ART ALL AROUND US

The Expression or Application of human creative skill and imagination

EVOLUTION

The history of art is the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetic or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview. Over time visual art has been classified in diverse ways, from the medieval distinction between liberal arts and mechanical arts, to the modern distinction between fine arts and applied arts, or to the many contemporary definitions, which define art as a manifestation of human creativity.

CLASSIFICATION

Traditional and contemporary art encompasses activities as diverse as:

                  

Architecture, music, opera, theater, dance, painting, sculpture, illustration, drawing, cartoons, printmaking, ceramics, stained glass, photography, installation, video, film and cinematography, to name but a few.

All these activities are commonly referred to as "the Arts" and are commonly. classified into several overlapping categories, such as: fine, visual, plastic, decorative, applied, and performing.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

FINE ART

This category includes those artworks that are created primarily for aesthetic reasons ('art for art's sake') rather than for commercial or functional use. Designed for its uplifting, life-enhancing qualities, fine art typically denotes the traditional, Western European 'high arts', such as:

Drawing

Using charcoal, chalk, crayon, pastel or with pencil or pen and ink. Two major applications include: illuminated manuscripts (c.600-1200) and book illustration.

 Painting

Using oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics, ink and wash, or the more old-fashioned tempera or en caustic paints. For an explanation of colorants, see:Colour in Painting and Colour Pigments, Types, History.

 Printmaking

Using simple methods like woodcuts or stencils, the more demanding techniques of engraving, etching and lithography, or the more modern forms like screen-printing, foil imaging or giclee prints. For a significant application of printmaking, see: Poster Art.

 Sculpture

In bronze, stone, marble, wood, or clay.Another type of Western fine art, which originated in China, is calligraphy: the highly complex form of stylized writing.