   #copyright

Art

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Art

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

   Art is that which is made with the intention of stimulating the human
   senses as well as the human mind and/or spirit. There is no general
   agreed-upon definition of art, since defining the boundaries of "art"
   is subjective, but the impetus for art is often called human
   creativity.

   An artwork is normally assessed in quality by the amount of stimulation
   it brings about. The impact it has on people, the number of people that
   can relate to it, the degree of their appreciation, and the effect or
   influence it has or has had in the past, all accumulate to the 'degree
   of art.' Most artworks that are widely considered to be "masterpieces"
   possess these attributes.

   Something is not generally considered 'art' when it stimulates only the
   senses, or only the mind, or when it has a different primary purpose
   than doing so. However, some contemporary art challenges this idea.

   As such, something can be deemed art in totality, or as an element of
   some object. For example, a painting may be a pure art, while a chair,
   though designed to be sat in, may include artistic elements. Art that
   has less functional value or intention may be referred to as fine art,
   while objects of artistic merit but serve a functional purpose may be
   referred to as craft. Paradoxically, 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. In the 1800s, art was
   primarily concerned with ideas of "Truth" and "Beauty." There was a
   radical break in the thinking about art in the early 1900s with the
   arrival of Modernism, and then in the late 1900s 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."

   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. "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 twentieth century
   and early twenty-first 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.
   Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. 1917
   Fountain by Marcel Duchamp. 1917

   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, pornography, etc.

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. 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." 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.

   Many books and journal articles have been written about "art". In 1998,
   Walt Weaver claimed that "It is self-evident that nothing concerning
   art is self-evident anymore."
   The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, September
   1888.
   The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, September
   1888.

   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 second and more recent sense of the word "art" is 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. 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.

   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.

   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 of art

   Clement Greenberg's 1960 article "Modernist Painting" defined Modern
   Art as "the use of characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize
   the discipline itself."

   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. "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 of within the various art movements of the twentieth
   century and early twenty-first 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.

Art and class

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

   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. At least one of the important functions of art in the 21st
   century is as a marker of wealth and social status.

Utility of art

   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.

   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.
   Spray-paint graffiti on a wall in Rome.
   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.

   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.

   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 is very dependent upon
   the observer’s perspective and context, and it might be argued that the
   very subjectivity of art demonstrates its importance in providing an
   arena in which rival ideas might be exchanged and discussed, or to
   provide a social context in which disparate groups of people might
   congregate and mingle.

Classification disputes about art

   Prehistoric cave painting depicting Paleolithic fauna at Lascaux,
   France.
   Prehistoric cave painting depicting Paleolithic fauna at Lascaux,
   France.

   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 urinal, 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.

   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.

   Famous examples of controversial European art of the 19th century
   include Theodore Gericault's " Raft of the Medusa" (1820), construed by
   many as a blistering condemnation of the French government's gross
   negligence in the matter, Edouard Manet's " Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe"
   (1863), considered scandalous not because of the nude woman, but
   because she is seated next to fully-dressed men, and John Singer
   Sargent's " Madame Pierre Gautreau (Madam X)", (1884) which caused a
   huge uproar over the reddish pink used to colour the woman's ear lobe,
   considered far too suggestive and supposedly ruining the high-society
   model's reputation.

   In the 20th century, examples of high-profile controversial art include
   Pablo Picasso's " Guernica" (1937), considered by most at the time as
   the primitive output of a madman, this the sole explanation for its
   'hodgepodge of body parts' and Leon Golub's " Interrogation III"
   (1958), shocking the American conscience with a nude, hooded detainee
   strapped to a chair, surrounded by several ever-so-normal looking "cop"
   interrogators.

   In 2001, Eric Fischl created " Tumbling Woman" as a memorial to those
   who jumped or fell to their death on 9/11. Initially installed at
   Rockefeller Centre in New York City, within a year the work was removed
   as too disturbing.

Forms, genres, mediums, and styles

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

   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 plastic art, and poetry is a form of
   literature.

   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:
     * painting
     * drawing
     * printmaking
     * sculpture
     * ceramics
     * graphic design
     * digital art
     * mixed media
     * music
     * poetry
     * architecture
     * cinema
     * theatre
     * photography
     * model making
     * cartooning
     * origami
     * mosaic
     * graffiti

   A genre is a set of conventions and styles for pursuing an art form.
   For instance, a painting may be a still life, an abstract, a portrait,
   or a landscape, and may also deal with historical or domestic subjects.
   The boundaries between form and genre can be quite fluid. So, for
   example, it is not clear whether song lyrics are best thought of as an
   art form distinct from poetry, or a genre within poetry. Is
   cinematography a genre of photography (perhaps “motion photography”) or
   is it a distinct form?

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

   An artwork or artist’s style is a particular approach they take to
   their art. Sometimes style embodies a particular artistic philosophy or
   goal. We might describe Joy Division as Minimalist in style, in this
   sense, for example. Sometimes style is intimately linked with a
   particular historical period, or a particular artistic movement. So we
   might describe Dali’s paintings as Surrealist in style in this sense.
   Sometimes style is linked to a technique used, or an effect produced,
   so we might describe a Roy Lichtenstein painting as pointillist,
   because of its use of small dots, even though it is not aligned with
   the original proponents of Pointillism. Lichtenstein used Ben-Day dots,
   which were used to color comic strips: they are evenly-spaced and
   create flat areas of color; pointillism employs dots that are spaced in
   a way to create variation in colour and depth.

   Many terms used to describe art, especially recent art, are hard to
   categorize as forms, genres, or styles; or such categorizations are
   disputed. No one doubts there is such a thing as land art, but is it
   best thought of as a distinct form of art? Or, perhaps, as a genre of
   architecture? Or perhaps as a style within the genre of landscape
   architecture? Are comics an art form, medium, genre, style, or perhaps
   more than one of these?

Art history

   Venus of Willendorf
   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 100000yrs old, were discovered in a South African
   cave, see Art of South Africa.

   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

   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 stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was
   written in Arabic calligraphy. It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid
   is forever victorious.
   The stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was
   written in Arabic calligraphy. It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid
   is forever victorious.

   The western Renaissance saw a return to valuation of the material
   world, and the place of humans in it, and this paradigm shift is
   reflected in art forms, which show the corporeality of the human body,
   and the three dimensional reality of landscape.

   In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphasis on
   geometric patterns, Islamic calligraphy, and architecture. Further
   east, religion dominated artistic styles and forms too. India and Tibet
   saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance with religious painting
   borrowing many conventions from sculpture and tending to bright
   contrasting colors with emphasis on outlines. China saw many art forms
   flourish, jade carving, bronzework, pottery (including the stunning
   terracotta army of Emperor Qin), poetry, calligraphy, music, painting,
   drama, fiction, etc. Chinese styles vary greatly from era to era and
   are traditionally named after the ruling dynasty. So, for example, Tang
   Dynasty paintings are monochromatic and sparse, emphasizing idealized
   landscapes, but Ming Dynasty paintings are busy, colorful, and focus on
   telling stories via setting and composition. Japan names its styles
   after imperial dynasties too, and also saw much interplay between the
   styles of calligraphy and painting. Woodblock printing became important
   in Japan after the 17th century.

   The western Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century saw artistic
   depictions of physical and rational certainties of the clockwork
   universe, as well as politically revolutionary visions of a
   post-monarchist world, such as Blake’s portrayal of Newton as a divine
   geometer, or David’s propagandistic paintings. This led to Romantic
   rejections of this in favour of pictures of the emotional side and
   individuality of humans, exemplified in the novels of Goethe. The late
   19th century then saw a host of artistic movements, such as academic
   art, symbolism, impressionism and fauvism among others.

   By the 20th century these pictures were falling apart, shattered not
   only by new discoveries of relativity by Einstein Does time fly? -
   Peter Galison's Empires of Time, a historical survey of Einstein and
   Poincaré, intrigues Jon Turney</ref> and of unseen psychology by Freud,
   but also by unprecedented technological development accelerated by the
   implosion of civilisation in two world wars. The history of twentieth
   century art is a narrative of endless possibilities and the search for
   new standards, each being torn down in succession by the next. Thus the
   parameters of Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism,
   Surrealism, etc cannot be maintained very much beyond the time of their
   invention. Increasing global interaction during this time saw an
   equivalent influence of other cultures into Western art, such as Pablo
   Picasso being influenced by African sculpture. Japanese woodblock
   prints (which had themselves been influenced by Western Renaissance
   draftsmanship) had an immense influence on Impressionism and subsequent
   development. Then African sculptures were taken up by Picasso and to
   some extent by Matisse. Similarly, the west has had huge impacts on
   Eastern art in 19th and 20th century, with originally western ideas
   like Communism and Post-Modernism exerting powerful influence on
   artistic styles.

   Modernism, the idealistic search for truth, gave way in the latter half
   of the 20th century to a realization of its unattainability. Relativity
   was accepted as an unavoidable truth, which led to the period of
   contemporary art and postmodern criticism, where cultures of the world
   and of history are seen as changing forms, which can be appreciated and
   drawn from only with irony. Furthermore the separation of cultures is
   increasingly blurred and it is now more appropriate to think in terms
   of a global culture, rather than regional cultures.

Characteristics of art

   Here are some characteristics that art may display:
     * encourages an intuitive understanding rather than a rational
       understanding, as, for example, with an article in a scientific
       journal;
     * was created with the intention of evoking such an understanding or
       an attempt at such an understanding in the audience;
     * was created with no other purpose or function other than to be
       itself (a radical, "pure art" definition);
     * is elusive, in that the work may communicate on many different
       levels of appreciation; For example, in the case of Gericault's
       Raft of the Medusa, special knowledge concerning the shipwreck that
       the painting depicts, is not a prerequisite to appreciating it, but
       allows the appreciation of Gericault's political intentions in the
       piece.
     * may offer itself to many different interpretations, or, though it
       superficially depicts a mundane event or object, invites reflection
       upon elevated themes;
     * demonstrates a high level of ability or fluency within a medium;
       this characteristic might be considered a point of contention,
       since many modern artists (most notably, conceptual artists) do not
       themselves create the works they conceive, or do not even create
       the work in a conventional, demonstrative sense (one might think of
       Tracey Emin's controversial My Bed);
     * confers particularly appealing or aesthetically satisfying
       structures or forms upon an original set of unrelated, passive
       constituents.

Skill

   Adam. Detail from Michelangelo's fresco in the Capella Sistina (1511)
   Adam. Detail from Michelangelo's fresco in the Capella Sistina ( 1511)

   Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. Art
   can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language
   to convey meaning with immediacy and or depth.

   Basically, art is an act of expressing our feelings, thoughts, and
   observations. There is an understanding that is reached with the
   material as a result of handling it, which facilitates one's thought
   processes.

   A common view is that the epithet “art”, particular in its elevated
   sense, requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist,
   whether this be a demonstration of technical ability or an originality
   in stylistic approach such as in the plays of Shakespeare, or a
   combination of these two. For example, a common contemporary criticism
   of some modern art occurs along the lines of objecting to the apparent
   lack of skill or ability required in the production of the artistic
   object. One might take Tracey Emin's My Bed, or Hirst's The Physical
   Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, as examples of
   pieces wherein the artist exercised little to no traditionally
   recognised set of skills, but may be said to have innovated by
   exercising skill in manipulating the mass media as a medium. In the
   first case, Emin simply slept (and engaged in other activities) in her
   bed before placing the result in a gallery. She has been insistent that
   there is a high degree of selection and arrangement in this work, which
   include objects such as underwear and bottles around the bed. The
   shocking mundanity of this arrangement has proved to be startling
   enough to lead others to begin to interpret the work as art. In the
   second case, Hirst came up with the conceptual design for the artwork.
   Although he physically participated in the creation of this piece, he
   has left the eventual creation of many other works to employed
   artisans. In this case the celebrity of Hirst is founded entirely on
   his ability to produce shocking concepts, the actual production is, as
   with most objects a matter of assembly. These approaches are exemplary
   of a particular kind of contemporary art known as conceptual art.

Judgments of value

   Aboriginal hollow log tombs. National Gallery, Canberra, Australia
   Aboriginal hollow log tombs. National Gallery, Canberra, Australia

   Somewhat in relation to the above, the word art is also used to apply
   judgments of value, as in such expressions like "that meal was a work
   of art" (the cook is an artist), or "the art of deception," (the highly
   attained level of skill of the deceiver is praised). It is this use of
   the word as a measure of high quality and high value that gives the
   term its flavor of subjectivity.

   Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism. At the
   simplest level, a way to determine whether the impact of the object on
   the senses meets the criteria to be considered art, is whether it is
   perceived to be attractive or repulsive. Though perception is always
   colored by experience, and is necessarily subjective, it is commonly
   taken that that which is not aesthetically satisfying in some fashion
   cannot be art. However, "good" art is not always or even regularly
   aesthetically appealing to a majority of viewers. In other words, an
   artist's prime motivation need not be the pursuit of the aesthetic.
   Also, art often depicts terrible images made for social, moral, or
   thought-provoking reasons. For example, Francisco Goya's painting
   depicting the Spanish shootings of 3rd of May 1808, is a graphic
   depiction of a firing squad executing several pleading civilians. Yet
   at the same time, the horrific imagery demonstrates Goya's keen
   artistic ability in composition and execution and his fitting social
   and political outrage. Thus, the debate continues as to what mode of
   aesthetic satisfaction, if any, is required to define 'art'.

   The assumption of new values or the rebellion against accepted notions
   of what is aesthetically superior need not occur concurrently with a
   complete abandonment of the pursuit of that which is aesthetically
   appealing. Indeed, the reverse is often true, that in the revision of
   what is popularly conceived of as being aesthetically appealing, allows
   for a re-invigoration of aesthetic sensibility, and a new appreciation
   for the standards of art itself. Countless schools have proposed their
   own ways to define quality, yet they all seem to agree in at least one
   point: once their aesthetic choices are accepted, the value of the work
   of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its
   chosen medium in order to strike some universal chord, by the rarity of
   the skill of the artist, or in its accurate reflection in what is
   termed the zeitgeist.

Communicating emotion

   Art appeals to many of the human emotions. It can arouse aesthetic or
   moral feelings, and can be understood as a way of communicating these
   feelings. Artists express something so that their audience is aroused
   to some extent, but they do not have to do so consciously. Art explores
   what is commonly termed as the human condition that is essentially what
   it is to be human. Effective art often brings about some new insight
   concerning the human condition either singly or en-mass, which is not
   necessarily always positive, or necessarily widens the boundaries of
   collective human ability. The degree of skill that the artist has, will
   affect their ability to trigger an emotional response and thereby
   provide new insights, the ability to manipulate them at will shows
   exemplary skill and determination.

   The artist's emotional intention may be very different from what the
   viewer experiences. For example, "Hands Resist Him" painted by Bill
   Stoneham in 1972 was inspired by a childhood memory but has been called
   haunted by some viewers. One owner put the painting up for auction on
   eBay because it so frightened her children. It is known as the eBay
   Haunted Painting. Although the story behind the painting is less
   sensational than Internet lore indicates, the emotional impact the
   painting and the story have had on people around the world is
   undeniable. Stoneham has received an outpouring of emotional
   correspondence since the eBay auction, that ranges from healthy
   self-examination to demented rantings.

Creative impulse

   From one perspective, art is a generic term for any product of the
   creative impulse, out of which sprang all other human pursuits, such as
   science via alchemy. The term 'art' offers no true definition besides
   those based within the cultural, historical, and geographical context
   in which it is applied. Though to artists themselves, the impulse to
   create can be strong. One might compare Kandinsky's inner necessity to
   this popular view. It is because of the desire to create in the face of
   financial hardship, lack of recognition, or political opposition, that
   artists are sometimes thought of as misguided, or eccentric. However,
   the romantic myth of the starving artist in 'his' garret is a very rare
   occurrence.

Symbols

   Much of the development of individual artist deals with finding
   principles for how to express certain ideas through various kinds of
   symbolism. For example, Wassily Kandinsky developed his use of colour
   in painting through a system of stimulus response, where over time he
   gained an understanding of the emotions that can be evoked by color and
   combinations of colour. Contemporary artist ok bob, on the other hand,
   choses to use the medium of found natural objects and materials to
   arrange temporary sculptures.

Cultural traditions of art

   View of Mount Fuji from Satta Point in the Suruga Bay, woodcut by
   Hiroshige, published posthumously 1859.
   View of Mount Fuji from Satta Point in the Suruga Bay, woodcut by
   Hiroshige, published posthumously 1859.
   Painting by Dong Yuan (934-962), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, China
   Painting by Dong Yuan (934-962), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, China

   Several genres of art are grouped by cultural relevance, examples can
   be found in terms such as:
     * Aboriginal art
     * African art
     * American craft
     * Asian art as found in:
          + Buddhist art
          + Indian art
          + Chinese art
          + Korean art
          + Japanese art
          + Persian art
          + Tibetan art
          + Thai art
          + Laotian art
     * Islamic art
     * Maya art
     * Latin American art
     * Papua New Guinea
     * Visual arts of the United States
     * Western art
          + Italian art

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art"
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