fine art

American  

[fahyn ahrt] / ˈfaɪn ˈɑrt /

noun

1. a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture.

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fine art British  

noun

1. art produced chiefly for its aesthetic value, as opposed to applied art

2. Also called: beaux arts.  (often plural) any of the fields in which such art is produced, such as painting, sculpture, and engraving

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fine art Idioms  

1. Something requiring highly developed techniques and skills, as in He's turned lying into a fine art, or The contractor excels in the fine art of demolition. This term alludes to the fine arts, such as music, painting, and sculpture, which require both skill and talent. It is now often used to describe anything that takes skill to do. [First half of 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of fine art

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Fine art, cinema, and fashion all stimulate more than one of our senses — sound, vision and, in the case of clothes, touch.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2024

Fine art, video pieces, mixed media — who knows?

From The Verge • Nov. 24, 2021

Fine art museums have a lot to learn from its example.

From New York Times • Dec. 18, 2017

Fine art, portrayed as cold and unfeeling, is at odds with our emotional reality.

From Salon • Jan. 16, 2017

Fine art absolutely rejects all impurities of form; not less absolutely does it reject all impurities of passion and expression.

From The Germ Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art by Rossetti, Dante Gabriel