Arts

Art washes the dust of everyday life away from the soul, Pablo Picasso.

You might want to read our free ebooks Art is everywhere! and Music for a gentle introduction to this topic.

Art is a is the expression of ideas and emotions through a physical medium. It is something that is created with imagination and skill, that is beautiful and/or expresses important ideas or feelings. Art is a large part of our everyday lives, even though many do not realize it.

There are many different arts, such as literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, music, theatre, dance, cinema and others.

• The first thing that comes to mind is painting. Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface - usually a canvas. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and El Greco are amongst the most talented artists in the world.

Some of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, such as The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are considered to be among the world’s greatest artistic treasures. However, art is much more than that.

• Sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional forms and figures from materials, such as stone, metal, or wood. It is among the oldest of the arts. Statue of Liberty, Michelangelo’s David, Venus De Milo, The Thinker, and Manneken Pis are among the most famous sculptures in the world.

• Photography is another form of art like painting or sculpture. Jonathan Jones described it very nicely: “The old masters painted the drama of life and death. Today, photography captures the human condition - better than any other.” It is the art of capturing light with a camera to create an image.

• Architecture is the art and science of planning, designing, constructing, renovating, and altering physical structures like buildings, bridges, and so on. Some of the most historically significant buildings are the Taj Mahal, The Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Pyramids, and The Colosseum.

• Music is the art of thinking and dreaming with sounds. It is a universal language that crosses all boundaries and brings people together. Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach are considered the Holy Trinity of classical music.

• Literature is the art of written work. “Literature is the foundation of humanity’s cultures, beliefs, and traditions. It serves as a reflection of reality, a product of art, and a window to an ideology. Everything that happens within a society can be written, recorded in, and learned from a piece of literature. Whether it be poetry or prose, literature provides insight, knowledge or wisdom, and emotion towards the person who partakes it entirely,” Literature is powerful, Literature defines humanity, by Angelo Lorenzo.

• Dance is the only art in which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made (Ted Shawn).

• A nice quote about performing arts goes as follows: “Theatre is life, film is art, and television is furniture.” Performing arts are creative arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed by individuals or groups for an audience.

In summary, there is art everywhere you look. It brings meaning and pleasure to our lives.