Definition of Art

Taylor L. Fritz

Ms. Brooke

ENG 110

27 September 2017

Definition of Art

Art is never going to have a concrete definition. The full meaning, substance, and purpose of art is determined by the artist and audience. How an artist conveys the emotion or message and in translation how the audience perceives and connects to the work is the true definition of art.  When an artist is able to use his knowledge of personal experience and emotion to portray a message that an audience can connect to, the full potential of art is reached. Controversy always arises when art is involved merely because art is perceived differently by every person. One thing that is constant across all critics, artists, and audiences is that idea that art is an expression of emotion meant for the movement of an audience. As described by critics and artists alike, art is the single thing which collectively connects to a broad group of individuals and works to bring them together emotionally and physically.  

Art has many subcategories. Music, sculptures, paintings, dances, poems and photographs are all examples of art. While they differ in their presentation, the dedication to the movement of an audience is apparent in every form. Poems in particular are interesting in their presentation as they usually must be deciphered and interpreted past just the words and into the internal meaning. Because of this poems go through a lot of judgment to determine if they are in fact art. Due to the fact that it moves people to an emotion or state of thought, it is considered an art. As described by William Wordsworth, “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…” (Wordsworth, 357). His definition of a validated work of art involves the idea that feeling and emotion is conveyed. He states that in order for the piece to be considered good, it must express an emotion and feeling to the audience. Poetry may need a very in depth analysis to fully understand its meaning but it is the foundation fact that emotion must be present to be accepted in the art community.

In fine art the correlation to emotion is again very apparent. Canaday states, “…we are not going to arrive at any single answer to the question [what is art?]…” (Canaday, 1). His outright statement suggesting the varying definition of art is a motivator that it depends on the elaboration of emotion. He proceeds to state, “The function of art is to clarify, intensify, or otherwise enlarge our experience of life.” (Canaday, 3). In this statement he poses the idea that art is meant to move an audience emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  He is suggesting that interpretation of a piece will invoke a situation, emotion, or memory that will instill into the audience a remembrance and validation. Ultimately, the goal of the artist is not to only convey their attitudes and emotions but connect to the audience on a level of pathos.  

In an excerpt from the American Magazine of Art, Tack insinuates that the definition of art will always be questioned. There will never be a concrete definition which will categorize all things and determine what is in fact art and what is not. Tack states, “[looking at art] is pleasure of the mind and pleasure of the sense of seeing.” (Tack, 576). In this quote he is suggesting art is present for the emotion and pleasure of the reviewer or audience. He states that art is defined by its beauty and beauty is defined by the person viewing it.  Beauty is the single term that is completely dependent on the viewer and has almost no categorization for right and wrong. No person can define another’s definition of beauty; instead it is the sole responsibility of the viewer to determine what emotion it evokes. Art is a catalyst for emotion retrieval, when the audience looks at it they are able to feel things. For this reason, art definition may be a broad term but it is a term that is always related to emotion.