The main difference between fine arts and visual arts is that fine arts are a broad category of art that involves work created for aesthetic value and beauty rather than functional value while visual arts are art forms that are primarily visual in nature.
Fine arts refer to art created primarily for aesthetics or beauty. Unlike decorative art or applied art, they have no functional value. Fine arts can be further divided into several categories as visual arts, auditory arts and performance arts. Visual arts refer to creative art that is intended to be appreciated by sight.
Key Areas Covered
1. What is Fine Arts
– Definition, Art Forms, Characteristics
2. What is Visual Arts
– Definition, Art Forms, Characteristics
3. Difference Between Fine Arts and Visual Arts
– Comparison of Key Differences
Key Terms
Arts, Fine Arts, Visual Arts
What is Fine Arts
Fine arts refer to art created or performed mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty rather than its utilitarian value. Art forms like drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking fall under the category of fine arts.
The term fine arts has an interesting past. During the middle ages, the arts were scholarly and has seven categories: grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, dialectic logic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Although they did not involve creating anything of aesthetic value, they were known as fine arts. Fine arts was different from useful arts; only ‘fine’ people, usually aristocrats and those who did not engage in manual labour, studied fine arts. However, in the centuries that followed, scholars began to distinguish between science and art, and art subsequently became a term to describe creations that please the senses. Then, fine arts included disciplines like dance, music, literature, drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts.
During the 20th century, fine arts were further categorized into branches as follows:
- Visual arts (ex: drawing, sculpture, etc.)
- Auditory arts (ex: music)
- Performance arts (ex: theatre and dance)
- Literature
Furthermore, fine arts is different from applied arts, which involves the application of design and aesthetics to utilitarian objects in everyday use. Art forms like graphic design, fashion design, ceramic art, and calligraphy fall under the category of applied arts. Moreover, architecture is a discipline we consider both as an applied art and fine art.
What are Visual Arts
Visual arts refer to creative art whose products are to be appreciated by sight. In other words, visual arts include art forms that are primarily visual in nature. Visual arts include art forms such as drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramic art, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, architecture and video. However, there is no clear list of art forms that belong to visual arts since many artistic disciplines involve aspects of visual art. For example, dance has aspects of visual arts, although we categorize it as performance art. Moreover, visual arts also include applied arts like graphic design, fashion design, industrial design, and interior design. Therefore, we can summarize that the term visual arts include fine arts as well as applied arts in addition to decorative arts and crafts.
It is also important to note that modern visual arts do not only include traditional visual arts media. During the last few decades, technology has played a great role in visual arts, especially computer-based technology.
Difference Between Fine Arts and Visual Arts
Definition
Fine arts refer to the art created or performed mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty rather than its utilitarian value while visual arts refer to the creative art that is intended to be appreciated by sight.
Applied Arts and Decorative Arts
Since fine arts do not involve any functional value, they are different from applied art and decorative art, which have both aesthetical and functional value. Visual arts, on the other hand, can include decorative art and applied arts.
Art Forms
Fine arts include art forms like drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking. Visual arts include art forms like painting, sculpture, ceramic art, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, architecture, film-making, graphic design, industrial design, and fashion design.
Conclusion
Fine arts is a broad category of art that involves work created for aesthetic value and beauty rather than functional value. Visual arts are art forms that are primarily visual in nature. Fine arts are different from applied art and decorative art, which have both aesthetical and functional value. Visual arts, on the other hand, can include both decorative art and applied arts, such as industrial design, fashion design, and crafts. Thus, this is the difference between fine arts and visual arts.
Reference:
1. Esaak, Shelley. “What Is ‘Fine’ Art?” ThoughtCo, Available here.
2. “Fine Art: Definition & Meaning.” Art Encyclopedia, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden (48867033677)” By Ninara from Helsinki, Finland – National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Assorted Ceramics on Wooden Shelves” (CC0) via Pexels
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