Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (of...
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.

It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, an...
It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings.

The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as...
The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics, whereas disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and psychology analyze its relationship with humans and generations.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mas...
Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery.

This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came...
This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".

Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts...
Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.

Britannica Online defines art as "the use of skill and imaginatio...
Britannica Online defines art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.

" By this definition of the word, artistic works have existed for...
" By this definition of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theories restrict the concept to modern Western societies.

The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained ...
The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft.

" A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include art...
" A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, medical arts, and military arts.

However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all wi...
However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

Artistic works may serve practical functions, in addition to thei...
Artistic works may serve practical functions, in addition to their decorative value.

The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbrevi...
The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art and emerged in the early 17th century.

Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist's...
Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist's creativity, or to engage the audience's aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of the finer things.

A second nature, according to his ideal of a style that be founde...
A second nature, according to his ideal of a style that be founded on the very basic fundaments of insight and on the innermost character of things.

The word art can describe several things: a study of creative ski...
The word art can describe several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience's experience with the creative skill.

The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of discipl...
The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of disciplines (arts) that produce artworks (art as objects) that are compelled by a personal drive (art as activity) and echo or reflect a message, mood, or symbolism for the viewer to interpret (art as experience).

Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative interpretations o...
Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative interpretations of limitless concepts or ideas in order to communicate something to another person.

They can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on th...
They can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on the basis of images or objects.

Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotio...
Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses.

It is also an expression of an idea and it can take many differen...
It is also an expression of an idea and it can take many different forms and serve many different purposes.

Although the application of scientific knowledge to derive a new ...
Although the application of scientific knowledge to derive a new scientific theory involves skill and results in the "creation" of something new, this represents science only and is not categorized as art.

Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, p...
Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people will consider it a craft instead of art.

Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industria...
Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it will be considered commercial art instead of fine art.

On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered app...
On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art.

Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine a...
Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitional difference.

However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and...
However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression.

The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as ...
The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically, spiritually, or philosophically motivated art; to create a sense of beauty (see aesthetics); to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions.

Sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings, and petroglyphs from ...
Sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings, and petroglyphs from the Upper Paleolithic dating to roughly 40,000 years ago have been found, but the precise meaning of such art is often disputed because so little is known about the cultures that produced them.

The oldest art objects in the world—a series of tiny, drilled sna...
The oldest art objects in the world—a series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000 years old—were discovered in a South African cave.

Containers that may have been used to hold paints have been found...
Containers that may have been used to hold paints have been found dating as far back as 100,000 years.

Cave painting of a horse from the Lascaux caves, circa 16,000 BP ...
Cave painting of a horse from the Lascaux caves, circa 16,000 BP Many great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the great ancient civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, Ancient Greece, Rome, as well as Inca, Maya, and Olmec.

Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique an...
Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in its art.

Because of the size and duration of these civilizations, more of ...
Because of the size and duration of these civilizations, more of their art works have survived and more of their influence has been transmitted to other cultures and later times.

Some also have provided the first records of how artists worked....
Some also have provided the first records of how artists worked.

For example, this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the hum...
For example, this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty, and anatomically correct proportions.

In Byzantine and Medieval art of the Western Middle Ages, much ar...
In Byzantine and Medieval art of the Western Middle Ages, much art focused on the expression of Biblical and religious truths, and used styles that showed the higher glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in the background of paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned (flat) forms.

Nevertheless a classical realist tradition persisted in small Byz...
Nevertheless a classical realist tradition persisted in small Byzantine works, and realism steadily grew in the art of Catholic Europe.

Renaissance art had a greatly increased emphasis on the realistic...
Renaissance art had a greatly increased emphasis on the realistic depiction of the material world, and the place of humans in it, reflected in the corporeality of the human body, and development of a systematic method of graphical perspective to depict recession in a three-dimensional picture space.

The stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire ...
The stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was written in Arabic calligraphy.

It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious....
It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also called the Mosque of Uqba) is ...
The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also called the Mosque of Uqba) is one of the finest, most significant and best preserved artistic and architectural examples of early great mosques; dated in its present state from the 9th century, it is the ancestor and model of all the mosques in the western Islamic lands.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is located in the city of Kairouan i...
The Great Mosque of Kairouan is located in the city of Kairouan in Tunisia.

In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphas...
In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphasis on geometric patterns, calligraphy, and architecture.

India and Tibet saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance, whi...
India and Tibet saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance, while religious painting borrowed many conventions from sculpture and tended to bright contrasting colors with emphasis on outlines.

China saw the flourishing of many art forms: jade carving, bronze...
China saw the flourishing of many art forms: jade carving, bronzework, pottery (including the stunning terracotta army of Emperor Qin), poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, drama, fiction, etc.