art form

American  

noun

1. the more or less established structure, pattern, or scheme followed in shaping an artistic work.

   The sonata, the sonnet, and the novel are all art forms.

2. a medium for artistic expression.

   ballet, sculpture, opera, and other art forms.

3. a medium other than the artistic regarded as having highly developed or systematized rules, procedures, or formulations.

   international diplomacy regarded as an art form.

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art form British  

noun

1. a conventionally established form of artistic composition, such as the symphony or the sonnet

2. a recognized medium of artistic expression

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Etymology

Origin of art form

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Minions from the “Despicable Me” movies and talking animals in countless other CGI movies bring people to theaters, but their financial triumph is hindering animation as an art form in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Europe pioneered the art form, but it was the U.S. that perfected the business we now know simply as “Hollywood.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Most artists are interested in more than one art form.

From The Wall Street Journal

By elevating quotidian subject matter to a sublime frenzy of saturated hues, he established color photography as an art form during the 1960s and ’70s, when it had been dismissed as déclassé.

From The Wall Street Journal

Molly was out, which was probably for the best, because Molly took stubborn to an art form and could not be convinced to trust Boaz.

From Literature