Fine art
Fine art refers to arts that are "concerned with
beauty or which appealed to
taste" (SOED 1991). The term was first attested in
1767, as a translation from the French term
beaux arts and designates a limited number of
visual art forms, including
painting,
sculpture, and
printmaking. Schools, institutes, and other organizations still use the term to indicate a traditional perspective on the visual arts, often implying an association with classic or
academic art.
The word "fine" does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline. This definition tends to exclude visual art forms that could be considered
craftwork or
applied art, such as
textiles. The more recent term
visual arts is widely considered to be a more inclusive and descriptive phrase for today's variety of current art practices, and for the multitude of mediums in which high art is now more widely recognized to occur. Ultimately, the term
fine in 'fine art' comes from the concept of
Final Cause, or purpose, or end, in the
philosophy of
Aristotle. The Final Cause of fine art is the art object itself; it is not a means to another end except perhaps to please those who behold it.
The term is still often used outside of the arts to denote when someone has perfected an activity to a very high level of skill. For example, one might say that "
Pelé took
football to the level of a
fine art."
That fine art is seen as being distinct from
applied arts is largely the result of an issue raised in Britain by the conflict between the followers of the
Arts and Crafts Movement, including
William Morris, and the early
modernists, including
Virginia Woolf and the
Bloomsbury Group. The former sought to bring socialist principles to bear on the arts by including the more commonplace crafts of the masses within the realm of the arts, while the
modernists sought to keep artistic endeavour exclusive, esoteric, and
elitist.
An academic course of study in fine art may include a
Master of Fine Arts degree. In academia any degree may be pursued yet, no degree is necessary to be an artist, or specialist, and certainly is not a solid indicator of future talent or success. Many MFAs are not able to make a living from their own artwork and pursue careers in art other than being an artist.
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Architecture*
Ceramics*
Dance*
Drawing *
Film*
Fine art photography*
Furniture*
Intermedia (interdisciplinary, traditionally referred to as Fine Art Media)
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Music &
Opera*
Painting*
Poetry*
Printmaking*
Sculpture*
Theatre*
Contemporary art*
Aesthetics*
Art*
Visual arts*
lowbrow (art movement)*
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art History Timeline*
Art.Net Features Fine Art of living artists.
