What is Art?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines art as: “skill; its display, application, or expression.” I agree that art is all those things, but it is vastly more complex than just four words. I choose to read the sections in the book entitled, “Artist and Audience” and “Stories and Histories” to better my own interpretation of the question: what is art?

                  The section “Artist and Audience” talks about different artists, spanning multiple eras, how they became famous artists and who their target audience was. The first artist that is mentioned is Monet. Although Monet lived to see his art become appreciated and loved, he started out as a struggling artists living in poverty. Monet clung to his aesthetic and vision of what he wanted his art to look like and eventually the public began loving his work. For Monet, his audience was himself; he painted what he thought was beautiful and pleasing.

                  Many artists aren’t as lucky and Monet in that aspect. The book continues to talk about three artists in India named Dasavanta, Madhava, and Shravana who were employed to design books for the emperor and his court. These three talented artists had to create whatever the emperor wanted, so they did not have as much artistic freedom as Monet. This section made me understand that art is about making your own imaginative thoughts come to life, but it wasn’t always like that. When art would be commissioned by emperors and kings, it also has to do with politics and pleasing your audience.

                  Art is used to tell stories and depict moments in history. It is possible that if someone hadn’t of taken the photograph of the men raising the flag in Japan then the world would have never known that it even happened. The world relies on important photographs, sculptures, and paintings to document historical moments, and I believe that is sometimes forgotten when thinking about defining art.

                  By reading the two sections in the book, Artist and Audience, my definition of art has broadened and become deeper. Art is a creative expression, but it is also political, it is used to convey moments in history and to remember tragedies and triumphs. 

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, Joes Rosenthal, 1945, Photograph