A Beginner's Guide to Art

Introduction

Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art, and its interpretation has varied greatly throughout history and across cultures. The three classical branches of visual art are painting, sculpture, and architecture. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences. The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. The resulting artworks are studied in the professional fields of art criticism and the history of art.