Visual Arts
These are the arts that meet the eye and evoke an emotion through an expression of skill and imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing, and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art, the latter a combination of multiple creative expressions. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different eras in art history have had their own principles to define beauty, from the richly ornamented taste of the Baroque to the simple, utilitarian style of the Prairie School.
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Featured content, April 21, 2021
Street Photography: How a Single Camera Brought About a Genre
The invention of the Leica camera allowed photographers to move through the streets and capture moments that come and go...
Companion / Visual Arts

The Most Stolen Work of Art
Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece has been stolen by Napoleon and Hitler, among others.
#WTFact / Visual Arts

10 Classical Music Composers to Know
Who are the most essential classical music composers to know?
List / Visual Arts

Baroque art and architecture
Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Early Netherlandish art
Early Netherlandish art, sculpture, painting, architecture, and other visual arts created in the several domains that in...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Abstract art
Abstract art, painting, sculpture, or graphic art in which the portrayal of things from the visible world plays little or...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Outsider art
Outsider art, any work of art produced by an untrained idiosyncratic artist who is typically unconnected to the conventional...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts
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Visual Arts Subcategories

Architecture is a sphere of art and design in which functionality and aesthetics can combine to produce visually stunning structures that manage to both catch the eye and serve a functional purpose. The expansive variety of architectural styles that have been employed throughout the ages underscores the fact that not every building need look the same, a principle that is readily apparent when comparing Gothic cathedrals with igloos or pagodas with cliff dwellings. Noted architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei, Zaha Hadid, and Jeanne Gang are acclaimed not only for the striking aesthetics of their designs but also for the way in which their work reflected cultural themes and values. Although architecture is commonly associated first and foremost with the design and construction of buildings, landscape architects may work with gardens, parks, and other planned outdoor areas, aiding in the development and decorative planning of such spaces.
Articles
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Le Corbusier
Swiss architect
- African architecture
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Vesnin brothers
Russian architects

Awards such as the Praemium Imperiale and the Pritzker Prize honor artists for a job well done.
Articles
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Bollingen Prize
American literature prize
- Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
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Turner Prize
British arts award

People appreciate the usefulness of things like glassware and furniture, but they appreciate such objects even more when they’re aesthetically pleasing, too. That’s where decorative art comes in. Explore the world of basketry, metalwork, pottery, interior design, tapestry, and more.
Articles

Looking to make a statement without even saying a word? Fashion designers know that clothing and accessories can speak volumes about the wearer, affecting both how the wearer is perceived by others and how the wearer perceives of him- or herself. The fashion industry has become a multibillion-dollar global enterprise devoted to the business of making and selling clothes; it thrives by being diverse and flexible enough to gratify any consumer's desire to embrace or even to reject fashionability, however that term might be defined.
Articles
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Hubert de Givenchy
French fashion designer
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Jean Paul Gaultier
French fashion designer
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Marc Jacobs
American fashion designer

Calligraphy, graffiti, engraving, caricature: graphic art's domain stretches as far as the eye can see. Take a look at some of the other types of graphic art, and learn more about the artists working within this category of fine arts.
Articles
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Tintoretto
Italian painter
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Drafting
graphics
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Drawing
art

Learn about the artists who create installation art, which can incorporate a variety of different materials and artistic forms, such as sculptures, videos, and music, all with the purpose of transforming a given space. Performance artists may also make use of videos and music—as well as such varied elements as acting, poetry, dance, and painting—to create a live presentation for an audience; here, the "audience" could simply consist of onlookers on the street or patrons browsing the halls of a museum, among countless other possibilities.
Articles
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James Turrell
American artist
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Ai Weiwei
Chinese activist and artist
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Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Thai film director

Need help distinguishing your Picassos from your Monets? Learn about history’s celebrated painters and the different styles, techniques, mediums, and forms that have been used to create such unique visual images as Salvador Dalí’s melting clock and the ever-shifting eyes of Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic Mona Lisa.
Articles
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Bohemian school
visual arts
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Expressionism
artistic style
- Tempera painting

Photography’s history began long before we were snapping pictures on camera phones. Learn about the masters of the craft and explore the development of photographic technology as it progressed through daguerreotypes and tintypes on the way to modern day’s increasingly sophisticated digital cameras.
Articles
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Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher
German photographers
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John Heartfield
German artist
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Walker Evans
American photographer

Looking to find a use for that extra clay, stone, plaster, or metal that you have lying around? Consider sculpture, in which artists employ these materials and others to create three-dimensional art. Perhaps you’ll join the ranks of noted sculptors such as Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, and Donatello.
Articles
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Constantin Brancusi
Romanian-French sculptor
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Donatello
Italian sculptor
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Joseph Cornell
American sculptor and filmmaker