Definition of Art

When the question “What is Art?” is asked, there are a lot of different conceptions and a controversy appears from different art historians, literary critics and philosophers.

Edwards Herbert was one of the most successful art historians of the 20^th century, and his opinion on this topic is considered really valuable. He talks about the fact that art has always been considered as an elusive term and acknowledged as a metaphysical term. He says that it is deeply involved in our bodily action, perception and thought.

Herbert links art with our senses and he says that when we ask the question “What is Art?” we are asking what is the quality in a work of art that appeals to our senses. But because there are various senses in different people, therefore there is no solid answer to that question. The common thing to all works of art is Form. The meaning of the word form in a work of art is the shape it has taken. The shape is given by the artist. An artist is not just someone who paints something, but it is someone who gives shape to something.

When talking about what is good form in art, Herbert says that the best works of art are the ones that have form that give our senses the most pleasure. But here some problems occur because as Herbert said, no two people have the same senses and like exactly the same things. We have to find a touchstone outside of humans individual preferences and the only touchstone is nature.

We need to find the general laws of the proportions and sizes during the process of growth of the elements in nature so we can use these elements on our works of art. When we admit to the beautifulness of something in nature, we are just satisfied by the mathematical proportion of those elements.

Art surrounds us everywhere in nature and on our day-to-day life. Order, growth and size differentiation are everywhere if you look close and careful enough.