What are Fine Arts?

‘Fine arts’ refers to the various forms of visual and performing arts. It includes painting, sculpture, dance, theatre, architecture and printmaking. Very often, schools, institutes, and other organizations use the term from its traditional standpoint. Fine Arts are mostly associated with traditional classical form of performing arts. Nowadays, one can see the various forms of performing arts online. The online art gallery, for example, displays various paintings by renowned artists.

The word ‘fine’ emphasizes the purity of the discipline. According to the theory of Aristotle, the concept of fine arts indicates the final cause, the purpose, or the end. The final cause of fine art is the art object itself. It is not a means to something else. It however pleases the one who beholds it. The term has its use outside the hardcore fine arts field. It is often used to appreciate a person who has achieved a very high level of perfection in his/ her own field. For this, we can also say that “Maradona took football to the level of fine arts”.

Fine arts are different from applied arts. It is actually a movement which was initiated in Britain. William Morris was the initiator of this movement. The early modernists include Virginia Woolf, the famous writer who participated in the movement. So did the Bloomsbury Group. The main aim of the former was to bring the socialist principles to bear on the arts, as well as the commonplace crafts of the masses within the realm of the arts. The principal aim of the modernists was however to keep artistic endeavor as something esoteric and exclusive.

There is often a confusion regarding fine arts. Since some people refer to fine arts as a degree of excellence, any level of perfection is applauded with a tag of achievement of a certain level in fine arts. At York University, the fine arts faculty not only includes the traditional form, but design, painting, and other forms of performing arts as well. Moreover, creative writing is also regarded as a form of fine arts.

Academic Degree Courses are also available for fine arts. They include either the bachelor’s degree or the master’s degree in the relevant field of fine arts. The Fine arts are a means of expressing emotions and thoughts into various forms. Fine arts with all their features have allured humanity down the ages and would continue to do so.