What is Art?

Popular Definitions of “Art”

• “Art is not a thing; it is a way.” –Hubbard
(writer)
• “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose
ourselves at the same time.” –Merton (writer)
• "Art is either plagiarism or revolution.“ –
Gaugin (painter)
• "Art is the only way to run away without
leaving home." –
Tharp (choreographer)
• "Art is a kind of illness.“ –Puccini (composer)
• "Art is meant to disturb. Science reassures." –
Braque (painter)
 Popular Definitions of “Art”

• "Art is like soup. There will be some

vegetables you don't like but as long as
you get some soup down you it doesn't
matter." -Wyllie (sculptor)
• "Art is childish and childlike." -Hirst (visual
artist)
• "Art is a bang/blast."-Okamoto (abstract
artist)
• "Art is art. Everything else is everything
else." -Reinhardt (visual artist)
 Who is allowed to define Art?
• Artists
• People who buy art
• Teachers
• Me
• You
• Anyone

Fountain’ by Marcel Duchamp

Owned by the Tate Museum in London
 Who determines the “worth” of an
artwork?
• The artist who made it
• The artists who criticize it
• The person who buys it
• The viewer who sees it

The Card Players Paul Cezanne Most

expensive painting ever sold
Sold for more than $250 million in 2011

•Should the worth of an

artwork only based on