{{Short description|Art forms involving visual perception}} {{redirect|Visual Arts|the video game publisher|Visual Arts (company)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2026}}
[[File:Vincent van Gogh - The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|alt=Vincent van Gogh painting ''The Church at Auvers'' from 1890 gray church against blue sky|''The Church at Auvers'', an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh (1890)]]
The '''visual arts''' are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts, also involve aspects of the visual arts, as well as arts of other types. Within the visual arts, the applied arts, such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, and decorative art are also included.<ref name="Hadji2021">{{cite journal |id={{CEEOL|950223}} |title=Art and societal development: importance and role. case study on applied arts in Algeria |journal=Revista Universitară de Sociologie |date=2021 |volume=XVII |issue=1 |pages=37–44|issn=2537-5024}}</ref>
Current usage of the term "visual arts" includes fine art as well as applied or decorative arts and crafts, but this was not always the case. Before the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and elsewhere at the turn of the 20th century, the term 'artist' had for some centuries often been restricted to a person working in the fine arts (such as painting, sculpture, or printmaking) and not the decorative arts, crafts, or applied visual arts media. The distinction was emphasized by artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, who valued vernacular art forms as much as high forms. Art schools made a distinction between the fine arts and the crafts, maintaining that a craftsperson could not be considered a practitioner of the arts.
The increasing tendency to privilege painting, and to a lesser degree sculpture, above other arts has been a feature of Western art as well as East Asian art. In both regions, painting has been seen as relying on the imagination of the artist to the highest degree and being the furthest removed from manual labour – in Chinese painting, valued styles were "scholar-painting", at least in theory practiced by gentleman amateurs. The Western hierarchy of genres reflected similar attitudes.
==Education and training== {{main|Visual arts education}} Visual arts education and training have changed over time, with approaches varying across global and cultural contexts. Historically, training in the visual arts began as variations of the apprentice and workshop systems, typically over a period of 2 to 6 years.<ref name="Hickman2019intro">{{Cite book |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |ol=39933697M}}</ref>{{rp|p=6}}<ref name="Hickman2019italy">{{Cite book |last=Petricone |first=Fabriano |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter='Made in Italy': The Complex Evolution of Art Education in Italy |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead052 |ol=39933697M}}</ref>
The evolution of art education through time has followed different regional paths. In many European and North American nations, formal art academies grew into universities and institutes. Influenced by industrialization, their focus shifted to prioritizing applied arts over fine arts. In contrast, several Sub-Saharan African nations have seen art education de-prioritized or removed from primary curricula in favor of vocational or STEM-focused subjects.<ref name="Ulger2016">{{cite journal |last1=Ulger |first1=Kani |title=The creative training in the visual arts education |journal=Thinking Skills and Creativity |date=March 2016 |volume=19 |pages=73–87 |doi=10.1016/j.tsc.2015.10.007 }}</ref><ref name="Hickman2019Botswana">{{Cite book |last=Mannathoko |first=Magdeline C. |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Art and Design Education in Botswana: Evolution and Developmental Trends |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead048 |ol=39933697M}}</ref> Curriciula tended to follow the priorities of the state or nobility in Asian regions,<ref name="Hickman2019China">{{Cite book |last1=Gongkai |first1=Pan |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |last2=Qing |first2=Pan |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=History of Chinese Design Education |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead042 |ol=39933697M}}</ref><ref name="Hickman2019Russia">{{Cite book |last1=Aristova |first1=Ulyana |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |last2=Rivchun |first2=Tatiana |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Art and Design Education in Russia |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead056 |ol=39933697M}}</ref> though nations like Singapore have modernized their approach by focusing resources into digital visual arts as a core component of the creative economy.<ref name="Hickman2019Singapore">{{Cite book |last=Lian |first=Kehk Bee |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Art Education in Singapore |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead041 |ol=39933697M}}</ref> In the Middle East, contemporary education pivoted from 19th-century European models to focusing on tourism and cultural heritage preservation.<ref name="Hickman2019MidEast">{{Cite book |last=Al-Amri |first=Mohammed |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Art and Design Education in the Middle East and North Africa: A Brief Historical Overview |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead116 |ol=39933697M}}</ref>
Political, economic, and social conflicts continue to shape what is accepted as art education in schools in several regions. For example, educational systems inititally restricted under colonial rule in several Latin America countries have turned to focusing on contemporary art to foster national identity.<ref name="Hickman2019Brazil">{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Ana Mae |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Art Education in Brazil |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead115 |ol=39933697M}}</ref> Mexican art education reflects a history of pedagogical tension, as the system has sought to reconcile indigenous artistic heritage with Western academic structures, often resulting in a fragmented educational landscape.<ref name="Hickman2019Mexico">{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Ana Mae |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=The Escuelas de Pintura al Aire Libre in Mexico: Multiculturality and Popular Education |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead040 |ol=39933697M}}</ref>
Museums, art galleries, and other cultural institutions serve as instruments of informal art education. Through curated collections and public programming, these institutions provide historical context and aesthetic exposure that complement or substitute for standardized academic curricula.<ref name="Hickman2019Museums">{{Cite book |last=Yuan |first=Yanyue |title=The international encyclopedia of art and design education |date=2019 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-97807-8 |editor-last=Hickman |editor-first=Richard Douglas |chapter=Visual Arts Education in Museums across Four Cultural Contexts |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1002/9781118978061.ead043 |ol=39933697M}}</ref>
==Drawing== {{Main|Drawing}}
[[File:Female Warrior -14 "Extinction".jpg|thumb|upright=.9|alt=A detailed drawing of a female warrior titled 'Extinction' by Christiaan Tonnis, created in 1981 with graphite and colored pencils, measuring 13.6 x 18.5 inches. Belongs to Kunstverein Familie Montez since December 2010.|Christiaan Tonnis - Female Warrior No. 14 'Extinction', pencil and colored pencil on paper, 1981]] Drawing is a means of making a 2D image, illustration or graphic using any of a wide variety of tools and techniques, both traditional and digital. It generally involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool, or moving a tool across a surface using dry media such as graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, pastels, and markers. Digital tools, including pens, stylus, that simulate the effects of these are also used. The main techniques used in drawing are: line drawing, hatching, crosshatching, random hatching, shading, scribbling, stippling, and blending.<ref name="Met2020">{{Cite web |last1=Shelley |first1=Marjorie |last2=Dunn |first2=Ashley |last3=McPhee |first3=Constance |title=Materials and Techniques |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/series/materials-and-techniques |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260410005059/https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/series/materials-and-techniques |archive-date=10 April 2026 |access-date=4 May 2026 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |publisher=Department of Drawings and Prints}}</ref> Chinese artists value the Four Treasures of the Study, which are the brush, ink, inkstone, and paper.<ref name="Klejnowski2025">{{cite journal |last1=Klejnowski-Różycki |first1=Dariusz |last2=Sękowski |first2=Piotr |last3=Bernat |first3=Maria |last4=侯 |first4=永旺 |title=Symphony of the Spirit – Landscapes of Thought: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Chinese Art |journal=Roczniki Kulturoznawcze |date=30 September 2025 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=133–163 |doi=10.18290/rkult25163.7 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Drawing goes back tens of thousands of years and spans the cultures of the world.<ref name="Handwerk2018">{{cite web |last=Handwerk |first=Brian |date=7 November 2018 |title=World's Oldest Known Figurative Paintings Discovered in Borneo Cave |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/worlds-oldest-known-figurative-paintings-discovered-borneo-cave-180970747/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260217040241/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/worlds-oldest-known-figurative-paintings-discovered-borneo-cave-180970747/ |archive-date=17 February 2026 |accessdate=4 May 2026 |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> Art of the Upper Paleolithic includes figurative art beginning at least 40,000 years ago.<ref name="Handwerk2018" /> Non-figurative cave paintings consisting of hand stencils and simple geometric shapes are even older. Paleolithic cave representations of animals are found in areas such as Lascaux, France, Altamira, Spain, Maros, Sulawesi in Asia,<ref name="Dunham2024">{{cite news |last=Dunham |first=Will |date=3 July 2024 |title=World's oldest cave painting in Indonesia shows a pig and people |url=https://www.reuters.com/science/worlds-oldest-cave-painting-indonesia-shows-pig-people-2024-07-03/ |accessdate=2 May 2025 |newspaper=Reuters |agency=Reuters}}</ref> and Gabarnmung, Australia.<ref name="Handwerk2018" />
In ancient Egypt, potsherds and pieces of limestone called ostraca were used for ink drawings.<ref name="ARTIC">{{Cite web |title=Ancient Egyptian Art |url=https://www.artic.edu/highlights/101/ancient-egyptian-art |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260207023926/https://www.artic.edu/highlights/101/ancient-egyptian-art |archive-date=7 February 2026 |access-date=4 May 2026 |website=The Art Institute of Chicago |language=en}}</ref> Drawings on Greek vases, initially geometric, later developed into the human form with black-figure pottery during the 6th century BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Drawing |url=http://www.dibujosparapintar.com/english_activities/drawing_course_history.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120141213/http://dibujosparapintar.com/english_activities/drawing_course_history.html |archivedate=20 November 2010 |accessdate=2 May 2025 |website=Dibujos para Pintar}}</ref> Evidence of Indian palm-leaf manuscript drawing and image-making dates back to the 5th and 6th centuries.<ref name="Parks2009">{{Cite journal |last=Parks |first=John A. |year=2009 |title=The Fascinating Roots of Indian Drawing |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asu&AN=505445387&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=American Artist: Drawing |volume=6 |issue=22 |pages=62–69 |issn=1941-8140 |lccn=2007210467 |oclc=56471935 |access-date=5 May 2026 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>
With the help of Islamic traders traveling from China, drawing on paper increased in the Middle East and Europe in the 14th century.<ref name="Blair2003">{{Cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |date=March 2003 |title=The Mirage of Islamic Art: Reflections on the Study of an Unwieldy Field |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=85 |issue=1 |pages=152–184 |doi=10.2307/3177331 |jstor=3177331 }}</ref> Adopted by European artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci, it was treated as an art in its own right, rather than a preparatory stage for painting or sculpture.<ref name="Bambach2002">{{Cite web |last=Bambach |first=Carmen |date=October 2002 |title=Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/renaissance-drawings-material-and-function |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |series=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History}}</ref>
==Painting== {{Main|Painting}}
Painting is the practice of applying pigments (color) suspended in a carrier or medium and a binding agent (a glue) to a surface such as walls, canvas, or paper. Visual arts painting combines drawing, composition, and other aesthetic considerations to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the painter.<ref name="Bol2023">{{Cite book |last=Bol |first=Marjolijn |title=The varnish and the glaze: painting splendor with oil, 1100-1500 |date=2023 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-82036-1}}</ref>{{rp|p=32}} It serves a range of purposes, from ritualistic body art and religious icons to decorative and commercial arts, such as advertising.<ref name="Brown2014">{{Cite book |title=The Oxford handbook of religion and the arts |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-517667-4 |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Frank Burch |series=Oxford handbooks}}</ref>{{rp|p=352}}<ref name="Powers2015intro">{{Cite book |last=Powers |first=Martin Joseph |title=A companion to Chinese art |last2=Tsiang |first2=Katherine R. |date=9 October 2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc |isbn=978-1-118-88521-5 |series=Wiley Blackwell Companions to Art History |pages=1-27 |chapter=Introduction |doi=10.1002/9781118885215}}</ref>
===Materials and methods=== ====Rock surfaces and mineral pigments==== The earliest evidence of painting consists of natural pigments made from ochre, chalk, and charcoal applied directly to stone surfaces.<ref name"Looney2015">{{Cite web |last=Looney |first=Mary Beth |date=19 November 2015 |title=Hall of Bulls, Lascaux – Smarthistory |url=https://smarthistory.org/hall-of-bulls-lascaux/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260106070610/https://smarthistory.org/hall-of-bulls-lascaux/ |archive-date=6 January 2026 |access-date=1 June 2026 |work=Smarthistory |language=en-US}}</ref> Tools for processing these pigments for body painting date back to approximately 200,000 years ago in regions like Zambia,<ref name="Dawson2007">{{Cite journal |last=Dawson |first=T L |date=October 2007 |title=Examination, conservation and restoration of painted art |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1478-4408.2007.00096.x |journal=Coloration Technology |language=en |volume=123 |issue=5 |pages=281–292 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-4408.2007.00096.x |issn=1472-3581}}</ref> while formal cave paintings using twig brushes, fingers, bird feathers, and animal hair date to at least 50,000 years old.<ref name="Dunham2024" /><ref name="MAP2022">{{Cite web |author=The MAP Academy |date=8 September 2022 |title=Bhimbetka cave paintings – Smarthistory |url=https://smarthistory.org/bhimbetka-cave-paintings/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260111123143/https://smarthistory.org/bhimbetka-cave-paintings/ |archive-date=11 January 2026 |access-date=1 June 2026 |work=Smarthistory |language=en-US}}</ref> These early applications relied on simple water or fat carriers to bind the pigment to stone supports.<ref name="Dawson2007" />
====Fixed supports and early binders==== As societies formalized architectural and ceramic traditions, painting media adapted to new supports. In the Mediterranean and ancient India, regional traditions developed fresco and frieze techniques to decorate the plaster walls of tombs, temples, and other buildings. This era saw the expansion of binders such as tempera and encaustic. Tempera uses egg yolk, animal glue, or milk to adhere pigments to wooden panels, pottery, and early manuscripts. Encaustic art uses hot wax to fix pigments to the support.<ref name="Dawson2007" /><ref name="Plantzos2013">{{Cite book |last=Plantzos |first=Dimitris |title=A Companion to Greek Art |date=30 January 2013 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-4051-8604-9 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Tyler Jo |edition=1 |pages=171–185 |language=en |chapter=Wall- and Panel-painting |doi=10.1002/9781118273289.ch8 |editor2-last=Plantzos |editor2-first=Dimitris}}</ref> Ink wash painting developed as a major tradition in East Asia, consisting of water-soluble ink on hanging scrolls, handscrolls or handheld fans made of silk and paper, integrated structurally with poetry and careful calligraphy.<ref name="Powers2015intro" />
====The development of oil paint==== To achieve more realistic representation, artists increasingly mixed pigments into drying oils alongside various behavior-altering additives. Wood panels were initially favored as supports,<ref name="Plantzos2013" /> later giving way to stretched canvas as artists sought greater portability.<ref name="Dawson2007" /> The slow drying time of oil paint allowed painters to build upon the existing classical techniques, enhancing them with shading and glazing to create paintings in chiaroscuro, suggesting three-dimensionality with light and shadow.<ref name="Nowakowski2023">{{Cite web |last=Nowakowski |first=Teresa |date=30 March 2023 |title=Why Did Old Masters Use Eggs in Oil Paintings? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-the-recipe-for-an-old-master-might-include-egg-yolk-180981901/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250528090726/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-the-recipe-for-an-old-master-might-include-egg-yolk-180981901/ |archive-date=28 May 2025 |access-date=1 June 2026 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
====Industrialization and synthetics==== The 19th century invention of the box easel and collapsible paint tube allowed artists to take their painting outside the studio, into nature and modern life, called plein air painting.<ref name="Snider2001">{{Cite journal |last=Snider |first=Lindsay |date=2001 |title=A Lasting Impression: French Painters Revolutionize the Art World |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3054513 |journal=The History Teacher |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=89–101 |issn=0018-2745 |jstor=3054513}}</ref> The paint tube also allowed painters to use synthetic colors, greatly expanding the artist's palette.<ref name="Hurt2013">{{Cite web |last=Hurt |first=Perry |date=May 2013 |title=Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/never-underestimate-the-power-of-a-paint-tube-36637764/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260529223047/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/never-underestimate-the-power-of-a-paint-tube-36637764/ |archive-date=29 May 2026 |access-date=1 June 2026 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Watercolors, referring to both transparent pigments in a water-based solution and the finished painting, were painted on paper. Gouache, a similar yet opaque medium, is used in commercial arts. In the 20th century, the development of synthetic acrylic binders provided a fast-drying alternative to oil paints that resisted cracking and discoloration over time.<ref name="Dawson2007" />
====Modern and digital extensions==== Modern and contemporary artists further diversified the materials used in painting, incorporating non-traditional media such as industrial house paint, found objects, and newspaper collage into their work.<ref name="Cramer2020">{{Cite web |last=Cramer |first=Charles |last2=Grant |first2=Kim |date=24 March 2020 |title=Dada readymades – Smarthistory |url=https://smarthistory.org/dada-readymades/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260116161932/https://smarthistory.org/dada-readymades/ |archive-date=16 January 2026 |access-date=1 June 2026 |work=Smarthistory |language=en-US}}</ref> In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, computer technology introduced digital painting, allowing artists to deploy traditional techniques via software programs to manipulate pixels as a medium, bypassing the need for physical pigments and binders.<ref name="Art212021">{{Cite web |author=((Art21)) |date=27 August 2021 |title=Smarthistory – Cao Fei, Building “RMB City” |url=https://smarthistory.org/cao-fei-rmb-city/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251021074846/https://smarthistory.org/cao-fei-rmb-city/ |archive-date=21 October 2025 |access-date=1 June 2026 |website=smarthistory.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Printmaking== {{Main|Printmaking}}
thumb|alt=Ancient Chinese engraving of female instrumentalists|Ancient Chinese engraving of female instrumentalists Printmaking is creating, for artistic purposes, an image on a matrix that is then transferred to a two-dimensional (flat) surface by means of ink or other form of pigmentation. Except in the case of a monotype, the same matrix can be used to produce many examples of the print.<ref name="Met2020" />
The major techniques (also called media) involved are woodcut, line engraving, etching, lithography, and screen printing, (serigraphy, silk screening)<ref name="Met2020" /> and there are many others, including digital techniques.<ref name="Garcia2023">{{cite journal |last1=Mínguez García |first1=Hortensia |last2=Méndez Llopis |first2=Carles |title=From electrography to expanded graphics: a vision on digital printmaking today and its hybridization processes |journal=Artnodes |date=7 July 2023 |volume=0 |issue=32 |doi=10.7238/artnodes.v0i32.408440 |hdl=10251/213475 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Commonly the image is transferred to paper or fabric,<ref name="Met2020" /> but other mediums range from cloth and vellum, to more modern materials.<ref name="Garcia2023" /><ref name="Prince2009">{{Cite journal |last=Prince |first=Patric D |year=2009 |title=Imaging by Numbers: A Historical View of Digital Printmaking in America |journal=Art Journal |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=90–103 |doi=10.1080/00043249.2009.10791338 }}</ref>
===European history=== {{Main|Old master print}}
Prints in the Western tradition produced before about 1830 are known as old master prints. In Europe, from around 1400 AD woodcut, was used for master prints on paper by using printing techniques developed in the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. Michael Wolgemut improved German woodcut from about 1475, and Erhard Reuwich, a Dutchman, was the first to use cross-hatching. At the end of the century Albrecht Dürer brought the Western woodcut to a stage that has never been surpassed, increasing the status of the single-leaf woodcut.<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prnt/hd_prnt.htm The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques. The Metropolitan Museum of Art] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908034201/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prnt/hd_prnt.htm |date=8 September 2009 }}. Retrieved 25 October 2009.</ref>
===Chinese origin and practice=== [[File:Jingangjing.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The Chinese Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest Woodblock printing book from 868 CE|The Chinese ''Diamond Sutra'', the world's oldest printed book (868 CE)]] {{Main|Woodblock printing}}
In China, the art of printmaking developed some 1,100 years ago as illustrations alongside text cut in woodblocks for printing on paper. Initially images were mainly religious but in the Song dynasty, artists began to cut landscapes. During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1616–1911) dynasties, the technique was perfected for both religious and artistic engravings.<ref>[http://www.engraving-review.com/chinese-art-engraving.html Engraving in Chinese Art. From Engraving Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120729021616/http://www.engraving-review.com/chinese-art-engraving.html |date=29 July 2012 }}. Retrieved 23 October 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.chinavista.com/experience/engrave/engrave.html The History of Engraving in China. From ChinaVista] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017073732/http://www.chinavista.com/experience/engrave/engrave.html |date=17 October 2018 }}. Retrieved 25 October 2009.</ref>
===Development in Japan, 1603–1867=== {{Main|Woodblock printing in Japan}}
[[File:Red Fuji southern wind clear morning.jpg|thumb|alt=Hokusai color print "Red Fuji southern wind clear morning" from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji| Hokusai: ''Red Fuji'' from ''Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' (1830–1832)]] Woodblock printing in Japan (Japanese: 木版画, mokuhanga) is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing illustrated books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1867).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Woodblock Prints |url=https://study.com/learn/lesson/history-of-woodblock-printing-in-japan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723230500/https://study.com/learn/lesson/history-of-woodblock-printing-in-japan.html |archive-date=23 July 2023 |access-date=23 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="Munemura2010">{{cite journal |last1=宗村 |first1=泉 |title=わが国の印刷の過去，現在，未来 |trans-title=The past, present, and future of printing in Japan |language=ja |journal=表面技術 |trans-journal=Journal of the Surface Finishing Society of Japan |date=2010 |volume=61 |issue=12 |pages=790–794 |doi=10.4139/sfj.61.790 }}</ref> Although similar to woodcut in western printmaking in some regards, mokuhanga differs greatly in that water-based inks are used (as opposed to western woodcut, which uses oil-based inks), allowing for a wide range of vivid color, glazes and color transparency.<ref name="Pelzer-Montada2015">{{cite journal |last1=Pelzer-Montada |first1=Ruth |title=Brook Andrew and Rebecca Salter Thinking Contemporary Art through Mokuhanga |journal=Print Quarterly |date=2015 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=412–424 |jstor=45375893 }}</ref>
After the decline of ''ukiyo-e'' and introduction of modern printing technologies, woodblock printing continued as a method for printing texts as well as for producing art, both within traditional modes such as ''ukiyo-e'' and in a variety of more radical or Western forms that might be construed as modern art. In the early 20th century, ''shin-hanga'' that fused the tradition of ''ukiyo-e'' with the techniques of Western paintings became popular, and the works of Hasui Kawase and Hiroshi Yoshida gained international popularity.<ref name="Gombrich2009">{{Cite web |last=Gombrich |first=Marius |date=2 October 2009 |title=Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/10/02/arts/shin-hanga-bringing-ukiyo-e-back-to-life/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502140501/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/10/02/arts/shin-hanga-bringing-ukiyo-e-back-to-life/ |archive-date=2 May 2021 |access-date=3 May 2026 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Nishiyama2018">{{Cite book |last=Nishiyama |first=Junko |title=Shinhanga sakuhinshū: natsukashii fūkei e no tabi |date=2018 |publisher=Tōkyō Bijutsu |isbn=978-4-8087-1101-6 |edition=Shohan |pages=18 |language=ja |trans-title=Shin-hanga: a journey to longed-for landscapes}}</ref> Institutes such as the "Adachi Institute of Woodblock Prints" and "Takezasado" continue to produce ukiyo-e prints with the same materials and methods as used in the past.<ref>{{cite web |title=浮世絵・木版画のアダチ版画研究所 |url=https://www.adachi-hanga.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019114102/https://www.adachi-hanga.com/ |archive-date=19 October 2023 |access-date=21 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:木版印刷・伝統木版画工房 竹笹堂 |url=http://www.takezasa.co.jp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226230218/http://www.takezasa.co.jp/ |archive-date=26 February 2014 |access-date=7 November 2014}}</ref>
==Photography== {{Main|Photography}}
Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light.<ref name="Hickman2019intro" />{{rp|p=3}} The light patterns reflected or emitted from objects are recorded onto a sensitive medium, or storage chip, through a timed exposure. The process is done through mechanical shutters or electronically timed exposure of photons into chemical processing or digitizing devices known as cameras.<ref name="Parry2021">{{Cite book |title=Ubiquity: photography's multitudes |publisher=Leuven University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-94-6270-289-9 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Kyle |series=Lieven Gevaert series |volume=31 |doi=10.1353/book.98557 |jstor=j.ctv24cnspz |editor-last2=Lewis |editor-first2=Jacob W.}}</ref>
The word comes from the Greek φῶς ‘’phos’’ ("light") and γραφή ‘’graphê’’ ("drawing" or "writing"), literally meaning "drawing with light".<ref>{{cite web |title=Photography |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photography |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> Traditionally, the product of photography has been called a photograph; the term ‘’photo’’ is an abbreviation and though many call them "pictures," the term "image" has increasingly replaced "photograph," reflecting electronic capture and the broader concept of graphical representation in optics and computing.<ref name="Parry2021" />
==Architecture== {{See also|Architecture}} thumb|Timber-framed houses in Brittany Architecture is the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any other structures.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Architecture |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/architecture |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and works of art.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Architecture – Symbols of function |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/architecture/Symbols-of-function |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=History of architecture |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/architecture/History-of-architecture |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
The earliest surviving written work on architecture is ''De architectura'', by the Roman architect Vitruvius in the early 1st century AD.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=On Architecture |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/On-Architecture |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy three principles: firmitas, utilitas, venustas, translated as firmness, commodity, and delight.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rowland |first=Ingrid |title=Ten Books on Architecture |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |editor-last=Howe |editor-first=Thomas Noble}}</ref> An equivalent in modern English would be: # Durability – a building should stand up robustly and remain in good condition. # Utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. # Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vitruvius's Principles |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/ |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=LacusCurtius}}</ref>
Building first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (shelter, security, worship, etc.) and means (available building materials and attendant skills).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Building |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/building |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> As cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, building became a craft, and "architecture" is the name given to the most highly formalized versions of that craft.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Craft |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/craft |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
==Filmmaking== {{Main|Filmmaking}}
Filmmaking is the process of making a motion picture, from an initial conception and research, through scriptwriting, shooting and recording, animation or other special effects, editing, sound and music work and finally distribution to an audience. It refers broadly to the creation of all types of films, embracing documentary, strains of theatre and literature in film, and poetic or experimental practices, and is often used to refer to video-based processes as well.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NYFA |date=5 May 2022 |title=The Filmmaking Process for Beginners |url=https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/the-beginners-guide-to-the-filmmaking-process/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260314225538/https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/the-beginners-guide-to-the-filmmaking-process/ |archive-date=14 March 2026 |access-date=3 May 2026 |website=NYFA |language=en-US |publication-date=5 May 2022}}</ref>
==Computer art== {{Main|Computer art}}
{{See also|Digital art}} [[File:Picture produced by Drawing Machine 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Desmond Paul Henry, Picture by Drawing Machine 1, c. 1960]] Visual artists are no longer limited to traditional visual arts media. Computers have been used in the visual arts since the 1960s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Computer art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/computer-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Uses include the capturing or creating of images and forms,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Digital imaging |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/digital-imaging |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> the editing of those images (including exploring multiple compositions)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Image editing software |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/image-editing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251002135643/https://www.britannica.com/technology/image-editing |archive-date=2 October 2025 |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> and the final rendering or printing (including 3D printing).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=3D printing |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/3D-printing |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
'''Computer art''' is any in which computers play a role in production or display.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of computer art |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/computer%20art |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=New media art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/new-media-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
Many traditional disciplines now integrate digital technologies, so the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers have been blurred.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Digital art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/digital-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> For instance, an artist may combine traditional painting with algorithmic art and other digital techniques.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Algorithmic art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/algorithmic-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> As a result, defining computer art by its end product can be difficult. Nevertheless, this type of art appears in art museum exhibits, but can be seen more as a tool, rather than a form as with painting.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Paul |first=Christiane |year=2019 |title=Digital Art as Tool |journal=Art Journal |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=20–35}}</ref> On the other hand, there are computer-based artworks which belong to a new conceptual and postdigital strand, assuming the same technologies, and their social impact, as an object of inquiry.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Post-digital art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/post-digital-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
Computer usage has blurred the distinctions between illustrators, photographers, photo editors, 3-D modelers, and handicraft artists.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Multimedia artist |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/multimedia-artist |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Sophisticated rendering and editing software has led to multi-skilled image developers. Photographers may become digital artists.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Digital photographer |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/photography/Digital-photography |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Illustrators may become animators. Handicraft may be computer-aided or use computer-generated imagery as a template.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Computer-generated imagery |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-generated-imagery |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref> Computer clip art usage has made the distinction between visual arts and page layout less obvious due to the easy access and editing of clip art in the process of paginating a document.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Clip art |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/clip-art |accessdate=2 May 2025}}</ref>
==Plastic arts== {{main|Plastic arts}}
'''Plastic arts''' is a term for art forms that involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by moulding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics. The term has also been applied to ''all the visual (non-literary, non-musical) arts''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Art Terminology at KSU |url=http://docs.ksu.edu.sa/DOC/Articles19/Article190588.doc}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Merriam-Webster Online (entry for "plastic arts") |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plastic%20arts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401081818/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plastic |archive-date=1 April 2019 |access-date=30 October 2011 |publisher=Merriam-webster.com}}</ref>
Materials that can be carved or shaped, such as stone, wood, concrete, or steel, have also been included in the narrower definition, since, with appropriate tools, such materials are also capable of modulation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plastic arts |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plastic%20arts |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> This use of the term "plastic" in the arts is different from Piet Mondrian's use, and with the movement he termed, "Neoplasticism."<ref>{{cite web |title=Piet Mondrian |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/piet-mondrian |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Neoplasticism |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/n/neoplasticism |accessdate=2 May 2025 |publisher=Tate}}</ref>
===Sculpture=== {{main|Sculpture}} [[File:Litlington White Horse 2025.png|thumb|The Litlington White Horse hill figure, is an example of land art]] Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard or plastic material, sound, or text and or light, commonly stone (either rock or marble), clay, metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded, or cast. Sculptures are often painted.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harvard University Art Museums - Upcoming Sackler Exhibitions |url=http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/exhibitions/sackler/godsInColor.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20090210152325/http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/exhibitions/sackler/godsInColor.html |archive-date=10 February 2009 |access-date=4 May 2026 |website=www.artmuseums.harvard.edu}}</ref> A person who creates sculptures is called a sculptor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Jessica |date=9 October 2024 |title=16 Great Sculptors Who Changed the History of Art |url=https://mymodernmet.com/famous-sculptors-art-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260312055706/https://mymodernmet.com/famous-sculptors-art-history/ |archive-date=12 March 2026 |access-date=3 May 2026 |website=My Modern Met |language=en}}</ref>
The earliest undisputed examples of sculpture belong to the Aurignacian culture, which was located in Europe and southwest Asia and active at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. As well as producing some of the earliest known cave art, the people of this culture developed finely crafted stone tools, manufacturing pendants, bracelets, ivory beads, and bone-flutes, as well as three-dimensional figurines.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mellars |first1=Paul |title=Archeology and the dispersal of modern humans in Europe: Deconstructing the 'Aurignacian' |journal=Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews |date=September 2006 |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=167–182 |doi=10.1002/evan.20103 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=de Laet, Sigfried J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e75T03MIp3sC&pg=PA211 |title=History of Humanity: Prehistory and the beginnings of civilization |publisher=UNESCO |year=1994 |isbn=978-92-3-102810-6 |page=211}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Jill |title=Ice age art: the arrival of the modern mind |date=2013 |publisher=The British Museum press |isbn=978-0-7141-2333-2}}</ref>
Because sculpture involves the use of materials that can be moulded or modulated, it is considered one of the plastic arts. The majority of public art is sculpture. Many sculptures together in a garden setting may be referred to as a sculpture garden. Sculptors do not always make sculptures by hand. With increasing technology in the 20th century and the popularity of conceptual art over technical mastery, more sculptors turned to art fabricators to produce their artworks. With fabrication, the artist creates a design and pays a fabricator to produce it. This allows sculptors to create larger and more complex sculptures out of materials like cement, metal and plastic, that they would not be able to create by hand. Sculptures can also be made with 3-D printing technology.<ref name="Hosmer2014">{{Cite web |last=Hosmer |first=Katie |date=20 May 2014 |title=Filigree Floral Sculpture Produced with Innovative 3D Printing |url=https://mymodernmet.com/joshua-harker-3d-printing-mazzo-di-fiori/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260214163209/https://mymodernmet.com/joshua-harker-3d-printing-mazzo-di-fiori/ |archive-date=14 February 2026 |access-date=4 May 2026 |website=My Modern Met |language=en}}</ref>
The visual arts also include monumental works that use the natural landscape as a medium, such as land art and hill figures. A notable example is the Litlington White Horse in East Sussex, England. This 20th-century geoglyph is a form of relief sculpture created by the 'subtractive' method of removing turf to reveal the underlying white chalk and requires regular maintenance to preserve its visual contrast against the green downland.<ref name="BBC2016">{{Cite news |date=22 April 2016 |title=Work to clean South Downs white horse |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-sussex-36104506 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260305071008/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-sussex-36104506 |archive-date=5 March 2026 |access-date=4 May 2026 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==US copyright definition of visual art== In the United States, the law protecting the copyright over a piece of visual art gives a more restrictive definition of "visual art".<ref name="copyright">{{cite web |title=Copyright Law of the United States of America – Chapter 1 (101. Definitions) |url=http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225173213/https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101 |archive-date=25 December 2017 |access-date=30 October 2011 |publisher=.gov}}</ref> <blockquote> A "work of visual art" is — <br />(1) a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author; or <br />(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author.<br /><br /> A work of visual art does not include — <br />(A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic publication, or similar publication; <br /> (ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering, or packaging material or container; <br /> (iii) any portion or part of any item described in clause (i) or (ii); <br />(B) any work made for hire; or <br />(C) any work not subject to copyright protection under this title.<ref name=copyright/> </blockquote>
==See also== {{Main|Outline of the visual arts}}
{{Portal|The arts|Visual arts}} {{div col|colwidth=18em}} * Art materials * Asemic writing * Collage * Conservation and restoration of cultural property * Crowdsourcing * Décollage * Environmental art * Found object * Graffiti * History of art * Installation art * Interactive art * Landscape painting * Mathematics and art * Mixed media * Portrait painting * Process art * Recording medium * Sketch (drawing) * Sound art * Theosophy and visual arts * Vexillography * Video art * Visual impairment in art * Visual poetry {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Visual arts}} {{Wikivoyage|Visual arts}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050424084418/http://www.artlex.com/ ArtLex] – online dictionary of visual art terms (archived 24 April 2005) * [http://calendarforartists.com/ Calendar for Artists] – calendar listing of visual art festivals. * [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah Art History Timeline] by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
{{Branches of the visual arts |expanded}} {{Art world}} {{World topic|Visual art of|noredlinks=yes}} {{Humanities}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Visual arts Category:Communication design Category:Visual arts media