Definition of Art
According to Oxford Dictionary Art is defined as: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power” Another definition of art by George Dickie in 1969, as “A work of art in the classificatory sense is (1) an artifact (2) a set of the aspects of which has had conferred upon it the status of candidate for appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution” (Torres & Kamhi)
Painting
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh is one of Van Gogh’s most renowned paintings. Van Gogh painted Starry Night shortly after a stint in a psychiatric hospital. It is one of the most replicated images in history. The features of this painting, the stars, moon and village beyond are a bit embellished, but still very realistic and most people feel at ease and can identify with it. Thomas Kinkade is one of my most favorite artists; one of his most renowned pieces is called A Christmas Welcome. This painting shows a small country home with warmth coming from it. It gives the observers a Welcoming feeling of wanting to go inside and join in the festivities.
Sculpture
The Hermes of Praxiteles is dated back to 343 BC and made from Parian Marble. The Hermes is the only original work still intact. This statue was sculptured by Praxiteles and “dedicated to the sacred Altis from the Eleians and Arcadians to commemorate their peace treaty. The Hermes shows Praxiteles mastery in creating facial details and hair makes this piece extremely admired and studied. The Thinker sculpted by Auguste Rodin, between 1880–1881, it originally depicted the poet Dante, and has since become a representation of all poets or creators. The Thinker is one of Rodin’s most acknowledged works of art. The Thinker was created to reside in “the center of the tympanum of The Gates of Hell, which were intended to be a portal of a new Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.” (The Thinker)
Architecture
One of the best known Architectural pieces in the world is the St. Louis Gateway Arch. It was designed to commemorate expansion into the West. It is in honor of Thomas Jefferson’s role in opening the west to pioneers who were responsible for developing the west. The Wave in Vejle is an apartment complex which was designed with five wave crests, which reflect the waves on the surface of the water in which it overlooks. The layout allows for impressive views from every units balcony. “The Wave creates a beautiful connection between the fjord, landscape and town and consolidates the different elements in a clear and recognizable signature.” (The Wave in Vejle)
Photography
Ansel Adams’ Moonrise is his most famous photo. One of the reasons I believe this is an extremely impressive piece is because it was taken on a spur of the moment. Ansel driving back from a failed day of photography noticed the opportunity for a great photo. He raced against nature to set up his equipment and capture the perfect moment, one moment later and he would have missed the shot. This attests to his talent for turning an everyday event into a work of art. During the Great Depression Dorothy Lange travelled through Nipimo California photographing migratory farm labor for the Farm Security Administration, she happened upon a woman and her children who became infamously known as the “Migrant Mother.” Dorothy’s series of photographs put faces to the stories of misery and sorrow of those who suffered from the economic distress of the Great Depression. It is harder to ignore a situation that is staring back out at you.
Printmaking
Chuck Close is famous for his large scaled and realistic looking paintings, paintings which focus on the faces of friends and family. One such piece, named Maggie for and of his daughter Maggie, was created smaller, brightly colored shapes and images, kind of mosaic like, welded together to create a larger image of his daughter Maggie’s face. They give the observers the feeling as if they are looking through a kaleidoscope; the image is distorted and broken up into brightly colored shapes but when looked at as a whole it is a stunningly created piece. Andy Warhol is infamous for painting many celebrities and other well-known people. His most famous work was called the Turquois Marilyn, created in 1964. Andy painted several different versions of the painting of Marilyn Monroe, using different colors, sizes, and formats. The Art world enjoys how he can take any image and make it into a brightly colored piece of art.

Conceptual Only HA Schult can take tons of trash and make it into art. Schult has collected tons of discarded cans, electronics and other unknown trash and sculpted them into over a 1000 life-sized man shaped sculptures deemed the “trash people”. He has taken his army of trash people all over the world and set them up in places such as Moscow's Red Square (1999), the Great Wall of China (2001), the Pyramids of Giza (2002) and even the Antarctica (2008). The pieces themselves have no monetary value; they are a statement made by the artists to the public about human consumption. Marcel Duchamp, the most famous conceptual artist, he would take every day mass produced objects and display them in galleries. His most famous, and by far humerous, is the Fountain of 1917. Duchamp simply took a standard urinal, signed it with a pseudonym, “R. Mutt 1917”, laid it on its back on a pedestal and called it art. He submitted it to an exhibition in New York where the Society of Independent Artists refused to display his “work of art”.
Installation Art Banksy a well-known British activist wanted to protest the transformation of BT’s old-fashioned telecommunications into a modern communications provider. So he created a sculpture of a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe sticking out of it with red paint dripping as if bleeding and placed it on the streets of London. It was quickly removed by BT but later announced that it would be placed into the lobby of their headquarters. Guillaume Reymond created a performance, known as “Transformers”. He takes different styles of vehicles and arranges them precisely and choreographs their movements so they appear, from the sky, as if they were large robots, transforming into different shapes, such as the robots in the Transformers. It takes precision and organization to create these transformations.
Performance Art One of the most famous modern day performance artists are the Blue Man Group. The artists dress in blue suits and cover the rest of their body in blue paint and perform, using music, drums, visual art, comedy and paint (Those in the splash zone are encouraged to bring ponchos). Their performances are never the same and have a deep influence on viewers because the artists involve the audience in their shows. A very popular performance artists named David Blaine can be seen performing magic tricks on the streets of New York. His latest and greatest stunt called “Drowned Alive” was an attempt to break the record for hold his breath underwater, at the time the record was 8 minutes 58 seconds. This attempt was followed by living for seven days and seven nights inside an 8 foot sphere full of water in front of New York’s Lincoln Center. Unfortunately he was unable to break the record, after only being able to hold his breath for about 7 minutes. Regardless of the outcome it was still a crowd pleaser and drew a large crowd.
Conclusion
As we have seen in this essay there really is no precise definition of art. Anything can be considered art, mangled phone booths, trash, even a urinal. One can simply declare something art and people will think of it as art. Like they say “Art is in the eye of the beholder.” References
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Torres & Kamhi, What Art Is:The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand, ch. 6 http://www.aristos.org/whatart/What%20Art%20Is%20-%20Ch.%206%20%28The%20Definition%20of%20Art%29%20-%20full%20text.pdf
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Turquoise Marilyn, 1964 by Andy Warhol.(2007). Retrieved from http://superflygallery.com/turquoise-marilyn-1964-by-andy-warhol/
Vincent van Gogh: Starry Night. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starryindex.html