Each morning we see the sunshine outside and relax while some draw it to feel relaxed. Thus, you see that art is everywhere and anywhere if we look closely. In other words, everything in life is artwork. The essay on art will help us go through the importance of art and its meaning for a better understanding.
What is Art?
For as long as humanity has existed, art has been part of our lives. For many years, people have been creating and enjoying art. It expresses emotions or expression of life. It is one such creation that enables interpretation of any kind.
It is a skill that applies to music, painting, poetry, dance and more. Moreover, nature is no less than art. For instance, if nature creates something unique, it is also art. Artists use their artwork for passing along their feelings.
Thus, art and artists bring value to society and have been doing so throughout history. Art gives us an innovative way to view the world or society around us. Most important thing is that it lets us interpret it on our own individual experiences and associations.
Art is similar to live which has many definitions and examples. What is constant is that art is not perfect or does not revolve around perfection. It is something that continues growing and developing to express emotions, thoughts and human capacities.
Importance of Art
Art comes in many different forms which include audios, visuals and more. Audios comprise songs, music, poems and more whereas visuals include painting, photography, movies and more.
You will notice that we consume a lot of audio art in the form of music, songs and more. It is because they help us to relax our mind. Moreover, it also has the ability to change our mood and brighten it up.
After that, it also motivates us and strengthens our emotions. Poetries are audio arts that help the author express their feelings in writings. We also have music that requires musical instruments to create a piece of art.
Other than that, visual arts help artists communicate with the viewer. It also allows the viewer to interpret the art in their own way. Thus, it invokes a variety of emotions among us. Thus, you see how essential art is for humankind.
Without art, the world would be a dull place. Take the recent pandemic, for example, it was not the sports or news which kept us entertained but the artists. Their work of arts in the form of shows, songs, music and more added meaning to our boring lives.
Therefore, art adds happiness and colours to our lives and save us from the boring monotony of daily life.
Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas
Conclusion of the Essay on Art
All in all, art is universal and can be found everywhere. It is not only for people who exercise work art but for those who consume it. If there were no art, we wouldn’t have been able to see the beauty in things. In other words, art helps us feel relaxed and forget about our problems.
FAQ of Essay on Art
Question 1: How can art help us?
Answer 1: Art can help us in a lot of ways. It can stimulate the release of dopamine in your bodies. This will in turn lower the feelings of depression and increase the feeling of confidence. Moreover, it makes us feel better about ourselves.
Question 2: What is the importance of art?
Answer 2: Art is essential as it covers all the developmental domains in child development. Moreover, it helps in physical development and enhancing gross and motor skills. For example, playing with dough can fine-tune your muscle control in your fingers.
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Iranian-Dutch artist Sevdaliza on the ultimate power of art, even in fragile times.
Photography by Tré Koch/Early Morning Riot
Back in Janaury, around the release of "Oh My God," we were planning an op-ed by Iranian-Dutch artist Sevdaliza on her indentity and multi-dimensionality: she is a refugee, international businesswoman, creative director, artist, freedom fighter, CEO. That idea evolved into this piece, which couldn't be more timely as artists around the world are experiencing new creative and financial challenges.
To all artists,
Art is life, no matter how fragile the times.
Art is a testimony of the human condition. It encompasses all of our hardships, emotions, questions, decisions, perceptions. Love, hatred, life, death. Essentially the way in which we perceive our world, every aspect of humanity can be expressed through art.
These times lay bare why art can’t be dictated nor contained by anything. Creativity isn’t limited by its resources. Creation is a primal source. The authenticity in a painting or a piece of music is felt universally, because it resonates with the same essential being in the creator and the creation. The artist is often referred to as a magician, whereas her art only lays bare the heightened capacity to channel the universal truths.
The common story of life, love and death is what connects us humans. Art is important because it functions as a holistic portal to a deeper understanding of humans and the self.
Photo by Zahra Reijs
Traditions, beliefs, values and lifestyle all shine forth through what we produce as art, whether we know it or not. Architecture, fashion, music, film, dance, paintings, prayers. They all essentially reveal the culture of people.
Art allows us to discover and preserves the delighted mind. While creation lays bare our human fragility. The distance between our most actualized self (creation) and it’s lesser materialization (art) is a vast universe between facts and metaphors. Perhaps this is why we create and materialize art, despite the arising feeling that everything has already been said and done.
We as a species, cannot simply conceive our lives out of art. We struggle daily to close that gap, although we feel that it might be an impossible task. Art will always be metaphorical, but ultimately, it does not matter. And that exact fact for me, is beautiful, cruel and simple.
Art does not subdue to any kind of utility or desire. Creation only aims at its own existence.
We are all artists some way, somehow. We fight our battles, love and hate, ask our questions, and of course, read the universe in our own unique way. Art is not a wrong nor right, it is not a distraction, nor a privilege. It is life itself.
I hope we understand why art is life and why life is art. Why we should always strive to allow art, to stimulate art, to support art. St(art) today.
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Why Everything in Life Is Art: Seeing the World Through an Artist’s Eyes
Art can take many forms and is an expression of creativity in its purest form. But have you ever considered that everything in life is a form of art?
From the way we dress , to the way we act, to even the ways in which we interact with others, art is all around us.
This article will discuss how everything in life reflects art and how it impacts us on an individual and social level.
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Why Everything in Life is Art?
Everything in life is art because art is not confined to galleries or studios, but permeates every aspect of our existence. From the way we perceive the world, to the way we interact with others, to the choices we make, art is an inherent part of our human experience, reflecting our creativity, emotions, and individuality.
I Think Everything in Life is Art Quotes
“Everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home . Or even the way you write. It’s all art.” “Every gesture, every movement, every interaction is a brushstroke on the canvas of life.” “Art is the expression of our souls, woven into the fabric of our existence.” “From the simplest act to the grandest creation, everything we do is an opportunity to make life a masterpiece.” “In every moment, in every detail, we have the power to infuse beauty and meaning into the world around us.”
How Everything in Life is Art?
The idea that everything in life is art can be seen as a way of recognizing the creative potential and beauty in all aspects of life.
By viewing the world through this lens , we are encouraged to approach even the most mundane aspects of life with a sense of curiosity and wonder, and to find joy and meaning in the smallest details.
1. Art is fundamentally about self-expression and creativity.
Whether we’re talking about a painting, a song, or a simple conversation, all of these things involve the expression of thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a creative way.
By recognizing this creative potential in all aspects of life, we are able to see the world in a more vibrant and meaningful way.
2. Art often involves a sense of connection and community.
Whether through a shared experience of a film or a concert or through the appreciation of a beautiful sunset or a well-cooked meal, art can bring people together and create shared moments of joy and connection.
By recognizing the artistry in all aspects of life, we can cultivate a sense of connection and community with others.
3. Celebrating the diversity and richness of human experience.
Whether we’re talking about the natural beauty of the world around us or the complex emotions and experiences that make us human, all of these things can be seen as expressions of art uniquely.
We can create a more inclusive and vibrant world by recognizing and celebrating this diversity.
What is Art?
Art is a form of creative expression that is used to convey ideas, emotions, or experiences. It can take many different forms, such as painting, sculpture, music, dance, literature, or theater.
Art is often used as a means of communication, whether it is to express the artist’s personal feelings and perspectives, or to convey a message to the audience.
Art can be both decorative and functional, and it has been an important part of human culture for thousands of years.
In essence, art is a way of bringing beauty, meaning, and inspiration into our lives.
Everything in Life Is Art
While some may see it as diminishing the importance of more traditional forms of artistic expression, it can also be seen as a powerful reminder of the beauty and potential for creativity that surrounds us every day.
Everything in life is art ! The art of life is about creativity , expression and imagination. It requires self- discipline to think critically in order for an artist’s work be appreciated.
When you think of art, what comes to mind? Paintings? Sculptures? maybe Music or Dance? All of those things are art, but art is so much more than that.
Art is anything that you create with passion. Cooking can be art. Gardening can be art. Even folding clothes can be art!
The important thing is to do it with love and care. So don’t ever think that your life is too ordinary to be an art form.
Every moment is a chance to express yourself creatively. Let your imagination run wild, and see where it takes you. I can’t wait to see what wonderful creations you come up with!
Life as Art: The Beauty of Creative Expression
Discover the beauty of creative expression , and how everything in life can be considered art. Learn how to appreciate and create your own works of art with this insightful guide!
Defining Art and Creativity:
Art and creativity are often associated with traditional forms like painting, sculpture, and music. However, art and creativity can manifest in many different ways.
Any activity that involves expressing oneself in a unique and original manner can be considered art.
From the way we dress to the way we speak, our lives are filled with opportunities to create and express ourselves in a creative way.
Creativity is the ability to imagine and generate new ideas, while art is the expression of those ideas through different mediums.
The Importance of Self-Expression:
Self-expression is a crucial aspect of our mental and emotional well-being.
The ability to express ourselves creatively allows us to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and experiences to the world.
Through self-expression , we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
In a society that often values conformity, self-expression allows us to break free from societal norms and expectations and express ourselves in a unique and meaningful way.
The Benefits of Embracing Life as Art:
Embracing life as art can have a profound impact on our lives. By viewing our lives as a canvas to create and express ourselves, we can find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
Creative expression allows us to tap into our innermost thoughts and emotions and transform them into something tangible and beautiful.
Embracing creativity can also improve our mental health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
By engaging in creative activities , we can increase our self-esteem and confidence , develop new skills, and foster a sense of community and connection with others.
The Art of Dressing: Creating a Personal Style
Discover the art of dressing and create your own personal style! Learn why everything in life is an art form and how to express yourself through fashion.
Dressing for Self-Expression
Dressing is a form of self-expression that allows us to communicate our personality , mood, and values to the world.
The clothes we wear can reflect our individuality and help us to stand out from the crowd.
By dressing for self-expression, we can create a sense of identity and communicate our personal style to others.
The Importance of Fashion as Art
Fashion is often considered a form of art, with designers creating unique and innovative pieces that push the boundaries of style and creativity.
Fashion can be a means of self-expression and an opportunity to showcase creativity and originality.
Fashion designers are like artists, using fabrics, textures, and colors to create unique and visually stunning designs.
Finding Your Unique Style
Finding your unique style is a process that takes time and experimentation. It involves exploring different fashion styles, trying on different outfits , and experimenting with different colors and textures.
It’s important to remember that style is personal and subjective, and what works for one person may not work for another.
Finding your own personal style is about embracing what makes you unique and finding the confidence to express yourself through your clothing choices.
The Art of Conversation: Communicating with Intention
Discover the art of communication with intention. Learn how everything in life is an art – and why conversation is no exception.
The Power of Words
Words have the power to inspire, motivate, and connect us to one another. They can also hurt, divide, and alienate us.
The way we use words can have a significant impact on our relationships and our ability to connect with others.
By choosing our words carefully and using them with intention, we can create meaningful conversations that foster understanding and connection.
Listening as an Art Form
Listening is an often overlooked but crucial aspect of communication. It involves paying attention to what the other person is saying, asking clarifying questions, and demonstrating empathy and understanding.
Listening allows us to connect with others on a deeper level , and it shows that we value and respect their thoughts and feelings.
By listening actively and attentively, we can create a safe and supportive space for meaningful conversation.
Creating Meaningful Connections through Conversation
Meaningful conversations allow us to connect with others on a deeper level, and they can help us to build relationships that are based on mutual understanding and respect.
By communicating with intention and listening actively, we can create conversations that are meaningful, engaging, and fulfilling.
Meaningful conversations require vulnerability and authenticity, and they can be a powerful tool for personal growth and self-discovery.
The Art of Cooking: Creating Culinary Masterpieces
Explore why cooking is an art form , from the creative process to the delicious results.
Discover the power of creating culinary masterpieces and how everything in life can be seen as art.
The Art of Flavor and Presentation
Cooking is not just about nourishing our bodies; it’s also about engaging our senses and creating culinary masterpieces that delight the palate and the eyes.
The art of flavor involves combining ingredients in creative and unique ways to create dishes that are not only delicious but also visually appealing.
The art of presentation involves arranging food in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, using colors, textures, and shapes to create an experience that is not just about taste, but also about sight and touch.
Cooking as a Creative Outlet
Cooking is a form of creative expression that allows us to experiment with different ingredients, flavors, and cooking techniques.
It’s an opportunity to explore our creativity and push the boundaries of what is possible in the kitchen.
Cooking can be a meditative and relaxing activity, allowing us to focus on the present moment and create something beautiful and delicious.
The Joys of Sharing Food with Others
Cooking and sharing food with others is a universal human experience that has been a part of human culture for thousands of years.
Sharing food with others allows us to connect on a deeper level, to share our cultures, and to express our love and gratitude.
Cooking for others is a way to show hospitality, generosity, and care. Sharing food can bring people together and create a sense of community and belonging.
The Art of Movement: Dancing, Sports, and Fitness
Explore the beauty and power of movement in dance, sports and fitness! Learn why physical activity is an art form that can transform your life.
Movement as Self-Expression
Movement is a form of creative expression that allows us to communicate our emotions, thoughts, and experiences through our bodies.
Dancing, sports, and fitness all involve movement and can be used as a means of self-expression.
Movement can be a way to express ourselves in a non-verbal way, and it allows us to connect with our bodies and the world around us.
The Physical and Mental Benefits of Exercise
Exercise has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits.
Regular exercise can improve cardiovascular health , increase strength and flexibility, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
Exercise can also improve mental health by reducing stress and anxiety, boosting mood, and improving cognitive function.
Movement can also be used as a form of therapy to help individuals cope with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
Finding Joy in Movement
Movement can bring joy and happiness into our lives. When we move, our bodies release endorphins, which are natural chemicals that promote feelings of happiness and well-being.
Movement can also be a form of play, allowing us to explore and experiment with different ways of moving our bodies.
By finding joy in movement , we can cultivate a sense of playfulness and curiosity that can add depth and richness to our lives.
The Art of Parenting: Nurturing Creativity in Children
Nurture your child’s creativity! Learn how parenting is an art form , and discover tips and tricks to help build a creative environment for your kids.
Encouraging Creative Play
Encouraging creative play is an essential aspect of nurturing creativity in children.
Creative play involves allowing children to explore their imaginations and express themselves in a playful and imaginative way.
By providing children with open-ended toys and materials, parents can foster creativity and imagination in their children.
Creating a Nurturing Environment for Children
Creating a nurturing environment for children is important for fostering creativity and self-expression.
A nurturing environment involves providing children with emotional support, positive reinforcement, and a safe and secure space to explore their interests and talents.
Parents can create a nurturing environment by showing an interest in their children’s hobbies and passions, providing opportunities for them to explore their interests, and offering support and encouragement.
Fostering a Love of Art and Self-Expression
Fostering a love of art and self-expression is important for nurturing creativity in children.
Parents can encourage their children to express themselves through art by providing them with art supplies and materials , taking them to art museums and galleries, and encouraging them to participate in art classes and workshops.
Parents can also foster a love of self-expression by encouraging their children to express their emotions and thoughts in a safe and supportive environment.
The Art of Learning: Embracing Curiosity and Exploration
“Dive into a world of exploration and curiosity – learn why everything in life is art. Embrace the power of learning and unlock your inner genius!
The Importance of Lifelong Learning
Lifelong learning is an essential aspect of personal and professional growth.
It involves a commitment to ongoing education and personal development , and it can lead to new opportunities and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Lifelong learning allows us to expand our knowledge, skills, and perspectives, and it can lead to greater creativity, innovation, and problem-solving ability.
Finding Inspiration in the World Around Us
The world is a rich and varied source of inspiration for learning. From nature to art to technology, there are endless opportunities to explore and learn from the world around us.
By embracing curiosity and exploring our interests, we can find inspiration in unexpected places and discover new passions and pursuits.
The world is a classroom, and every experience offers an opportunity to learn and grow.
Learning as a Creative Endeavor
Learning is not just about acquiring knowledge; it’s also a creative endeavor. Learning involves imagination, exploration, and experimentation.
It’s about discovering new ideas and perspectives and integrating them into our own unique understanding of the world.
Learning can be a means of self-expression , allowing us to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a creative and meaningful way.
The Art of Living: Finding Beauty in Everyday Moments
Discover the beauty in everyday moments! Learn how to find joy in the ordinary and how to make everything in life an art.
Cultivating Gratitude and Mindfulness
Cultivating gratitude and mindfulness is an essential aspect of finding beauty in everyday moments.
By practicing gratitude, we can develop a greater appreciation for the small and simple things in life, and we can cultivate a sense of contentment and joy.
Mindfulness involves being present and fully engaged in the moment, allowing us to experience the richness and beauty of everyday life.
Seeing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
The ordinary moments of our lives are often filled with extraordinary beauty and meaning.
By cultivating a sense of awareness and appreciation, we can see the beauty in the mundane and find joy and meaning in everyday life.
The art of living involves recognizing the inherent beauty and value in everyday moments and finding inspiration and joy in the ordinary.
Living a Life of Creativity and Purpose
Living a life of creativity and purpose involves embracing our passions and talents and using them to make a positive impact on the world.
By living with intention and purpose, we can create a sense of meaning and fulfillment in our lives.
The art of living involves using our creativity and talents to create a life that is meaningful, fulfilling, and joyful.
What Are the Different Forms of Art?
Art comes in various forms including painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, dance, cinema, photography, and performance art. Additionally, modern and contemporary art have introduced forms like installation art, digital art, and conceptual art.
Different Forms of Art | Types of Art
The definition of the word “art” is diversified, covering many unique forms of creative expression of human imagination, skill, creativity, and application.
Many arts are expressed in visual form but can also be enjoyed through sensory touch or audibility.
Arts were traditionally appreciated for their beauty or emotional power but are now often used for social commentary, political or self expression.
Throughout human history , specific forms and mediums of artistic expression have changed.
But for the most part, there are mainly seven forms of art. Each of these 7 forms of art affects our feelings and emotions differently.
Architecture
Let’s explore its history, what each art form holds, and how it enriches human lives.
What is literature?
Literature refers to written works, such as novels, poetry, plays, and essays, that are considered to have artistic or intellectual value. Literature allows writers to express their thoughts, emotions, and ideas in a creative and often complex way, while also allowing readers to engage with and interpret these works in their own unique way.
What is painting?
Painting is a visual art form that involves applying paint, pigment, or other materials to a surface, such as canvas, paper, or wood. Painting allows artists to express themselves through color, composition, and form, creating images that can evoke emotions, tell stories, or capture a moment in time.
What is music?
Music is a form of artistic expression that involves sound and rhythm. It can be created using a variety of instruments and techniques, and can range from simple melodies to complex compositions.
Music can evoke emotions, create a sense of atmosphere, or tell a story.
What is sculpture?
Sculpture is a three-dimensional art form that involves shaping and manipulating materials such as stone, wood, metal, or clay. Sculptures can range from small, intricate pieces to large, public installations, and can convey a range of emotions and meanings.
What is theater?
Theater is a form of performance art that involves actors, a stage, and an audience. Theater can be used to tell stories, convey emotions, or explore complex themes and ideas.
It involves a range of elements, such as set design, costumes, lighting, and sound, and allows actors to embody and portray a range of characters and emotions.
What is architecture?
Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures. It involves a range of elements, such as aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and safety, and can range from small residential structures to large, complex commercial buildings.
What is cinema?
Cinema, also known as film, is a form of visual storytelling that involves the use of moving images and sound to create a narrative. Cinema can be used to explore a range of themes and ideas, and can evoke a wide range of emotions in the audience.
It involves a range of elements, such as cinematography, editing, sound design, and visual effects, and can be used to create a wide range of genres, from drama to action to comedy.
What is not Art?
Art is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different people, but generally, anything that is not created with the intention of expressing personal creativity, ideas, or emotions, or does not provoke thought or feeling in the viewer, may not be considered art. However, this definition can vary widely based on cultural, historical, and personal perspectives.
Here are some generally accepted criteria that can be used to determine whether something falls outside the realm of art:
1. Lack of creative intent
Art involves a deliberate effort to create something that has aesthetic or intellectual value. If something is not created with the intention of expressing a creative idea or emotion, it may not be considered art.
2. Lack of skill or technique
Art typically involves a certain level of technical skill or mastery. If something is created without attention to detail or lacks a basic understanding of technique, it may not be considered art.
3. Lack of originality or uniqueness
Art often involves a certain degree of originality or uniqueness. If something is a direct copy or imitation of something else without any attempt at originality, it may not be considered art.
4. Lack of cultural or historical significance
Art often reflects the cultural or historical context in which it was created. If something lacks any cultural or historical significance, it may not be considered art.
5. Lack of emotional or intellectual impact
Art is often created to evoke an emotional or intellectual response from the viewer. If something fails to connect with its audience or lacks any meaningful impact, it may not be considered art.
Everywhere I Look, All I See Is Art.
In summary, art is the expression of emotional power and aesthetic experience. Artists are people who are passionate about creating and exploring different forms of art , including acting, painting, music, cooking, and fashion design.
Everything in life can be considered art, from the way we look in the mirror to the technological advancements that surround us.
Science and religion can also be seen as reflections of art, with the natural world and the work of passionate individuals being considered as art in itself.
Overall, art is not limited to traditional forms of expression but can also be found in the details and passion behind tasks such as building masonry.
Why art is not everything?
While art is an important and meaningful part of life, it is not everything.
There are many other important aspects of life that are equally valuable, and reducing everything to art can be a limiting perspective. Instead, we should strive to find a balance between the aesthetic and the practical, between the emotional and the intellectual, in order to live a rich and fulfilling life.
Art is everything that induces emotions in humans
There are many different ways to define art , one way to view it is as anything that induces emotions in humans.
Whether it’s a positive or negative emotion, art has the power to connect with us on a deep level and provoke thought, introspection, and transformation.
Art relays an experience, observation, idea, etc
By definition, art is an expression of human creativity . Art needs observation as well as experience to inspire its expressions.
Because everything doesn’t come from any being, so everything is art. Often the things they do without real intent are a masterpiece of art.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to Everything in Life Is Art! Look here for answers to your burning questions about the relationship between art and life.
Get answers today!
Who said I think everything in life is art?
The artist Paul Cezanne is often credited with saying “I want to make of impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museums,” and “I think that everything in nature is sculpture.”
However, the exact phrase “I think everything in life is art” is attributed to the artist and designer Ray Bradbury.
Did Helena Bonham Carter say I think everything in life is art?
There is no record of Helena Bonham Carter having said this quote.
What is a good quote about art?
“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” – Pablo Picasso
What is the meaning of art is life?
The phrase “art is life” suggests that art is an essential part of life and can be seen as a reflection of it. It implies that art can give meaning and purpose to life.
What did Albert Einstein say about art?
Albert Einstein once said, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
What is Einstein’s most famous quote?
Einstein’s most famous quote is “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
What is art according to Aristotle?
According to Aristotle, art is the ability to create something according to rules or a plan, which aims at achieving a specific goal or purpose.
What did Einstein say about creativity?
Einstein once said, “Creativity is contagious, pass it on.” He also said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
Describe a universe where art doesn’t exist?
In a universe where art doesn’t exist, creativity and self-expression would be greatly limited. Art allows us to communicate ideas, emotions, and experiences in unique and meaningful ways.
It enriches our lives and provides a way to explore the world around us.
What is the meaning of art?
It can be seen as a form of communication, a means of expression, a way to challenge societal norms, or a source of beauty and inspiration.
Is everything around us an art?
Everything around us can be considered art, depending on how we perceive it. Art can take many forms, from traditional paintings and sculptures to everyday objects and experiences.
Can anything be considered art?
Some people argue that anything can be considered art if it is created with the intention of being considered as such. However, there is ongoing debate and controversy over what constitutes as art.
Why art is for all?
Art is for all because it is a universal language that can be enjoyed and appreciated by people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. It can be used to express emotions, convey ideas, and evoke a variety of responses from viewers.
Why does art exist everywhere?
Art exists everywhere because it is a fundamental part of human expression and creativity. People have been creating art for thousands of years, and it continues to be an integral part of cultures and societies around the world.
Who said that art is everywhere?
The phrase “art is everywhere” has been attributed to a number of different people, including Marcel Duchamp and Bob and Roberta Smith. It reflects the idea that art can be found in everyday objects and experiences.
Can any object be art?
Some people believe that any object can be considered art if it is presented in a certain way or context. Others argue that there are certain qualities or characteristics that an object must possess in order to be considered art.
What makes something art?
This is a complex and ongoing debate in the art world.
Generally, art is created with the intention of being considered as such and often involves elements such as skill, creativity, and expression.
What do philosophers say about art?
Philosophers have long debated the nature and meaning of art, with some arguing that it is a form of representation or imitation, while others see it as a means of expressing emotion or conveying ideas.
How does philosophy define art?
Philosophy defines art as a form of human expression that is intended to stimulate the senses and provoke thought or emotion in the viewer.
What is Aristotle’s theory of art?
Aristotle believed that art is a form of imitation that allows people to learn and understand the world around them. He also believed that the purpose of art is to evoke emotion and create catharsis in the viewer.
What did Nietzsche say about art?
Nietzsche believed that art is a form of self-expression that allows people to transcend their everyday existence and connect with something greater. He saw art as a means of creating meaning in a chaotic and uncertain world.
Why is life an art?
Some people see life as an art form because it involves creativity, expression, and the constant pursuit of meaning and purpose.
Can everything be considered art?
While some argue that everything can be considered art, others believe that there are certain criteria that an object or experience must meet in order to be considered as such.
What is the saying about art and life?
The saying “art imitates life” reflects the idea that art is a reflection of the world around us, while “life imitates art” suggests that people often emulate or imitate what they see in art.
Why is art important in our life?
Art is important in our life because it provides a means of self-expression, can be used to convey important messages and ideas, and can enhance our understanding and appreciation of the world around us.
Can we consider art everywhere?
Yes, art can be found everywhere, from the natural beauty of the world around us to the man-made creations of people. Art is a fundamental part of human expression and creativity that can be found in every aspect of our lives.
Why art is important to society?
Art is important to society because it allows us to express ourselves and communicate our ideas, beliefs, and emotions. It can be used as a form of self-expression, allowing people to explore their creativity and find new ways to express themselves.
Art also serves as a way for people to connect with one another. Through art, we can share stories, experiences, and perspectives that may otherwise remain unheard or unseen.
Art gives us a platform to voice our opinions and values in an accessible way.
How do you define fine art?
Fine art is a broad term that can be used to describe many different types of visual artwork. Generally, fine art refers to artwork that has been created with the intention of expressing emotion or conveying an idea.
This type of artwork may include paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and mixed media pieces.
Why we love arts and crafts?
Why we love arts and crafts? We love arts and crafts because they are enjoyed by people of all ages . For kids, crafts can be a fun and creative way to spend an afternoon.
For adults crafting can be a relaxing hobby or a chance to express their creativity . Arts and crafts can also be used to DIY projects around the house or to create decor for your home.
Arts can be as simple as painting a picture or as complicated as building a piece of furniture. No matter what your skill level, there is an arts and craft project that is perfect for you.
So why not try your hand at arts and crafts today? You might just find that you have a hidden talent for artful creation!
Wrapping Up Everything in Life Is Art
The idea that everything in life is art can be a powerful way to see the world. We all use art in some way or another, whether it be for personal enjoyment or to make our lives more interesting.
At its core, art is an expression of creativity and emotion that can inspire us on a daily basis.
Although the idea may seem simple at first glance, there are many layers to this concept which we’ve covered here today.
If you like this article about Everything in Life Is Art and would like to know more, please comment below.
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Life is Art. Art is Life: Lessons for a Meaningful in Life from Art
This is my final blog post at Wellesley College ever. Instead of a traditional reflection post, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite paper submissions. I wrote this paper for my Philosophy Seminar on the Meaning of Life and thought it summed up what I learned at Wellesley quite well. I’m still in disbelief that it’s all over so soon, but I know the lessons I learned from Wellesley and the friends I made will stay with me forever. So, without further ado – the last post.
Greetings to President Johnson, Wellesley faculty, trustees, honorees, family, and friends.
And to all my bad-ass, inspiring siblings that make up the Wellesley graduating class of 2021: Congratulations!
Today, I wanted to speak about how art might aid in our quest for attaining a meaningful life post-graduation. You might ask, Shreya, why art? Well, one of my favorite classes in college was the history of modern art. It was certainly impactful and helped me see the world in a different way: Art is all around us. Art is life. Life is art. So, I ask, why not art?
Art is also an important part of the human experience…can you imagine life without it? It’s beautiful, complex, takes a while to understand – just like us. It’s also a meaningful metaphor as a way to make sense of the messiness and complexity of life.
While thinking about art, I’ve realized that I learned four important lessons from it that I want to share with you all today.
The first lesson is the importance of being present, which I know is easier said than done. One of the most peculiar assignments I had during college was to stare at an artwork for one full uninterrupted hour, before I was able to start writing my paper. I wasn’t allowed to pick up the phone, talk to a friend, or do anything else besides stare. Equipped with a piece of paper and a pen, I went to the Davis Museum, where I had to learn the importance of deceleration and immersive attention. For an outgoing, extroverted person like myself (who never stops talking), trust me when I say that it was challenging!
One hour doing absolutely nothing but gawking might sound crazy at first, but that’s similar to what portrait painter John Singleton Copley did! Due to the long distance between Boston and London, Copley experienced frequent and excessive delays receiving feedback for his paintings (Roberts). However, these delays were formative, leaving a large impact on him and the rest of his career (Roberts). In a time when we are inundated with information, and many around us are always in a fast-paced mindset, it’s valuable to pause and look harder and deeper.
In a chaotic and busy world, lingering can be impactful. New details arise and revelations can occur, which both take time to perceive (Roberts). It also involves immersing yourself in the present: looking at something does not necessarily mean that you’ve seen it for what it is (Roberts). Of course, there’s a fine line between reflection and overthinking. It’s also important to note that lingering isn’t for the past or for the future. It’s for the here and now, focusing on what’s in front of you and determining how you chose to react and respond to the world around you. It allows you to introspect and gain deeper knowledge which might not have been possible if you hadn’t taken more than five seconds to think about it. Processing and critical attention come from patience. I’d like to think the closest thing to pausing time and being fully present is lingering.
So, lesson one: take time to meaningfully and intentionally linger.
Lesson two: there are quite a few parallels between the art of painting and the art of living. Inspired by philosopher Pedro Tabensky, this worldview compares and contrasts the skilled artist and moral expert, in order for us to see that the two share a lot in common.
Remember those grand plans some of us had when we first came to Wellesley? I’m talking about those meticulously color-coded four-year plans on google sheets. You know the ones? Chronic over planners, brace yourselves for what’s to come.
According to Tabensky, a skilled painter doesn’t create magnificent works of art by following a set of rules, or a given manual (Tabensky, 59). Instead, they use their own unique manner of approaching the canvas (an acquired skill) to produce their works (Tabensky, 59). They don’t have a set plan that details every aspect of the successful artwork, but rather, the work of art is determined during the process of making (Tabensky, 59). Thus, a skilled artist has the ability to integrate new elements (conflicting or not) into the whole painting and adjust as they go along (Tabensky, 59). One mess up, accident, or splatter isn’t going to ruin anything: instead, it will be incorporated into the work.
For example, think of a watercolor painting: as soon as the brush filled with pigment touches the paper, the pigment takes on a life of its own – it’s unpredictable, affected by a multitude of factors such as the humidity, environment, wetness of the paper. For the artist to have control, they don’t need to micromanage the pigment/watercolor medium and make it what it is not naturally suited for – no, having control involves having the capacity to adapt to the unpredictable nature of the medium (Tabensky, 59).
The skilled artist is able to use indeterminacy to their advantage (Tabensky, 60). I think that phrase is worth repeating: use the indeterminacy to your advantage. Ease and confidence in the face of unpredictability is a secret superpower that I want you all to hone.
Like a skilled painter, a moral expert (which I hope will be all of you!) is a master in the art of living and has the ability to integrate new circumstances into their already existing life (Tabensky, 61). Like an artist develops the skill of good painting, they have developed the skill of good living.
Moral experts don’t view their lives in a completed form. Instead, moral experts give form to their lives by perfectly balancing and counterbalancing the new elements into their life with the general form of their life up to the present (Tabensky, 62). This skill requires the task of adapting to new, unpredictable, and disruptive circumstances: moral experts have a capacity to overcome and integrate conflict (Tabensky, 63). The moral expert has mastered the technique of good living, a skill learned through practice and experience (Tabensky, 63).
Thus, lives are not well lived by following a set manual, guide, or plan. We must use our skills to get us through the uncertainty that threatens to topple everything that we have achieved so far. An expert in the art of living will be equipped to deal with unforeseen circumstances into their overall composition of life, just like a skilled artist does with their painting.
If this past year has taught us anything, it’s the importance of resilience. Acquiring the skill of embracing the uncertainty that awaits you and all that is to come is an advantage. Your paint might splatter on your canvas and get on your clothes and make a mess but integrating that into the total work of art is a powerful next step. I encourage you, fellow graduates, to be like the moral experts and skilled artists and integrate that into your own futures!
Of course, you might not be so easily convinced: Art and living are two hugely different things. The stakes are higher with life compared to art: art is something that can be done over and over again, but you only live once! In response, I say, life and art may be two different things (Tabensky is not saying they’re synonymous) but lessons from one can be applied to the other. Even though we can’t redo our entire lives or start over like a canvas, we have the ability to, since every day could be considered a new start. Graduates, consider this your new start!
Lesson three: Critical thinking – easy in theory, hard in practice.
When an art historian approaches an artwork, they usually have a question in mind. Why did the artist make the decisions they did? How did they incorporate social commentary into their work? Where was it made? What inspired them to create the piece? By having a question to begin with, the process of understanding the artwork became easier. Questioning what seems obvious at first glance is a good way to springboard into thinking about it critically.
I am a cognitive science major. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition. One thing cognitive science especially focuses on is decision making – and as humans, we make millions of decisions everyday: from inconsequential ones like what we wear in the morning to life-altering ones like which career path to pursue.
According to a prevalent theory of decision making, there are two systems of decision making: System 1 and System 2 (De Neys, 428). System 1 is your automatic, quick, unconscious way of thinking (De Neys, 428). Susceptible to biases, it’s your brain on autopilot. System 2 is your logical, rational, analytic way of thinking – and it takes more effort (De Neys, 428). A lot more effort.
We’re sometimes inherently lazy creatures – our default decision-making mode tends to be set to System 1. We get stuck in the mundane. In a way, during college, you’ve been practicing ways to overturn your System 1 thinking. You’ve been reflecting, questioning, musing. You’ve been taught to do so! In art history, when you linger, analyze, ponder, you’re working to overturn System 1. Critically thinking negates System 1. The challenge for you, now, graduates, is to continue doing that, out of the classroom. Not in theory, within the safe walls of college, but in practice, in the “real world.
Humans love routines. We tend to easily get stuck in cycles and the same mode of thinking. We have to make a conscious effort to train ourselves out of the default. Being curious helps. In the classroom, you’ve used your liberal arts skills to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge to go through the world not as a machine, but as someone who is constantly questioning, evaluating, and reevaluating. As a college student, you’ve put pressure on academic arguments and writings. Doing this in the real world is a lot harder and I implore you to continue to do so. When something seemingly straightforward is presented – take a moment to question it.
And lesson four, the final lesson: The numerous ways to make meaning are ultimately up to you.
One of my favorite 20 th century art history movements is conceptual art. A key part of conceptual art is that the idea behind the work of art is more important than the finished object itself (MoMA). In other words, the concept of the work takes precedence over traditional techniques, materials, and aesthetics.
Joseph Kosuth, a prominent conceptual artist, stated, “art is making meaning,” emphasizing ideas over the convention that art should reflect the artist’s skill or be pleasing or beautiful in some way (MoMA). Kosuth also was concerned that people accepted art as art because they were placed in museums, so he challenged the authority of art institutions to define objects as art (MoMA). One of his art projects involved three different representations of a chair: an actual chair, a photograph of the chair, and a dictionary definition of the word “chair” (MoMA).
Kosuth confronted the notion that art gets meaning from context, or by being placed in a white-walled museum. He questioned the nature of art, directing the viewer away from the form of art and what it should look like to the idea of art. Context and meaning shifted and suddenly existed in tandem with its audience. All at once, art’s meaning became up to you, the viewer, and not the context in which it was placed or how it looked.
Conceptual art tells us that meaning doesn’t come from being placed in a museum. Meaning is up to the viewer and their ideas and attitudes in response to the artwork. The white walls of the museums, the external validation: some could say those have been necessary for objective meaning. But just as conceptual art challenged the traditional view of art and placing them in museums for meaning, I urge you to challenge what you think should be your version of a meaningful life. Think outside the white cube or the traditional norm. Push aside all expectations or the status quo or objectivity. Just like there was no one way conceptual art should look like, there is no one way of what a meaningful life should be. Your attitude can and should determine what you decide to be meaningful in your life – nothing else. And although not everyone might agree on what that meaningfulness entails, if you’re being true to yourself, it ultimately doesn’t matter.
Well graduates, we’ve made it to the end of the four life lessons found in art. Congratulations on completing the last four years and beginning your wonderful journey that starts today. You’ve come so far already. On the path forward, remember to: linger a little while longer, embrace uncertainty, question the default, and make meaning from what matters to you. All of the lessons I shared with you today are skills that need to be acquired: strengthened with practice, important to always keep in mind as you go through trials and tribulations in life. And the lessons were hidden in the most beautiful, unassuming place of all: art. One last bit of advice: in life, not everything is going to turn out perfect, so cherish the moments that seem like they are. Oh, and visit more art museums. 🙂
Thank you Wellesley for all you have taught me these past four years. Onto the next adventure!
Bibliography
Roberts, Jennifer. “ The Power of Patience.” Harvard Magazine. 2013.
Tabensky, Pedro. “Parallels Between Living and Painting.” The Journal of Value Inquiry . 37: 59–68. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
De Neys, Wim. “Dual processing in reasoning: Two systems but one reasoner.” Psychological Science. 17: 428-433. 2006.
“One and Three Chairs”. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Learning. First published 2006.
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How Art Makes Us More Human: Why Being Creative is So Important in Life
Art is an important part of life, as it helps us to explore our creativity and express ourselves in unique ways. Art is more than just a form of expression - it’s a way of understanding the world and our place in it. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the psychological, social, and cognitive benefits of creating art and how it can bring joy and purpose to our lives.
What is art?
Art is a form of expression that values creativity and self-expression. It can take many forms, from paintings and sculptures to photography and even digital art. Art has the power to move us, to make us feel something, and to tell stories. Art can be used as a way of connecting with ourselves and with each other, and its power lies in its ability to inspire, create joy, and provoke thought. Art is an expression of the human experience, and its value lies in its ability to bring people together.
The connection between art and emotion
The value of art lies in its ability to evoke emotion. Whether you’re looking at a painting, watching a performance, or listening to music, art allows us to experience a range of emotions from joy to sorrow and everything in between. Art can help us make sense of our own emotions and gain a better understanding of how other people are feeling. It can even bring us closer together as it enables us to feel connected with the artist, even if we have never met them. When we interact with art, it can often spark a dialogue, creating a feeling of understanding and empathy within us.
One way in which art can be especially powerful is when it reflects our personal experiences and values. By connecting with a piece of art that speaks to our values, we can often feel a strong emotional connection with it, enabling us to recognize ourselves in the work and appreciate its beauty and meaning.
The link between art and mental health
Art can be an incredibly powerful tool in helping us to manage our mental health and well-being. Studies have found that art can reduce stress, increase self-esteem, and improve our ability to cope with difficult emotions. Art provides a safe space for us to express our thoughts and feelings, allowing us to connect with ourselves on a deeper level.
One of the main ways that art benefits mental health is through its ability to help us process and make sense of our emotions. Art enables us to externalize our inner struggles, allowing us to make sense of them in a new way. By engaging in creative activities, we can gain insight into our own feelings, giving us the opportunity to recognize patterns and reflect on them in a non-judgmental manner. This can help us to gain a better understanding of our emotions and allow us to find healthier ways of managing them.
Art can also help to decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Studies have found that engaging in creative activities such as painting, drawing, or sculpting can reduce symptoms of both depression and anxiety. It also can increase positive moods and overall life satisfaction. In addition, engaging in art can give us a sense of control over our lives, providing us with the opportunity to express ourselves without fear of judgment.
Finally, creating art can provide a sense of purpose and accomplishment, helping us to feel connected to something larger than ourselves. Art gives us a way to channel our energy into something meaningful, allowing us to have a tangible outcome at the end of our creative journey. The act of creation itself can be incredibly empowering, giving us the confidence to take on new challenges and set goals for ourselves.
Overall, engaging in art has been proven to have a positive impact on mental health. Through its ability to help us process emotions, decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety, and provide us with a sense of purpose and accomplishment, art has the power to truly transform our lives.
The benefits of creating art
Creating art can be an immensely rewarding experience that has both psychological and physical benefits. It can provide a sense of purpose, satisfaction, and accomplishment. Art can also help reduce stress, build self-confidence, and improve problem solving skills.
Art can be used to express feelings and emotions, helping to better understand and cope with difficult experiences. It can also be used to relieve anxiety, improve mental health, and enhance positive self-image. Additionally, engaging in creative activities encourages creative thinking, which can foster innovation and creativity in other areas of life.
Creating art can also improve physical well-being. It has been linked to reducing chronic pain and boosting the immune system. It can also help with motor coordination, providing relief for conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Furthermore, it can help with hand-eye coordination, increasing dexterity and making everyday tasks easier.
Finally, creating art is a great way to relax and unwind after a long day. It can provide an outlet for pent-up emotions and help to restore a sense of balance and wellbeing. Even if your work is not immediately appreciated, it’s important to remember that art is subjective and it should be created for yourself, not for the approval of others.
The power of art in storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool for communication, and art is an important part of this process. Through art, we can express ourselves in ways that words alone cannot do justice to. Art allows us to show the emotion behind our stories, to add nuance and depth to our tales, and to create visuals that can leave a lasting impression.
Stories told through art have a special power. Whether it's through painting, drawing, sculpture, or even film, art has the potential to bring our stories to life in a way that words simply cannot do. With art, we can bring our characters and stories to life in vivid detail, making them more vivid and alive than if we were to tell the story with just words. We can also add layers of symbolism and meaning to our stories which can make them more meaningful and powerful.
Art has been used as a storytelling device for thousands of years. Ancient cultures used drawings and sculptures to tell their stories, and today, the tradition continues with all forms of visual arts. From street art to museum installations, art is used to tell stories of cultures, histories, beliefs, and emotions. By using art to tell stories, we can move people emotionally and capture their attention in a unique way.
In today's world, where we are bombarded with information from all sides, it can be hard to stand out. Art gives us the chance to do that in a powerful way. By creating art, we can tell stories that resonate with people, inspiring them and showing them something new. The power of storytelling through art is immense and should not be underestimated.
The importance of art in education
Art plays an important role in education, as it encourages creative thinking and provides a platform for students to express their feelings and ideas. It can also be used as a form of communication, allowing students to interpret and create meaning from what they observe. Additionally, the visual representation of art helps children to develop skills such as analyzing information, forming arguments, and making connections.
In the classroom, art can help to introduce new concepts, convey complex topics, and build relationships between students. By incorporating art into lesson plans, teachers are able to engage students in learning and make the material more interesting. Art also helps students to identify patterns and practice critical thinking skills by exploring how elements interact to create a bigger picture.
Furthermore, art allows for students to practice collaboration, problem-solving, and social interaction. Through group projects, students can work together to plan, organize, and execute a project from start to finish. This helps to teach kids essential teamwork skills while also giving them the opportunity to explore their individual strengths and weaknesses.
Overall, art is an integral part of education that helps students develop important skills and encourages creative expression. It is an important tool for teaching and can be used in various ways to make learning more engaging and meaningful.
The role of art in social change
The power of art in creating social change is undeniable. It has been used throughout history as a tool to inspire, educate, and challenge the status quo. Art can be used to bring attention to injustices, advocate for different perspectives, and to create positive cultural shifts.
One example of how art has been used to inspire social change is through protest art. This type of art is often seen at protests and marches, or used to create powerful visuals for political campaigns. Protest art can be anything from signs and banners to sculptures, graffiti, or public installations. It can also take the form of music, film, theater, and literature. By combining art and activism, people are able to communicate their message in an effective way that captures the attention of the public.
Another example of how art can be used to create social change is through digital media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. These platforms allow anyone with an internet connection to share their creative works and connect with other like-minded individuals. Art has been used on these platforms to raise awareness about important issues, tell stories that inspire change, and even challenge oppressive systems.
Finally, art can be used to help those who are oppressed find strength and resilience. Art provides a platform for those who are marginalized to tell their stories and express their experiences in a safe space. Through art, people are able to connect with each other and find solidarity in the face of adversity.
Art plays an important role in social change and is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to create positive impact in the world. Whether it’s used to create powerful visuals for a protest or to tell stories that inspire action, art has the power to bring people together and spark meaningful conversations about important topics.
Art is essential for all our lives
No matter who you are or where you come from, art plays a vital role in helping us make sense of our lives and the world around us. Art helps us to express our emotions, to communicate our thoughts and feelings, and to explore the depths of our imaginations. By engaging with art, we can discover more about ourselves and the world around us, and cultivate empathy and understanding.
“Without Art Mankind Could Not Exist”: Leo Tolstoy’s Essay What is Art
In his essay “What is Art?” Leo Tolstoy, the author of War and Peace, defines art as a way to communicate emotion with the ultimate goal of uniting humanity.
How can we define art? What is authentic art and what is good art? Leo Tolstoy answered these questions in “What is Art?” (1897), his most comprehensive essay on the theory of art. Tolstoy’s theory has a lot of charming aspects. He believes that art is a means of communicating emotion, with the aim of promoting mutual understanding. By gaining awareness of each other’s feelings we can successfully practice empathy and ultimately unite to further mankind’s collective well-being.
Furthermore, Tolstoy firmly denies that pleasure is art’s sole purpose. Instead, he supports a moral-based art able to appeal to everyone and not just the privileged few. Although he takes a clear stance in favor of Christianity as a valid foundation for morality, his definition of religious perception is flexible. As a result, it is possible to easily replace it with all sorts of different ideological schemes.
Personally, I do not approach Tolstoy’s theory as a set of laws for understanding art. More than anything, “What is art?” is a piece of art itself. A work about the meaning of art and a fertile foundation on which truly beautiful ideas can flourish.
Most of the paintings used for this article were drawn by realist painter Ilya Repin. The Russian painter created a series of portraits of Tolstoy, which were exhibited together at the 2019 exhibition “Repin: The Myth of Tolstoy” at the State Museum L.N. Tolstoy. More information regarding the relationship between Tolstoy and Repin can be found in this article .
Who was Tolstoy?
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Leo Tolstoy ( Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy) was born in 1828 in his family estate of Yasnaya Polyana, some 200km from Moscow. His family belonged in the Russian aristocracy and thus Leo inherited the title of count. In 1851 he joined the tsarist army to pay off his accumulated debt but quickly regretted this decision. Eventually, he left the army right after the end of the Crimean War in 1856.
After traveling Europe and witnessing the suffering and cruelty of the world, Tolstoy was transformed. From a privileged aristocrat, he became a Christian anarchist arguing against the State and propagating non-violence. This was the doctrine that inspired Gandhi and was expressed as non-resistance to evil. This means that evil cannot be fought with evil means and one should neither accept nor resist it.
Tolstoy’s writing made him famous around the world and he is justly considered among the four giants of Russian Literature next to Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Turgenev. His most famous novels are War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). However, he also wrote multiple philosophical and theological texts as well as theatrical plays and short stories. Upon completing his masterpiece Anna Karenina , Tolstoy fell into a state of insufferable existential despair.
Charmed by the faith of the common people, he turned to Christianity. Eventually, he dismissed the Russian Church and every other Church as corrupted and looked for his own answers. His theological explorations led to the formulation of his own version of Christianity, which deeply influenced his social vision. He died in 1910 at the age of 82 after suffering from pneumonia.
Art Based On Beauty And Taste
Tolstoy wrote “What is art?” in 1897. There, he laid down his opinions on several art-related issues. Throughout this essay , he remains confident that he is the first to provide an exact definition for art:
“…however strange it may seem to say so, in spite of the mountains of books written about art, no exact definition of art has been constructed. And the reason of this is that the conception of art has been based on the conception of beauty.”
So, what is art for Tolstoy? Before answering the question, the Russian novelist seeks a proper basis for his definition. Examining works of other philosophers and artists, he notices that they usually assume that beauty is art’s foundation. For them beauty is either that which provides a certain kind of pleasure or that which is perfect according to objective, universal laws.
Tolstoy thinks that both cases lead to subjective definitions of beauty and in turn to subjective definitions of art. Those who realize the impossibility of objectively defining beauty, turn to a study of taste asking why a thing pleases. Again, Tolstoy sees no point in this, as taste is also subjective. There is no way of explaining why one thing pleases someone but displeases someone else, he concludes.
Theories that Justify the Canon
Theories of art based on beauty or taste inescapably include only that type of art that appeals to certain people:
“First acknowledging a certain set of productions to be art (because they please us) and then framing such a theory of art that all those productions which please a certain circle of people should fit into it.”
These theories are made to justify the existing art canon which covers anything from Greek art to Shakespeare and Beethoven. In reality, the canon is nothing more than the artworks appreciated by the upper classes. To justify new productions that please the elites, new theories that expand and reaffirm the canon are constantly created:
“No matter what insanities appear in art, when once they find acceptance among the upper classes of our society, a theory is quickly invented to explain and sanction them; just as if there had never been periods in history when certain special circles of people recognized and approved false, deformed, and insensate art which subsequently left no trace and has been utterly forgotten.”
The true definition of art, according to Tolstoy, should be based on moral principles. Before anything, we need to question if a work of art is moral. If it is moral, then it is good art. If it is not moral, it is bad. This rationale leads Tolstoy to a very bizarre idea. At one point in his essay, he states that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette, Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, and his own War and Peace are immoral and therefore bad art. But what does Tolstoy exactly mean when he says that something is good or bad art? And what is the nature of the morality he uses for his artistic judgments?
What is Art?
Art is a means of communicating feelings the same way words transmit thoughts. In art, someone transmits a feeling and “infects” others with what he/she feels. Tolstoy encapsulates his definition of art in the following passages:
“To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling – this is the activity of art. Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hand on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.”
In its essence, art is a means of union among men brought together by commonly experienced feelings. It facilitates access to the psychology of others fostering empathy and understanding by tearing down the walls of the Subject. This function of art is not only useful but also necessary for the progress and wellbeing of humanity.
The innumerable feelings experienced by humans both in past and present are available to us only through art. The loss of such a unique ability would be a catastrophe. “Men would be like beasts”, says Tolstoy, and even goes as far as to claim that without art, mankind could not exist. This is a bold declaration, which recalls the Nietzschean aphorism that human existence is justified only as an aesthetic phenomenon.
Art in the Extended and Limited Sense of the Word
Tolstoy’s definition expands to almost every aspect of human activity way beyond the fine arts. Even a boy telling the story of how he met a wolf can be art. That is, however, only if the boy succeeds in making the listeners feel the fear and anguish of the encounter. Works of art are everywhere, according to this view. Cradlesong, jest, mimicry, house ornamentation, dress and utensils, even triumphal processions are all works of art.
This is, in my view, the strongest point of Tolstoy’s theory. Namely, that it considers almost the totality of human activity as art. However, there is a distinction between this expanded art, and art in the limited sense of the word. The latter corresponds to the fine arts and is the area that Tolstoy investigates further in his essay. A weak point of the theory is that it never examines the act of creation and art that is not shared with others.
Real and Counterfeit Art
The distinction between real and counterfeit, good and bad art is Tolstoy’s contribution to the field of art criticism. Despite its many weaknesses, this system offers an interesting alternative to judging and appreciating art.
Tolstoy names real art (i.e. authentic, true to itself) the one resulting from an honest, internal need for expression. The product of this internal urge becomes a real work of art, if it successfully evokes feelings to other people. In this process, the receiver of the artistic impression becomes so united with the artist’s experience, that he/she feels like the artwork is his/her own. Therefore, real art removes the barrier between Subject and Object, and between receiver and sender of an artistic impression. In addition, it removes the barrier between the receivers who experience unity through a common feeling.
“In this freeing of our personality from its separation and isolation, in this uniting of it with others, lies the chief characteristic and the great attractive force of art.” Furthermore, a work that does not evoke feelings and spiritual union with others is counterfeit art. No matter how poetical, realistic, effectful, or interesting it is, it must meet these conditions to succeed. Otherwise it is just a counterfeit posing as real art.
Emotional Infectiousness
Emotional infectiousness is a necessary quality of a work of art. The degree of infectiousness is not always the same but varies according to three conditions:
The individuality of the feeling transmitted: the more specific to a person the feeling, the more successful the artwork.
The clearness of the feeling transmitted: the clearness of expression assists the transition of feelings and increases the pleasure derived from art.
The sincerity of the artist: the force with which the artist feels the emotion he/she transmits through his/her art.
Out of all three, sincerity is the most important. Without it, the other two conditions cannot exist. Worth noting is that Tolstoy finds sincerity almost always present in “peasant art” but almost always absent in “upper-class art”. If a work lacks even one of the three qualities, it is counterfeit art. In contrast, it is real if it possesses all three. In that case, it only remains to judge whether this real artwork is good or bad, more or less successful. The success of an artwork is based firstly on the degree of its infectiousness. The more infectious the artwork, the better.
The Religious Perception of Art
Tolstoy believes that art is a means of progress towards perfection. With time, art evolves rendering accessible the experience of humanity for humanity’s sake. This is a process of moral realization and results in society becoming kinder and more compassionate. A genuinely good artwork ought to make accessible these good feelings that move humanity closer to its moral completion. Within this framework, a good work of art must also be moral.
But how can we judge what feelings are morally good? Tolstoy’s answer lies in what he calls “the religious perception of the age”. This is defined as the understanding of the meaning of life as conceived by a group of people. This understanding is the moral compass of a society and always points towards certain values. For Tolstoy, the religious perception of his time is found in Christianity. As a result, all good art must carry the foundational message of this religion understood as brotherhood among all people. This union of man aiming at his collective well-being, argues Tolstoy, must be revered as the highest value of all.
Although it relates to religion, religious perception is not the same with religious cult. In fact, the definition of religious perception is so wide, that it describes ideology in general. To this interpretation leads Tolstoy’s view that, even if a society recognizes no religion, it always has a religious morality. This can be compared with the direction of a flowing river:
If the river flows at all, it must have a direction. If a society lives, there must be a religious perception indicating the direction in which, more or less consciously, all its members tend.
It is safe to say that more than a century after Tolstoy’s death, “What is Art?” retains its appeal. We should not easily dismiss the idea that (good) art communicates feelings and promotes unity through universal understanding. This is especially the case in our time where many question art’s importance and see it as a source of confusion and division.
Tolstoy, L.N. 1902. What is Art? In the Novels and Other Works of Lyof N. Tolstoy . translated by Aline Delano. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. pp. 328-527. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43409
Jahn, G.R. 1975. ‘The Aesthetic Theory of Leo Tolstoy’s What Is Art?’. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism , Vol. 34, No. 1. pp. 59-65. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/428645
Morson, G.S. 2019. ‘Leo Tolstoy’. Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Tolstoy
Theodor Adorno on the Essay: An Antidote to Modernity
By Antonis Chaliakopoulos MSc Museum Studies, BA History & Archaeology Antonis is an archaeologist with a passion for museums and heritage and a keen interest in aesthetics and the reception of classical art. He holds an MSc in Museum Studies from the University of Glasgow and a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Athens (NKUA) where he is currently working on his PhD.
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Art as Life
By eli siegel.
This essay was written in 1957.
Life of Life! thy lips enkindle.
—Shelley, Prometheus Unbound
Art and life are one through composition as individuality. The way we are composed is our individuality; what we feel is an instantaneous relation among everything we have. It is this relation which is life itself. The I is a composition become a point; it is integration felt as an instant and permanently. The I seems one, but we can see there are many things in it. We say: I have memory; I have hope; I have skin; I have relatives, etc. The I goes from point or oneness to manyness. If we went from the relation among things in a painting to the things themselves, we should be doing something like going from I to the things in I.
The self is that which includes everything in it, and is the result of everything in it. It is cause and effect at once. Relation or composition in a painting is cause and effect at once, too.
A general, diffuse, various thing becomes a specific thing as life comes to be. Birth is the comprehensive become specific. Any making of many things one thing is like birth. The organization which is life is more thorough than organization we see usually. The comprehensive become specific is of a richer sort. Life is reality at its most organizing, most aesthetic. It is because we are aesthetic ourselves, that we are disposed to make art. But the ego can go for organization of a worse kind, of what can be called a spurious kind. When the ego is only a container, as a bucket is of stones, organization is going on of an inferior, and, in the largest sense, of a spurious kind. When a relation is seen among the stones other than what the bucket willy-nilly gives them, there can be organization of a good kind. The first kind of organization is akin to inert memory; the second kind to loving imagination.
When man is artist, he, as a living being, honors life truly, shows life at its utmost, by giving life to objects. The principle of form or composition is the principle of life. Ego and death are separation; the whole self and life are togetherness with difference. It is for this reason that art at its best “has life,” and that life at its best “has art.”
Life, as such, is art. Life is the making one of repose and motion; not just motion. Consciousness in life is the repose aspect of life. True individuality is the repose arising from the relation of a self to all it has to do with. Bad individuality has in it a separation between outward action and a flat repose inwardly.
Our lives are a making one of difference and sameness. Within the I is a tremendous presence of something utterly different, something akin to everything. Art is the embodiment of this difference and sameness in ourselves.
There is the disintegration of ego and there is the disintegration of death. In the disintegration of ego, a oneness of the individual is used against the idea of diversity and otherness; in death, otherness, diversity work against individuality, making for another kind of disintegration. Integration is the utmost oneness through difference, not against difference. What integration is in life, it is in art.
Life results from reality showing itself as art. In keeping with the materialist idea, life is an organization of matter; as is mind. Matter makes mind. So the question is, how does matter make mind? On what terms? The materialists say that matter is capable of indefinite organization, and when organized a certain way it is alive; can have mind. The materialist, therefore, points to the necessity of organization. Organization is composition in action.
The idealist or non-materialist is just as much for organization as the materialist is. The idealist says the organizing principle uses matter to show itself with; the materialist is disposed to say there was no organizing principle to be seen apart from matter. However, whether the organizing principle is in matter, or uses matter, this organizing principle is like art, is art. Whatever made an individual thing aware of itself has in it the artistic process. Artists are, because within reality is art. There is that in reality, too, which can be seen as against art: that is, the separating principle.
In a living being, there is motion resulting from how the living being looks at itself. Life is motion resulting from a thing’s being for this and not for that; it is motion with pleasure or pain as a cause. It is chosen motion, chosen by an individual thing. This motion must go along with what is about the thing and the thing itself; that is, a person walking across a floor in a crowded room, must be right about the floor, the room, and himself. Wherever an action is environmentally right and individually right, we have the beginning of art. For art is the seeing of relation among objects, which, while true to reality, expresses the attitude of an individual thing, a self.
What does an artist do as he looks at objects? He finds a relation among them. This relation brings them to life. The changing of a number of objects into a composition, is the making of them one thing. And the changing of the many or general into one vivid thing, is like birth. Relation in art is the giving life to objects. From this it results that a still life can be more lively than a group of lions and zealous lion tamers. Art shows that the inanimate is alive; and that the living without relation is “dead.”
The fact that art is life, in the deepest sense of the word life, can be apprehended somewhat through statements of critics. I use Thomas Munro’s Great Pictures of Europe. * Mr. Munro, writing of Hokusai’s Rats and Capsicum Pods , says:
By deft gradations in the shade of gray, and by varied outlines—sometimes sharp, sometimes ragged—it achieves a spontaneous, living quality as decoration that is lacking in the Utamaro print.
Here Mr. Munro is saying that something inanimate—”deft gradations in the shade of gray” and “varied outlines—sometimes sharp, sometimes ragged”—make for “a spontaneous, living quality.” This raises the philosophic question: Did life simply show these “gradations” and “varied outlines” or did “gradations” and “varied outlines” precede life? Was there anything so different in the way reality is seen as life from the way a painting is seen as living? In “gradations” and “varied outlines” there are difference and sameness, that is, reality. Is life the difference and sameness of reality, a showing of it? My opinion is that art says this.
Reality is general and is individuals. Reality is the all and the anything. The all become the anything is, biologically, matter become individually life. Allness implies oneness and everythingness. Oneness and everythingness become anything is like what happens in art. There is a oneness and everythingness which, seen together, make for anythingness, or freedom. Birth is an anythingness out of the oneness and everythingness of reality. Every painting is as unique as a birth.
The fact that the word creation is so much used in art, points to the fact that art is seen as life itself. Creation is in life, but it is the life part of life: there is also the dull or dead part of life. Every living thing in a way is as alive as any other living thing, but it is clear that there is, also, more life in some living things than in others; indeed, that there is more life in a living thing at one time than at another. It is this kind of life that art goes after: that which is the affirmation, increase of life. Life goes after its own increase.
Two things are present in life, have to be: organization and intensity. Organization without sufficient intensity is a lessening of life; intensity without organization is also a lessening of life. The utmost organization making for the utmost intensity, the utmost intensity making for the utmost organization are life at its liveliest: which is art.
It follows from what I have said that a portrait of a man may be more lively than the man himself; that the depiction of a landscape may make the landscape livelier; that art may make decorous peaches livelier than lightweight boxers.
The question of whether art is life has much to do with whether what is called idealism is true. Idealism, from the aesthetic point of view, can be described as that philosophy which sees the world as an embodiment of a form, or forms (and the form might, by a religious idealist, be called God). If all we see, touch, smell, hit, throw, meet arises from form, then form, as the instigator of all this material vivacity and power and diversity, is the liveliest thing there is; for the cause of life would be pure, unrestrained, not-in-the-least-sluggish life. If this is the form art is after, wants to get, does get in a way, then art, having some of the very cause of life, some of pure, unpolluted living, is livelier than life as ordinarily we see it. Art would leap over life as somewhat dull agent, or manifestation, to life itself. We do get then to what Shelley calls so poignantly, fervently, Life of Life! in his Prometheus Unbound .
We do know that art brings life to brick and stone and earth and weeds in a back yard. What is this life? Is it only an artistic metaphor, something which people interested in art are permitted to talk about because no obvious harm is done? Or is it something more? If the abstract and the concrete, form and that which we can touch, are both reality, then life in art and life as we have it in ourselves are alike in a way that goes beyond a piquant, permissible comparison.
Life at its beginning is an interaction of tightness and expansion, hardness and softness, situation and change, state and desire, rest and motion. Art shows life as it begins, as it is unblurred by psychological or sociological dulling. It is because art presents life before timid or acquisitive ego can interfere with it, that art, as life, criticizes ordinary life. The criticism of life by life is art.
Thomas Munro, in describing Duccio’s The Three Marys at the Tomb , says:
Further life is added by strong light-and-dark contrasts between the figures, and between various planes of the tomb and mountains.
So how do “strong light-and-dark contrasts” add life? Munro’s words would be only interestingly metaphorical unless the situations in art have something to do with how reality is when it becomes and is life . Reality becomes life when, as art, reality shows itself as life. Sometimes it does this through individuals, through that artistic, creative happening which is birth. Then the living beings representing reality find art elsewhere, find it in many ways. As they find art, they find life. One large implication of art is: A thing’s being related gives it life. A second large implication of art is: A human being is in a position to affirm life by seeing and affirming his relation with things; and when he does, life is made more lively, for the art it began with is welcomed; beautifully declared.
*Brentano’s, Inc., 1930
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Living life as an artist: Nietzsche on creativity
Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Laura D'Olimpio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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Love or loathe him, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) offered a unique way of considering creativity in his first major work, The Birth of Tragedy , published in 1872.
Competing creative energies
In this early offering, the idea of living life creatively is embodied in Nietzsche’s idea of living life as an artist. Two conflicting creative energies are detailed: the Apollonian and the Dionysian.
The Apollonian is the cool rational intellect, while the Dionysian is the passionate emotional aspect. Nietzsche worried that the society of his time only emphasised the Apollonian and neglected the role of the Dionysian or the emotions. He thought it was important to balance the two and saw this best depicted through artworks such as the Ancient Greek Tragedies.
We may argue that this balance between head and heart is still as important today as it was for Nietzsche. We, as human beings, are creators who produce things: objects, thoughts and actions.
In contrast to those who claim Nietzsche was a nihilist , Nietzsche’s idea of celebrating life and living creatively can be interpreted as affirming; affirming life, ourselves and art in a wide sense. He writes:
We shall do a great deal for the science of esthetics, once we perceive not merely by logical inference, but with the immediate certainty of intuition, that the continuous development of art is bound up with the Apollonian and Dionysian duality: just as procreation depends on the duality of the sexes, involving perpetual strife with only periodically intervening reconciliations.
So begins The Birth of Tragedy.
Nietzsche insists that Greek tragedy achieves greatness through the inclusion of two interwoven creative energies: the restrained and rational Apollonian, responsible for the dialogue, and the passionate and irrational Dionysian, which inspires the music or chorus.
In the plays, the meaning of the words are enhanced by the accompanying melody. Using Greek dramatic artworks as an example, we can learn from great art to see the beauty in life. Tragic heroes display life-affirming values such as courage even as they face grim circumstances. The trick is not to deny one’s emotions, even as we intellectually strive to understand our lives as purposeful.
Art … wishes to convince us of the eternal joy of existence: only we are to seek this joy not in phenomena, but behind them. We are to recognise that all that comes into being must be ready for a sorrowful end; we are forced to look into the terrors of the individual existence – yet we are not to become rigid with fear: a metaphysical comfort tears us momentarily from the bustle of transforming figures.
Nietzsche speaks of truly great art as the medium through which we are unified, discussing the struggle of the tragic hero with fate, the triumph of the moral order of the world, and the catharsis of the emotions through tragedy. This is infinitely preferable to Nietzsche than the purely rational “critical barbarian”.
He believed that classical thinkers such as Socrates destroyed this harmony of reason and emotion by solely concentrating on the rational or logical aspect (the Apollonian), with little regard for the role of the passions (the Dionysian). Of course, Socrates was worried that our emotions could be misleading and give rise to false reasoning.
Yet, for Nietzsche, life without emotion, the Dionysian, is bleak.
Art and life
Great art offers us a way of conceptualising our lives as meaningful if we consider ourselves as the artist who creates our own life’s meaning by taking into consideration both reason and emotion.
In contemporary terms, we may think of the emotions as the motivating power behind our ideas. If we intellectually choose a career, we also need to enjoy it or have some kind of passion for the work we do if it is going to feel meaningful.
This idea culminates in Nietzsche’s notion of the will to power, whereby, following the existentialist mandate, we take responsibility for our choices and we act – we create – and we alone bear the full responsibility for the choices we have made. In this way, we create a unique and subjectively beautiful life.
What about everybody else?
The concern here is that the life we create for ourselves, our own actions willed to power, may be selfish and not consider anyone else. The criticism of Nietzsche is that he is a nihilist, and his subjectivism kills any sense of morality as for each it is up to them what they like, what they will and what they create. It certainly doesn’t help that Nietzsche’s later works were said to have influenced right-wing German militarism .
Yet, the life-affirming or beautiful life lived must not restrict the freedoms of others, who are also free-willed subjects trying to create their own beautiful lives. I would argue that an authentic life fails to be beautiful if it denies the freedom of other people. Nietzsche is a vocal protester against any form of enslavement, but it is also up to the individual to realise that they are free.
The naming of the two creative energies that Nietzsche terms Apollonian and Dionysian is inspired by the Gods : Apollo, God of the Sun (representing light and truth) who inspires sculpture and structure, and Dionysus, God of the Earth (representing Spring and renewal) who inspires music and drunkenness: a feeling of intoxication with the beauty of life.
It is in the coupling of the rational and the irrational that great Art is born. These artistic energies, Nietzsche claims, stem from nature herself, “without the mediation of the human artist” and are expressed in pictorial form through our dreams that create a “mystic feeling of Oneness”.
We are not used to hearing Nietzsche sound so spiritual. It is feelings of awe and pain that unite all human beings. Our challenge is to continue striving to create our beautiful lives even in the face of hardship. Nietzsche’s ultimate creative principle sees us all as Artists, creating the best life we can for ourselves. Nietzsche also refers to the importance of cultural health whereby it is not only individuals but also cultures that require a balance of the Apollonian and the Dionysian.
In spite of fear and pity, we are the happy living beings, not as individuals, but as one living being, with whose creative joy we are united.
Through Art and in life we witness the power of the emotions, the transformative power of “the intoxications of passion”.
Such passion can be either constructive or destructive and therefore needs to be supported by rationality. In this way the fusion between the Apollonian and the Dionysian can transform the self, creating an artist and a lover of life.
Read other articles in our creativity series here .
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1010 words essay on the Relations Between Art And Life
Art is life, not something to be placed in a shrine and substituted for life. Actually, art is an effort to create, besides the real world, a more human entity. Moreover, a true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Indeed, even those who regard art as an ideal and artists as idealists cannot deny that art is a faithful mirror of the life and civilization of a period.
Everyone concedes what Nehru said that Indian civilization of the past periods was full of life; it created things of beauty, the arts flourished, and the echoes reached distant countries. Nehru was also stating the reality when he said that the art of a people is a true mirror of their minds. Both arts and crafts have indeed close connections with life; there is no line of demarcation between arts, crafts and life when the arts have really been an integral constituent of the people’s daily existence.
Obviously, it is impossible to separate art, or the arts, from life; they are a part and parcel of it. The idea can also be expressed by saying that when life declines and the standards of living deteriorate, art also declines. On the other hand, when life marks an upward swing and shows all-round improvement, such a un swing inevitably gets reflected in the arts.
It is during the regimes of eminent influential kings and emperors, Maharajas and Nawabs in history, especially during the Golden Age, that the arts, such as painting, music, since and crafts of various types prospered. Who bothers about art and the artists when there is poverty and destitution all round, when the rulers are constantly engaged in internecine warfare or struggles for power during which art is the first casualty?
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This is also true of the age of exploitation, colonial, imperial or other.
To say that art is only confined to the artist the painter, the sculptor, the dancer, the musician, the singer or other craftsman is to take a needlessly rigid and restricted view. Real art is all-round illumination and adds stature to life. The object of art, it has been well said, is to crystallize human emotions into thought, and then fix it in a concrete form.
After all, painter thinks, reflects for a long time, tries to imagine something good and great, has a vision or a dream, and then draws a picture, a drawing or moulds clay or metal into a figure he has dreamed or thought of. Since dreams, thoughts and visions are all a part of our life, art is also very much a part of our existence.
Even the illusions, which often get reflected in masterpieces of art, can be entertained only by human beings of talent and cannot, therefore be separated from life.
An unfortunate aspect of life in the modern world is that misconceptions about art and artists, and about their role, have been spreading fast. Anyone, it is said, who finds a way to make a lamp or some other artistic piece out of a Camp-Cola bottle gets more protection than a humble man who creates a work of real art.
There is indeed a distortion of values in the world of art; really talented artists often starve because of the lack of patronage by those who lead a life devoted to un artistic activity. An artist who revolts against man’s fate in life may or may not get adequate encouragement. Moreover, what passes for “art” in today’s world may in reality be fraud or cheap imitation of a masterpiece.
Again, is it not true that the measure of the creator is the amount of life he puts into his work. A real work of art has to be full of life; if it is lifeless and soulless or dull, it evidently lacks life.
Who can deny that a painting or a piece of sculpture has great appeal if it is life-like, emanating vigour and activity and if it inspires human feelings? Besides, the real artist is he who does not cater to cheap tastes or panders to the low, in human or base instincts of men and women. If an artist sells himself for the baser things, he is a traitor to art.
True art grasps, rediscovers and reveals to us reality which human beings tend to forget and from which we often seek to get away. Often the reality is harsh; even that serves as a reminder of what we are prone to ignore. When the reality is pleasant and artistic creations please, we begin to appreciate art, not otherwise.
Art, like most human beings, is temperamental; it is no secret that artists, poets and musicians work when they get the requisite inspiration. Dictation and imposition of authority are what art and artists firmly resent. In this sense art is an intense form of individualism. Even so, art should never seek popularity; on the contrary the people should try to value art and make themselves artistic as far as they can.
Life itself is an art, and though artists and poets may seem visionaries, they have a specific and distinct role to play. The irony, however, is that if art and artists continue to live in a world of their own, far removed from life, they may have to starve unless they are able to get permanent and affluent patrons.
Art and artists are now being patronized and encouraged by the Government of India and the State Governments. But official patronage alone cannot be a lasting guarantee of the prosperity of art; the people themselves must learn to appreciate art in whichever form it comes before them.
Life itself is an art. The swing of the pendulum may raise art to the skies or bring it down crashing to the earth. Experimentation is what art thrives on, and such experimentation, as in science, ultimately proves highly beneficial to society. The progress in art reveals the progress of a country and its innermost character. The relationship is, therefore, intimate and is becoming increasingly obvious.
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Essay Samples on Art
While it may seem easy to compose essays about art, it’s not really so because you have to offer background information in your introduction part and explain why some exhibition or a school of thought is important. This should go to your first paragraph because your purpose is to inspire your readers and provide enough background information. When you already have a prompt that must be followed, determine what kind of essay must be written. It can be a descriptive essay, which is great for a description of the works of art or photography. Some other cases may require working with an explanatory tone where you have to explain why an artist has chosen certain palettes or what has been an inspiration. See various free art essay examples below for inspiration. It also helps to learn how to structure your writing and implement quotes or footnotes that are used to highlight the images. Remember to focus on the ways how to cite images and multimedia elements, depending on the chosen style. Your writing should address every image that you have by checking twice with the grading rubric to ensure that you use the sources that may have already been specified.
What Does Creativity Mean to You
Creativity, an intricate tapestry of imagination and innovation, holds a unique significance for each individual. It is a concept that transcends the boundaries of convention, sparking curiosity and igniting the flames of inspiration. In this essay, we embark on a journey to unearth the meaning...
Censorship of Art and Artists: The Complex Discourse
The intersection of creativity and expression often finds itself entangled in a contentious debate: the censorship of art and artists. This complex issue has sparked discussions across societies and cultures, raising questions about freedom of speech, cultural preservation, and the power dynamics between creators and...
Why I Want to Study Architecture: the Power of Design
The world around us is a tapestry of structures, spaces, and designs that shape our lives and experiences. From towering skyscrapers to quaint houses, every architectural marvel carries a story and a vision. The allure of architecture, with its blend of artistic expression, technical precision,...
Architecture
The Impact of Technology on Art: A Modern Renaissance
Introduction The influence of technology on art is an evolving narrative that reflects the symbiotic relationship between human creativity and innovative tools. From the early use of simple tools to create cave paintings to the digital art technologies of today, the integration of technology in...
Art History
Impact of Technology
Renaissance
Exploring Feminist Literary Criticism: Unveiling Mona Lisa Smile
Introduction Self-assessment and criticism help us improve our skills and the ways in which we communicate our ideas and perspectives with others. In this feminist literary criticism essay, I will be critiquing and analysis of the movie Mona Lisa Smile. Firstly, I will explain why...
Literary Criticism
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Frida Kahlo: Exploring Her Biography Through the Film 'Frida'
In the 2002 film “Frida” directed by Julie Taymor, illustrates the life of Frida Kahlo based on the book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. Who is Frida Kahlo? Her biography in this essay is explored with the help of the film...
Film Analysis
Frida Kahlo
Debate Surrounding Graphic Novel and Relation to Literature
Introduction In the past years, the noise about graphic novels has been constantly increasing. A graphic novel is basically a novel in comic-strip format, a book made up of comics’ content. However, they are not the same as comics. Unlike comic books, graphic novels are...
Graphic Novel
Visual Arts
Depicting Trauma: Symbolism in Graphic Novels
Introduction I must confess that I never read a graphic novel prior to this course. I think I’ve developed and expressed my opinion of graphic novels frequently over the course of the semester, and I think I would be remiss if I did not close...
Understanding Graphic Novels: Context and Analysis for Reading
Introduction Graphic novels are stories illustrated in comic form but have the length of a novel. “The term graphic novel was invented in 1970 however, the time of its origin is not concluded yet” (“Levitz”). Graphic novels have been debated for decades since some readers...
Jhene Aiko: Exploring the Artistry and Emotions in her Music
The artist I have chosen to write about is Jhene Aiko who is categorized in the R&B and Hip-Hop genre. Jhene Aiko is a popular singer who writes her music under the influence of cannibis, under the influence of therapeutic instruments and while having a...
Famous Person
Music Industry
The Joy of Painting: Exploring the Life and Legacy of Bob Ross
Who is Bob Ross, or rather, who was he? During the 80s and 90s, he was an artist who specialized in painting, hosting an instructional painting show on PBS called The Joy of Painting. Though Bob Ross has long since passed on, one will find...
The Uniqueness of Australian Artwork: Exploring Artists' Perceptions
Australian artists provide a unique way of displaying the Australian landscape. John Olsen is one of these artists, who uses symbolism to create a sense of movement. This is conveyed through his spontaneous linear line work as seen in Onkaparinga Hill, blue wren and fox...
Artistic World of Peter Doig: an Insight Into His Life and Work
Peter Doig is a contemporary Scottish artist I found that peaked my interest from his art work to his personal life. I’d like to start off by giving a brief background of the artist seeing that a lot of his work is landscapes from where...
Contemporary Art
Being an Artist: My Passion, Place of Freedom and Courage
I remember constantly wondering if there was a way that I could make my life meaningful or if it even had meaning. I was just a thirteen year old starting to figure out her own self. My life revolved around wanting to please the people...
About Myself
Sculpture From Dura Europas: the Head of a Bearded God
One of the artworks in the Yale art gallery is the Head of a Bearded God. This sculpture of bearded man that looks old and wise. This piece has curly hair, bushy eyebrows, and very wide/big eyes. The piece is is classified as a sculpture,...
Kashimiri Papier Mache Art: a Unique Dying Art Form
Kashmir has been wrought in conflict and upheaval for decades now, but its wonderful valleys give us a unique gift of native craftsmanship – Papier Mache art. Kashmir’s rich cultural past is often overlooked due to its troublesome political past. Its handicrafts and shawls (from...
The Art of the Meddah: Exploring Turkish Forms of Storytelling
Culture is the conglomeration of the beliefs and art forms of societiesm across places, along a long-time frame. And quite evidently, the Republic of Turkey has an extremely long history and a resultantly rich diversity in its culture. Throughout its history, the Turkish land was...
The Way Technologies Transform Already Existing Art Forms
Compelling games are not the consequences of accidents, any more than are riveting novels, movies, or music. Creators for all these medias draw on well-established set of strategies and techniques to create a particular emotional experience. Musicians, for example, may create tension through reiteration and...
How Shemistry Influenced the History and Presentation of Art
Chemistry is everywhere in our life. Of course, chemistry is also closely related to art. There are many forms of art, such as oil painting, gouache, watercolor and so on. These painting forms are inseparable from products such as pigments and watercolors, which are based...
Critical Understanding of the Sculptural Art of Alexander Calder
Calder was an American sculptor from Pennsylvania. His father, Alexander Stirling Calder was a sculptor and his mother a painter. Him and his family were constantly on the move around the country throughout Calder’s childhood due to his dads work. And through this Calder was...
Discussion on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Creativity
The relationship between intelligence and creativity has been subjected to research for many years. Unfortunately, there is yet no consensus on how these constructs are related. The connection between intelligence and creativity is that they are functions of the brain that handle data to determine...
Intelligence
Do Schools Kill Creativity: the Issues of Music Education
In the TEDx video entitled, 'Do schools kill creativity?' Sir Ken Robinson discusses what he believes to be the main problem with our education system, providing a series of funny anecdotes and facts appropriate for his argument. After watching this video about 'Do schools kill...
Creative and Critical Thinking: Combining the Achievements of Thought
Creative, one word that can be interpreted in many ways whether in thoughts which is include ways of thinking and actions and also in verbal form. Critical, on the other side refers to the ability to analyse information objectively and make a reasoned judgment. It...
Critical Thinking
Culture, Art and Creativity: the Way They Are Related
Art is a reflection of your thinking, your ideas, and your surroundings, the artist adopts his or her surroundings and then by using their imagination, outside thinking and their perspective they present a new face of it in front of the world. Art and creativity...
Cultural Anthropology
Accessing the World of Theatre: Musicals and Music Theatre
Goodwin (2019) states music theatre is a type of stage performance using music from various forms such as ballets, operas, cabarets, and contemporary music. Musical theatre uses different techniques (e.g. music, dance, songs, acting as well as spoken dialogue) to tell a story to the...
Drawing for Architecture: A Key to Understanding Complex Designs
Architecture the word from Latin is called “architectura” originally from the Greek “arkhitekton”. Architectural drawing has never been taken for granted. All things we design and sketch are from our thinking to our hands. Therefore, drawings are the main development to architectural projects. When designing,...
Architecture: Bridging Vision into Reality
Architecture can be defined in various ways, but if I were to define it, I would simply use these following words, ‘Architecture is an abstract language that bridges a vision into reality.’ I think everyone would agree that architecture is best paired with great effort...
Interior Design
The Development of Nationalism & Regionalism in Australian Architecture
Introduction From the 1880s, “nationalism” and “regionalism” had been started to be two of the keywords on the Australian development of architecture. These two words point toward the nation’s sake of rejecting foreign architectural approaches and seeking of the local architectural characteristics in Australia. During...
Modern Architecture
Architecture: A Means to Improve People's Quality of Life
Introduction “Architecture is about finding imaginative, creative solutions to improving people’s quality of life.” - Alejandro Aravena Architecture was born approach back in the prehistoric age, once the first man determined to come back up with shelters made up of twigs and bones. architecture isn't...
Quality of Life
Architecture and its Role in Nation Building: A Critical Review
Brief introduction on architecture and how its spaces are perceived The universal definition of architecture as a synthesis of ‘art’ and ‘science’ is inadequate in the present democratic, globalized, and information world of the 21st century. Many modern good-looking buildings with sound structures have been...
Romanticism Paintings Analysis: The Raft of Medusa and Liberty Leading the People
I will be focusing on romanticism that is based on emotions and sublimity. I will be displaying the features of romantic art by analysing two paintings from the 19th century. These are The Raft of Medusa by Theodore Gericault (1819; Louvre Museum, Paris), oil on...
Romanticism
The Ideas Behind The Persistence of Memory and Pillars of Society
George Grosz, Pillars of Society (1926) George Grosz was born in Berlin on July 26, 1893, he studied at Dresden Art Academy and began his career as a cartoonist. He later joined a Dada movement in 1917. And he was a famous figure in Neue...
Salvador Dali
The Persistence of Memory, Starry Night and Analysis of Other Paintings
Dreams are something that everyone is or was able to have at one point in their life. Dreams are defined as, 'a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.' Many artists create their artworks from their dreams or other...
Vincent Van Gogh
The System Of Education: If I Could Change The World
If I could change the world, I would completely change the system of education. It hasn't changed for hundreds of years, and the current system was designed in the Industrial Age. This means, that children in school have to obey every order and do only...
Importance of Education
Expressive Art: Is Graffiti Art Or Vandalism
Throughout time graffiti has received both overwhelming support and intense backlash. Some view it as a form of expressive art while others consider it a complete destruction of property. However, despite the amount of differentiation, charisma and personality graffiti can bring into cities, it is...
Why Is Art Important For Human
Art is not a necessary part of survival. So why does it matter? Oftentimes art is overlooked and viewed as an unimportant skill or ability to have. However, art has many qualities that one can benefit from. It is a stress reliever that allows people...
The Doll`s House" By H. Ibsen: Nora Helmer Character Analysis
Nora Helmer is a good wife and mother. She does all she can for her family, especially her husband. Considering all the things she does, and the lengths she went to to make sure her husband could regain his health, it was not enough in...
A Doll's House
Why Is Graffiti Are Not Vandalism
Why is graffiti art not vandalism? According to the Mural Arts Philadelphia website, the village’s first legitimate effort to eradicate graffiti started with the form of the Anti-Graffiti Network in the 1980s. Some people assay that its vandalism, and some assay that its artifice. Park...
My Take On Comedy: From Tartuffe To Sylvia And Cards Against Humanity
Defining comedy is extremely difficult. When something happens that makes you laugh, whether that is in a play or in real life, it’s difficult to pin down why you laughed, to begin with. I find myself defining comedy as a series of events that went...
Attitudes Towards Consumerism in Contemporary Art
In this essay I will be using information gathered from my own personal research, studio research and relevant topics discussed throughout the lectures. Whilst also, considering social, economic, and cultural factors. I will be discussing and analyzing attitudes towards consumerism in Contemporary Art. Built from...
Consumerism
One of the Most Common Forms of Theatre
Throughout this essay the focus of various practitioners will be explored thoroughly from the paths of life they took and how they became so successful, to the impact that their work had on other practitioners and in general the industry itself. The industry of theatre...
The Practice of Art Forgery and Monet's Aesthetic Flaws
A forgery is a work that is not genuine to its proclaimed origins, however, is presented as a genuine article, and is so acting with the intention to deceive. The practice of art forgery is as well established and mature as the practice of creating...
Claude Monet
Visual Verbal Essay on Wilfred Owen and Franz Marc
This essay explores two artists, Franz Marc, Brett Whitely and two of their artworks depicting animal scenes. Franz Marc’s ‘Tiger’, ‘Blue Horse 1’ and Brett Whitley’s Giraffe and Hyena. These four artworks will be compared and contrasted using the structural and the subjective frame. In...
Wilfred Owen
The Role of Creative Industries in the United Kingdom
In this essay I will go over and talk about the creative industries and the role they play in the United Kingdom, I will look at the history and the development of the Creative Industries and their sectors. I will then look at the wider...
Great Britain
African Art: West African Sculpting
West African sculpting greatly influenced us today because lots o people still do it like when Pablo Picasso recreated the style of west African art he created it like they would some real some supernatural and exaggerated on some body parts after Pablo Picasso shared...
African Art
Caravaggio's Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham Due to Divine Intervention
First of all, there are several juxtapositions present throughout the painting. For example, there is a dichotomous relationship between the cold sensuality in the foreground and the pastoral beauty in the background. Secondly, Caravaggio manages to convey the sensational struggle present between the unconditional loyalty...
Greetings From the 1970s Contemporary Photography
The term contemporary refers to things happening in the same period of or in the style of the present or recent times so when referring to contemporary photography that is only basic modern 21st-century pictures or videos.. Over the past years, something called 'the medium'...
Photography
Claude Monet and Modern Art Today
“Claude Monet” was a famous French painter who used to catch his everyday life's best minutes on canvas. “Claude Monet” was born on 14 November 1840 and His father was a businessman and his mother was a singer. He is one of the most praised...
The World’s Wife Borrowed From Other Texts
It is often that literature, whether being a poem or a book, often provides a voice for those who lack one. The work by Carol Ann Duffy is an accumulation of poems titled 'The World's Wife', first published in 1999 and the present works through...
Drama (Play Genre)
Typography: From Billboards to Street Signs
Typography is everywhere we look, in the books we read on the websites we visit even in everyday life, from billboards to street signs, product packaging and even on your mobile phone. It is the art and technique of designing and arranging type. Today the...
Advertising
Rebellious Aspect to Monet’s Personality
Claude Monet is an artist who continues to be adored and held in high esteem even to this day. There may be many who perhaps are not familiar with the name, yet still at least recognise one piece of his work. His paintings are a...
Edgar Degas and His Way of Critics
Mary Cassatt was born in 1844. She was born in what is now known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died on June 14, 1926 at her French home right outside of Paris. Mary was raised in Philadelphia where she spent her childhood with a social privilege...
Edgar Degas
Impressionism
The Principles of Art: Movement, Unity, Harmony, Variety
If you were to ask someone “what is art essay”, the majority of people in the world would think of art and immediately their mind would shoot to a painting. The truth is, art is so much more than just a painting. There are thousands...
Art Movement
Fairy Tale Black Swan Is a Story of a Ballerina
“Black Swan” is not the fairy tale of “swan lake” but a story of a ballerina, Nina. The story begins with the change of the company, the old lead dancer Beth is about to leave. The stage needs a new lead dancer who can act...
The Book Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Calico
One may call war a side effect of human civilization. Nevertheless, it is in a war that people show their best virtues: courage, loyalty, strength, perseverance, and honesty. Nothing is surprising in the fact that texts on this subject have existed since the writing appeared....
Comparing Two Great Pieces by Pablo Picasso and by Francisco Goya
Today I will be comparing and contrasting two great pieces called “GUERNICA” by Pablo Picasso and “THE THIRD OF MAY” by Francisco Goya.The “GUERNICA” by Pablo Picasso was hard to understand at first but the longer you look at it you understand it is a...
Pablo Picasso
Black Swan is About Destructive Nature of Ballet
Nina Portman is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her life. When artistic director...
The Development of Islamic Art
Islamic art is created not only for the Muslim faith, but it consists of artworks such as textiles, architecture, paintings and drawings that were produced in the regions that were once ruled by Muslim empires. Artists from various disciplines take part in collaborative projects and...
History of Islam
Islamic Art
Role of Cultural and Religious Pluralism
Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their own unique cultural identities. Migration is a key process that makes significant contribution to the growth of urbanism. Often immigrants belonging to particular region, language, religion ,tribe etc tend to...
Art and Religion
Religious Pluralism
John Berger: Understanding His Artwork
John Berger is a remarkable man who enlighten us with his knowledge using one of his brilliant essays “Ways of Seeing.” Berger has concurred the ability to fully understand any artwork and to recognize what is visible before him. He clarifies that there is a...
John Berger
America’s Contemporary Multimedia Artist Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons is one of America’s most popular contemporary multimedia artists, who believes that art can change lives, give vastness and expand your parameters. Koons was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1955. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the...
American Culture
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling (Italian: Volta Della Cappella Sistina), painted by Michelangelo somewhere in the range of 1508 and 1512, is a foundation work of High Renaissance craftsmanship. The Creation of Adam' is one of the nine ceiling boards in the Sistine Chapel portraying scenes...
Michelangelo
History of Medieval And Byzantine Art Movements
A painting wealthy in color typical for St.George on a rearing white horse, shown against a rocky landscape, slaying the winged monster as it appears before him. An angel crowns St.George with a martyr’s crown, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. The tower on...
Byzantine Empire
The Power Of Photography: Capturing Emotions With Camera
Photographs help people preserve memories with its technology, but what is actually happening is much more interesting when thought about in more depth. A moment in time is captured forever, so long as the photograph is kept in good shape. It is the closest people...
Jackson Pollock as an Influential America Artist
The painter Jackson Pollock was an influential America painter and a key person to the abstract expressionist movement. He was born in Cody , Wyoming in 1912 and he was the youngest of 5 brothers. He grew up in Arizona and Chico, California he moved...
Jackson Pollock
The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio by Belle Ami
The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio by Belle Ami is a romantic suspense thriller and the second book in the Out of Time series. High on the success of finding a centuries-old Leonardo da Vinci painting, Angela Renatus, and her fiance Alex Caine are on a...
The Portrayal of the Culture of Death and Afterlife in Art
Throughout history, different cultures dealt with the concept of death and afterlife according to their beliefs, and developed different perspectives about what happens after the body dies. These ideas were often reflected in their art, literature, and their lifestyle as well. Most cultures produce art...
Art Nouveau and Modernist Movements in Art
Art Nouveau is originated in England. William Morris collaborated with other artists so Art Nouveau was created. It has a wide range of different decorative arts, like architectural, painting, graphic art, and jewelry. It was most popular during the 1890s. Its popularity came to a...
Art Nouveau
William Morris
The Famous Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio
The famous Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio produced original paintings, criticizing those who imitated other artists creative styles. He even accused the great Giovanni Baglione and Guido Reni for imitating his uniquely developed techniques. Caravaggio was the building block for modern art and followed by many....
Art of Theatre and French Figure Joan of Arc
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is an irish playwright, critic, and political activist. His influence on Western theatre started from the 1880s till after his death. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1925 becoming the leading dramatist of his generation. Shaw's first play to bring...
Joan of Arc
The Beauty and Skill of Ansel Adams’ Photography
Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902. As a child, Adams had many freedoms and lots of energy. He was an unattractive child, with big dark circles under his eyes, a crooked nose, and large ears. He was often teased...
Ansel Adams
Holi Festival and Vibrant Celebration of Colors
Holi is a very vibrant celebration of colors. We have to wait for a whole year. So we can enjoy the festival of color. Although, Holi is fun and joyous. It's also immensely damaging to your skin. The colors are not extracted from flowers but...
Holi Festival
The Struggle of the Graphic Designers and Social Media
Graphic designers relied heavily on word-of-mouth for their works to become popular and to be seen by the public, it was close to impossible to grow an organic dedicated fanbase to follow your work, nowadays with the rise of the internet and social media, you...
Graphic Design
Some Interesting Facts About Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali was one of the most, if not the most celebrated artist of the 20th century. His art is iconic, his personality, eccentric, his fashion sense, interesting, his style, unique, his showmanship, unforgettable. All these combined to make him an interesting human and a...
Salvador Dali's Biography: Main Topics
Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. His father was an atheist lawyer who was very strict in Dali’s upbringing. Dali’s mother, on the other hand, was loving and encouraged him to be artistic. He has an older brother named...
Caravaggio’s Artwork Judith Beheading Holofernes
For this essay, you needed to decide on a painting, Sculpture and other selected types of art work by which ever artist that created them before the 1900’s.Select a topic out of the selection given to do research about the topic and art work to...
William Morris: Arts and Crafts Movement
William Morris was a famous artists who mainly focused on his wallpaper and fabric designs. While he was mainly known for his art, even today, he had many other notable careers and accomplishments, One of them being that he founded the Arts and crafts movement....
Breaking The Parametr In Red Wheelbarrow: Analysis
The most conspicuous element of modernist poetry is the invention and experimentation of new forms of representation. It featured movements such as imagism and symbolism and moved consciously away from naturalism and realism. Ezra Pound was one of the first to delve into this new...
The Importance Of Paying Attention To Detail In Architecture
The architectural detailing process of a project is a long process that includes a lot of steps and patterns to consider. The designing issue is not consecutive for making a theoretical plan for the entire structure, the detailing, and construction of a building. It is...
Depiction Of Revolution In Les Miserables And Musical Theatre
This essay will deliberate the framework of genre, and investigate Musical Theatre, a genre within performing arts. What is Genre? Genre has been around for centuries, it commenced with the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, they created a classification system that would separate literature into...
Les Miserables
The Concepts Of Love And Hate With Loyalty In "Romeo And Juliet"
Loyalty is a virtue that most people strive for as seen in the play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, which is about two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo, a Montague and Juliet, a Capulet fall in love. Throughout...
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare
Romeo And Juliet: The Decision Between Choice And Fate
“God gave us free will, and we may choose to exercise it in ways that end up hurting other people”-Francis Collins. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play written by Shakespeare, that follows the lives of two star-crossed lovers. The setting of Romeo and Juliet...
Societal Views On Graffiti: Street Art Or Vandalism
When you think of graffiti what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Vandalism or street art? Most would say vandalism, but what makes the distinction between the two? The intention of the piece. There’s a difference between defiling the back of a building and...
Portrayal Of Love And Hate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet
Shakespeare’s exploration of themes through tragic conventions make the play, Romeo and Juliet, of enduring relevance to modern audiences. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1595) captures audiences through the thrill of lovers from feuding families racing together to their tragic demises. This play explores themes understood...
Graffiti And Street Art As An Act Of Vandalism
It is difficult to apply a single definition to what is considered Art. Whether it can or should be defined has been constantly debated. “The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy....
Passionate Pursuit: Being Passionate About Art
Different pieces of artwork inspire people all around the world. Artists use a wide variety of techniques to make their work unique. While creating new pieces of art, it is common to look at other artists' work for inspiration. While evaluating their artwork you can...
Andy Warhol's Album Artwork: Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover
As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case an album, but sometimes it cannot be helped. Custom packaging is an extremely important with any kind of product but despite this album cover art has not always been used...
Andy Warhol
The Role Of Other Characters In Death Of Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is such a tragic love story. It is sad that their lives ended, but that doesn’t mean their love for eachother did; their love may still live on with them in the after life. There are many characters who had a role...
The Presentation Of Love In Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare in the 1500’s. It tells us the tragedy of two young lovers named Romeo and Juliet who fall in love at first sight but can never be together due to their two families conflict which ends...
The Importance Of Different Types Of Love In Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare during the 16th century that mainly follows the themes of love and tragedy. The intense passion the two lovers from both households have for one another causes the deaths of their friends, family and themselves....
The Use Of Hyperbole And Symbolism In "The Doll's House"
A Doll's House delves into the lives of a young couple living in Victorian era Norway. The play follows Nora through her journey, from her previously unexamined life of domestic, wifely comfort, to questioning the very foundation of everything she used to believe in. Having...
Realism In A Doll's House Play
Realism as a literary movement emerged in the late nineteenth century and extended to the twentieth century, the most important factors that led to the emergence of the period of realism is the horrors that happened to people after the World War, which made the...
20th Century Art: Representational Abstract Art
One of the most influential and significant periods in the history of the arts is the 20th century. It was a period that consisted of many rapid and radical artistic changes that gave birth to endless ideas, possibilities, experiences, and visions. Not only were ideas,...
Abstract Art
The Opposite Concepts Of Realism Versus Idealism
Introduction When comparing realism and idealism, the concepts must be understood historically, theoretically and practically. In this essay, a number of steps will be taken to present a thorough overview of the two schools of thought. Firstly, the epistemological and metaphysical questions of philosophy will...
The Abstract Art And Pop Art Artists And Movements
Pop art emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain, then later in the 1950s in the United States of America. Pop art still influences designers and artists to this day, was against abstract expressionists, pop artists saw abstract artists as intense. The art was a...
Romanticism & Realism: Changing Landscapes
In my essay I will be looking at the contrast between romanticism and photo-realism, how light controls the image and how photographers are able to control how the picture will look like, by the time of day, the angle and being able to change the...
Romantic Era
The Abstract Art And Expressionism In World War 2
In World War 2, many countries were destroyed by Hitler and his army. There were allies which were the U.S., Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia and the axis powers, which were...
Coriolanus: Plutarch's And William Shakespeare's Versions
Two of the greatest contributors to the “Struggle of the Orders” between Plebeians and Patricians were the Patricians’ fears of Plebeian power overshadowing their influence on Roman politics, as well as the issues of grain pricing and distribution. Plutarch’s “Coriolanus” within his Parallel Lives work...
The Definition Of Fate And Free Will In Macbeth
Throughout time, it has been believed that fate has the power to forge one’s destiny. On the other hand though, I believe these choices can defy fate and that fate only manipulates one's mind into choosing their own path. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare messes...
Reality Of Romanticism And Realism Under The Umbrella Of Gothic Genre
Two of the most common genres of writing that is found in literature belongs to either the Romanticism movement or the Realist/Naturalism movement. While these two movements might seem like they are related to each other, they are very opposite from one another in the...
Best topics on Art
1. What Does Creativity Mean to You
2. Censorship of Art and Artists: The Complex Discourse
3. Why I Want to Study Architecture: the Power of Design
4. The Impact of Technology on Art: A Modern Renaissance
5. Exploring Feminist Literary Criticism: Unveiling Mona Lisa Smile
6. Frida Kahlo: Exploring Her Biography Through the Film ‘Frida’
7. Debate Surrounding Graphic Novel and Relation to Literature
8. Depicting Trauma: Symbolism in Graphic Novels
9. Understanding Graphic Novels: Context and Analysis for Reading
10. Jhene Aiko: Exploring the Artistry and Emotions in her Music
11. The Joy of Painting: Exploring the Life and Legacy of Bob Ross
12. The Uniqueness of Australian Artwork: Exploring Artists’ Perceptions
13. Artistic World of Peter Doig: an Insight Into His Life and Work
14. Being an Artist: My Passion, Place of Freedom and Courage
15. Sculpture From Dura Europas: the Head of a Bearded God
Jean-Michel Basquiat
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Jerry Saltz Plays It Uncharacteristically Safe
“Art Is Life” collects the art critic’s essays, reviews, interviews and more from the past two decades.
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ART IS LIFE: Icons & Iconoclasts, Visionaries & Vigilantes, & Flashes of Hope in the Night, by Jerry Saltz
Outsiders might bash the art world for being a glitzy form of grift, a multibillion-dollar shell game or giant inside joke designed to make the uninitiated feel like rubes; but Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic for New York magazine, maintains a rosier view of the ecosystem to which he belongs. Bad actors notwithstanding, the real art world is “a great broken beautiful family of misfits,” according to one of the essays that earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 2018. “I refuse to believe that this spirit has left the art world, even though I recognize that this exquisite internal essence can be buried under loads of external bull——.” This devotional verve suffuses the articles, reviews, obits and interviews collected in “Art Is Life: Icons & Iconoclasts, Visionaries & Vigilantes, & Flashes of Hope in the Night.” Published between 1999 and 2021, they collectively form a love letter to the art that, for Saltz, makes all the wheeling and dealing worth putting up with.
Most of the entries here are hosannas for established luminaries and tributes to late, great legends. Saltz sings the praises of Kara Walker and Robert Gober; he mourns the losses of Chris Burden and Louise Bourgeois; he celebrates the lives of Dorothea Tanning and Beauford Delaney; he parses the enduring magic of prehistoric cave paintings, ancient marbles and Renaissance masters. Although Saltz blasts the usual targets — speculative collectors, unscrupulous auction houses, gender bias at museums — the tenor is overwhelmingly positive.
This might come as a surprise to Saltz readers who know him as an irascible, post-first-think-later firebrand on social media. If the art world is a family, as Saltz suggests, then he is the cantankerous uncle who can’t stop kvetching. Saltz has garnered a massive following over the years for sparking rowdy, town-hall-style online discussions of art, politics and their intersections, and for breezy, jargon-free takes on subjects some find intimidating and opaque. He has striven, he writes, “to be a sort of Sister Wendy or Bob Ross, opening art up, helping people to see how powerful their own impressions could be.”
His populist point of view reflects his own improbable road to influential critic. As he frequently reminds readers , he has no college degree and only began writing around age 40, when he was still a long-haul truck driver, a job he took after burning out as an artist.
About a third of the writings in “Art Is Life” have been anthologized in two previous collections of Saltz’s published work. Here, he covers a larger swath of recent history, aiming to reveal the ways in which contemporary art has reflected the calamitous period between 9/11 and the pandemic. Given Saltz’s purported objective to render recent times through art, the many laudatory historical pieces — paeans to Caravaggio, Georgia O’Keeffe, Robert Rauschenberg and other giants — make this collection feel uncharacteristically safe coming from a writer who, for better and for worse, whips up firestorms that get people talking.
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This Artwork Changed My Life
Artsy and Elephant have come together to present “This Artwork Changed My Life,” a creative collaboration that shares stories of life-changing encounters with art. In each essay, the writer recalls how an artwork impacted them personally—be that through shifting their perspective, opening their eyes, or setting their career in motion. A new piece is published every two weeks on both Artsy and Elephant . Together, our publications are eager to celebrate the transformative power of art.
Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?
You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays
Life of the buddha.
The Dream of Queen Maya (the Buddha's Conception)
Birth of the Buddha Shakyamuni
Vajrapani Attends the Buddha at His First Sermon
The Death of the Buddha (Parinirvana)
Drum panel depicting a stupa with the Buddha’s descent from Trayastrimsa Heaven
Fasting Buddha Shakyamuni
Niche with the Seated Bodhisattva Shakyamuni Flanked by Devotees and an Elephant
Reliquary in the Shape of a Stupa
Head of Buddha
Seated Buddha Vairocana
Seated Buddha
Reliquary(?) with Scenes from the Life of Buddha
Book Cover from a Manuscript of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra
Plaque with Scenes from the Life of the Buddha
Buddha Sheltered by a Naga
“Devadatta,” Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra (Hoke-kyō, Daibadatta-bon)
Death of the Historical Buddha (Nehan-zu)
Illustrated manuscript of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), Volume 2
Unidentified artist (mid-14th century)
Scene from the Life of the Buddha
Kathryn Selig Brown Independent Scholar
October 2003
According to tradition, the historical Buddha lived from 563 to 483 B.C. , although scholars postulate that he may have lived as much as a century later. He was born to the rulers of the Shakya clan, hence his appellation Shakyamuni, which means “sage of the Shakya clan.” The legends that grew up around him hold that both his conception and birth were miraculous. His mother, Maya, conceived him when she dreamed that a white elephant entered her right side ( 1976.402 ). She gave birth to him in a standing position while grasping a tree in a garden ( 1987.417.1 ). The child emerged from Maya’s right side fully formed and proceeded to take seven steps. Once back in the palace, he was presented to an astrologer who predicted that he would become either a great king or a great religious teacher, and he was given the name Siddhartha (“He who achieves His Goal”). His father, evidently thinking that any contact with unpleasantness might prompt Siddhartha to seek a life of renunciation as a religious teacher, and not wanting to lose his son to such a future, protected him from the realities of life.
The ravages of poverty, disease, and even old age were therefore unknown to Siddhartha, who grew up surrounded by every comfort in a sumptuous palace. At age twenty-nine, he made three successive chariot rides outside the palace grounds and saw an old person, a sick person, and a corpse, all for the first time. On the fourth trip, he saw a wandering holy man whose asceticism inspired Siddhartha to follow a similar path in search of freedom from the suffering caused by the infinite cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Because he knew his father would try to stop him, Siddhartha secretly left the palace in the middle of the night ( 28.105 ) and sent all his belongings and jewelry back with his servant and horse. Completely abandoning his luxurious existence, he spent six years as an ascetic ( 1987.218.5 ), attempting to conquer the innate appetites for food, sex, and comfort by engaging in various yogic disciplines. Eventually near death from his vigilant fasting, he accepted a bowl of rice from a young girl. Once he had eaten, he had a realization that physical austerities were not the means to achieve spiritual liberation. At a place now known as Bodh Gaya (“enlightenment place”), he sat and meditated all night beneath a pipal tree. After defeating the forces of the demon Mara, Siddhartha reached enlightenment ( 1982.233 ) and became a Buddha (“enlightened one”) at the age of thirty-five.
The Buddha continued to sit after his enlightenment, meditating beneath the tree and then standing beside it for a number of weeks. During the fifth or sixth week, he was beset by heavy rains while meditating but was protected by the hood of the serpent king Muchilinda ( 1987.424.19ab ). Seven weeks after his enlightenment, he left his seat under the tree and decided to teach others what he had learned, encouraging people to follow a path he called “The Middle Way,” which is one of balance rather than extremism. He gave his first sermon ( 1980.527.4 ) in a deer park in Sarnath, on the outskirts of the city of Benares. He soon had many disciples and spent the next forty-five years walking around northeastern India spreading his teachings. Although the Buddha presented himself only as a teacher and not as a god or object of worship, he is said to have performed many miracles during his lifetime ( 1979.511 ). Traditional accounts relate that he died at the age of eighty ( 2015.500.4.1 ) in Kushinagara, after ingesting a tainted piece of either mushroom or pork. His body was cremated and the remains distributed among groups of his followers. These holy relics were enshrined in large hemispherical burial mounds ( 1985.387 ), a number of which became important pilgrimage sites.
In India, by the Pala period (ca. 700–1200), the Buddha’s life was codified into a series of “Eight Great Events” ( 1982.233 ). These eight events are, in order of their occurrence in the Buddha’s life: his birth ( 1976.402 ), his defeat over Mara and consequent enlightenment ( 1982.233 ; 1985.392.1 ), his first sermon at Sarnath ( 1980.527.4 ), the miracles he performed at Shravasti ( 1979.511 ), his descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods ( 28.31 ), his taming of a wild elephant ( 1979.511 ), the monkey’s gift of honey, and his death ( 2015.500.4.1 ).
Brown, Kathryn Selig. “Life of the Buddha.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/buda/hd_buda.htm (October 2003)
Further Reading
Pal, Pratapaditya, et al. Light of Asia: Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian Art . Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984.
Snellgrove, David L., ed. The Image of the Buddha . Tokyo: Kodansha, 1978.
Brown, Kathryn Selig. “ Tibetan Buddhist Art .” (October 2003)
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Essay on Being An Artist
Students are often asked to write an essay on Being An Artist in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.
Let’s take a look…
100 Words Essay on Being An Artist
Understanding artists.
Artists are people who create art. Art can be paintings, music, dance, or any other form of creative expression. Artists use their skills and imagination to create something beautiful or meaningful.
The Creative Process
The artist’s journey.
Being an artist can be challenging. Artists often face criticism and rejection. But they keep creating because they love what they do. They are driven by their passion for art and their desire to express themselves.
The Joy of Art
Despite the challenges, being an artist can be very rewarding. There’s joy in creating something from nothing. And there’s even greater joy when others appreciate your work. Being an artist is about sharing your vision and touching people’s hearts.
250 Words Essay on Being An Artist
What is an artist, the life of an artist.
Being an artist is not just a job, it’s a way of life. Artists put their heart and soul into their work. They spend a lot of time thinking about new ideas. They also practice a lot to improve their skills. Artists often work alone, but they also share their work with others. They want to make people feel something when they see or hear their art.
Challenges Faced by Artists
Being an artist can be hard. Artists can face many challenges. Sometimes, they may not have enough money to buy supplies. Other times, people might not like their work. But artists keep going because they love what they do. They know that it takes time and effort to create great art.
Why Being an Artist is Rewarding
Despite the challenges, being an artist is very rewarding. Artists get to express their feelings and ideas in a unique way. They can inspire others with their work. When people appreciate an artist’s work, it brings them a lot of joy. Artists also feel proud when they see their skills improve over time.
In conclusion, being an artist is a special kind of life. It can be hard, but it is also very rewarding. Artists use their creativity to make the world a more beautiful place.
500 Words Essay on Being An Artist
An artist is a person who uses their imagination and skill to create something beautiful or meaningful. They may use different materials, like paint, clay, or even digital tools. Some artists make paintings or sculptures, while others write music, dance, or act in plays. Every artist is unique and has their own way of expressing ideas and emotions.
The Journey of Becoming an Artist
Being an artist can be challenging. Sometimes, it’s hard to come up with new ideas or to make your art look exactly the way you want it to. Artists often face criticism, which can be tough to handle. They also need to find ways to support themselves financially, which can be difficult if they are just starting out or if their art is not widely known.
The Rewards of Being an Artist
Despite these challenges, being an artist can also be very rewarding. There is a great joy in creating something that is truly your own. Artists often say that they feel most alive when they are making art. They also get to connect with other people in a deep and meaningful way, by sharing their art and the ideas and emotions it represents.
Artists and Society
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Neuroscience
In the “I” of the Beholder: How Art Speaks to an Individual
The degree to which art resonates with a person depends on personal experience..
Posted June 2, 2024 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina
Art that mirrors our identity and echoes personal experience is the most appealing to us.
Beautiful art stimulates the self-referential regions of our brain, mirroring aspects of our own selves.
Our genes and experiences color our aesthetic preferences.
Algorithms can craft images that mirror our personal data, posing the potential for exploitation.
Art, in its myriad forms, has the unique power to evoke deeply personal emotions and thoughts, influencing our moods and even our productivity . But what is it about art that moves us so profoundly? What elements make an abstract piece of art beautiful? And why does the perception of an artwork oscillate between ‘ugly’ and ‘beautiful’ depending on the observer? These intriguing questions have been the focus of numerous studies, unearthing fascinating insights into the intricate relationship between art, self-perception, and the underlying neuroscience of aesthetics (neuroaesthetics).
When it comes to assessing the beauty of faces or natural landscapes, human preferences tend to be fairly uniform. We are universally drawn to symmetrical faces and harmonious proportions. However, the realm of art introduces a subjective dimension to beauty. Our appraisal of artwork becomes a deeply personal affair, intricately woven with our identity , memories, and personal experiences. This personal lens through which we view art makes each encounter with it a unique reflection of ourselves.
The Mirror and the Window
Artwork that speaks to us isn’t just about pretty pictures—it’s a mirror reflecting our inner world. When an image holds personal meaning, it dominates our aesthetic judgments. Imagine standing before a canvas that evokes memories, speaks to your passions, or mirrors your identity. Suddenly, the brushstrokes become more than strokes—they become a key to unlock deeper layers of meaning. As shown in several studies, when an artwork resonates with personal experiences, it becomes beautiful in our eyes.
But here’s the twist: self-relevance isn’t just about us. It’s also a window into understanding others. When we relate a piece of art to our own experiences, we gain insight into the artist’s intent, the collective human experience, and the shared emotions that transcend individual boundaries .
The Science Behind This Connection: Aesthetics and Self-Relevance
Edward A Vessel and his colleagues conducted a series of studies to explore the relationship between self-relevance and aesthetic appeal. In an earlier fMRI study, they asked people to look at unfamiliar paintings from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, Eastern and Western, representational and abstract, and rate them on a range from ‘beautiful’ to ‘ugly’ (1).
The researchers emphasized that participants should respond based on what moved them. They found that moving paintings activated the default mode network (DMN), a network engaged in self-referential processing when we think about ourselves. The findings suggest that we find beauty in artwork that reflects parts of us. In other words, when an artwork resonated with personal experiences, it became beautiful in our eyes.
In a later study, the researchers manipulated the relevance of the images for each participant (2). They first collected information about each person, such as demographic information, key personal memories, and personal interests. Then, they created synthetic, self-relevant artworks using deep neural networks that transferred the style of existing artworks to photographs. The style transfer was applied to self-relevant photographs selected to tap into the participants’ individual memories. Each person rated the aesthetic appeal of self-relevant generated synthetic artwork, others’ generated synthetic artwork, real artworks, and control pictures. Out of the four categories, participants found the self-relevant synthetic artwork the most beautiful.
Beauty is in the Genes of the Beholder
Our genes play a role in aesthetic evaluations. Bignardi and colleagues asked monozygotic twins (who share 100% of their genes) and dizygotic twins to rate the aesthetic allure of abstract images, scenes, and faces (3). They found that genetic influences explain some of the variability in taste-typicality and evaluation bias across different visual domains. The genetic contribution was small, and the environment still had a larger contribution. Nonetheless, this finding indicates that our aesthetic preferences may be influenced by our genetic makeup, in addition to our unique experiences, further highlighting the deeply personal nature of aesthetic experiences.
The Ethical Implications
Understanding self-relevance and aesthetic appeal has practical implications. Art therapy , for instance, can harness the power of self-relevant images to heal and express emotions. Perhaps aesthetic ratings and what is considered a self-relevant image might change and evolve over the healing journey.
But there’s a cautionary note: media companies can exploit this knowledge to create addictive content on social platforms. Dr. Vessel warns about the increasing presence of algorithms that attempt to predict what a consumer likes and then deliver personalized visual content based on the collected personal information (2). Based on the research discussed, people find visual representations that are reflective of aspects of themselves (memories, personal experiences, etc.) most appealing. As personal data gets collected, AI can generate visual content from which it would be difficult to disengage.
Next time you stand before a painting, consider the “I” in the beholder. Art isn’t just about what we see—it’s about who we are. So let it speak to your soul, unlock memories, and connect you to the shared human experience. What secret is that art piece trying to communicate to you?
(1) Vessel, E. A., Starr, G. G., & Rubin, N. (2013). Art reaches within: aesthetic experience, the self and the default mode network. Frontiers in neuroscience , 7 , 258. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00258
(2) Vessel, E. A., Pasqualette, L., Uran, C., Koldehoff, S., Bignardi, G., & Vinck, M. (2023). Self-Relevance Predicts the Aesthetic Appeal of Real and Synthetic Artworks Generated via Neural Style Transfer. Psychological science , 34 (9), 1007–1023. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231188107
(3) Bignardi, G., Smit, D. J. A., Vessel, E. A., Trupp, M. D., Ticini, L. F., Fisher, S. E., & Polderman, T. J. C. (2024). Genetic effects on variability in visual aesthetic evaluations are partially shared across visual domains. Communications biology , 7 (1), 55. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05710-4
Marwa Azab, Ph.D. , is an adjunct professor of psychology and human development at California State University, Long Beach.
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Art Is Life, Life Is Art
The rubrics of the verse forms can state you a batch about them before you have even began to read to read them. For illustration the verse form You re. Well foremost of all its rubric tells us that the talker is traveling to be speaking about or depicting person or something. The verse form Mushrooms does non needfully hold to be approximately Mushrooms because of what the rubric says. Because when analyzing a verse form you must happen out what it means and what the words are depicting as most of the words are likely similes or metaphors. For illustration the word mushroom could be something to make with multiplying or acquiring bigger really rapidly because that is what mushrooms do.
Plath has used her experiences to compose about many of her verse forms. For illustration in You re she has written about being pregnant. And in Mushrooms she has described the feminist motion by utilizing mushrooms. The verse form is depicting the feminist motion when the state was chiefly dominated by work forces and adult females didn? Ts have the ballot and when people had mid western values ( adult females stay at place and cook while the work forces go to work e.t.c. ) .
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The poet is seeking to acquire across that adult females will shortly be acquiring what they deserve and that they are merely every bit good as work forces deserve to vote and should be treated as peers. The temper is instead dominant. The words she uses makes it sounds as though the adult females are taking over.
The technique she uses in her verse form is imagery. Throughout the poem Plath gives the thought of multiplying, acquiring bigger, taking over and power. The construction of the stanzas is really short. She besides uses words that rime. The words she uses are really weak but the manner she uses is really effectual. What I mean by this is she makes what she is depicting sound little but strong.
There is tonss of ima gery used in this verse form, an illustration of this is? So many of us? This quotation mark gives us the feeling of tonss of adult females multiplying and acquiring more powerful. The velocity of the verse form is a slow changeless gait. There are a batch of different sound characteristics throughout the verse form. These sounds are insistent throughout the stanzas.
This verse form is about a pregnant female parent who is speaking about her unborn babe. She describes how it moves about insides her tummy. The poet is seeking to depict what it is like to be a pregnant female parent utilizing metaphors. The emotion and temper of the verse form is a really happy and bright temper.
She besides uses imagination in this verse form excessively but its non objects she creates in your head its emotions. The emotion she creates is happy feelings. The verse form doesn Ts have many stanzas but they are really long stanzas. The linguistic communication she uses is chiefly metaphors depicting happy ideas.
There is tonss of imagination used in the verse form. Here is an illustration of this imagination. Feet to the stars and moon- skulled. The velocity of the verse form is reasonably changeless and regular. The verse form doesn. T truly hold any specific sounds. The verse form doesnt rime though.
As you can see both verse forms are really different the first 1 has a instead dominant, command temper whereas the 2nd 1 is a instead a happy and bright temper. This is why I chose them because I think they are a good comparing and have many differences. Plath has written both of them from her ain experiences in her life. Mushrooms is about her experience of the feminist motion and when adult females were contending to acquire the ballot and become peers. You re is about her experiences of being a pregnant Dendranthema grandifloruom and what joys it brings and she mentions how far off the babe seems.
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Art Criticism
‘foreigners everywhere,’ unpacked: on the ‘brazilianization’ of the art world.
Part 3 of a 3-part essay on the 60th Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of “‘Foreigners Everywhere,’ Unpacked,” here and here .
Brazilians Everywhere
Does Adriano Pedrosa’s Venice Biennale represent a new view of global art seen from below, based around a shared perspective of “how it felt to be there, on the bottom, looking up at the descending heel,” as Salmon Rushdie wrote of a solidarity trip he took to Nicaragua in the ‘80s? Or does it in fact represent something more privileged, a cultural tendency whose project is to “sell indulgences of political emotion to the middle class”—Roberto Schwartz’s diagnosis of a certain self-deluding tendency in Brazilian art?
There is actually a way to look at this show through both lenses at once, without trying to smooth over their differences. This is through the recently popular concept of “Brazilianization.”
The idea, in essence, is this: Globalization was once assumed to be a story that flowed in one direction, with the “developing” countries of the Global South converging on the living standards, consumer lifestyle, and stable liberal norms associated with the “developed” ones, a process sometimes called “Americanization” ( arrogantly , to many Latin American observers). In the long wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and even more so with the havoc of the pandemic, this does not seem to be the path we are now on, either economically or politically.
The “Nucleo Storico: Portraits” gallery. Photo by Ben Davis.
Instead, as theorist Alex Hochuli wrote in “ The Brazilianization of the World, ” the 2021 essay that popularized the concept, “the Global North… is demonstrating many of the features that have plagued the Global South: not just inequality and informalization of work, but increasingly venal elites, political volatility, and social ungluing.” (One of the Hollywood hits of 2024, Alex Garland’s very bad Civil War , is more or less the liberal imagination grappling with this reality, centering on U.S. photojournalists who once captured atrocities ‘over there’ now witnessing them ‘over here.’)
Why “Brazilianization” in particular? Partly because Brazil is a middle-income country. The framework is not just about poverty or corruption, but about the proximity of extreme wealth to deprivation—the condition symbolized by images of ultra-luxury high rises overlooking favelas in Brazil’s big cities. Also key is Brazil’s historic self-identification as “Country of the Future,” its sense that its size and resources promised a destiny that has been continuously thwarted. That makes it useful to look to for perspective as Europe and North America deal with the psychic fallout as their own national narratives are no longer carrying them toward an expected better future.
Mataaho Collective, Takapau (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
I should stress: It’s not a matter of racist rhetoric about “becoming a banana republic” or “looking like the Third World” or some such. The idea is that the Global North has something to learn from Brazilian experience—not just about a benighted other, but about itself. “Brazil’s consciousness of its own promise, and consequent frustration, has prompted the development of a critical perspective on modernization that the world would do well to study,” Hochuli writes.
What might the “Brazilianization” thesis make us reckon with, when it comes to the audience for global contemporary art? Two things.
Culturally, Hochuli connects the concept to an epidemic cynicism, fostered by the mismatch of classical liberal rhetoric about a free and fair marketplace of ideas and the reality of a world actually defined by extreme hierarchy and inaccessible institutions. And, indeed, the last decade has seen dramatic challenges to art’s image as a space of ideals. Everywhere, museums and art institutions have been hit by wave upon wave of protest.
On the one hand, there has been a long-overdue reckoning with representation, inspired by movements like Black Lives Matter and MeToo. On the other, art institutions have faced protests over their connections to extreme wealth and their role in “artwashing” the reputations of unsavory corporations, governments, and plutocrats.
These two lines of critique can flow together : One reason that art history has been biased is because it is greatly shaped by a limited set of powerful people, who are not at all demographically representative of the world. But they can also clash: The very definition of “artwashing” is powerful people using art patronage to create a more tolerant, forward-looking image for themselves.
Might the “critical perspective on modernization” from Brazil sharpen sensitivity to the latter contradiction? In the late ’60s, famed Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica saw the rebel countercultural energy of the Tropicália movement , to which he had given the name, defanged by the Brazilian dictatorship. Anguished by that reality and living in exile, Oiticica would in turn be an early critic of the cooption of queer culture. He slammed New York’s cool crowd for “feeling like they are allies of the marginal” when they were “just raising marginal activity to a bourgeois level”—that is, turning it into an object of exotic consumption.
The section of the Biennale dedicated to “The Disobedience Archive,” a collection of videos about art and activism. Photo by Ben Davis.
The so-far overwhelmingly dismissive critical reaction to the 2024 Venice Biennale has basically been that it is just another identity-obsessed “woke” biennial. I’d argue that the best way to understand the monomaniacal emphasis on marginality, in this Biennale and elsewhere , is that it has a negative role as well as a positive one; it is compensatory as well as affirmative. It is a symptom of the fact that the whole system of art consumption and display otherwise feels itself deeply vulnerable to all kinds of other criticisms about its entanglement with wealth and power, in very fraught times. Any let-up on reminding you that you have an ethical duty to like what is in front of you threatens to let all that flood back in.
Ultimately, the transformation of marginality into the sole grounds of inclusion doesn’t even best serve the marginalized. It all but demands observers think of the selection only through the lens of identity, immediately summoning the specter of tokenization (Nicolas Bourriaud’s diagnosis of this show: “what the artist is becomes more important than what they produce.”) The universal cynicism that Hochuli sees as taking hold means that “we mistrust ideals, holding them to be always ideological; that is, concealing selfish interests.” Alienation from apolitical aesthetics as privileged is simply displaced onto alienation about progressive “virtue signaling” as privileged.
Yinka Shonibare, Refugee Astronaut VIII (2024). Photo by Ben Davis.
Art historian Shifra Goldman long ago described how scholars of Latin American culture had learned to cast a jaded eye on “the pluralism which camouflages itself behind an egalitarian mask while it neutralizes class conflict (which has not abated) and the claims of new social movements.” More recently, the philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò’s idea of “ elite capture ” has received quite a bit of attention, specifically as a way to talk about the problems with certain forms of identity politics. I like the line Táíwò walks, helping us avoid a sterile “woke”/”anti-woke” polarization. He distinguishes between “identity politics” as the idea that some groups might have important shared experiences to draw on as political actors—obviously true—and a version of “identity politics” that gets captured by the wealthy and the connected.
Crucially, Táíwò actually drew the concept of “elite capture” from studies of developing economies (originally, the term described how corrupt elites “capture” foreign aid, turning what should benefit all into a form of patronage that they can distribute to cronies). “Multiethnic Global South societies easily fall into cycles of expecting elites to allocate resources along blatantly ethnic and regional lines,” he writes . “After all, the thinking goes, the elites of every other ethnic group will do the same when they’re in power.”
It is very bad if international art becomes widely viewed through this image of zero-sum “identity politics,” associating some very important things—Indigenous art, queer art, global art histories—with a new language of power and exclusivity.
Which brings me to my second theme…
A key aspect of the experience of Latin American artists, Ecuadorian critic Jorge Enrique Adoum once argued , was the feeling of isolation in societies defined by intense stratification. (“Our group wasn’t very popular,” Lygia Clark once remembered , “as it was a group of intellectual artists who had no contact with the people.”)
Of course, in the Global North too, art has always been a bit at a remove from truly “popular” opinion—but in light of the “Brazilianization” thesis, it feels more and more important to make visible what Enrique Adoum called the “cage bars of reality,” the limits of the cultural space that you are in.
Lydia Ourahmane, 21 Boulevard Mustapha Benboulaid (entrance) (1901-2021) in the foreground, with Daniel Otero Torres, Aguacero (2024) in the background. Photo by Ben Davis.
One of the most important texts about art to me (I have an essay about it in my last book ) is Roberto Schwartz’s “Culture and Politics in Brazil (1964–1969).” There, he describes with acuity the strange scene after the 1964 U.S.-approved rightwing coup in Brazil. Art production in those years of the dictatorship, he says, was surprisingly radical and left wing, full of inventive protests against a reactionary government and avowals of solidarity for the oppressed masses. In Schwartz’s analysis, this culture seemed to construct a compensatory, self-contained world, strangely cut off from the reality of brutal political defeat and failing to brace for the soon-to-arrive intensification of repression, the “coup within a coup” that hit Brazil in late ’68.
I see a similar pattern in the ideas that run through “Foreigners Everywhere” and other such shows—the creation of a heroic bubble that cannot see itself as a bubble, a cultural politics that views itself as a form of popular activism but that is about avoiding the political reality of being more and more isolated.
The clear difference between the Brazil Schwartz describes and today’s contemporary-art mainstream is that the intellectual culture of ‘60s Brazil put much, much more at stake. As Schwartz shows in his intricate analysis, isolated though they were, Brazilian artists and intellectuals inherited a robust (if too-institutional) type of developmentalist Marxism and a nervy anti-imperialism—the very climate of Latin American leftism that U.S. saw as threatening enough to greenlight a military coup to extinguish.
Watching a video in Pablo Delano’s “Museum of the Old Colony” room in “Foreigners Everywhere.” Photo by Ben Davis.
By contrast, the cultural politics that have captured the peaks of the global art establishment in 2024 have been shaped by a very different set of forces: the erratic, explosive, unresolved period of activism that began in the early 2010s, the period that São Paulo-based political thinker Vincent Bevins describes as “the mass protest decade.”
As Bevins shows in his 2023 book If We Burn , this period was characterized globally—in Brazil and Turkey and Hong Kong and even in the United States of Occupy, BLM, NoDAPL, and Bernie—by cataclysmic spikes of viral popular protest that tended to have huge and galvanizing temporary resonance, but that left behind little in the way of enduring organization. As a result, Bevins argues, more organized conservative forces have benefited most from the turbulence, have radicalized, and have grown closer and closer to power. Meanwhile, the institutions of a liberal establishment have been forced to adopt some radical phrases and symbolism, but very little else of deep substance.
Neon work by Claire Fontaine. Photo by Ben Davis.
And so, what you get is something like “Foreigners Everywhere,” exemplary of a global contemporary art discourse defined by a deep sense of the need to symbolize progress but that also doesn’t seem to believe in progress at all, turning away from the present. It is a show that is permeated in every part by anxieties about global reactionary politics, but that placidly assumes that its global audience is on board with progressive values.
There is art to like in it. There are aspects of its intellectual program that I think are truly important. At the start, I said that I think Pedrosa’s exhibition will be remembered positively.
I guess I’d qualify that by adding the words “in the future I would like to see.” Taking stock of how the show fits its many parts together also suggests to me that this future is being built on a fragile foundation.
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Self-Actualization In Psychology: Theory, Examples & Characteristics
Ayesh Perera
B.A, MTS, Harvard University
Ayesh Perera, a Harvard graduate, has worked as a researcher in psychology and neuroscience under Dr. Kevin Majeres at Harvard Medical School.
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Self-actualization is the complete realization of one’s potential, and the full development of one’s abilities and appreciation for life. This concept is at the top of the Maslow hierarchy of needs , so not every human being reaches it.
Key Takeaways
Kurt Goldstein, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow are three individuals who have contributed immensely to our understanding of the concept of self-actualization.
The present-day understanding of self-actualization tends to be more aligned with the view of Maslow than with the perspectives of Goldstein or Rogers.
According to Maslow, the internal drive to self-actualize would seldom emerge until more basic needs are met.
Self-actualized people have an acceptance of who they are despite their faults and limitations and experience to drive to be creative in all aspects of their lives.
While self-actualizers hail from a variety of backgrounds and a diversity of occupations, they share notable characteristics in common, such as the ability to cultivate deep and loving relationships with others.
Self-actualization (also referred to as self-realization or self-cultivation) can be described as the complete realization of one’s potential as manifest in peak experiences which involve the full development of one’s abilities and appreciation for life (Maslow, 1962).
The attainment of self-actualization involves one’s full involvement in life and the realization of that which one is capable of accomplishing.
Generally, the state of self-actualization is viewed as obtainable only after one’s fundamental needs for survival, safety, love, and self-esteem are met (Maslow, 1943, 1954).
Self-Actualization Theory
Self-actualization theory emphasizes the innate drive of individuals to reach their full potential.
Kurt Goldstein highlighted the holistic nature of self-actualization, encompassing physical, psychological, and social well-being.
Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization at the highest level, while Rogers focused on the importance of congruence and unconditional positive regard in fostering personal growth.
Kurt Goldstein
Even though the term “self-actualization” is most associated with Abraham Maslow, it was originally introduced by Kurt Goldstein, a physician specializing in psychiatry and neuroanatomy during the early part of the 20th century.
Goldstein (1939, 1940) viewed self-actualization as the ultimate goal of every organism and refers to man”s” desire for self-fulfillment, and the propensity of an individual to become actualized in his potential.
He contended that each human being, plant, and animal has an inborn goal to actualize itself as it is.
Goldstein pointed out that organisms, therefore, behave in accordance with this overarching motivation.
In his book, “The Organism: A Holistic Approach to Biology Derived from Pathological Data in Man”, Goldstein argued that self-actualization involves the tendency to actualize an organism’s individual capacities as much as possible (Goldstein, 2000).
According to Goldstein’s (1940) view, self-actualization was not necessarily a goal to be reached in the future but an organism’s innate propensity to realize its potential at any moment under the given circumstances.
Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers described self-actualization as the continuous lifelong process whereby an individual’s self-concept is maintained and enhanced via reflection and the reinterpretation of various experiences, which enable the individual to recover, change and develop (Rogers, 1951).
According to Rogers (1967), the human organism has an underlying “actualizing tendency”, which aims to develop all capacities in ways that maintain or enhance the organism and move it toward autonomy.
According to Rogers, people could only self-actualize if they had a positive self-view (positive self-regard). This can only happen if they have unconditional positive regard from others – if they feel valued and respected without reservation by those around them (especially their parents when they were children).
Self-actualization is only possible if there is congruence between how an individual sees themselves ( self-image ) and their ideal self (the way they want to be or think they should be).
If there is a large gap between these two concepts, negative feelings of self-worth will arise, making it impossible for self-actualization to occur.
Rogers (1967) posits that the structure of the self is a consistent yet fluid pattern of perceptions of oneself that is organized and formed via evaluational interactions.
However, the tension between one’s ideal sense of self and one’s experiences (or self-image) can produce incongruence, a psychopathological state stemming from the perversions of one’s unitary actualizing tendency.
For Rogers (1967), a person who is in the process of self-actualizing, actively exploring potentials and abilities and experiencing a match between real and ideal selves is a fully functioning person.
Becoming a Fully functioning person means “that the individual moves towards “being”, knowingly and acceptingly, the process which he inwardly and actually “is.” He moves away from what he is not, from being a facade.
He is not trying to be more than he is, with the attendant feelings of insecurity or bombastic defensiveness. He is not trying to be less than he is, with the attendant feelings of guilt or self-deprecation.
He is increasingly listening to the deepest recesses of his psychological and emotional being, and finds himself increasingly willing to be, with greater accuracy and depth, that self which he most truly is”.
Fully functioning people are in touch with their own feelings and abilities and are able to trust their innermost urges and intuitions.
To become fully functioning, a person needs unconditional positive regard from others, especially their parents in childhood.
Unconditional positive regard is an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings.
However, most people don’t perceive the positive regard of others as being unconditional. They tend to think they will only be loved and valued if they meet certain conditions of worth.
These conditions of worth create incongruity within the self between the real self (how the person is) and the ideal self (how they think they should be or want to be).
Abraham Maslow
As did Goldstein, Maslow viewed self-actualization as realizing one’s potential. However, Maslow (1967) described self-actualization more narrowly than Goldstein by applying it solely to human beings—rather than all organisms.
Maslow pointed out that humans have lower-order needs that must be generally met before their higher order needs can be satiated, such as self-actualization. He categorized those needs as follows (Maslow, 1943):
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
1. Basic needs: a. Physiological needs (ex- water, food, warmth and rest). b. Safety needs (ex- safety and security). 2. Psychological needs. a. Belongingness needs (ex- close relationships with loved ones and friends). b. Esteem needs (ex- feeling of accomplishment and prestige). 3. Self-actualization needs (realizing one’s full potential).
Self-actualize is the final stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs , so not every human being reaches it.
To Maslow, self-actualization meant the desire for self-fulfillment, or a person’s tendency to be actualized in what he or she is potentially.
Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed economically, academically, or athletically. For others, it may be expressed creatively in paintings, pictures, or inventions.
Maslow further explained that self-actualization involves the intrinsic development of an organism. He contended that self-actualization is more growth-oriented than deficiency-focused (Gleitman, Fridlund, & Riesberg, 2004).
Maslow acknowledged the apparent rarity of self-actualized people and argued that most people are suffering from psychopathology of normality.
Unlike Sigmund Freud , whose psychodynamic approach was focused on unhealthy individuals engaging in disturbing conduct, Maslow was associated with the humanistic approach, which focuses on healthy individuals.
Consequently, Maslow’s perspective is more consistent with a positive view of human nature, which sees individuals as driven to reach their potential. This humanistic perspective markedly differs from the Freudian view of human beings as tension-reducing organisms.
Examples of Self-Actualizations
Examples of self-actualization can vary greatly from person to person as it involves the pursuit of personal growth and fulfillment in line with one’s unique values and aspirations.
Some examples may include:
Pursuing a passion or creative endeavor, such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument.
Setting and achieving meaningful goals that align with personal values and aspirations.
Engaging in acts of kindness and altruism to contribute to the well-being of others.
Seeking personal development through continuous learning and acquiring new skills.
Embracing authenticity and living in alignment with one’s true values and beliefs.
Cultivating meaningful relationships and connections with others based on mutual respect and support.
Engaging in self-reflection and introspection to gain deeper self-awareness and personal insight.
Making choices and decisions that prioritize personal happiness and well-being rather than external validation.
Embracing and accepting oneself fully, including both strengths and weaknesses.
Experiencing moments of flow, where one is fully immersed and engaged in an activity that brings a sense of joy, purpose, and fulfillment.
Moving beyond mere theory and speculation, Maslow identified several individuals he considered to have attained a level of self-actualization (Maslow, 1970).
Noteworthy herein are the diversity of occupations and the variety of the backgrounds which these individuals represent while still meeting the criteria of self-actualization.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865; American President) Albert Einstein (1879- 1955; Theoretical Physicist) Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965; Writer, Humanitarian, Theologian, Organist, Philosopher, and Physician) Aldous Huxley (1894- 1963; Philosopher and Writer) Baruch Spinoza (1632- 1677; Philosopher) Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962; Diplomat and Activist) Jane Addams (1860-1935; Settlement Activist, Sociologist, Public Administrator) Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826; American President, Architect, Philosopher) William James (1842- 1910; Philosopher and Psychologist)
Characteristics of Self-Actualized Individuals
Abraham Maslow based his theory on case studies of historical figures whom he saw as examples of self-actualized individuals, including Albert Einstein, Ruth Benedict, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Maslow examined the lives of each of these people in order to assess the common qualities that led each to become self-actualized.
Based on Maslow’s description of self-actualizers, one can find several striking similarities that these supposedly self-actualized individuals share in common.
Some of such characteristics which distinguish self-actualized individuals from the rest of humanity are as follows (Maslow, 1954, 1970).
Self-actualized people are accepting of others as well as their own flaws, often with humor and tolerance. Not only do self-actualized people fully accept others, but they are also true to themselves rather than pretending in order to impress others (Talevich, 2017).
Self-actualized people also tend to be independent and resourceful: they are less likely to rely upon external authorities to direct their lives (Martela & Pessi, 2018).
Can cultivate deep and loving relationships with others.
Tendency to exude gratitude and maintain a deep appreciation even for the commonplace blessings in life.
Can often discern between the superficial and the real when judging situations.
Seldom depend upon their environment or culture to form their opinions.
Tendency to view life as a mission that calls them to a purpose beyond themselves.
Critical Evaluation
Despite the popularity of self-actualization as a concept associated with positive psychology and motivation theories, it does not cease to draw criticism.
The Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne for instance, has called self-actualization the game of self-expression based on the belief that good feelings are to be pursued (Berne, 2016).
Additionally, critics have pointed out that self-actualizing tendencies can lead to a positive but non-relational approach to human beings (Thorne, 1992). Moreover, Fritz Perls has noted that the focus can easily shift from striving to actualize one’s sense of self to merely attempting to build an appearance of self-actualization, which can be misleading (Perls, 1992).
Vitz (1994) has contended that Maslow and Rogers have turned the psychological concept of self-actualization into a moral norm. Finally, the possibility of self-actualization has also come to be seen as a special privilege reserved only for a select few.
In response to these concerns, Maslow has acknowledged that expressions of unrestrained whims and the pursuit of private pleasures have often been mislabeled as self-actualization (Daniels, 2005). Maslow, too, shared the concern that the concept might be misunderstood.
In fact, when many people wrote to Maslow describing themselves as self-actualized persons, Maslow doubted whether he had sufficiently articulated his theory (Steven, 1975).
However, Maslow did not hold that only an elite few could attain the state of self-actualization. On the contrary, he pointed out that often people living in strikingly similar circumstances experience enormously different outcomes in life.
He reasoned that such a reality underscores the importance of attitude as a factor that influences one’s destiny.
Paradoxical narrative of self-actualization
Winston (2018) takes a fresh look at Abraham Maslow’s classic work on self-actualization. She provides a nuanced analysis of the paradoxical nature of self-actualizers’ perceptions of themselves, others, and the world.
Winston dismantles Maslow’s chapter on self-actualization from his seminal Motivation and Personality book and rearranges it to demonstrate the ongoing struggle Maslow faced in describing self-actualizers.
On one hand, he would characterize them in a certain way, only to provide a contradictory example shortly after. For instance, he described them as accepting reality yet noted they display resignation. Or as free from excessive guilt yet not immune to anxiety and self-criticism (Winston, 2018).
On one hand, Maslow portrayed self-actualizers as comfortable with uncertainty, doubt and vagueness. Yet he also stated they are rarely unsure or conflicted (Winston, 2018).
Additionally, he characterized them as capable of fully identifying with, and losing themselves in, close relationships. However, he also noted they retain a certain detachment from loved ones.
Rather than dismissing these opposing descriptions as contradictions or inconsistencies, as some scholars have done, Winston sees them as paradoxes that convey the complexity of psychological health. In her analysis, she uncovers three key paradoxes:
Self-actualizers share common traits yet remain utterly unique individuals.
Their perceptions of themselves, others and the world are simultaneously positive and negative. They have an accurate view of reality as messy rather than black-and-white.
They can accept what cannot change yet have the courage to change what they can, displaying wisdom in discerning the difference (Winston, 2018).
Winston argues that the paradoxical nature of self-actualization illustrates that psychological health entails the contextually appropriate expression of human potentialities, whether viewed as positive or negative.
Her framework challenges approaches that unconditionally promote some potentials while suppressing others. Instead, she advocates examining the conditions under which any given potentiality may be adaptive or maladaptive.
For individualistic cultures only?
The concept of self-actualization, characterized by realizing one’s full potential, is often seen as the pinnacle of psychological development. However, the cultural specificity of self-actualization has been questioned (Itai, 2008).
Specifically, the individualistic focus on developing uniqueness, fulfilling one’s capacities, and prioritizing personal growth over social belonging may not generalize across cultures.
Research suggests self-actualization aligns closely with individualistic values prominent in the West, but not necessarily with the collectivist values of interdependence and social harmony found in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.
Itai Ivtzan (2008) compared 100 British (individualistic culture) and 100 Indian (collectivist culture) participants aged 18-25 on their responses to the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). The POI measures 12 characteristics seen as central to self-actualization (Shostrom, 1963).
As predicted, the British group scored significantly higher than the Indian group on 10 out of 12 scales, including time competence, inner-directedness, self-actualizing values, feeling reactivity, and self-acceptance.
Ivtzan concluded that the concept of self-actualization, as currently defined, lacks cross-cultural validity. The lower POI scores from the Indian group likely reflect measurement bias rather than truly less self-actualization. Cultures shape the meaning of self-fulfillment in different ways. While the drive to achieve one’s potential is universal, how this manifests likely depends on cultural values.
These findings underscore the need to re-examine concepts like self-actualization through a cross-cultural lens.
Applying Western models globally risks promoting an ethnocentric view of human motivation and adjustment. Future research should explore how self-actualization presents in diverse cultures. Practically, the study also cautions the use of self-actualization theory in multi-cultural organizational contexts.
What is self-actualization?
Self-actualization is a concept in psychology that refers to the process of fulfilling one’s true potential, becoming the best version of oneself, and achieving personal growth, meaning, and fulfillment in various aspects of life.
According to Maslow, what are some of the traits and qualities of self-actualizing individuals?
According to Maslow, self-actualizing individuals exhibit traits and qualities such as autonomy, authenticity, creativity, self-acceptance, a sense of purpose, strong values, peak experiences, and the ability to have meaningful relationships. They strive for personal growth, fulfillment, and reaching their highest potential.
What is the difference between self-actualization and self-transcendence?
Self-actualization refers to fulfilling one’s potential and becoming the best version of oneself, while self-transcendence goes beyond the self and involves connecting to something greater, such as meaning, values, or the well-being of others, to achieve a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
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Goldstein, K. (1939). The Organism . New York, NY: American Books.
Goldstein, K. (1940). Human Nature . Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.
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Vitz, P. C. (1994). Psychology as religion: The cult of self-worship . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Winston, C. N. (2018). To be and not to be: A paradoxical narrative of self-actualization. The Humanistic Psychologist, 46 (2), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000082
Further Reading
A cognitive‐systemic reconstruction of Maslow’s theory of self‐actualization
An inventory for the measurement of self-actualization
Questionnaire: Are you self-actualized?
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COVID-19: Long-term effects
Some people continue to experience health problems long after having COVID-19. Understand the possible symptoms and risk factors for post-COVID-19 syndrome.
Most people who get coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recover within a few weeks. But some people — even those who had mild versions of the disease — might have symptoms that last a long time afterward. These ongoing health problems are sometimes called post- COVID-19 syndrome, post- COVID conditions, long COVID-19 , long-haul COVID-19 , and post acute sequelae of SARS COV-2 infection (PASC).
What is post-COVID-19 syndrome and how common is it?
Post- COVID-19 syndrome involves a variety of new, returning or ongoing symptoms that people experience more than four weeks after getting COVID-19 . In some people, post- COVID-19 syndrome lasts months or years or causes disability.
Research suggests that between one month and one year after having COVID-19 , 1 in 5 people ages 18 to 64 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19 . Among people age 65 and older, 1 in 4 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19 .
What are the symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome?
The most commonly reported symptoms of post- COVID-19 syndrome include:
Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort
Lung (respiratory) symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath and cough
Other possible symptoms include:
Neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating, headache, sleep problems, dizziness when you stand, pins-and-needles feeling, loss of smell or taste, and depression or anxiety
Joint or muscle pain
Heart symptoms or conditions, including chest pain and fast or pounding heartbeat
Digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain
Blood clots and blood vessel (vascular) issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
Other symptoms, such as a rash and changes in the menstrual cycle
Keep in mind that it can be hard to tell if you are having symptoms due to COVID-19 or another cause, such as a preexisting medical condition.
It's also not clear if post- COVID-19 syndrome is new and unique to COVID-19 . Some symptoms are similar to those caused by chronic fatigue syndrome and other chronic illnesses that develop after infections. Chronic fatigue syndrome involves extreme fatigue that worsens with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with rest.
Why does COVID-19 cause ongoing health problems?
Organ damage could play a role. People who had severe illness with COVID-19 might experience organ damage affecting the heart, kidneys, skin and brain. Inflammation and problems with the immune system can also happen. It isn't clear how long these effects might last. The effects also could lead to the development of new conditions, such as diabetes or a heart or nervous system condition.
The experience of having severe COVID-19 might be another factor. People with severe symptoms of COVID-19 often need to be treated in a hospital intensive care unit. This can result in extreme weakness and post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event.
What are the risk factors for post-COVID-19 syndrome?
You might be more likely to have post- COVID-19 syndrome if:
You had severe illness with COVID-19 , especially if you were hospitalized or needed intensive care.
You had certain medical conditions before getting the COVID-19 virus.
You had a condition affecting your organs and tissues (multisystem inflammatory syndrome) while sick with COVID-19 or afterward.
Post- COVID-19 syndrome also appears to be more common in adults than in children and teens. However, anyone who gets COVID-19 can have long-term effects, including people with no symptoms or mild illness with COVID-19 .
What should you do if you have post-COVID-19 syndrome symptoms?
If you're having symptoms of post- COVID-19 syndrome, talk to your health care provider. To prepare for your appointment, write down:
When your symptoms started
What makes your symptoms worse
How often you experience symptoms
How your symptoms affect your activities
Your health care provider might do lab tests, such as a complete blood count or liver function test. You might have other tests or procedures, such as chest X-rays, based on your symptoms. The information you provide and any test results will help your health care provider come up with a treatment plan.
In addition, you might benefit from connecting with others in a support group and sharing resources.
Long COVID or post-COVID conditions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects.html. Accessed May 6, 2022.
Post-COVID conditions: Overview for healthcare providers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-care/post-covid-conditions.html. Accessed May 6, 2022.
Mikkelsen ME, et al. COVID-19: Evaluation and management of adults following acute viral illness. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed May 6, 2022.
Saeed S, et al. Coronavirus disease 2019 and cardiovascular complications: Focused clinical review. Journal of Hypertension. 2021; doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000002819.
AskMayoExpert. Post-COVID-19 syndrome. Mayo Clinic; 2022.
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mis/index.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.
Patient tips: Healthcare provider appointments for post-COVID conditions. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/post-covid-appointment/index.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.
Bull-Otterson L, et al. Post-COVID conditions among adult COVID-19 survivors aged 18-64 and ≥ 65 years — United States, March 2020 — November 2021. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2022; doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7121e1.
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Art Imitates Life; Life Imitates Art Free Essay Example
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Answer 2: Art is essential as it covers all the developmental domains in child development. Moreover, it helps in physical development and enhancing gross and motor skills. For example, playing with dough can fine-tune your muscle control in your fingers. Share with friends. Previous.
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Art is life, no matter how fragile the times. Art is a testimony of the human condition. It encompasses all of our hardships, emotions, questions, decisions, perceptions. Love, hatred, life, death ...
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This essay is a reminder of how art is intertwined with our lives. It is not separate or distant from us; it is a part of us. It is a reflection of who we are and what we feel, think, and dream. Art is not just life; it is the soul of life. It is the color, the rhythm, the melody, the story of life.
Essay on Art And Life
In conclusion, art and life are closely connected. Art reflects life, and life inspires art. They are like a dance, each one moving in response to the other. Through art, we can understand life in a deeper and more meaningful way. 250 Words Essay on Art And Life Art: A Reflection of Life. Art is like a mirror. It shows us what life is like.
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Art involves a deliberate effort to create something that has aesthetic or intellectual value. If something is not created with the intention of expressing a creative idea or emotion, it may not be considered art. 2. Lack of skill or technique. Art typically involves a certain level of technical skill or mastery.
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Art makes our world beautiful. A painting on a wall or a song in the air can make our day better. It's like a splash of color on a grey day, making life more enjoyable. 250 Words Essay on Importance Of Art In Our Life Art Brightens Our World. Art is like a splash of color on a blank canvas. It makes our world more interesting and beautiful.
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In art history, when you linger, analyze, ponder, you're working to overturn System 1. Critically thinking negates System 1. The challenge for you, now, graduates, is to continue doing that, out of the classroom. Not in theory, within the safe walls of college, but in practice, in the "real world. Humans love routines.
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The loss of such a unique ability would be a catastrophe. "Men would be like beasts", says Tolstoy, and even goes as far as to claim that without art, mankind could not exist. This is a bold declaration, which recalls the Nietzschean aphorism that human existence is justified only as an aesthetic phenomenon.
The art of life is that life is art
Creation is endless, as we move through life-through the process of creation- we are changed and recreated constantly. Art, thus life, is about transformation and exploration not about arriving ...
Art as Life
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My LIFE is art. ART is my life.
Art can and does mean so much more. Art may be a way to explore your world or your imagination. In this way, life is art. Art may inspire a beginning painter to take steps into learning a new medium, or an accomplished artist to experiment with a new technique. Art is teaching, art is learning. Art can be exciting, empowering, and an expression ...
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1010 words essay on the Relations Between Art And Life. Art is life, not something to be placed in a shrine and substituted for life. Actually, art is an effort to create, besides the real world, a more human entity. Moreover, a true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Indeed, even those who regard art as an ideal and artists ...
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The lord approves: "This is a true artist!". Implicit in the phrase "the artist's life" is the idea that this is a life apart. We are not so quick to rhapsodize about the insurance agent ...
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This verse form is about a pregnant female parent who is speaking about her unborn babe. She describes how it moves about insides her tummy. The poet is seeking to depict what it is like to be a pregnant female parent utilizing metaphors. The emotion and temper of the verse form is a really happy and bright temper.
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Self-actualization (also referred to as self-realization or self-cultivation) can be described as the complete realization of one's potential as manifest in peak experiences which involve the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life (Maslow, 1962). The attainment of self-actualization involves one's full involvement ...
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People who had severe illness with COVID-19 might experience organ damage affecting the heart, kidneys, skin and brain. Inflammation and problems with the immune system can also happen. It isn't clear how long these effects might last. The effects also could lead to the development of new conditions, such as diabetes or a heart or nervous ...
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Answer 2: Art is essential as it covers all the developmental domains in child development. Moreover, it helps in physical development and enhancing gross and motor skills. For example, playing with dough can fine-tune your muscle control in your fingers. Share with friends. Previous.
Art is life, no matter how fragile the times. Art is a testimony of the human condition. It encompasses all of our hardships, emotions, questions, decisions, perceptions. Love, hatred, life, death ...
This essay is a reminder of how art is intertwined with our lives. It is not separate or distant from us; it is a part of us. It is a reflection of who we are and what we feel, think, and dream. Art is not just life; it is the soul of life. It is the color, the rhythm, the melody, the story of life.
In conclusion, art and life are closely connected. Art reflects life, and life inspires art. They are like a dance, each one moving in response to the other. Through art, we can understand life in a deeper and more meaningful way. 250 Words Essay on Art And Life Art: A Reflection of Life. Art is like a mirror. It shows us what life is like.
Art involves a deliberate effort to create something that has aesthetic or intellectual value. If something is not created with the intention of expressing a creative idea or emotion, it may not be considered art. 2. Lack of skill or technique. Art typically involves a certain level of technical skill or mastery.
Art makes our world beautiful. A painting on a wall or a song in the air can make our day better. It's like a splash of color on a grey day, making life more enjoyable. 250 Words Essay on Importance Of Art In Our Life Art Brightens Our World. Art is like a splash of color on a blank canvas. It makes our world more interesting and beautiful.
In art history, when you linger, analyze, ponder, you're working to overturn System 1. Critically thinking negates System 1. The challenge for you, now, graduates, is to continue doing that, out of the classroom. Not in theory, within the safe walls of college, but in practice, in the "real world. Humans love routines.
The benefits of creating art. Creating art can be an immensely rewarding experience that has both psychological and physical benefits. It can provide a sense of purpose, satisfaction, and accomplishment. Art can also help reduce stress, build self-confidence, and improve problem solving skills.
The loss of such a unique ability would be a catastrophe. "Men would be like beasts", says Tolstoy, and even goes as far as to claim that without art, mankind could not exist. This is a bold declaration, which recalls the Nietzschean aphorism that human existence is justified only as an aesthetic phenomenon.
Creation is endless, as we move through life-through the process of creation- we are changed and recreated constantly. Art, thus life, is about transformation and exploration not about arriving ...
This essay was written in 1957. Life of Life! thy lips enkindle. —Shelley, Prometheus Unbound Art and life are one through composition as individuality. The way we are composed is our individuality; what we feel is an instantaneous relation among everything we have. It is this relation which is life itself. The I is a […]
Art can and does mean so much more. Art may be a way to explore your world or your imagination. In this way, life is art. Art may inspire a beginning painter to take steps into learning a new medium, or an accomplished artist to experiment with a new technique. Art is teaching, art is learning. Art can be exciting, empowering, and an expression ...
Art and life. Great art offers us a way of conceptualising our lives as meaningful if we consider ourselves as the artist who creates our own life's meaning by taking into consideration both ...
1010 words essay on the Relations Between Art And Life. Art is life, not something to be placed in a shrine and substituted for life. Actually, art is an effort to create, besides the real world, a more human entity. Moreover, a true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Indeed, even those who regard art as an ideal and artists ...
An art essay is a literary composition that analyzes different aspects of artwork, including paintings, sculpture, poems, architecture, and music. These essays look at the visual elements of different artworks. An art essay, for example, might look at the optical elements and creative approaches utilized in particular works of art.
Visual Verbal Essay on Wilfred Owen and Franz Marc. This essay explores two artists, Franz Marc, Brett Whitely and two of their artworks depicting animal scenes. Franz Marc's 'Tiger', 'Blue Horse 1' and Brett Whitley's Giraffe and Hyena.
The lord approves: "This is a true artist!". Implicit in the phrase "the artist's life" is the idea that this is a life apart. We are not so quick to rhapsodize about the insurance agent ...
Bad actors notwithstanding, the real art world is "a great broken beautiful family of misfits," according to one of the essays that earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 2018. "I refuse to believe ...
Life imitating art. Anti-mimesis is a philosophical position that holds the direct opposite of Aristotelian mimesis. Its most notable proponent is Oscar Wilde, who opined in his 1889 essay that, "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life". In the essay, written as a Platonic dialogue, Wilde holds that anti- mimesis "results not merely ...
About the Series. Artsy and Elephant have come together to present "This Artwork Changed My Life," a creative collaboration that shares stories of life-changing encounters with art. In each essay, the writer recalls how an artwork impacted them personally—be that through shifting their perspective, opening their eyes, or setting their ...
Certainly, art and human life compliment each other one way or another through the sense of beauty and reality all packed in one presentation of truth. ... Lin Onus In this essay I shall be exploring the art of contemporary Australian artist, Lin Onus (1948-1996) and explaining the themes, meanings, and other features of his paintings. ...
According to tradition, the historical Buddha lived from 563 to 483 B.C., although scholars postulate that he may have lived as much as a century later. He was born to the rulers of the Shakya clan, hence his appellation Shakyamuni, which means "sage of the Shakya clan.". The legends that grew up around him hold that both his conception and ...
The Life of an Artist. Being an artist is not just a job, it's a way of life. Artists put their heart and soul into their work. They spend a lot of time thinking about new ideas. They also practice a lot to improve their skills. Artists often work alone, but they also share their work with others. They want to make people feel something when ...
Art that mirrors our identity and echoes personal experience is the most appealing to us. Beautiful art stimulates the self-referential regions of our brain, mirroring aspects of our own selves.
This verse form is about a pregnant female parent who is speaking about her unborn babe. She describes how it moves about insides her tummy. The poet is seeking to depict what it is like to be a pregnant female parent utilizing metaphors. The emotion and temper of the verse form is a really happy and bright temper.
Art Criticism 'Foreigners Everywhere,' Unpacked: On the 'Brazilianization' of the Art World. Part 3 of a 3-part essay on the 60th Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Self-actualization (also referred to as self-realization or self-cultivation) can be described as the complete realization of one's potential as manifest in peak experiences which involve the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life (Maslow, 1962). The attainment of self-actualization involves one's full involvement ...
People who had severe illness with COVID-19 might experience organ damage affecting the heart, kidneys, skin and brain. Inflammation and problems with the immune system can also happen. It isn't clear how long these effects might last. The effects also could lead to the development of new conditions, such as diabetes or a heart or nervous ...