University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-60917-361-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYE5MBi4fGQC&pg=PT27 |access-date=4 July 2020 |page=27 |quote=Observing these tensions, George Kubler was led to affirm in 1961: "The seventeenth-century academic separation between fine and useful arts first fell out of fashion nearly a century ago. From about 1880 the conception of 'fine art' was ..."}}</ref>  Finally, at least in circles interested in [[art theory]], ""fine art" was driven out of use by about 1920 by the exponents of industrial design ... who opposed a double standard of judgment for works of art and for useful objects".<ref>[[George Kubler|Kubler, George]] (1962). ''The Shape of Time : Remarks on the History of Things''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Kubler, pp. 14–15, [https://books.google.com/books?id=O0uxw-x-wv0C google books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227160813/https://books.google.com/books?id=O0uxw-x-wv0C&printsec=frontcover |date=27 December 2022 }}</ref> This was among theoreticians; it has taken far longer for the art trade and popular opinion to catch up.  However, over the same period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the movement of prices in the art market was in the opposite direction, with works from the fine arts drawing much further ahead of those from the decorative arts.

In the [[art trade]] the term retains some currency for objects from before roughly 1900 and may be used to define the scope of auctions or auction house departments and the like.  The term also remains in use in [[tertiary education]], appearing in the names of colleges, faculties, and courses.  In the English-speaking world this is mostly in North America, but the same is true of the equivalent terms in other European languages, such as ''beaux-arts'' in French or ''bellas artes'' in Spanish.

== Cultural perspectives ==
[[File:Ch'ien Hsüan 001.jpg|thumb|''[[Wang Xizhi]] watching geese''; by [[Qian Xuan]]; 1235-before 1307; handscroll (ink, color and gold on paper); 9{{fraction|1|8}} x 36{{fraction|1|2}} in.; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
The conceptual separation of arts and decorative arts or crafts that have often dominated in Europe and the US is not shared by all other cultures.  But traditional [[Chinese art]] had comparable distinctions, distinguishing within [[Chinese painting]] between the mostly landscape [[literati painting]] of [[scholar gentlemen]] and the artisans of the schools of court painting and sculpture.  Although high status was also given to many things that would be seen as craft objects in the West, in particular ceramics, [[hardstone carving|jade carving]], weaving, and embroidery, this by no means extended to the workers who created these objects, who typically remained even more anonymous than in the West.  Similar distinctions were made in [[Japanese art|Japanese]] and [[Korean art]].  In [[Islamic art]], the highest status was generally given to [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphy]], architects and the painters of [[Persian miniature]]s and related traditions, but these were still very often [[court painter|court employees]].  Typically they also supplied designs for the best [[Persian carpet]]s, architectural [[tile|tiling]] and other decorative media, more consistently than happened in the West.

[[Latin American art]] was dominated by European colonialism until the 20th century, when indigenous art began to reassert itself inspired by the [[Constructivism (art)|Constructivist Movement]], which reunited arts with crafts based upon socialist principles. In Africa, [[Yoruba art]] often has a political and spiritual function. As with the art of the Chinese, the art of the Yoruba is also often composed of what would ordinarily be considered in the West to be craft production. Some of its most admired manifestations, such as textiles, fall in this category.

== Visual arts ==
=== Two-dimensional works ===

==== Painting and drawing ====
{{Main|Painting|Drawing}}
Painting as a fine art means applying paint to a flat surface (as opposed for example to painting a sculpture, or a piece of pottery), typically using several colours. Prehistoric painting that has survived was applied to natural rock surfaces, and wall painting, especially on wet plaster in the [[fresco]] technique was a major form until recently. Portable paintings on wood panel or canvas have been the most important in the Western world for several centuries, mostly in [[tempera]] or [[oil painting]].  Asian painting has more often used paper, with the monochrome [[ink and wash painting]] tradition dominant in [[East Asia]].  Paintings that are intended to go in a book or album are called "miniatures", whether for a Western [[illuminated manuscript]] or in [[Persian miniature]] and its [[Ottoman miniature|Turkish]] equivalent, or [[Indian painting]]s of various types. [[Watercolour]] is the western version of painting in paper; forms using [[gouache]], chalk, and similar mediums without brushes are really forms of drawing.

Drawing is one of the major forms of the visual arts, and painters need drawing skills as well. Common instruments include: [[graphite]] [[pencil]]s, [[pen and ink]], [[ink]]ed [[brush]]es, wax [[color pencil]]s, [[crayon]]s, [[charcoal]]s, [[chalk]], [[pastel]]s, [[marker pen|markers]], [[stylus]], or various metals like [[silverpoint]].  There are a number of subcategories of drawing, including [[cartooning]] and creating [[comics]].

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch High Resolution.jpg|''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]''; by [[Hieronymus Bosch]]; {{circa|1504}}; oil on panel, {{Lang|es|[[Museo del Prado]]}}
Creación de Adán.jpg|''[[The Creation of Adam]]''; by [[Michelangelo]]; 1508–1512; fresco;[[Sistine Chapel]]
Miraj by Sultan Muhammad.jpg|[[Persian miniature]] of the [[Isra and Mi'raj|Mi'raj]] of the Prophet by [[Sultan Mohammed]], 1539–1543; [[British Library]]
Fragonard - swing.jpg|''[[The Swing (Fragonard)|The Swing]]''; by [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard]]; 1767–1768; oil on canvas; [[Wallace Collection]]
</gallery>

==== Mosaics ====
{{Main|Mosaic}}
Mosaics are images formed with small pieces of stone or glass, called ''[[tessera]]e''.  They can be decorative or functional.  An artist who designs and makes mosaics is called a mosaic artist or a mosaicist. Ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Roman architecture|Romans]] created realistic mosaics. Mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders.<ref>{{cite book |last=Capizzi |first=Padre |title=Piazza Armerina: The Mosaics and Morgantina |year=1989 |publisher=International Specialized Book Service Inc.}}</ref> Early Christian [[basilica]]s from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. The most famous [[Byzantium|Byzantine]] basilicas decorated with mosaics are the [[Basilica of San Vitale]] from [[Ravenna]] (Italy) and [[Hagia Sophia]] from [[Istanbul]] (Turkey).

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

MosaicEpiphany-of-Dionysus.jpg|''Epiphany of [[Dionysus]]''; 2nd century AD; from the Villa of Dionysus; [[Archeological Museum of Dion]]
P1170845 Louvre jugement de Pâris Ma3443 rwk.jpg|''[[Judgment of Paris]]''; 115–150 AD, from the Atrium House triclinium in [[Antioch-on-the-Orontes]]
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore abside a Roma.jpg|Apse of the ''[[Santa Maria Maggiore]]'' church in [[Rome]], decorated in the 5th century with this glamorous mosaic
Emilia Ravenna5 tango7174.jpg|Interior of the [[Basilica of San Vitale]] from [[Ravenna]] (Italy), decorated with elaborate mosaics
</gallery>

==== Printmaking ====
[[File:Dürer Melancholia I.jpg|thumb|''[[Melencolia I]]'', 1514, [[engraving]] by [[Albrecht Dürer]]]]
{{Main|Printmaking}}
[[Printmaking]] covers the making of images on paper that can be reproduced multiple times by a [[printing]] process. It has been an important artistic medium for several centuries, in the West and East Asia. Major historic techniques include [[engraving]], [[woodcut]] and [[etching]] in the West, and [[woodblock printing]] in East Asia, where the Japanese [[ukiyo-e]] style is the most important. The 19th-century invention of [[lithography]] and then photographic techniques have partly replaced the historic techniques.  Older prints can be divided into the fine art [[Old Master print]] and [[popular print]]s, with book illustrations and other practical images such as maps somewhere in the middle.

Except in the case of [[monotyping]], the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a print. Each print is considered an original, as opposed to a copy. The reasoning behind this is that the print is not a reproduction of another [[work of art]] in a different medium – for instance, a painting – but rather an image designed from inception as a print. An individual print is also referred to as an impression. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a [[Matrix (printing)|matrix]]. Common types of matrices include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc for [[engraving]] or [[etching]]; stone, used for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts, linoleum for [[linocut]]s and fabric in the case of [[screen-printing]]. But there are many other kinds.  Multiple nearly identical prints can be called an [[edition (printmaking)|edition]]. In modern times each print is often signed and numbered forming a "limited edition". Prints may also be published in book form, as [[artist's book]]s. A single print could be the product of one or multiple techniques.

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione - The Creation of Adam - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Monotype]] by the technique's inventor, [[Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione]], ''The Creation of Adam'', {{Circa|1642}}
Hokusai, The Underwave off Kanagawa.jpg|''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]''; 1829–1833; color woodblock print;
En plein soleil LACMA M.84.279.3.jpg|''En plein soleil'', [[etching]] by [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler]], 1858
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Divan Japonais - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Divan Japonais (lithograph)|Divan Japonais]]''; by [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]]; 1893–1894; Crayon, brush, spatter and transferred screen lithograph.
</gallery>

==== Calligraphy ====
{{Main|Calligraphy}}
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner".<ref name="Mediavilla">{{cite book |author=Mediavilla, C. |year=1996 |title=Calligraphy |publisher=Scirpus Publications}}</ref> Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand-lettered inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not compromise the legibility of the letters.<ref name="Mediavilla" /> Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, improvised at the moment of writing.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pott, G. |year=2006 |title=Kalligrafie: Intensiv Training |publisher=Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Pott, G. |year=2005 |title=Kalligrafie:Erste Hilfe und Schrift-Training mit Muster-Alphabeten |publisher=Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=*[[Hermann Zapf|Zapf, H.]] |year=2007 |title=Alphabet Stories: A Chronicle of Technical Developments |publisher=Cary Graphic Arts Press |location=Rochester}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|Folio 27r from the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]; 8th century; [[Cotton Library]] ([[British Library]], London)
Mi Fu-On Calligraphy.jpg|''On Calligraphy'' by [[Mi Fu]], [[Song dynasty]] China
Folio from a Koran (8th-9th century).jpg|[[Islamic calligraphy]]: Folio from a [[Koran]] (8–9th century), [[Abbasid]] [[Kufic]] Calligraphy
Malnazar - Decorated Incipit Page - Google Art Project.jpg|Page of an [[Armenia]]n [[illuminated manuscript]]; 1637–1638; [[Getty Center]] (Los Angeles, USA)
</gallery>

==== Photography ====
{{Main|Fine-art photography}}
''Fine art photography'' refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography.  Photojournalism visually communicates stories and ideas, mainly in print and digital media. Fine art photography is created primarily as an expression of the artist's vision, but has also been important in advancing certain causes.
Depiction of nudity has been one of the dominating themes in fine-art photography.

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

067- Alfred Stieglitz, c.1916.jpg|[[Alfred Stieglitz]] nude, circa 1916
Man Ray, Lampshade, 391, n. 13, July 1920.jpg|[[Man Ray]], ''Lampshade'', reproduced in [[391 (magazine)|391]], n. 13, July 1920
Eugène Atget, Paris Interior, ca. 1910.jpg|Interior from Paris; taken by [[Eugène Atget]] circa 1910
Adams The Tetons and the Snake River.jpg|''The Tetons and the Snake River''; 1942; by [[Ansel Adams]]
</gallery>

=== Three-dimensional works ===
==== Architecture ====
{{Main|Architecture}}
[[Architecture]] is frequently considered a fine art, especially if its [[aesthetics|aesthetic]] components are spotlighted – in contrast to [[structural engineering|structural-engineering]] or [[construction management|construction-management]] components. Architectural works are perceived as cultural and political [[symbol]]s and works of art. Historical [[civilization]]s often are known primarily through their architectural achievements. Such buildings as the [[pyramids]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and the Roman [[Colosseum]] are cultural symbols, and are important links in public consciousness, even when [[scholars]] have discovered much about past civilizations through other means. Cities, regions, and cultures continue to identify themselves with, and are known by, their architectural monuments.<ref>The [[Tower Bridge]], the [[Eiffel Tower]] and the [[Colosseum]] are representative of the buildings used on advertising brochures.</ref>

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

Parthenon (30276156187).jpg|The [[Parthenon]] in the [[Acropolis of Athens]], dedicated to the [[Greek gods|goddess]] [[Athena]]
File:Colosseo 2020.jpg|The [[Colosseum]] in [[Rome]]
Moscou.- La Cathédrale Basile-le-Bienheureux.jpg|[[Saint Basil's Cathedral]] from the [[Red Square]] (Moscow)
Stift Wilhering Kirche Orgel 01.jpg|Interior of the [[Wilhering Abbey]] ([[Wilhering]], [[Austria]]), an example of [[Rococo]] architecture
</gallery>

==== Pottery ====
{{Main|Pottery|Ceramic}}
With some modern exceptions, [[pottery]] is not considered as fine art, but "fine pottery" remains a valid technical term, especially in [[archaeology]].  "Fine wares" are high-quality pottery, often painted, moulded or otherwise decorated, and in many periods distinguished from "coarse wares", which are basic utilitarian pots used by the mass of the population, or in the kitchen rather than for more formal purposes.

Even when, as with [[porcelain]] figurines, a piece of pottery has no practical purpose, the making of it is typically a collaborative and semi-industrial one, involving many participants with different skills.

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

Baltimore Painter - Volute Krater - Walters 4886 - Side A.jpg|[[Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek]] volute krater; 320–310 BC; ceramic; height: 1.1 m; [[Walters Art Museum]] ([[Baltimore]], US)
The David Vases.jpg|The [[David Vases]]; 1351 (the Yuan dynasty); porcelain, cobalt blue decor under glaze; height: 63.8&nbsp;cm; [[British Museum]] (London)
Oval basin or dish with subject from Amadis of Gaul MET DP320592.jpg|[[Renaissance art|Renaissance]] oval basin or dish with subject from Amadis of Gaul; circa 1559–1564; maiolica; overall: 6 × 67.3 × 52.4&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
The Elements, Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory - Indianapolis Museum of Art - DSC00573.JPG|[[Rococo]] [[personification]]s of [[Classical element]]s; 1760s; by the [[Chelsea porcelain factory]]; [[Indianapolis Museum of Art]] ([[Indianapolis]], USA)
</gallery>

==== Sculpture ====
{{Main|Sculpture}}
[[Sculpture]] is [[Three-dimensional space|three-dimensional]] artwork created by shaping hard or [[plastic]] material, commonly [[Stone sculpture|stone]] (either [[Rock (geology)|rock]] or [[marble]]), [[metal]], or [[wood]]. Some sculptures are created directly by [[wikt:carving|carving]]; others are assembled, built up and [[Kiln|fired]], [[Welding|welded]], [[Molding (process)|molded]], or [[Casting|cast]]. Because sculpture involves the use of materials that can be moulded or modulated, it is considered one of the [[plastic arts]]. The majority of [[public art]] is sculpture. Many sculptures together in a [[garden]] setting may be referred to as a [[sculpture garden]].

Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of [[Visual arts|art]] in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than [[pottery]]) from ancient cultures; conversely, traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost.<ref name="artmuseums.harvard.edu">[http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/exhibitions/sackler/godsInColor.html "Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity" September 2007 to January 2008, The Arthur M. Sackler Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104060402/http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/exhibitions/sackler/godsInColor.html |date=4 January 2009 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">

'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU002.jpg|''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]''; by [[Michelangelo]]; 1501–1504; marble; 517&nbsp;cm × 199&nbsp;cm; [[Galleria dell'Accademia]] (Florence)
Nofretete Neues Museum.jpg|The ''[[Nefertiti Bust]]''; 1352–1332 BC; painted [[limestone]]; height: 50&nbsp;cm; [[Neues Museum]] ([[Berlin]], Germany)
Front views of the Venus de Milo.jpg|''[[Venus de Milo]]''; 130–100 BC; marble; height: 203&nbsp;cm (80&nbsp;in); Louvre
LouisXIV-Bernini.jpg|The ''[[Bust of Louis XIV (Bernini)|Bust of Louis XIV]]'' by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; 1665; marble; 105 × 99 × 46&nbsp;cm; Palace of Versailles
</gallery>

=== Conceptual art ===
[[File:An Oak Tree (conceptual art installation).jpg|thumb|''[[An Oak Tree]]'' by [[Michael Craig-Martin]], 1973]]
{{Main|Conceptual art}}
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 inception of the term in the 1960s referred to a strict and focused practice of ''idea-based art'' that often defied traditional visual criteria associated with the visual arts in its presentation as text. However, through its association with the [[Young British Artists]] and the [[Turner Prize]] during the 1990s, its popular usage, particularly in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], developed as a synonym for all [[contemporary art]] that does not practice the traditional skills of [[painting]] and [[sculpture]].<ref name="tateconceptual">[http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/conceptual-art''Conceptual art'' Tate online glossary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320082742/http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/conceptual-art |date=20 March 2015 }} tate.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2014.</ref>

== Performing arts ==
{{main|Performing arts}}

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music|Art music}}
[[File:Porträt des Komponisten Pjotr I. Tschaikowski (1840-1893).jpg|left|thumb|[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]] (1840–1893), the famous composer]]
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. 

Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments. 

The word derives from Greek μουσική (''mousike'', "art of the Muses").
[[File:Vaslav Nijinsky, 1912.jpg|thumb|[[Vaslav Nijinsky]] dancing the Faun in ''[[Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky)|L'après-midi d'un faune]]'' (1912)]]

=== Dance ===
{{Main|Dance}}
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic, and to music,<ref>{{cite web |author=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110116/dance |title=britannica |publisher=britannica |access-date=18 May 2010}}</ref> used as a form of [[Emotional expression|expression]], [[social interaction]] or presented in a [[spirituality|spiritual]] or [[Performing arts|performance]] setting.
Dance is also used to describe methods of [[nonverbal communication]] (see [[body language]]) between humans or [[animal]]s ([[bee dance]], [[Fixed action pattern|patterns of behaviour]] such as a mating dance), motion in inanimate objects ("the leaves danced in the wind"), and certain musical genres. In sports, gymnastics, [[figure skating]] and [[synchronized swimming]] are dance disciplines while the ''[[kata]]'' of the [[martial arts]] are often compared to dances.

=== Theatre ===
{{Main|Theatre}}
[[File:Royal Opera House and ballerina.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Royal Opera House]], London]]
Modern Western [[theatre]] is dominated by [[realism (arts)|realism]], including [[drama]] and [[comedy]].  Another popular Western form is [[musical theatre]].  Classical forms of theatre, including [[Theatre of ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Theatre of ancient Rome|Roman drama]], classic [[English drama]] ([[Shakespeare]] and [[Christopher Marlowe|Marlowe]] included), and [[Theatre of France|French theater]] ([[Molière]] included), are still performed today. In addition, performances of classic Eastern forms such as [[Noh]] and [[Kabuki]] can be found in the West, although with less frequency.

=== Film ===
{{Main|Film|Art film}}
[[File:Satyajit Ray.jpg|thumb|right|[[Satyajit Ray]], [[India]]n [[Bengali people|Bengali]] film director]]
''Fine arts film'' is a term that encompasses motion pictures and the field of film as a fine [[art]] form. A ''fine arts movie theater'' is a venue, usually a building, for viewing such movies. [[Film]]s are produced by [[Video recording|recording]] images from the world with [[camera]]s, or by creating images using [[animation]] techniques or [[special effect]]s.  Films are [[cultural artifact]]s created by specific [[culture]]s, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important [[art]] form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for [[documentary film|educating]] – or [[propaganda|indoctrinating]] – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbing]] or [[subtitles]] that [[translation|translate]] the dialogue.

[[Cinematography]] is the discipline of making [[Stage lighting|lighting]] and [[camera]] choices when recording photographic [[image]]s for the [[film|cinema]]. It is closely related to the art of [[photography|still photography]], though many additional issues arise when both the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion.

[[Independent filmmaking]] often takes place outside of [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]], or other major [[studio system]]s. An independent film (or ''indie film)'' is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a [[list of Hollywood movie studios|major movie studio]].  Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century.

== Poetry ==
{{Main|Poetry}}
[[File:Pushkin (by Mate).jpg|thumb|left|[[Vasily Mate]], ''Portrait of the poet [[Alexander Pushkin]]'' (1899)]]
Poetry (the term derives from a variant of the Greek term ποίησις (''[[poiesis]]'', "to make") is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as sound symbolism, phonaesthetics and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.<ref>{{cite web |title=Poetry |work=Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc. |year=2013 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetry}}</ref>

== Other ==
* [[Electronic media]] – perhaps the newest medium for fine art, since it utilizes modern technologies such as computers from production to presentation. Includes, amongst others, video, digital photography, digital printmaking and interactive pieces.
* [[Textiles]], including [[quilt art]] and "wearable" or "pre-wearable" creations, frequently reach the category of fine art objects, sometimes like part of an art display.
* [[Classical Music|Western art (or Classical) music]] is a performing art frequently considered to be fine art.
* [[Origami]] – The last century has witnessed a renewed interest in understanding the behavior of folding matter with contributions from artists and scientists. Origami is different from other arts: while painting requires the addition of matter, and sculpture involves subtraction, origami does not add or subtract: it transforms. Origami artists are pushing the limits of an art increasingly committed to its time, with a bloodline ending in technology and spacecraft. Its computational aspect and shareable quality (empowered by social networks) are parts of the puzzle that is making origami a paradigmatic art of the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gould |first1=Vanessa |title=Between the Folds, a documentary film |url=https://www.vanessagould.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McArthur |first1=Meher |title=Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami |date=2012 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-0804843386}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McArthur |first1=Meher |title=New Expressions in Origami Art |date=2020 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-0804853453}}</ref>

== Academic study ==
{{See also|List of art schools}}

=== Africa ===
{{Main|Art of Africa}}

=== Asia ===
{{Main|Art of Asia}}
* [[Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts|The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts]] is a Chinese national university based in Guangzhou which provides Fine Arts and Design Doctoral, Master and bachelor's degrees.
* [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]] is a Fine Art college in the Indian city of Kolkata, West Bengal.
*[[O.P. Jindal Global University]], Sonipat, Haryana – Offers programs related to Fine Arts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jgu.edu.in/opjgublog/what-is-fine-arts/ |title=What is Fine Arts? |publisher=jgu.edu.in |access-date=8 July 2025}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
{{Main|Art of Europe|List of art universities and colleges in Europe}}

=== South America ===
{{Main|Art of South America}}
* Brazil: The Institute for the Arts in Brazilia has departments for theater, visual arts, industrial design, and music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alunoestrangeiro.unb.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=166&lang=en |title=Institute for the Arts, Brazilia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722114022/http://www.alunoestrangeiro.unb.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=166&lang=en |archive-date=22 July 2014}}</ref>

=== United States ===
{{Main|Visual art of the United States}}
In the [[United States]] an academic course of study in fine art may include the [[Bachelor of Arts]] in Fine Art, or a [[Bachelor of Fine Arts]], and/or a [[Master of Fine Arts]] degree – traditionally the [[terminal degree]] in the field. [[Doctor of Fine Arts]] degrees —earned, as opposed to [[honorary degree]]s— have begun to emerge at some US academic institutions, however.
Major schools of art in the US:
* [[Yale University]], New Haven, CT – MFA, BA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://art.yale.edu/ |title=Yale University School of Art |publisher=Art.yale.edu |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[Rhode Island School of Design]], Providence, RI – MFA, BFA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.risd.edu/Academics/Division_of_Fine_Arts/ |title=Division of Fine Arts RISD |publisher=Risd.edu |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313183608/http://www.risd.edu/Academics/Division_of_Fine_Arts/ |archive-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* School of the [[Art Institute of Chicago]], Chicago, Illinois – MFA in Studio, MFA in Writing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saic.edu/index.html |title=School of the Art Institute of Chicago |publisher=Saic.edu |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-date=25 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525040252/http://www.saic.edu/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[University of California Los Angeles]], Los Angeles, CA – MFA<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.art.ucla.edu/graduate/index.html |title=UCLA Department of Art |publisher=Art.ucla.edu |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[California Institute of the Arts]], Valencia, CA<ref>{{cite web |url=http://calarts.edu/academics/programs-degrees |title=California Institute of the Arts Programs |publisher=Calarts.edu |date=20 December 2013 |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-date=13 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313182301/http://calarts.edu/academics/programs-degrees |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Carnegie Mellon University]], Pittsburgh, PA<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.cfa.cmu.edu/index.php |title=Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts |publisher=.cfa.cmu.edu |access-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313182511/http://www2.cfa.cmu.edu/index.php |archive-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[Cranbrook Academy of Art]], Bloomfield Hills, MI<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cranbrookart.edu/ |title=Welcome to Cranbrook Academy of Art |publisher=Cranbrookart.edu |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[Maryland Institute College of Art]], Baltimore, MD<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mica.edu/About_MICA.html |title=Maryland Institute College of Art |publisher=Mica.edu |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
* [[Fordham University]], (B.F.A)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theaileyschool.edu/BFA |title=B.F.A. Program |work=The Ailey School |access-date=17 June 2014 |archive-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512003048/http://www.theaileyschool.edu/BFA |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Columbia University]], MFA, joint JD/MFA degree, PHD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arts.columbia.edu/about-school-arts |title=Columbia University School of the Arts |publisher=Arts.columbia.edu |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112163518/http://arts.columbia.edu/about-school-arts |archive-date=12 January 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Juilliard School]], New York, NY is a [[performing arts]] conservatory established in 1905. It educates and trains undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leading [[music school]]s, with some of the most prestigious arts programs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jun/3/20050603-091115-3475r/?page=all |title=Still 'best reputation' for Juilliard at 100 |work=[[The Washington Times]] |access-date=15 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Juilliard |last1=Frank Rich |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |isbn=0-8109-3536-8 |quote=Juilliard grew up with both the country and its burgeoning cultural capital of New York to become an internationally recognized synonym for the pinnacle of artistic achievement. |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/juilliard0000cher/page/10 10] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/juilliard0000cher/page/10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/top-25-drama-schools-world-558898 |title=The Top 25 Drama Schools in the World |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=30 May 2013 |access-date=15 September 2013}}</ref>
* [[ArtCenter College of Design]], Pasadena, CA is a nonprofit, private college founded in 1930. ArtCenter offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide variety of art and design fields, as well as public programs for children and high school students. ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' also ranks Art Center's Art, Industrial Design and Media Design Practices programs among the top 20 graduate schools in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |title=ArtCenter College of Design Overall Rankings – US News Best Colleges |website=U.S. News & World Report |date=3 October 2017 |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/artcenter-college-of-design-1116/overall-rankings |access-date=29 June 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Visual arts|Arts}}
* [[The arts]]
* [[High culture#High art]]
* [[Performance art]]
* [[Visual arts]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* [[Anthony Blunt|Blunt Anthony]], ''Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600'', 1940 (refs to 1985 edn), [[OUP]], {{ISBN|0198810504}}

== Further reading ==
{{sister links}}
* Ballard, A. (1898). [https://archive.org/details/arrowsorteachin00ballgoog Arrows; or, Teaching a fine art]. New York: A.S. Barnes & Company.
* Caffin, Charles Henry. (1901). [https://archive.org/details/photographyasaf00caffgoog Photography as a fine art; the achievements and possibilities of photographic art in America]. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
* Crane, L., and Whiting, C. G. (1885). [https://archive.org/details/artandformation00crangoog Art and the formation of taste: six lectures]. Boston: Chautauqua Press. [https://archive.org/details/artandformation00crangoog/page/n115 <!-- pg=102 --> Chapter 4 : Fine Arts]
* Hegel, G. W. F., and Bosanquet, B. (1905). [https://books.google.com/books?id=YmgRAAAAYAAJ The introduction to Hegel's Philosophy of fine art]. London: K. Paul, Trench &.
* Hegel, G. W. F. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw-maVonxV4C Aesthetics: lectures on fine art]. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Neville, H. (1875). [https://archive.org/details/stageitspastand00nevigoog The stage: its past and present in relation to fine art]. London: R. Bentley and Son.
* Rossetti, W. M. (1867). [https://archive.org/details/fineartchieflyc00rossgoog Fine art, chiefly contemporary: notices re-printed, with revisions]. London: Macmillan.
* Shiner, Larry. (2003). "[[The Invention of Art: A Cultural History]]". Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-75342-3}}
* Torrey, J. (1874). [https://archive.org/details/atheoryfineart00torrgoog A theory of fine art]. New York: Scribner, Armstrong, and Co.
* ALBA (2018). [http://www.alba.edu.lb/french/Alexis-Boutros-fondateur-Alba] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920234245/https://www.alba.edu.lb/french/Alexis-Boutros-fondateur-Alba |date=20 September 2020 }}.
* Antonio Luis Ramos Molina, ''La magia de la química fotográfica: El quimigrama. Conceptos, técnicas y procedimientos del quimigrama en la expresión artística'', In: ''Tesis Doctoral'', Universidad de Granada 2018.

{{Art world |state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:Concepts in aesthetics]]
[[Category:The arts]]