Art Appreciation: Defining Art

What is that we call Art, as in the visual arts? Is every painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph a true work of art? Obviously, that is not the case. However, the definition of art seems to be very personal to many and there is much disagreement about it. What is art for one is not art for another. It is said that art is in the eye of the beholder, as it is said of beauty. But is art always beautiful? Some great pieces are far from beautiful except in the conceptualization and creation of the piece itself. Some are considered expressions of genius, intellect and powerful ideas, rather than beauty.

It has been said that Art cannot be defined; however, here is my attempt to do it. Depending on your point of view, art is:

1. The artist’s act of producing works of art, using great skill, imagination, and personal technique, to communicate to viewers certain images or sculptures of ideas or real people, places, or things, including the artist’s emotional reaction to those ideas, people, places or things, through sculpting in clay or stone, or drawing or painting on paper, canvas or some structure that resists the passage of time.
2. The actual products (works of art, for example, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures) produced by an artist for the purposes described above.
3. Unusual attention to detail and expression, as in the art of communication.

The key to defining art is communication. Although art is not always beautiful, to be art it must communicate something to the viewer. It could be communicating beauty, as in delicate watercolors and flowers, as is often the case. Or, it could be communicating the horror of war, as in a dramatic black and white photograph, or the majesty of a king or queen, as in an oil portrait, or an idea that is out of this world, as in surrealism. It should leave the viewer with the feeling that he has just glimpsed into the artist’s world: what the artist was thinking and feeling at the time he produced the artwork.

Many articles have been written claiming that art defies definition. They are mostly talking about the sense of art. The meaning of art defies definition because it is personal to each of us. We can all look at the same piece of art and draw very different conclusions from it as to what the artist was trying to convey. We can spend hours discussing these differences and, in fact, that is precisely what stimulates our interest in art. This is what art appreciation is all about: how to assess the meaning of the artworks we see. We want to know what others think of that painting or that photograph or that sculpture. What do you think the artist meant? Have we drawn the same conclusions? If not, why not? This is why we often think of artwork as conversation starters.

I hope I have helped some of you define art and debunk the idea that Art cannot be defined. It is defined here and in every dictionary known to man! Is he sense of art that cannot be defined.