Understanding Art Through the Key Terms

Art is the product or process of human action involving physical creativity, visual sense, personal symbolism, aesthetic sense, or other emotional power to interpret symbolically, artistically, or representively. It can be described as an immediate experience of the human imagination expressed in a variety of forms. It is the product of human creativity, the outcome of a human effort, and an outcome of technological advancement. There is no limit to the creativity of man. It is his most valuable resource and involves active involvement.

Art includes visual art, such as paintings; sculpture and other works of visual art. The term ‘art’ can also be used in relation to literature, music, film, and television. The word ‘art’ can also be used in a broader sense that includes not only visual art but also the field of architecture, literature and the history of architecture. Some of the important aspects of the subject of art are visual, aesthetic, performative, and cognitive aspects.

Aesthetics refers to the aesthetic quality, such as beauty, of things. It may refer to the quality of color, form, and space, or a person’s reaction to a work of art. Aesthetic judgment can be made of a physical attractiveness, a fine art quality, and even the arrangement of colors. We can assess a work of art by its beauty and aesthetic appeal. Aesthetics also includes the ability to locate beauty in the proportions of a work of art, in the form, size, shape, and composition. Aesthetic judgment can also be used in making a decision about a purchase of a product.

Aesthetic taste is the ability to evaluate a work of art in its entirety and select the most beautiful and satisfying aspects of a work of art. Aesthetic taste is an important part of the larger field of aesthetic experiences, which include the study of visual art, theater, music, architecture, painting, and sculpture. Most cultures view the importance of aesthetics in human life and cultural circles have debated whether beauty is a purely subjective quality of a given object or situation. Most people agree on the importance of aesthetics in the overall scheme of things in society. Aesthetics can be considered to be the standard against which the evaluation of any object can be measured.

There are four main theories of aesthetic taste, namely visual culture, aesthetic theories, traditional concepts, and progressive concepts. Visual culture refers to the collective ideas and perceptions of the culture and social organizations that surround an object or situation. Artistic concepts refer to the specific rules and conventions that surround the use of decorative arts. Aesthetic judgments can be made of an object or situation by looking at it, smelling it, hearing it, or imagining it. Progressive concepts are those that can be used to evaluate the progress of artistic appearances over time. These include impressionism, cubism, realism, and futurism.

The concepts and ideas that comprise the concepts of art are important keys to understanding the work of a particular artist. The beauty of art may be defined in different ways by different artists. When considering works of art, both contemporary and historic works, the viewer must be aware of the key terms that define beauty.