Is Art only for the Elite?

[Seasider]

What happened to this thread? I was enjoying the arguments for the superiority or lack of it of Wagner to Pink Floyd.
For many centuries in Europe Art was neither for the Elite or for the Masses, but Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam. Thus The Giotto frescoes in Assissi, the Annunciation of Fra Angelico and the Cantatas and Masses of Bach.

[PeterL]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art

definition of ART
1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends>
2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : liberal arts b archaic : learning, scholarship
3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building>
4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : fine arts (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art
5 a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful
6 : decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter


Origin of ART
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin art-, ars — more at arm
First Known Use: 13th century

Synonyms: craft, handcraft, handicraft, trade

[Kyriakos]

My view is that high art is only for a few people, for a number of reasons:

-Only a few care about it.
-Only a few can form some (individual and objective) appreciation of it.
-Only few can note the difference between high and low art.

That said, the second point has a crucial meaning: what I see in a work of high art is different than what another person sees in it. But it appears that there is some quality in the work itself that makes it a work of high art, regardless of the numerous reflections on it, which perhaps differ in important ways.

[JCamilo]

I do not think the thread was ever art is for elite only...

It was more, art forms an elite of those who study and are more dedicated than others because, even if a good number of famous art are produced for the economical/political elite, nobody denies the existense of popular art around...

[Seasider]

As far as Literature is concerned many people in other threads have made the connection between Literature and Literacy. In the one of the recent Shakespeare threads it was widely expressed that you cannot appreciate Shakespeare unless you can read it and study it. And yet the earliest forms of the Art which now goes under the general term of Literature, in the Western World, which is the only culture I am versed in, were Poetry and Plays. Neither of which you needed to read to enjoy. Homer, for example, could neither read or write and not just because he was blind either.

I see what some choose to call High Art as arising from the system of Patronage of artists by the rich and powerful. They wished to be celebrated eternally by their association with the greatest artists of their day.So the art that was commissioned reflected their tastes. In cases where the rich and powerful were also Princes of The Church, like Michaelangelo's patron Pope Sixtus IV, the art was likely to appeal to the Christian masses also.
But when secular patrons commissioned works they began to depart from religious subjects and these works are still identified as "high art" as distinct from "folk art".

[PeterL]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art

definition of ART
1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends>
2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : liberal arts b archaic : learning, scholarship
3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building>
4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : fine arts (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art
5 a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful
6 : decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter


Origin of ART
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin art-, ars — more at arm
First Known Use: 13th century

Synonyms: craft, handcraft, handicraft, trade

[Seasider]

I think that you meant to restrict the meaning of "art", but you didn't. In the broad sense everything that is made or done by humans is art.

Are you talking to me?

[PeterL]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art

definition of ART
1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends>
2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : liberal arts b archaic : learning, scholarship
3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building>
4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : fine arts (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art
5 a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful
6 : decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter


Origin of ART
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin art-, ars — more at arm
First Known Use: 13th century

Synonyms: craft, handcraft, handicraft, trade

[stlukesguild]

In the broad sense everything that is made or done by humans is art.

So my uncle Chuck sitting on the couch wearing nothing but his Speedos, watching The Family Guy and eating Cheetos is Art? Or perhaps in a far less comic vein... the Holocaust was art and the experimentations conducted by Dr. Mengele were artistic endeavors? If everything were art there would be no need for the word "art" to differentiate certain things from everything else.

All art is "elite" in the sense that it involves competition... and comparison. Some art is better than other art, and some art continues to resonate with an audience long after it was created. All art involves competing for the limited attention and time of the audience.

All art is also "elite" in the sense that no art is created for everyone. The artist may intend to make his or her accessible in order to reach the largest possible audience... but in the process it is likely that he or she will lose other audience members who find the work too obvious... cliche... and lacking in any challenge.

As Kyriakos suggested, art is "elite" because few care about it and few can form some appreciation of it... because few are willing to invest the time of effort needed to fully understand a work of art and the genre or tradition in which it exists. This is as true of "high" or "fine art" as it is of popular art. The audience willing to put forth the effort into exploring the history and development of comic books, blues music, or horror films is no less limited than the audience willing to put forth the effort into the exploration of literature, painting, opera, classical music, or film.

While all opinions in art may be subjective, some opinions are better than others... worth more than others. Of the greatest worth, logically, are the opinions of those who have put forth the time and effort needed to gain an understanding and appreciation of whatever art form or genre at question.

[BienvenuJDC]

Well, depends what kind of art, and who you are calling the "elite"?

[JCamilo]

Art is a process.

Art production, consuption, analyse, they all are part of the process. Some belong to an elite, take Mickey

Walt Disney is an elite or do you think the averege american build Disneyland? His employed artists are near the best on their area. Both are different kind of elits. Mickey was consumed by many... such is life..

[Kyriakos]

This is another parameter, that some kinds of art can only be produced by elites (such as heads of massive animation studios). But this does not have to mean that the artists working there are elite artists, nor that the people interested in the work are advanced in their appreciation of art.
And in my view the Disney products are very far away from being anything akeen to a high art. They do not seem to have been designed to be one either.

[Alexander III]

Actually many Of the Disney Cartoons like The Lion King or works of beautiful art, high art even

[Kyriakos]

Views on what is high art can differ, evidently
Personally i do not consider them as such.

[Seasider]

Art is created to appeal to the heart and also to the mind. The artist seeks a transformative role. After I read Crime and Punishment and To the Lighthouse, I knew I was not the same as before.
Disney is a special case...much of his work is for children and very successful it is. I remember my tears for Bambi's mother from more than fifty years ago.It is important that children are exposed to art from their early years. Disney and Hans Andersen and The Brothers Grimm and Roald Dahl and others all seek to develop children's emotional range.