Visual Arts
These are the arts that meet the eye and evoke an emotion through an expression of skill and imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing, and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art, the latter a combination of multiple creative expressions. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different eras in art history have had their own principles to define beauty, from the richly ornamented taste of the Baroque to the simple, utilitarian style of the Prairie School.
Browse Subcategories
Featured content, January 02, 2021
What’s Inside the Great Pyramid?
Are there mummies inside the Great Pyramid? Hieroglyphs? Hidden treasure? Ghosts? Find out!
Demystified / Visual Arts

The Most Stolen Work of Art
Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece has been stolen by Napoleon and Hitler, among others.
#WTFact / Visual Arts

Street Photography: How a Single Camera Brought About a Genre
The invention of the Leica camera allowed photographers to move through the streets and capture moments that come and go...
Companion / Visual Arts

Iranian art and architecture
Iranian art and architecture, the art and architecture of ancient Iranian civilizations. Any reservation about attributing...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Egyptian art and architecture
Egyptian art and architecture, the ancient architectural monuments, sculptures, paintings, and applied crafts produced mainly...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Abstract art
Abstract art, painting, sculpture, or graphic art in which the portrayal of things from the visible world plays no part....
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts

Video art
Video art, form of moving-image art that garnered many practitioners in the 1960s and ’70s with the widespread availability...
Encyclopedia / Visual Arts
Visual Arts Quizzes
Visual Arts Videos
Image Gallery
Visual Arts
View Gallery
Never Miss a Day in History
Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers delivered right to your inbox.
Visual Arts Subcategories

Architecture is a sphere of art and design in which functionality and aesthetics can combine to produce visually stunning structures that manage to both catch the eye and serve a functional purpose. The expansive variety of architectural styles that have been employed throughout the ages underscores the fact that not every building need look the same, a principle that is readily apparent when comparing Gothic cathedrals with igloos or pagodas with cliff dwellings. Noted architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei, Zaha Hadid, and Jeanne Gang are acclaimed not only for the striking aesthetics of their designs but also for the way in which their work reflected cultural themes and values. Although architecture is commonly associated first and foremost with the design and construction of buildings, landscape architects may work with gardens, parks, and other planned outdoor areas, aiding in the development and decorative planning of such spaces.
Articles
- Architecture
-
Vesnin brothers
Russian architects
-
Le Corbusier
Swiss architect

Awards such as the Praemium Imperiale and the Pritzker Prize honor artists for a job well done.
Articles
-
National Book Awards
American literary award
-
Crossword Book Awards
Indian literary awards
-
Women's Prize for Fiction
English literary prize

People appreciate the usefulness of things like glassware and furniture, but they appreciate such objects even more when they’re aesthetically pleasing, too. That’s where decorative art comes in. Explore the world of basketry, metalwork, pottery, interior design, tapestry, and more.
Articles
-
Graphic design
art
- Jewelry
-
Dress
clothing

Looking to make a statement without even saying a word? Fashion designers know that clothing and accessories can speak volumes about the wearer, affecting both how the wearer is perceived by others and how the wearer perceives of him- or herself. The fashion industry has become a multibillion-dollar global enterprise devoted to the business of making and selling clothes; it thrives by being diverse and flexible enough to gratify any consumer's desire to embrace or even to reject fashionability, however that term might be defined.
Articles
-
Pauline Trigère
American couturiere
-
Isaac Mizrahi
American fashion designer
-
Shoe
footwear

Calligraphy, graffiti, engraving, caricature: graphic art's domain stretches as far as the eye can see. Take a look at some of the other types of graphic art, and learn more about the artists working within this category of fine arts.
Articles
-
El Greco
Spanish artist
-
Edgar Degas
French artist
- Comic strip

Learn about the artists who create installation art, which can incorporate a variety of different materials and artistic forms, such as sculptures, videos, and music, all with the purpose of transforming a given space. Performance artists may also make use of videos and music—as well as such varied elements as acting, poetry, dance, and painting—to create a live presentation for an audience; here, the "audience" could simply consist of onlookers on the street or patrons browsing the halls of a museum, among countless other possibilities.
Articles
-
Huang Yong Ping
Chinese-born French artist
-
Olafur Eliasson
Danish artist
-
James Turrell
American artist

Need help distinguishing your Picassos from your Monets? Learn about history’s celebrated painters and the different styles, techniques, mediums, and forms that have been used to create such unique visual images as Salvador Dalí’s melting clock and the ever-shifting eyes of Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic Mona Lisa.
Articles
-
Liberty Leading the People
painting by Delacroix
- Tempera painting
-
Expressionism
artistic style

Photography’s history began long before we were snapping pictures on camera phones. Learn about the masters of the craft and explore the development of photographic technology as it progressed through daguerreotypes and tintypes on the way to modern day’s increasingly sophisticated digital cameras.
Articles
-
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher
German photographers
- Street photography
-
Andreas Gursky
German photographer

Looking to find a use for that extra clay, stone, plaster, or metal that you have lying around? Consider sculpture, in which artists employ these materials and others to create three-dimensional art. Perhaps you’ll join the ranks of noted sculptors such as Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, and Donatello.
Articles
-
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian artist, engineer, and scientist
-
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Italian sculptor
-
Edgar Degas
French artist