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art

In the broadest sense, all the processes and products of human skill, imagination, and invention. In contemporary usage, definitions of art usually reflect art theory, and the term may encompass literature, music, drama, painting, and sculpture. Popularly, the term is most commonly used to refer to the visual arts. In Western culture, artistic thought and theories introduced by the ancient Greeks still influence our perceptions and judgements of art.

Representation and inspiration

Two currents of thought run through our ideas about art. In one, first considered by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (c. 384 BC), art is concerned with mimesis (imitation), the representation of appearances, and gives pleasure through the accuracy and skill with which it represents the real world. The other view, derived from the Greek philosopher Plato (c. 427 BC), holds that the artist is inspired by the Muses (or by God, or by the inner impulses, or by the collective unconscious) to express that which is beyond appearances – inner feelings, eternal truths, or the essence of the age.

Art forms

In the visual arts of Western civilizations, painting and sculpture have been the main art forms for many centuries. This has not always been the case in other cultures. Islamic art, for example, is one of ornament, for under the Muslim religion artists were forbidden to imitate the divine right of creation by portraying living creatures. In some cultures masks, tattoos, pottery, and metalwork have been the main forms of visual art. Recent technology has made new art forms possible, such as photography and cinema, and today electronic media have led to entirely new ways of creating and presenting visual images. See also prehistoric art; the arts of ancient civilizations, for example Egyptian art; indigenous art traditions, for example Oceanic art; medieval art; the arts of individual countries, such as French art; individual movements, such as Romanticism, cubism, and Impressionism; and painting and sculpture.

The liberal arts In the Middle Ages in Europe, the term ‘art’ was used, chiefly in the plural, to signify a branch of learning which was regarded as an instrument of knowledge. The seven liberal arts consisted of the trivium, that is grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium, that is arithmetic,

music, geometry, and astronomy.

Content and theme An artwork is given meaning and significance by its content (subject matter) and theme (object or purpose). In art history, the study of the subject matter is often called iconography; many art historians choose to study artworks based on the theme or content rather than on the style. While some themes are ‘universal’, such as death, love, and nature, other themes are very subjective – only the artist knowing the true meaning of the depicted subject. In addition to universal themes, certain common topics are found repeatedly when studying the history of art; these include genre, landscape, still life, the human form (representational art or figurative art), and portraiture. Many artists devote their work to exploring one theme throughout the course of their careers, while others will focus more on applying their chosen style to a variety of subject matter.

Universal concepts Throughout history, the depiction of certain themes, such as death, birth, war, family, nature, and love, has been evident in works of art from all over the world. Sometimes painted in response to a historical event, such as Picasso's Guernica (1937; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid), which was inspired by the bombing of a Basque city during the Spanish Civil War, universal concepts defy cultural identity, and instead hold meaning for individuals regardless of time and place. For example, although Guernica encapsulates a single event, the idea of devastation is not confined to a specific era; the emotions triggered when thinking about such a tragedy are similar regardless of culture and time. Whether it is the quiet depiction of a family outing or a turbulent seascape, universal concepts continue to hold significance for the viewer, from the time the works were created to the present moment.

Art and other disciplines The visual arts are often interrelated with other disciplines, such as mathematics, music, or science. One obvious association is the use of a visual medium, such as painting, to translate information pertaining to another discipline – many of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings, for example, were simply studies of indigenous flora. Another common association between art and other disciplines can be seen in the precise mathematics and scientific theories used to create the flickering visual effects of op art, or when a viewer ‘sees’ rhythm in a painting, linking the language and emotion of music and art. Although paintings, prints, or sculptures may function on aesthetics alone, the understanding of a work's relationship with other subject matter will broaden and deepen its conveyed meaning.

Art and culture Art reflects history and is an indispensable part of peoples' culture. Art and culture are intricately connected, so that the art of a given place reflects not only the historical context in which it was made, but also the conditions under which it was produced. For example, in some cultures decorative tiles will be elaborately painted and glazed and fired in an electric kiln, while in others tiles may only be adorned with simple incised designs and then left in the sun to bake – the elementary process of the latter reflecting the available materials and environmental conditions of the surrounding geographical area. At the same time, art and culture tend to affect each other; cultural issues often play a major role in an artist's work, while an artist's work may influence an entire generation. For example, while pop art was a comment on consumerism, particularly that of the USA and UK, op art influenced ‘popular’ culture, as its basic concepts were used in areas such as fashion and contemporary design.

Artists and society Many artists use societal issues (events in a community) as their inspiration, content, and theme, either being motivated to address them or represent them. As a result, their work can sometimes cause a heightened awareness of political or social issues, or even a shift in contemporary attitudes. Artists often portray historical events by expressing their own feelings about them, and most social artists create works with the sole intention of demonstrating their concerns. As a consequence, an artist's record of a battle, atrocity, or social problem may be more subjective (influenced by personal opinion) than other media. Many artists, such as Goya, Käthe Kollwitz, Honoré Daumier, have used their talents to affect change or to appeal for a cause, including those employed for propaganda and political purposes.

Regardless of creative intent, all artists' work is deeply tied to and constrained by the societal conditions in which it is produced – an artist working deep in a rainforest will have different resources, concerns, inspiration, and intent than an artist working in an industrial city.

Idea development in art Content and idea come from a variety of sources, just as artists themselves are driven to create for many different reasons. The final synthesis of an idea and the subsequent work of art are usually the product of a long thoughtful process, in which the artist considers how to approach and execute a theme before even touching a creative medium. Although an artist may consider that an initial idea has been crystallized, this will often change as the work progresses – the medium, environment, and artistic intent all being mutable. Inspiration may be gathered from an endless range of sources; some artists create works based on their physical surroundings, some are politically or culturally motivated, or driven by pure aesthetics, while others explore visual or pictorial puzzles. Many artists synthesize ideas by looking at the art of other cultures – Picasso, for example, drew inspiration from African art.

Careers in art Many types of work exist in the world of the visual arts. The most obvious career is that of the fine artist, including the traditional occupations of painter, sculptor, or printmaker, and work in the more modern fields of video, installation, or land art. Work may also be found in the applied arts, as a designer or decorator. The term designer is used broadly to cover the work of advertising artists, animators, book illustrators, graphic designers, fashion designers, interior designers, and all other areas of commerce that employ a visual medium. Architecture and art education also offer a variety of careers in the arts. Work in the arts is not necessarily bound to the production of works of art; art historians, art critics, art advisers, museum curators and workers, and art gallery owners encourage the understanding of art, and provide essential support and services to ensure the preservation of the arts.

Art research skills There are numerous ways to find out about the arts, and many people have devoted their life's work to research and write about the subject. Art institutions, such as museums, museum libraries, art institutes, universities and colleges, and galleries, house some of the best resources on art. Museums and galleries may only provide information on the pieces in their own collection, so specific queries should be addressed to the appropriate institution. Other useful sources include the public library and the Internet – many museums now display their collections online. Knowledge gained through research can be used when creating or writing about art, or as a springboard for further enquiry.

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art - events

c. 500 BC	Italy	Etruscan art flourishes, especially in the fields of bronze, pottery, and tomb wall paintings.
c. 85 BC–AD c. 52	East Asia	The earliest known Chinese lacquer (found at Lak Lang in North Korea in modern times) is produced.
353	China	The Chinese calligrapher Wang Xi-zhi produces ‘Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion’ in running script style. It becomes a model for future calligraphers.
c. 786	Arab Caliphate	The Abbasid caliph Harun ar-Rashid encourages artistic activity at his court. Stories, founded on an earlier Persian collection of tales, are recorded in the archives and give rise to the legend of Scheherezade and the Alf Laylah wa-Laylah/A Thousand and One Nights – The Arabian Nights. Some of the tales involve Harun and his friend the great lyric poet Abu Nuwas.
c. 1090	France, England	The Bayeux tapestry, a pictorial record of the Norman conquest of England, is embroidered. It may have been commissioned by Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror.
1393	France	Dutch artist Claus Sluter completes his carvings for the portal of the abbey of Chartreuse de Champmol, in Dijon, France.
c. 1410	Flanders	The Flemish artists the Limbourg brothers (Pol, Herman, and Jean) complete the illuminations for the book of prayers Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry/The Beautiful Hours of the Duke of Berry.
c. 1418	France	The anonymous French artist known as the Rohan Master completes the illuminations for the book of prayers The Rohan Hours. Among its best-known images is A Dying Man Commends His Soul to God.
1432	Burgundian Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire	Flemish artists Hubert and Jan van Eyck paint The Adoration of the Lamb (Ghent Altarpiece), a polyptych in the Church of Saint Bavo in Ghent, Flanders (now Belgium). Van Eyck paints Portrait of a Man, which may be a self-portrait.
1484	Germany	The German artist Albrecht Dürer draws his Self-Portrait at the age of 13.
1488	Persia	The Persian miniaturist Kamal al-Din Bihzad illustrates scenes in an edition of the poem Bustan/The Tree-Garden by the 13th-century poet Sa'di.
1498	Germany	The German artist Albrecht Dürer completes his Apocalypse, a set of woodcuts.
1504	Italy	Italian artist Michelangelo (Buonarroti) completes his sculpture David, which is widely praised when set up in a square in Florence. He also paints his Holy Family (Doni Tondo).
1514	Germany	The German artist Albrecht Dürer engraves Saint Jerome in his Study and Melancholia. He also draws Portrait of the Artist's Mother and paints his Self-Portrait (the Madrid self-portrait).
1531	Italy	The Italian humanist Andrea Alciati publishes Emblemata. A collection of images with explanations of their symbolism, the book has a profound effect on iconography of 16th- and 17th-century art.
1550	Italy	The Italian artist and art historian Giorgio Vasari publishes Vite dei più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e archittetti/Lives of the Most Excellent Artists, Sculptors, and Architects – a history of Italian Renaissance art from Giotto to his own day. An enlarged edition appears in 1568.
1553	Inca Empire	Inca art comes to an end with the collapse of the Inca Empire in South America at the hands of Spanish conquistadors. The Inca produced a wide range of artefacts, including textiles, woven goods, painted pottery, and figurines and jewellery in gold and silver. Their major achievements were in architecture, ranging from ceremonial buildings such as pyramids and palaces, to an extensive system of canals, roads, and bridges.
1652	Italy	Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini completes his sculpture Vision of Saint Teresa, in the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy. This work becomes one of the highpoints of Italian baroque art.
1656	Spain	The Spanish artist Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez paints Las meninas/Maids of Honour.
c. 1658	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Jan Vermeer paints Kitchen Maid.
c. 1660	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Jan Vermeer paints View of Delft.
c. 1663	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Pieter de Hooch paints At the Linen Closet.
c. 1667	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Jan Vermeer paints The Painter in His Studio.
1669	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn paints his last Self-Portrait (The Hague).
c. 1674	North America	An anonymous North American artist paints two portraits of a young Boston family: John Freake and Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary. The second of these portraits is widely considered one of the finest paintings of the Colonial period.
1683	Japan	The Japanese artist Hishikawa Moronobu paints A Riverboat Part.
1689	Netherlands	The Dutch artist Meindert Hobbema paints Avenue at Middleharnis.
c. 1700	Africa	The art of the Benin culture in Nigeria reaches its high point. From at least the mid-16th century fine sculptures in ivory and bronze have been produced, creating one of richest extant traditions of African art.
1701	France	The French artist Hyacinthe Rigaud paints Portrait of Louis XIV.
1749	England	English artist Thomas Gainsborough paints Mr and Mrs Robert Andrews.
1750	Italy	Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo completes his frescoes Antony and Cleopatra in the Labia Palace in Venice, Italy.
1757	Italy	Italian artist Pietro Longhi paints The Rhinoceros.
1758	England	English artist Thomas Gainsborough paints The Artist's Daughter with a Cat.
1758	Scotland	Scottish artist Allan Ramsay paints Portrait of Dr William Hunter.
c. 1758	America	The North American artist John Singleton Copley – America's first major artist – paints Portrait of Mary and Elizabeth Royall.
1759	England	English artist Joshua Reynolds paints Portrait of James, 7th Earl of Lauderdale.
1760	England	English artist Thomas Gainsborough paints Portrait of Mrs Philip Thicknesse.
c. 1765	Japan	The Japanese artist Suzuki Harunobu publishes his woodblock print Interior With a Girl and Her Maid. Harunobu develops multicoloured printing, which brings a greater sophistication to Japanese woodblock art.
1766	England	The English artist George Stubbs publishes his book of engravings The Anatomy of the Horse.
1788	Japan	The Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro publishes his series of woodblock prints Poem of the Pillow. Among the best-known of these erotic scenes is Lovers on a Balcony.
1797	England	The English wood engraver Thomas Bewick publishes Land Birds, one of his finest set of engravings. It is the first part of his work A History of British Birds. The second part appears in 1804.
1835	England	English pioneer of photography William Henry Fox Talbot creates Picture of a Latticed Window, the oldest existing photographic paper negative.
1848	France	The French artist and caricaturist Honoré Daumier completes his series of lithographs Les Gens de justice/Lawyers.
1860	Switzerland	The Swiss art historian Jakob Christoph Burckhardt publishes Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien/The Culture of the Renaissance in Italy. His most important work, it has a profound effect on the study of art history.
1867	France, Japan	The Paris Exposition Universelle (World Fair) in France introduces Japanese art to the West. Its influence can be seen in the works of artists as varied as Degas, Whistler, and van Gogh.
1902		The photography society, the Photo-Secession, is formed in New York City, the intention being to establish photography as a fine art. Outstanding members include Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and Gertrude Käsebier. A gallery is opened in 1905; the group exhibits for the last time in 1910, but their journal Camera Work continues until 1917.
1909		US sociologist Lewis Hein takes Carrying-in Boy, one of the best-known images of a range of his photographs, to highlight the working conditions of the US poor.
1911		The expressionist art group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) is founded in Munich, Germany. Leading figures include the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and the German artists Franz Marc, August Macke, and Gabriele Münter.
1913		The International Exhibition of Modern Art is held in New York City. Known as the ‘Armory Show’, it proves to be a controversial exhibition of post-Impressionist and cubist art, widely criticized as decadent. The exhibition plays an important role in introducing modern European art to the USA.
1914		The French artist Marcel Duchamp creates Bottle Rack. The first true ‘ready made’ (or everyday, manufactured object presented as an art work), it is, simply, a mass-produced bottle rack.
1916		The Dada movement (producing iconoclastic ‘anti-art’ works) emerges in Zürich in Switzerland, its leading figures including the Romanian writer Tristan Tzara and the French artist Hans Arp. It lasts until the early 1920s, when it is absorbed by surrealism.
1927		The US photographer Edward Weston takes Shell.
1927		The US photographer Ansel Adams takes Monolith, the face of Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, California.
1929		The German photographer August Sander publishes his photo album Antlitz der Zeit/Face of our Time. Beginning in 1910, Sander tried to create a comprehensive ‘man of the 20th century’ series, photographing a wide range of Germans in their everyday occupations. One of the best-known images is The Pastry Cook 1928.
1936	Hungary, USA, Spain	The Hungarian-born US photographer Robert Capa (pseudonym of André Friedman) takes Death of a Loyalist (also known as Moment of Death), one of the best-known images of the Spanish Civil War.
1937	Germany	Nazi authorities hold an exhibition entitled ‘Entartete Kunst’/‘Degenerate Art’ in Munich, Germany. The artists whose works are on display include Kandinsky, Picasso, Chagall, van Gogh, Beckmann, and Matisse. Nearby, the authorities endorse an exhibition of approved art, German and very traditional in style.
1938	France	The French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson takes Sunday, Bank of the Marne.
1941	USA	The US photographer Ansel Adams takes Moonrise, Hernandez.
1942	USA	The US photographer Gordon Parks takes American Gothic, Washington, DC.
1945	USA	The Polish-born US photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt takes The Kiss (V-J Day).
1951	France	The French photographer Robert Doisneau takes Down and Out in Paris.
1953	France	The French artist Henri Matisse creates his collage The Snail.
1956	UK	The English artist Richard Hamilton creates the collage What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?, one of the first works of British Pop Art.
1959	USA	The US artist Robert Rauschenberg creates Monogram, a multimedia work (which he calls a ‘combine-painting’) that includes a stuffed goat wearing an automobile tyre. It becomes one of the most distinctive images of the 1960s.
1959	USA	The US artist Allan Kaprow creates his first ‘happening’ – 18 Happenings in 6 Parts – in the Reuben Gallery in New York City. Typical of US art in the 1960s and 1970s, happenings combine visual arts, music, and improvised theatre, and often encourage audience participation.
1966	USA	The US photographer Diane Arbus takes A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West Twentieth Street, New York City.
1976	USA	The Bulgarian-born artist Christo (Javacheff) creates Running Fence, 40 km of fabric stretched across a valley in California.
1982	USA	The US artist Jenny Holzer creates Times Square, in which a series of messages are flashed across a Spectacolour board in Times Square, New York City. The messages become known as Holzerisms and include ‘Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise’ and ‘A Little Knowledge Can Go a Long Way’.
1992	England	The English artist Damian Hirst creates The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde.
October 2000	England	A drawing by Michelangelo depicting a heavily draped woman is found at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, England, during a routine insurance valuation by an expert from Sotheby's. It is valued at up to £8 million.