View source for Work of art

{{other uses|Work of art (disambiguation)|Artwork (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Piece of art|The Art of Peace (disambiguation){{!}}Art of peace}}
{{short description|Artistic creation of aesthetic value}}
{{multiple image|perrow = 2
| header = Examples of [[painting]]s|total_width=490
| image1 = Peter Paul Rubens - The Four Continents.jpg
| caption1 = ''[[The Four Continents]]'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]
| image2 = Madame de Pompadour.jpg
| caption2 = ''A portrait of [[Madame de Pompadour]] and a dog at the foot of her shoes'' by [[François Boucher]]
| image3 = Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Luncheon of the Boating Party - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption3 = ''[[Luncheon of the Boating Party]]'' by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]
| image4 = Slave dance to banjo, 1780s.jpg
| caption4 = ''[[The Old Plantation]]'' attributed to John Rose
}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 4|total_width=490
| header = Examples of [[sculpture]]s
| image1 = Laocoön and his sons group.jpg
| image2 = Michelangelo's David - right view 2.jpg
| image3 = LouisXIV-Bernini.jpg
| image4 = Statuette Mambia Nigéria.jpg
}}

{{multiple image|fortnite= 4|total_width=490
| header = Examples of [[architecture]]
| image1 = The Kiradu Temples in perspective (cropped).jpg
| image2 = Stappoclasseaps.jpg
| image3 = Syon House 2.jpg
| image4 = Karla caves Chaitya.jpg
}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 4|total_width=490
| header = Examples of [[ceramic art]]
| image1 = Getty Villa - Mixing Vessel with a deceased youth - inv.96.AE.117.jpg
| image2 = 染付竹文水指-Water Jar with Bamboo MET DP23117 93.3.42,a (cropped).jpg
| image3 = The Music Lesson MET DP-14272-001 (cropped).jpg
}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 4|total_width=490
| header = Examples of [[mosaics]]
| image1 = Sousse neptune.jpg
| image2 = "The good Shepherd" mosaic - Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.jpg
| image3 = Antwerpen Jugendstil Waterloostraat Herfst, Winter, Zomer en Lente 10.jpg
}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 4|total_width=490
| header = Examples of [[furniture]]
| image1 = Jean-henri riesener, comò, 1770-80 ca.jpg
| image2 = HMF Hermann Kreuzer Esszimmer-Bueffet.jpg
| image3 = Alberto issel, salotto, 1902 ca. 01.jpg
| image4 = Carved African chair (27984212940).jpg
}}

{{Listen|type=music|filename=W. A. Mozart - Die Zauberflöte - 06. Hm, hm, hm (Ferenc Fricsay, 1953).ogg|title= ''Hm, hm, hm!''|description=Composed by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], An example of [[music]], specifically [[opera]]}}

{{Listen|type=music|filename=Ada Jones and Billy Murray - Shine On, Harvest Moon.ogg|title=''Shine On, Harvest Moon''|description=Performed by [[Ada Jones]] and [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]], another example of music, specifically early-1900s [[vaudeville]]}}
A '''work of art''', '''artwork''',<ref>Mostly in [[American English]]</ref> '''art piece''', '''piece of art''' or '''art object''' is an artistic creation of [[aesthetics|aesthetic]] value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as [[art]] in its widest sense, including works from [[literature]] and [[music]], these terms apply principally to tangible, physical forms of [[Visual arts|visual art]]: 
*An example of [[fine art]], such as a [[painting]] or [[sculpture]].
*Objects in the [[decorative arts]] or [[applied arts]] that have been designed for aesthetic appeal, as well as any functional purpose, such as a piece of [[jewellery]], many [[ceramics]] and much [[folk art]].
*An object created for principally or entirely functional, religious or other non-aesthetic reasons which has come to be appreciated as art (often later, or by [[Culture|cultural]] outsiders).
*A non-ephemeral [[photograph]] or [[film]].
*A work of [[installation art]] or [[conceptual art]].
Used more broadly, the term is less commonly applied to:
*A fine work of [[architecture]] or [[landscape design]]
*A production of live [[performance]], such as [[theater]], [[ballet]], [[opera]], [[performance art]], musical [[concert]] and other [[performing arts]], and other ephemeral, non-tangible creations.

This article is concerned with the terms and concepts as used in and applied to the visual arts, although other fields such as [[aural]]-music and written word-literature have similar issues and philosophies.  The term ''[[objet d'art]]'' is reserved to describe works of art that are not paintings, prints, drawings or large or medium-sized sculptures, or architecture (e.g. household goods, figurines, etc., some purely aesthetic, some also practical).  The term '''''oeuvre''''' is used to describe the complete body of work completed by an artist throughout a career.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oeuvre Oeuvre] Merriam Webster Dictionary, Accessed April 2011</ref>

==Definition==
A ''work of art'' in the visual arts is a physical two- or three- dimensional object that is professionally determined or otherwise considered to fulfill a primarily independent [[aesthetic]] function.  A singular art object is often seen in the context of a larger [[art movement]] or artistic [[era]], such as: a [[genre]], aesthetic [[convention (norm)|convention]], [[culture]], or regional-national distinction.<ref name=gell1998/> It can also be seen as an item within an artist's "body of work" or ''[[wikt:oeuvre|oeuvre]]''. The term is commonly used by [[museum]] and [[cultural heritage management|cultural heritage]] [[curator]]s, the interested public, the [[patronage|art patron]]-private [[art collector]] community, and [[art gallery|art galleries]].<ref name=macdonald2006/>

Physical objects that document immaterial or [[conceptual art]] works, but do not conform to artistic conventions, can be redefined and reclassified as art objects. Some [[Dada]] and [[Neo-Dada]] conceptual and [[Readymades of Marcel Duchamp|readymade]] works have received later inclusion. Also, some [[architectural rendering]]s and [[architectural model|model]]s of unbuilt projects, such as by [[Vitruvius]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], and [[Frank Gehry]], are other examples.

The products of [[environmental design]], depending on intention and execution, can be "works of art" and include: [[land art]], [[site-specific art]], [[architecture]], [[garden]]s, [[landscape architecture]], [[installation art]], [[rock art]], and [[megalith|megalithic monuments]].

Legal definitions of "work of art" are used in [[copyright]] law; ''see {{slink|Visual arts|United States of America copyright definition of visual art}}''.

==History==
{{Expand section|date=April 2024}}

==Theories==
Theorists have argued that objects and people do not have a constant meaning, but their meanings are fashioned by humans in the context of their culture, as they have the ability to make things mean or signify something.<ref name="Hall19972">Hall, S (ed.) 1997, ''Cultural Representations and Signifying Practice'', Open University Press, London, 1997.</ref> A prime example of this theory are the [[Readymades of Marcel Duchamp]]. [[Marcel Duchamp]] criticized the idea that the work of art must be a unique product of an artist's labour or skill through his "readymades": "mass-produced, commercially available, often utilitarian objects" to which he gave  titles, designating them as artwork only through these processes of choosing and naming.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MoMA: The Museum of Modern Art |title=Marcel Duchamp and the Readymade |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/dada/marcel-duchamp-and-the-readymade |access-date=February 2, 2024 |website=MoMA: The Museum of Modern Art}}</ref>

Artist [[Michael Craig-Martin]], creator of ''[[An Oak Tree]]'', said of his work – "It's not a symbol. I have changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree. I didn't change its appearance. The actual [[oak|oak tree]] is physically present, but in the form of a glass of water."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110923112222/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/theres-no-need-to-be-afraid-of-the-present-625001.html "There's No Need to be Afraid of the Present"], ''The Independent'', 25 Jun 2001</ref>

==Distinctions==
Some [[Art criticism|art theorist]]s and writers have long made a distinction between the [[physical art|physical qualities of an art object]] and its identity-status as an artwork.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1995/08/gabos3.shtm |title=FTC Wins $2.3 Million Judgment Against Gallery Owner In Phony Art Scam |publisher=[[Federal Trade Commission]] |date=August 11, 1995 |access-date=October 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804100009/http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1995/08/gabos3.shtm |archive-date=August 4, 2009 }}</ref>  For example, a painting by [[Rembrandt]] has a physical existence as an "[[oil painting]] on canvas" that is separate from its identity as a [[masterpiece]] "work of art" or the artist's ''magnum opus''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rembrandtresearchproject.org/|title=Rembrandt Research Project - Home|work=rembrandtresearchproject.org}}</ref>  Many works of art are initially denied "museum quality" or artistic merit, and later become accepted and valued in museum and private collections. Works by the [[Impressionists]] and non-representational [[abstract art]]ists are examples. Some, such as the [[readymades of Marcel Duchamp]] including his infamous urinal ''[[Fountain (Duchamp)|Fountain]]'', are later reproduced as museum quality replicas.

Research suggests that presenting an artwork in a museum context can affect the perception of it.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Susanne Grüner |author2=Eva Specker |author3=Helmut Leder|name-list-style=amp |title=Effects of Context and Genuineness in the Experience of Art|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330414719 |journal=Empirical Studies of the Arts|volume=37|issue=2|pages=138–152|year=2019|doi=10.1177/0276237418822896|s2cid=150115587 }}</ref>

There is an indefinite distinction, for current or historical aesthetic items: between "[[fine art]]" objects made by "[[artist]]s"; and [[folk art]], [[handicraft|craft-work]], or "[[Applied arts|applied art]]" objects made by "first, second, or third-world" [[designer]]s, [[artisan]]s and craftspeople. Contemporary and archeological [[Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous art]], [[industrial design]] items in limited or [[mass production]], and places created by [[environmental design]]ers and [[cultural landscape]]s, are some examples. The term has been consistently available for debate, reconsideration, and redefinition.

== See also ==
* [[Anti-art]]
* [[Artistic media]]
* [[Cultural artifact]]
* [[Opus number]] (used in music)
* [[Outline of aesthetics]]
* "[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]"
* [[Western canon]]

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=gell1998>{{cite book | first=Alfred | last=Gell | year=1998 | title=Art and agency: an Anthropological Theory | page=7 | publisher=Clarendon Press | isbn=0-19-828014-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/artagencyanthrop0000gell/page/7 | access-date=2011-03-11 }}</ref>

<ref name=macdonald2006>{{cite book | first=Sharon | last=Macdonald | year=2006 | title=A Companion to Museum Studies | page=52 | series=Blackwell companions in cultural studies | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | isbn=1-4051-0839-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JjMrzTHCU8C&pg=PA52 | access-date=2011-03-11 }}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
*[[Richard Wollheim|Wollheim, Richard]]. ''[[iarchive:artitsobjectswit0000woll|Art and Its Objects]]'' (2nd ed) 1980. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-29706-0}}. The classic philosophical enquiry into what a work of art is.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|art student|artwork|objet d'art|work of art}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Works of art}}

{{Aesthetics}}
{{Humanities}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Concepts in aesthetics]]
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