The arts

The arts are many ways people create and share ideas. They include storytelling and cultural activities. The arts help us think, feel, and learn about life.

The arts are usually in three big groups: visual arts, literature, and performing arts.

Visual arts include architecture, ceramic art, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, and sculpture.

Literature includes fiction, drama, poetry, and prose.

Performing arts include dance, music, and theatre.

Arts can be simple things we do every day or more complex works. They can stand alone or mix with other art forms, like comics. What we call art changes over time, as in modern art. From old cave paintings to today’s movies, the arts help us understand each other and our world.

Definition

Further information: Art and Classificatory disputes about art

The arts are different activities that people do using skill, creativity, and imagination. These activities include painting, making sculptures, playing music, acting in plays, writing stories, and more. Art is a way of using creative skills, often in visual forms, but not always.

Sometimes people argue about whether something should be called art. In the past, this included Cubist and Impressionist paintings, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, movies, J. S. G. Boggs' copies of money, conceptual art, and video games.

History and classifications

Main articles: History of art, History of literature, and History of music

In Ancient Greece, people made art and crafts using a word called techne. Greek artists showed animals in new ways and learned to draw muscles, beauty, and correct shapes. Ancient Roman artists painted gods to look like perfect humans, giving them special things like Zeus's lightning bolt. During the Middle Ages, art in Byzantine and Gothic art focused on Christian ideas because the church and government worked closely together. Asian art, like in India, Tibet, and Japan, often used clear patterns and colors, similar to modern cartoons. Islamic art avoids showing people or animals in religious art, instead using beautiful writing and shapes to share ideas.

In the Middle Ages, schools in Europe taught the liberal arts, which included studying words, speaking well, and thinking logically. Today, the arts are often grouped with subjects that study human culture. There are seven main types of art: painting, building, sculpting, writing stories, making music, acting in theatre, and making films. Some arts come from others—for example, acting comes from writing, and dancing comes from music. People sometimes call TV and comics additional types of art. Fields like gastronomy are occasionally thought of as art too.

Visual arts

Main article: Visual arts

Further information: Work of art

Visual arts are many ways to create beautiful things. Some of these ways are ceramic art, crafts, drawing, filmmaking, image, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. These arts can also be part of other types of art, like performing arts and textile arts.

Architecture

Main article: Architecture

Architecture is the art of designing buildings and other structures. Architects think about how people will use a space, how much it will cost, and how it should look. Architecture can also include planning whole cities and designing things like furniture. Architects help make places where people can live and work that are both useful and beautiful.

Ceramic art

Main article: Ceramic art

Ceramic art uses clay and other materials to make things like pottery, tiles, small statues, and dishes. Some ceramic pieces are considered fine art, while others are used for decoration or everyday purposes. Ceramics can be found in factories or made by individual artists in small studios.

Conceptual art

Main article: Conceptual art

Conceptual art focuses on ideas instead of traditional ways of making art. The artist’s thoughts and concepts are more important than how the artwork looks. This type of art started in the 1960s and became very popular in the 1990s.

Drawing

Main article: Drawing

Drawing is a way to make pictures using tools like pencils, pens, or charcoal. Artists can create lines, shapes, and textures in many different ways. Drawing is used in many areas, including books, comics, and animations.

Painting

Main article: Painting

Painting is a way to express feelings and ideas through art. Painters might use different styles, such as telling stories, showing emotions, or making abstract shapes. Some painters also use unusual materials like sand or straw to give their paintings special textures.

Photography

Main article: Photography

Further information: Fine-art photography

Photography as art means taking pictures that show the photographer’s creative vision. This is different from taking photos just to report news or to advertise products.

Sculpture

Main article: Sculpture

Sculpture is a type of art that creates three-dimensional pieces. Sculptors can carve materials like stone or wood, or they might shape clay or metal. Today, sculptors use many different materials and methods to make their artworks.

Applied arts

Main article: Applied arts

The applied arts are about designing everyday objects to make them look nice and work well. This includes things like industrial design, illustration, and commercial art. These arts are different from fine art, which is made just for beauty or to make people think, but the two often overlap.

Literary arts

Main articles: Language and Literature

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare, part of the Fair Youth sequence of sonnets.

Literature, or literary arts, is a group of writings. In Western culture, this includes prose, drama, and poetry. In many parts of the world, people also tell stories and poems out loud. These can be epic, legend, myth, ballad, or folktales. Comics mix pictures with stories and are sometimes called the "ninth art."

Performing arts

Main article: Performing arts

See also: Martial arts and Sport

Performing arts include dance, music, theatre, opera, mime, and other ways people show their skills in front of others. These arts need people to do things live, not just to look at or read about. They happen over time and can be planned or made up as they go. People who perform include actors, magicians, comedians, dancers, musicians, and singers. They often wear special clothes and makeup to help tell their stories.

Dance

Main article: Dance

Dance is about moving your body to show feelings or to perform. A person who plans dances is called a choreographer. Dance can be simple, like folk dance, or very skilled, like ballet. Some sports, such as figure skating, also use dance-like movements.

Music

Main article: Music

Music is an art made with sounds. It has parts like pitch, which makes melodies, and rhythm, which gives a beat. Music can be written down or made up on the spot, and it comes in many styles around the world. People enjoy music by listening and playing it.

Theatre

Main article: Theatre

Theatre is when stories are acted out in front of an audience. It can use words, movements, music, and special effects. Theatre includes many forms such as opera, ballet, mime, kabuki, and Indian classical dance.

Multidisciplinary artistic works

Art can mix many kinds of creative work, like film, opera, and performance art. Opera is a special show that combines music, acting, sets, and costumes. It uses a book called a libretto and singers with an orchestra.

Some artists, like Richard Wagner, thought opera was a way to bring many art forms together. Ballet mixes music with dance. Recently, artists have created performance art, which can use many objects and ideas, and sometimes let the audience join in.

Video games

Main articles: Video game and Video games as an art form

Video games are a mix of art and fun. They have pictures, sounds, and let players make choices that change what happens. Some people think video games are a kind of art, while others think they are something different. Museums and art groups have started to include video games in art shows.

Criticism

See also: Architecture criticism, Art criticism, Dance criticism, Film criticism, Literary criticism, Music criticism, Television criticism, and Theatre criticism

Art criticism is talking about and judging art. Critics look at art to decide what they like or don’t like, often thinking about beauty. But opinions about art can change over time.

There are many kinds of art, so art criticism has many areas. The main split is between studying old art and looking at art made today by living artists. Even though it might seem safe to talk about art, what people think about it today can change in the future. Some critics in the past made fun of artists who are now famous, like the early Impressionists. Sometimes, art styles were given names by critics in a mean way, but the artists later proud of these names, like Cubism.

Artists and critics don’t always get along. Artists often need good reviews from critics to get their work shown and bought. Many things affect how people judge art, like ideas about beauty, how we think, or what we believe is important. There are many ways to think about and enjoy art, and what people like can depend on personal taste or what is accepted in society and culture.

Education

Main article: Arts in education

Arts in education is a way of teaching and learning that uses creative activities. These activities can include dance, drama, music, literature, storytelling, visual arts such as film and craft, design, digital art, media, and photography. Through these activities, people can learn and develop in many different ways.

Political and moral issues

The arts have often been linked with politics and leaders. Art can react to events and ideas, and this can lead to debates and changes in society.

Some artists think differently and don’t always follow rules. For example, the writer Alexander Pushkin sometimes upset leaders in Russia with his writing. The artist Banksy has clashed with authorities because of his graffiti.

Artists may use their work to share their beliefs and encourage positive changes. Governments also use art to share their messages. Moral questions affect the arts, and they can start important discussions about right and wrong.