Artistic Categories
This article discusses the general categories of art. Note the conditions that define each category and how we distinguish them from each other.
Visual arts are generally divided into categories that make distinctions based on the context of the work. For example, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa would not fall into the same category as, say, a graphic poster for a rock concert. Some artworks can be placed in more than one category. Here are the main categories:
Fine Art
This category includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs,
and, in the last decade, new media that are in museum collections and
sold through commercial art galleries. Fine art has the distinction of
being some of the finest examples of our human
artistic heritage. Here is where you will find Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, ancient sculptures, such as the Gandhara Buddha from India, and stunning ceramics from different cultures and periods.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503-19. Oil on poplar. 30". The Louvre, Paris
Gandhara Buddha, India
Popular Art (Pop Art)
This category contains the many products and images we are exposed to every day. In the industrialized world, this includes posters, graffiti, advertising, popular music, television and digital imagery, magazines, books, and movies (as distinguished from film, which we will examine in a different context later in the course). Also included are cars, celebrity status, and all the ideas and attitudes that help define the contemporary period of a particular culture.
Handbills posted on telephone poles or the sides of buildings are
graphic, colorful, and informative. Still, they also provide a street-level
texture to the urban environment most of us live in. Public murals serve
this same function. They put an aesthetic
stamp on an otherwise bland and industrialized landscape.
Street handbills
Public Mural, Seattle
Decorative Arts
Sometimes called "craft", this is a category of art that shows a high
degree of skilled workmanship in its production. Such works are
normally associated with utilitarian purposes but can be aesthetic
works in themselves. Handmade furniture and glassware,
fine metalworking, and leather goods are other examples of decorative
arts.
Ceramic bowl, Mexico, date unknown, painted clay. Anahuacalli Museum, Mexico City
Saylor Academy Knowledge Check
Source: Christopher Gildow, http://opencourselibrary.org/art-100-art-appreciation/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.