Artist is a descriptive term applied to a person who engages in an activity deemed to be an art. It is also used in a qualitative sense of a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, an artistic practice.

Most often, the term describes those who create within a context of 'high culture', activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, acting, dancing, writing, filmmaking, photography and music — people who use imagination, and talent or skill, to create works that can be judged to have an aesthetic value. Art historians and critics will define as artists those who produce art within a recognised or recognisable discipline.

The term is also used to denote highly skilled people in non-"arts" activities, as well — crafts, medicine, alchemy, mechanics, mathematics, defense (martial arts) and architecture, for example. The designation is applied to illegal activities, like a "scam artist". The term 'artist' could also refer to a con artist.

More on [ Artist ]

NPR Topics: Visual Arts

Rauschenberg Shifted Path of American Art
Tue, 13 May 2008 16:00:00 -0400
Robert Rauschenberg, one of the most influential artists of his generation, has died at 82. A man of seemingly limitless imagination, Rauschenberg created works of great beauty out of objects that most people would overlook.
Pop Artist Robert Rauschenberg Dies
Tue, 13 May 2008 13:00:00 -0400
The artist, famous for using found objects in his work, was 82. His most famous work, "Bed," was painted on a quilt using paint, toothpaste and fingernail polish.
Marking the French Social Revolution of '68
Tue, 13 May 2008 00:01:00 -0400
Forty years ago, millions of French workers joined protesting students in a general strike that paralyzed the country and nearly brought down the government. A few weeks later, the May 1968 protests fizzled out, but French society was radically changed.
Commission Calls for MLK Statue's Redesign
Sun, 11 May 2008 16:59:00 -0400
The sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. intended for a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is too "confrontational," according to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The commission's approval is necessary for any monument or memorial in the capital. The commission says the sculpture needs to be reworked.
Charlie Brown: Authenticity and Honesty
Sat, 10 May 2008 10:56:00 -0400
Charlie Brown was born in 1950, at a time of cautious optimism about America's global role after World War II, and about the average guy's day-to-day prospects back in the states.
Miami Arena May Regain Shine as Architectural Gem
Mon, 05 May 2008 15:30:00 -0400
A coalition including preservationists and architects are lobbying to get the Miami Marine Stadium, abandoned since Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, restored to its former glory. The structure is a world-renowned example of Modernist architecture.

Subscribe to Artists RSS feed