Arts
The arts are a large part of culture, and the word means much more than "art". The arts include visual arts, literary arts (i.e. books and other writings) and performing arts (i.e. music, dance, drama).
Sometimes, in universities, it is shorthand for a wider group of subjects which are properly called the humanities. These include philosophy, theology, literature, languages, and history as well.
"The arts" are usually contrasted with "The sciences".
Visual arts
Visual arts consist of any art that can be seen. This form of art doesn't change once it has been made.
Painting
Painting is an art that uses pigments to create images. The oldest painting was made on a cave wall, in prehistorical times by a Neanderthal.
Sculpting
Sculpting is an art that uses height, width, and depth. You can create a sculpture by carving or shaping things such as rock, metal, or wood.
Performing arts
Performing arts are those that occur when people show others their artistic skills. These include dancing and singing.
Literary arts
Literary arts are those that occur as words. Most are written down, but in the ancient past, some long poems were only told in speech for hundreds of years before finally being written down!
Conceptual art
Conceptual Art is art in which the idea is more important than the actual beauty of the object.
Other websites
- Dictionary of the history of ideas — Classification of the arts Archived 2006-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Open Directory — Arts Archived 2007-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
- National Endowment for the Arts — USA Archived 2008-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
- Arts Council — England
- Americans for the Arts
- ArtsJournal — Daily Arts News
- Arts — New York Times
- Arts — The Times
- Association of Hispanic Arts (AHA) Archived 2006-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
- History of Art: From Paleolithic Age to Contemporary Art Archived 2020-11-19 at the Wayback Machine