Artworks are works of art created using a wide variety of techniques and mediums. Artists use different materials and tools to create their work, including oil, water, chalk, ink, clay, wood, glass, metal, and paper. Artwork can also include a wide range of styles, from realistic to abstract, with some combining multiple techniques and mediums in one piece. Artwork can be displayed in a variety of ways, including in museums and galleries, private collections, and public spaces. The purpose of art can vary widely, from purely aesthetic to communicating ideas, such as in politically or spiritually motivated artworks. Artwork can serve a symbolic or ritualistic function in some cultures, and can even act as a form of decoration or interior design.
Some traditional definitions of art take some kind of functional or intended purpose as the decisive factor in determining whether something is an artwork. For example, figurative artworks are defined by their depiction of human or other easily recognizable subjects in a clear way. Architectural artworks highlight buildings and structures, while still life pieces typically focus on inanimate objects such as flowers, fruit, and other natural or manufactured objects. Artworks that communicate scientific information, such as maps and diagrams, are also considered to be works of art. Artworks that express emotions or feelings, such as landscapes, are known as expressive or abstract art.
Other theories of art consider the properties that a work of art must possess to be an artwork rather than a specific function. For example, a painting may exhibit the characteristics of beauty, such as vivid colors, harmony of proportions, or mastery of technique. The theory of beauty, which focuses on the nature of perception and appreciation of artworks, is explored in the philosophical discipline of aesthetics.
A number of scholars have argued that there is no single property that all artworks share, and that it is therefore impossible to give a definitive definition of art. In particular, critics have argued that the standard candidates for what makes an artwork art – representational, expressive, and formal properties – all underplay the significance of the artistic experience, and leave us with a puzzle why anyone would bother with them at all (Kristeller, 1951).
Others have taken a more historical approach to art. They contend that a piece is an artwork if it belongs to one of the central art forms of its time. These art forms are determined by a broad, socially conditioned consensus. For instance, Claude Monet’s paintings are associated with Impressionism, a movement that emerged in the nineteenth century. Other examples of the central art forms in the 20th century are cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism.
Others have argued that the concept of an artwork is a socially constructed notion, and that it can only be encapsulated within a culture’s cosmological system. According to this view, experts confer the status of art on mere real things by creating new universes of discourse that make those things seem special (Danto, 1981). This approach suggests that it is both the case that experts have reasons for conferring the status of artwork on some objects, and also true that the existence of these new universes makes those objects distinctly special.