Artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind, from early prehistoric art to contemporary art.
Over time, philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and Immanuel Kant, among others, questioned the meaning of art.
The purpose of Art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically, spiritually, or philosophically motivated art; to create a sense of beauty, or to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions.
There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art, and its interpretation has varied greatly throughout history and across cultures.
How To Define Art?
Art could be defined as a collection of disciplines that produce objects that are compelled by a personal drive and convey a message, mood, or symbolism for the perceiver to interpret.
Art is an emotional product that involves technical proficiency and creative or imaginative expression of beauty that is embedded with conceptual ideas.
Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses.
The Term Art Origins
One early sense of the definition of art is closely related to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft", as associated with words such as "artisan".
The more recent and specific sense of the word art as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art emerged in the early 17th century.
Fine art refers to a skill used to express the artist's creativity, to engage the audience's aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of more refined or finer works of art.
English words derived from the term Art include artifact, artificial, artifice, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.
In the Western tradition, the three classical branches of visual art are painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Theatre, dance, and other performing arts, as well as literature, music, film, and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts.
Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences.
In modern usage after the 17th century, the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general, such as the decorative or applied arts.
The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. The resulting artworks are studied in the professional fields of art criticism and the history of art.
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 may be considered commercial art instead of fine art.
Generally, Art has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas.