art for art's sake

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A slogan meaning that the beauty of the fine arts is reason enough for pursuing them — that art does not have to serve purposes taken from politics, religion, economics, and so on. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, and Oscar Wilde argued for the doctrine of art for art's sake.

QUIZ

TAKE JOY IN ACING THIS QUIZ ON “PRIDE” SYNONYMS

Hold your head up high as you embark on this quiz that explores some of the synonyms and meanings of “pride.”

Question 1 of 7

What does "dignity" mean?

showing self-respect

treating others with kindness

acting selfishly

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notes for art for art's sake

Ars Gratia Artis, the motto of the film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), is a Latin version of “art for art's sake.”

Words nearby art for art's sake

artesian, artesian well, Arteveld, Artex, art film, art for art's sake, art form, artful, art glass, art historical, art house

How to use art for art's sake in a sentence

The pulps brought new readers to serious fiction, making it less intimidating with alluring art and low prices.
How Pulp Fiction Saved Literature|Wendy Smith|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Cold War fears could be manipulated through misleading art to attract readers to daunting material.
How Pulp Fiction Saved Literature|Wendy Smith|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In “Steal This Episode,” the filmmaker denounces Homer Simpson as an “enemy of art.”
Here’s the Lost Judd Apatow ‘Simpsons’ Episode, Penned by Judd Apatow|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

But those watching Selma were judging a work of cinematic art.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Woman is mistress of the art of completely embittering the life of the person on whom she depends.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Many of these have been seen in the Corcoran Art Gallery and in other public exhibitions.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Adequate conception of the extent, the variety, the excellence of the works of Art here heaped together is impossible.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
So it commands the other sciences in all the wonderful and hidden things of nature and art (pp. 510-511).
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
While residing in Brussels these two artists began to collect works of art for what is now known as the Mesdag Museum.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement