Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition: Art

Art

Noun

1. The products of human creativity; works of art collectively; "an art exhibition"; "a fine collection of art".

2. The creation of beautiful or significant things; "a good example of modern art": "I was never any good at art".

3. A superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation; "the art of conversation"; "it's quite an art".

4. Photographs or other visual representations in a printed publication; "the publisher was responsible for all the artwork in the book".

Art:

1: skill acquired by experience, study, or observation art of making friends>
2 a: a branch of learning: (1): one of the humanities (2)plural : liberal arts barchaic : learning , scholarship
3: an occupation requiring knowledge or skill art of organ building>
4 a: the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects ; also : works so produced b (1): fine arts (2): one of the fine arts (3): a graphic art
5 aarchaic : a skillful plan b: the quality or state of being artful
6: decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter

synonyms art , skill , cunning , artifice , craft mean the faculty of executing well what one has devised. art implies a personal, unanalyzable creative power art of choosing the right word>. skill stresses technical knowledge and proficiency skill of a glassblower>. cunning suggests ingenuity and subtlety in devising, inventing, or executing cunning>. artifice suggests technical skill especially in imitating things in nature artifice>. craft may imply expertness in workmanship craft of a master goldsmith>.

Oxford Dictionaries

Art:
• noun
1 the expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture.
2 the product of such a process; paintings, drawings, and sculpture collectively.
3 (the arts) the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, and drama.
4 (arts) subjects of study primarily concerned with human culture (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects).
5 a skill: the art of conversation.


Quotations:

1. Benjamin Constant
Art for art's sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art. But art achieves a purpose which is not its own.
Benjamin Constant 1767-1834: Journal intime 11 February 1804

2. W. H. Auden
Art is born of humiliation.
W. H. Auden 1907-73: in Stephen Spender World Within World (1951)

3. Georges Braque
Art is meant to disturb, science reassures.
Georges Braque 1882-1963: Le Jour et la nuit: Cahiers 1917-52

4. Samuel Butler
The history of art is the history of revivals.
Samuel Butler 1835-1902: Notebooks (1912)

5. Edgar Degas
Art is vice. You don't marry it legitimately, you rape it.
Edgar Degas 1834-1917: in P. Lafond Degas (1918)

6. Edward Elgar
I always said God was against art and I still believe it.
Edward Elgar 1857-1934: letter to A. J. Jaeger, 9 October 1900

7. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
In art the best is good enough.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832: Italienische Reise (1816-17) 3 March 1787

8. John Grierson
Art is not a mirror but a hammer.
John Grierson 1888-1972: H. Forsyth Hardy (ed.) Grierson on Documentary (1946, 1966)

9. Hippocrates
Life is short, the art long.
Hippocrates c460-357 bc: Aphorisms, often quoted as 'Ars longa, vita brevis', after Seneca De Brevitate Vitae

10. Damien Hirst
It's amazing what you can do with an E in A-level art, twisted imagination and a chainsaw.
Damien Hirst 1965- : after winning the 1995 Turner Prize; in Observer 3 December 1995

11. Henry James
We work in the dark---we do what we can---we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
Henry James 1843-1916: 'The Middle Years' (1893)

12. Rudyard Kipling

It's clever, but is it Art?
Rudyard Kipling 1865-1936: 'The Conundrum of the Workshops' (1892)

13. Lord Melbourne
God help the Minister that meddles with art!
Lord Melbourne 1779-1848: in Lord David Cecil Lord M (1954)

14. Brian Sewell
I don't know what art is, but I do know what it isn't.
Brian Sewell: in Independent 26 April 1999

15. George Bernard Shaw
The true artist will let his wife starve, his children go barefoot, his mother drudge for his living at seventy, sooner than work at anything but his art.
George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950: Man and Superman (1903)

16. Montaigne
Mon métier et mon art c'est vivre.Living is my job and my art.
Montaigne 1533-92: Essais (1580)

17. J. A. D. Ingres
Le dessin est la probité de l'art.Drawing is the true test of art.
J. A. D. Ingres 1780-1867: Pensées d'Ingres (1922)

18. Alexander Pope

Ev'n copious Dryden, wanted, or forgot,
The last and greatest art, the art to blot.
Alexander Pope 1688-1744: Imitations of Horace (1737)

19. Matthew Arnold

Others abide our question. Thou art free.
We ask and ask: Thou smilest and art still,
Out-topping knowledge.
Matthew Arnold 1822-88: 'Shakespeare' (1849)

20. Donald Trump
Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.
Donald Trump 1946- : Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz The Art of the Deal (1987)

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Art:
noun
1 [U] the making of objects, images, music, etc. that are beautiful or that express feelings:
Can television and pop music really be considered art?
I enjoyed the ballet, but it wasn't really great art.

2 [U] the activity of painting, drawing and making sculpture:
Art and English were my best subjects at school.
an art teacher

3 [U] paintings, drawings and sculptures:
The gallery has an excellent collection of modern art.
an exhibition of Native American art
Peggy Guggenheim was one of the twentieth century's great art collectors.
The Frick is an art gallery in New York.

4 [C] an activity through which people express particular ideas:
Drama is an art that is traditionally performed in a theatre.
Do you regard film as entertainment or as an art?
She is doing a course in the performing arts.

5 [C] a skill or special ability:
the art of conversation
Getting him to go out is quite an art (= needs special skill).

Ringsurf

Arts – Impossible to define?
Arts is such a broad topic that it would be impossible to go with just a single definition. According to one of the definitions arts can be defined as: ”Studies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills); college of arts and sciences’”. According to another definition: ”he arts include the visual arts, literature (written and oral), music, and theater arts.” Another way to try to define ”arts” would be to say that arts are anything that stems from human’s creative side.
Any body of work that expresses feelings, symbolizes certain emotions such as love or hate or jealousy, as well as works that show something that would be impossible to express through mathematical formulas or originated in a beaker could be considered a part of arts, as well. Art itself is sometimes described as object(s) of work that can be found in institutions associated with arts such as museums, galleries, theatres, dance stage… libraries. Many people (artists) believe their creative side comes from something that can’t be explained – it disputes logic and it seems to have no reason for its existence – creative skills are rarely a consequence of a genetic makeup or a reason of educational training. The facts are simple: you can teach some people to draw or pound out piano keys to imitate art but you can’t teach anybody talent. Talent is perhaps what separates skill from actual art but lots of people will argue that it is impossible to define talent as well, and that someone may have talent but won’t act upon it in a way that would take full advantage of such gift. There’s one interesting definition of artistic ability, that sums it up interestingly: ”[Talent] is an ability expressed by the Metaconscious mind, comprising mastery by the Self. With further study and practice, this ability becomes anchored in the Superconscious mind, where it can directly express the ensouling entity. This deeper development of ability is referred to as a gift, genius, a spiritual power or siddhi.” Even though this definition is not necessarily relevant or understand to a majority of people, there’s something to it, namely, its puzzling explanation in itself captures quite well what talent is and what purpose (or no purpose?) it serves as the essence of arts. But going back to the concept of arts itself and the impossibility to pinpoint exactly what that concept means: it is perhaps a little like what lots of people refer to as ”subconscious” – it comes from somewhere within ourselves but perhaps from outside of ourselves – we don’t really understand well what it means. So here’s what we know for sure: There’s no common agreement about arts mean exactly. A one successful argument, however, says that arts communicate on different levels and are open to a number of interpretations. If a person remembers a particular work of art – be it a book, a dance, a painting, a musical piece – and returns – in their mind or otherwise – to it frequently, than that same work of art may communicate varied ways of its meaning, endlessly. It has served its purpose whatever that purpose was. Great art pieces are said to be able to communicate with people across different cultures and be able to stand the test of time, which is could be the ultimate test for any of the arts and their (mystical?) purpose.

Dictionary.com

Art:
–noun

1.	the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

2.	the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.

3.	a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.

4.	the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.

5.	any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.

6.	(in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?

7.	the principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning: the art of baking; the art of selling.

8.	the craft or trade using these principles or methods.

9.	skill in conducting any human activity: a master at the art of conversation.

10.	a branch of learning or university study, esp. one of the fine arts or the humanities, as music, philosophy, or literature.

11.	arts, a. (used with a singular verb) the humanities: a college of arts and sciences. b. (used with a plural verb) liberal arts.

12.	skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature.

13.	trickery; cunning: glib and devious art.

14.	studied action; artificiality in behavior.

15.	an artifice or artful device: the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.

16.	Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.

n.

1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.
2. 1. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.
   2. The study of these activities.
   3. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a group.
   4. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building.
   5. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the art of the lexicographer.
   6. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.
   7. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).
   8. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.
   9. Artful contrivance; cunning.
3. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value.
4. A field or category of art, such as music, ballet, or literature.
5. A nonscientific branch of learning; one of the liberal arts.
6. 1. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building.
   2. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the art of the lexicographer.
   3. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.
   4. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).
   5. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.
   6. Artful contrivance; cunning.
7. 1. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.
   2. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice" (Joyce Carol Oates).
   3. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.
   4. Artful contrivance; cunning.
8. 1. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.
   2. Artful contrivance; cunning.
9. Printing Illustrative material.

Art

Art\ ([aum]rt), n. [F. art, L. ars, artis, orig., skill in joining or fitting; prob. akin to E. arm, aristocrat, article.]
1. The employment of means to accomplish some desired end; the adaptation of things in the natural world to the uses of life; the application of knowledge or power to practical purposes. Blest with each grace of nature and of art. --Pope.
2. A system of rules serving to facilitate the performance of certain actions; a system of principles and rules for attaining a desired end; method of doing well some special work; -- often contradistinguished from science or speculative principles; as, the art of building or engraving; the art of war; the art of navigation. Science is systematized knowledge . . . Art is knowledge made efficient by skill. --J. F. Genung.
3. The systematic application of knowledge or skill in effecting a desired result. Also, an occupation or business requiring such knowledge or skill. The fishermen can't employ their art with so much success in so troubled a sea. --Addison.
4. The application of skill to the production of the beautiful by imitation or design, or an occupation in which skill is so employed, as in painting and sculpture; one of the fine arts; as, he prefers art to literature.
5. pl. Those branches of learning which are taught in the academical course of colleges; as, master of arts. In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts. --Pope. Four years spent in the arts (as they are called in colleges) is, perhaps, laying too laborious a foundation. --Goldsmith.
6. Learning; study; applied knowledge, science, or letters. [Archaic] So vast is art, so narrow human wit. --Pope.
7. Skill, dexterity, or the power of performing certain actions, acquired by experience, study, or observation; knack; as, a man has the art of managing his business to advantage.
8. Skillful plan; device. They employed every art to soothe . . . the discontented warriors. --Macaulay.
9. Cunning; artifice; craft. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. --Shak. Animals practice art when opposed to their superiors in strength. --Crabb.
10. The black art; magic. [Obs.] --Shak.

Note: The arts are divided into various classes.
The useful, mechanical, or industrial arts are those in which the hands and body are more concerned than the mind; as in making clothes and utensils. These are called trades.
The fine arts are those which have primarily to do with imagination and taste, and are applied to the production of what is beautiful. They include poetry, music, painting, engraving, sculpture, and architecture; but the term is often confined to painting, sculpture, and architecture.
The liberal arts (artes liberales, the higher arts, which, among the Romans, only freemen were permitted to pursue) were, in the Middle Ages, these seven branches of learning, -- grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. In modern times the liberal arts include the sciences, philosophy, history, etc., which compose the course of academical or collegiate education. Hence, degrees in the arts; master and bachelor of arts.
In America, literature and the elegant arts must grow up side by side with the coarser plants of daily necessity. --Irving.
Syn: Science; literature; aptitude; readiness; skill; dexterity; adroitness; contrivance; profession; business; trade; calling; cunning; artifice; duplicity. See Science.

Hong Kong billionaire buys Andy Warhol's Mao

Hong Kong billionaire buys Andy Warhol's Mao

A Hong Kong real estate tycoon named Joseph Lau (刘銮雄) bought Andy Warhol's portrait of Mao Zedong for 17.4 million dollars at an auction in New York. From an AFP report:

Self-made billionaire Joseph Lau, who holds a majority stake in Chinese Estates Holdings, was named by Christie's as the buyer of "Mao", a 1972 work featuring the late Chinese leader in familiar pose against a pale blue background.

The flamboyant playboy socialite, 54, has a fortune estimated by Forbes this year of 1.7 billion US dollars.

Xinhua has not reported the sale. However Mop.com has published a summary of a report in Chinese language Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao (大公报) about the sale, together with a photo of the art work (screenshot above). The report is credited to China News (中国新闻社 or 中新社), the state-owned little brother to Xinhua News Agency.

Ta Kung Pao (formerly L'Impartial) is a Hong Kong newspaper that has been published for more 100 years. Since 1949, the PRC government has funded it.

Links and Sources

• AFP report on Yahoo: Hong Kong billionaire pays record price for Warhol's Mao
• Mop.com (Chinese): Hong Kong real estate tycoon buys Mao portrait for 130 million HK dollars
• China News: English website, Chinese website

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol
American, 1930-1987
Mao, 1973 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 448.3 x 346.7 cm Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Prize Fund, and Wilson L. Mead Fund, 1974.230

For Andy Warhol, the most influential of the Pop artists, the direct application of pigment to canvas was outmoded and limiting. Early in his career, he began to utilize the silkscreen process to transfer photographed images to canvas. Warhol used this process throughout the 1960s to reproduce multiple portraits of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Jacqueline Kennedy. At the same time, he duplicated images of mass-produced commercial products, such as Campbell's soup cans and Brillo boxes, suggesting that the media marketed celebrities just like products.

Mao is one of a series of silkscreened portraits of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) that Warhol produced in 1973. Nearly 15 feet tall, this towering image mirrors representations that were displayed throughout China during and after the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Warhol was undoubtedly drawn to this subject because of the media’s attention to the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. His irreverent attitude toward China’s totalitarian propaganda is apparent on the surface of the painting. Flamboyant brushstrokes compete with the photographic image, forming color splashes on Mao’s clothing. Red rouge and blue eye shadow resemble graffiti. These details can be interpreted as commentary on the resemblance of Communist propaganda to capitalist advertising media.

Originally a British movement of the late 1950s, Pop Art interpreted images from consumer culture with black humor, irony, and criticism. In its American form, Pop Art presented less harsh images, adapting sources such as comic strips, commercial products, and publicity photos. This deliberate departure from the gestural style of Abstract Expressionism shocked the art world in the early 1960s.




Exhibition view, Mao Wallpaper, Andy Warhol, Musée Galliera, Paris, 1974
Photograph by Jacqueline Hyde
The Art Institute’s Mao was first exhibited in Paris in 1974 with three other 15-foot canvases and many other, smaller Mao paintings. The gallery walls were covered with Mao Wallpaper, specially designed for the installation.