The Meaning of Art

The Meaning of Art: The Progression of the Definition

Outline

I. Introduction - Thesis statement

II. Early Art

III. Religion and Art

IV. Africa and Art

V. Modern Art

VI. Conclusion

The definition of art has shifted and changed over time and across cultures. The purpose of this research paper is to discover if the definition of art has actually changed by looking at certain artists, fundamental differences in styles, and the intent of art over its history. Many aspects of art come into play when determining the answer to this question. It’s certainly a topic that must begin at the earliest known origin and move forward chronologically so that these three main issues can be examined from each of the periods of influence of art. I’ll begin in a cave...

My initial thoughts on art were that it could be just about anything, man made or made by nature, and that it was all about the viewer. I thought it was about what was in the mind of the person looking at the piece. I thought that everything takes some artistic level to create and that if someone stops to appreciate an item, it is seen as art. After this class and some research it has dawned on me that it is so much more.

According to the Mark Getlein and his book Living with Art, there are six criteria that artists fulfill. They create places for human purpose, they create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects, they record and commemorate, they give tangible form to the unknown, they give tangible form to feelings and ideas, and they refresh our vision and help us see the world in new ways. The online version of the Stanford dictionary goes so far as to define art in a traditional, contemporary, historical sense and on and on. “The traditional version states that art can be characterized by a single property. The standard candidates are representational properties, expressive properties, and formal properties. So there are representational or mimetic definitions, expressive definitions,...