Fine Art

What Is Fine Art?

Technically, fine art defines an art form that was developed primarily for the aesthetics rather than for practical application. Today, the arena of fine art has spread its tentacles wide across the globe, engulfing all those who are passionate about expressing themselves and the world in the form of some art. Historically, the five greater fine arts included sculpture, painting, music, poetry and architecture, of course with the minor arts including dance and drama. While today, fine arts include all the visual and performance arts, including calligraphy, photography, print making, conceptual art, collage, etc.

Unfortunately, fine art as a concept has been greatly misunderstood. Most of us think that fine arts refers to the quality of the art, while in reality, it refers to the discipline’s purity. This is particularly why performing arts like the theatre and ballet are also referred to fine arts. Having said that, the concept of what purity of a discipline is comes to be questioned. Aristotle had once quoted that ‘imitation is one of the finest thing in human nature’ which complements our human ability to stay in harmony with regard to nature and rhythm itself.

Thus, fine art is anything whose purity is as close as possible, to being in synchrony with imitation of the human nature. However, this definition can be referred to the field of performing arts only.

What Does Fine Art Enclose?

Fine art comes to include all the two dimensional works such as illustrations, paintings and drawings, comics, fiber art, print making, photography, calligraphy, mosaics and imaging, as well as the three-dimensional art forms such as conceptual art, sculpting, dance, film and theatre, architecture, games and other art forms. Apart from these, the electronic media, western art music, avant-garde music, creative writing and textiles (as in quilt art) are also included in fine arts.

Of course, distinct and unique pieces of art stand out from different artists and their eras, but what makes their creation a ‘fine art’ is its ability to arouse emotions in the viewer. And these emotions can be anything from sadness and misery to joy and extreme ecstasy. On the contrary, if any piece of art cannot evoke any emotion within the viewer, neither positive nor negative, that piece of art cannot be rightly considered a fine art. Moreover, a genuinely fine art evokes an emotion that is absolutely subjective. The greatest of the artistic compositions do trigger almost same responses from the viewer, yet each individual bears a unique subjective interpretation to the piece.

Role of Fine Art in Lives Today

Fine art is one of the best and exceptional forms of expressing oneself and their interpretation of or their reaction to the world around them. However, a creative process such as fine art is equally therapeutic and life affirming. Art therapy and artistic expression through fine arts provides a creative outlet for the youth and is also a viable means of communication. Traumatic events buried within an individual can still be heard through their expression in fine arts and once that is done, a therapist begins working on it. And this is undoubtedly, the most beautiful role of fine art in lives today!