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An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only.
However, the term is also often used in the entertainment business, especially in a business context,[citation needed] for musicians and other performers (although less often for actors). Artiste (French) is a variant used in English in this context, but this use has become rare. The use of the term "artist" to describe writers is valid, but less common, and mostly restricted to contexts such as critics' reviews; "author" is generally used instead.
Dictionary definitions
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the older, broader meanings of the word "artist":
- A learned person or Master of Arts
- One who pursues a practical science, traditionally medicine, astrology, alchemy, chemistry
- A follower of a pursuit in which skill comes by study or practice
- A follower of a manual art, such as a mechanic
- One who makes their craft a fine art
- One who cultivates one of the fine arts – traditionally the arts presided over by the muses
History of the term
The Greek word techně, often translated as "art", implies mastery of any sort of craft. The adjectival Latin form of the word, technicus, became the source of the English words technique, technology, and technical.
In Greek culture, each of the nine Muses oversaw a different field of human creation:
- Calliope (the 'beautiful of speech'): chief of the muses and muse of epic or heroic poetry
- Clio (the 'glorious one'): muse of history
- Erato (the 'amorous one'): muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics, and marriage songs
- Euterpe (the 'well-pleasing'): muse of music and lyric poetry
- Melpomene (the 'chanting one'): muse of tragedy
- Polyhymnia or Polymnia (the '[singer] of many hymns'): muse of sacred song, oratory, lyric, singing, and rhetoric
- Terpsichore (the '[one who] delights in dance'): muse of choral song and dance
- Thalia (the 'blossoming one'): muse of comedy and bucolic poetry
- Urania (the 'celestial one'): muse of astronomy
No muse was identified with the visual arts of painting and sculpture. In ancient Greece, sculptors and painters were held in low regard, the work often performed by slaves and mostly regarded as mere manual labour.
The word art derives from the Latin "ars" (stem art-), which, although literally defined means "skill method" or "technique", also conveys a connotation of beauty.
During the Middle Ages the word artist already existed in some countries such as Italy, but the meaning was something resembling craftsman, while the word artisan was still unknown. An artist was someone able to do a work better than others, so the skilled excellency was underlined, rather than the activity field. In this period, some "artisanal" products (such as textiles) were much more precious and expensive than paintings or sculptures.
The first division into major and minor arts dates back at least to the works of Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472): De re aedificatoria, , De pictura, which focused on the importance of the intellectual skills of the artist rather than the manual skills (even if in other forms of art there was a project behind).
With the academies in Europe (second half of 16th century) the gap between fine and applied arts was definitely set.
Many contemporary definitions of "artist" and "art" are highly contingent on culture, resisting aesthetic prescription; in the same way, the features constituting beauty and the beautiful cannot be standardized easily without moving into kitsch.
Training and employment
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies many visual artists as either craft artists or fine artists. A craft artist makes handmade functional works of art, such as pottery or clothing. A fine artist makes paintings, illustrations (such as book illustrations or medical illustrations), sculptures, or similar artistic works primarily for their aesthetic value.
The main source of skill for both craft artists and fine artists is long-term repetition and practice. Many fine artists have studied their art form at university, and some have a master's degree in fine arts. Artists may also study on their own or receive on-the-job training from an experienced artist.
The number of available jobs as an artist is increasing more slowly than in other fields. About half of US artists are self-employed. Others work in a variety of industries. For example, a pottery manufacturer will employ craft artists, and book publishers will hire illustrators.
In the US, fine artists have a median income of approximately US$50,000 per year, and craft artists have a median income of approximately US$33,000 per year. This compares to US$61,000 for all art-related fields, including related jobs such as graphic designers, multimedia artists, animators, and fashion designers. Many artists work part-time as artists and hold a second job.
See also
- Art history
- Arts by region
- Artist in Residence
- Humanities
- List of painters by name
- List of painters
- List of photographers
- List of composers
- List of sculptors
- Mathematics and art
- Starving artist
- Tattoo artist
- Tortured artist
Notes
- "Meaning of artist in English".
- Oxford English Dictionary s.v. technic
- In Our Time: The Artist BBC Radio 4, TX 28 March 2002
- P.Galloni, Il sacro artefice. Mitologie degli artigiani medievali, Laterza, Bari, 1998
- "Craft and Fine Artists". Occupational Outlook Handbook (2016–17 ed.). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
References
- P.Galloni, Il sacro artefice. Mitologie degli artigiani medievali, Laterza, Bari, 1998
- C. T. Onions (1991). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Clarendon Press Oxford. ISBN 0-19-861126-9
External links
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Definitions from Wiktionary![image]()
Media from Commons![image]()
News from Wikinews![image]()
Quotations from Wikiquote![image]()
Texts from Wikisource![image]()
Textbooks from Wikibooks![image]()
Resources from Wikiversity
- The Artist on In Our Time at the BBC
This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these messages This article or section may have been copied and pasted from another location possibly in violation of Wikipedia s copyright policy Please review the source and remedy this by editing this article to remove any non free copyrighted content and attributing free content correctly or flagging the content for deletion Please be sure that the supposed source of the copyright violation is not itself a Wikipedia mirror October 2024 This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed October 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Artist news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate April 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art practicing the arts or demonstrating an art The most common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only A painter at work at St Justinian Wales 2021 However the term is also often used in the entertainment business especially in a business context citation needed for musicians and other performers although less often for actors Artiste French is a variant used in English in this context but this use has become rare The use of the term artist to describe writers is valid but less common and mostly restricted to contexts such as critics reviews author is generally used instead Dictionary definitionsThe Oxford English Dictionary defines the older broader meanings of the word artist A learned person or Master of Arts One who pursues a practical science traditionally medicine astrology alchemy chemistry A follower of a pursuit in which skill comes by study or practice A follower of a manual art such as a mechanic One who makes their craft a fine art One who cultivates one of the fine arts traditionally the arts presided over by the musesHistory of the termJohann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Goethe in the Roman Campagna 1787 portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe a German author known for his works of poetry drama and prose on philosophy the visual arts and science The Greek word techne often translated as art implies mastery of any sort of craft The adjectival Latin form of the word technicus became the source of the English words technique technology and technical In Greek culture each of the nine Muses oversaw a different field of human creation Calliope the beautiful of speech chief of the muses and muse of epic or heroic poetry Clio the glorious one muse of history Erato the amorous one muse of love or erotic poetry lyrics and marriage songs Euterpe the well pleasing muse of music and lyric poetry Melpomene the chanting one muse of tragedy Polyhymnia or Polymnia the singer of many hymns muse of sacred song oratory lyric singing and rhetoric Terpsichore the one who delights in dance muse of choral song and dance Thalia the blossoming one muse of comedy and bucolic poetry Urania the celestial one muse of astronomy No muse was identified with the visual arts of painting and sculpture In ancient Greece sculptors and painters were held in low regard the work often performed by slaves and mostly regarded as mere manual labour The word art derives from the Latin ars stem art which although literally defined means skill method or technique also conveys a connotation of beauty During the Middle Ages the word artist already existed in some countries such as Italy but the meaning was something resembling craftsman while the word artisan was still unknown An artist was someone able to do a work better than others so the skilled excellency was underlined rather than the activity field In this period some artisanal products such as textiles were much more precious and expensive than paintings or sculptures The first division into major and minor arts dates back at least to the works of Leon Battista Alberti 1404 1472 De re aedificatoria De pictura which focused on the importance of the intellectual skills of the artist rather than the manual skills even if in other forms of art there was a project behind With the academies in Europe second half of 16th century the gap between fine and applied arts was definitely set Many contemporary definitions of artist and art are highly contingent on culture resisting aesthetic prescription in the same way the features constituting beauty and the beautiful cannot be standardized easily without moving into kitsch Training and employmentThe US Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies many visual artists as either craft artists or fine artists A craft artist makes handmade functional works of art such as pottery or clothing A fine artist makes paintings illustrations such as book illustrations or medical illustrations sculptures or similar artistic works primarily for their aesthetic value The main source of skill for both craft artists and fine artists is long term repetition and practice Many fine artists have studied their art form at university and some have a master s degree in fine arts Artists may also study on their own or receive on the job training from an experienced artist The number of available jobs as an artist is increasing more slowly than in other fields About half of US artists are self employed Others work in a variety of industries For example a pottery manufacturer will employ craft artists and book publishers will hire illustrators In the US fine artists have a median income of approximately US 50 000 per year and craft artists have a median income of approximately US 33 000 per year This compares to US 61 000 for all art related fields including related jobs such as graphic designers multimedia artists animators and fashion designers Many artists work part time as artists and hold a second job See alsoArts portalArt history Arts by region Artist in Residence Humanities List of painters by name List of painters List of photographers List of composers List of sculptors Mathematics and art Starving artist Tattoo artist Tortured artistNotes Meaning of artist in English Oxford English Dictionary s v technic In Our Time The Artist BBC Radio 4 TX 28 March 2002 P Galloni Il sacro artefice Mitologie degli artigiani medievali Laterza Bari 1998 Craft and Fine Artists Occupational Outlook Handbook 2016 17 ed U S Bureau of Labor Statistics 17 December 2015 Retrieved 21 October 2017 ReferencesWikiquote has quotations related to Artist P Galloni Il sacro artefice Mitologie degli artigiani medievali Laterza Bari 1998 C T Onions 1991 The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Clarendon Press Oxford ISBN 0 19 861126 9External linksLook up artist in Wiktionary the free dictionary Arts at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from WiktionaryMedia from CommonsNews from WikinewsQuotations from WikiquoteTexts from WikisourceTextbooks from WikibooksResources from Wikiversity The Artist on In Our Time at the BBC
