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Fine art
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{{Short description|Art developed primarily for aesthetics}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} [[File:Rembrandt Self-portrait (Kenwood).jpg|thumb|250px|''[[Self-Portrait with Two Circles]]'' by [[Rembrandt]], c.1665β1669. [[Kenwood House]], London]] [[File:Jan Vermeer - The Art of Painting - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[The Art of Painting]]''; by [[Johannes Vermeer]]; 1666β1668; oil on canvas; 1.3 Γ 1.1 m; [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] ([[Vienna]], [[Austria]])]] [[File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel (Vienna) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|'' [[The Tower of Babel (Bruegel)|The Tower of Babel]]''; by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]]; 1563; oil on panel: 1.14 Γ 1.55 m; Kunsthistorisches Museum]] In European academic traditions, '''fine art''' (or, '''fine arts''') is made primarily for [[aesthetics]] or [[creativity|creative expression]], distinguishing it from [[popular art]], [[decorative art]] or [[applied art]], which also either serve some practical function (such as [[pottery]] or most metalwork) or is generally of limited artistic quality in order to appeal to the masses. In the aesthetic theories developed in the [[Italian Renaissance]], the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fine Art: Definition, Meaning, History |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/fine-art.htm |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=www.visual-arts-cork.com}}</ref> unrestricted by any of the practical considerations involved in, say, making and decorating a [[teapot]]. It was also considered important that making the artwork did not involve dividing the work between different individuals with specialized skills, as might be necessary with a piece of furniture, for example.<ref>Blunt, 48β55</ref> Even within the fine arts, there was a [[hierarchy of genres]] based on the amount of creative imagination required, with [[history painting]] placed higher than [[still life]]. Historically, the five main fine arts were [[painting]], [[sculpture]], [[architecture]], [[music]], and [[poetry]]. Other "minor or subsidiary arts" were also included, especially performing arts such as [[theatre]] and [[dance]], which were counted as "among the most ancient and universal."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Fine Arts |volume= 10 |last= Colvin |first= Sidney |author-link= Sidney Colvin | pages = 355–375 }}</ref> In practice, outside education, the concept is typically only applied to the [[visual arts]]. The [[old master print]] and [[drawing]] were included as related forms to painting, just as prose forms of literature were to poetry. Today, the range of what would be considered fine arts (in so far as the term remains in use) is commonly includes additional modern forms, such as [[film]], [[photography]], and [[video production]]/[[Video editing|editing]], as well as traditional forms made in a fine art setting, such as [[studio pottery]] and [[studio glass]], with equivalents in other materials. One definition of ''fine art'' is "a visual art considered to have been created primarily for [[aesthetic]] and intellectual purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fine+art |title=Fine art |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref> In that sense, there are conceptual differences between the fine arts and the decorative arts or applied arts (these two terms covering largely the same media). As far as the consumer of the art was concerned, the perception of aesthetic qualities required a refined judgment usually referred to as having good [[taste (sociology)|taste]], which differentiated fine art from popular art and entertainment.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aesthetic-judgment/ |title=Aesthetic Judgment |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=22 July 2010}}</ref> [[File:Gustave Caillebotte - Paris Street; Rainy Day - Google Art Project.jpg|250px|thumb|''[[Paris Street; Rainy Day]]''; by [[Gustave Caillebotte]]; 1877; oil on canvas; 2.12 Γ 2.76 m; [[Art Institute of Chicago]] (US)]] The word "fine" does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline according to traditional European canons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=CLOWNEY |first=DAVID |date=2011 |title=Definitions of Art and Fine Art's Historical Origins |journal=The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=309β320 |issn=0021-8529 |jstor=23883666 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6245.2011.01474.x}}</ref> Except in the case of architecture, where a practical utility was accepted, this definition originally excluded the "useful" applied or decorative arts, and the products of what were regarded as [[craft]]s. In contemporary practice, these distinctions and restrictions have become essentially meaningless, as the concept or intention of the artist is given primacy, regardless of the means through which it is expressed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maraffi |first=Topher |title=Using New Media for Practice-based Fine Arts Research in the Classroom |url=https://www.uscb.edu/academics/academic_departments/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/visual-art-and-design/research/pdfs/EVA2016_Maraffi_PracticeBasedResearch.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.uscb.edu/academics/academic_departments/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/visual-art-and-design/research/pdfs/EVA2016_Maraffi_PracticeBasedResearch.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=University of South Carolina Beaufort }}</ref> The term is typically only used for Western art from the Renaissance onwards, although similar genre distinctions can apply to the art of other cultures, especially those of [[East Asia]]. The set of "fine arts" are sometimes also called the "major arts", with "minor arts" equating to the decorative arts. This would typically be for medieval and ancient art.
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