Portal:Arts

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The Arts Portal

Art, in its broadest meaning, is the expression of creativity or imagination. The word art comes from the Latin word ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement". Art is commonly understood as the act of making works (or artworks) which use the human creative impulse and which have meaning beyond simple description. While art is often distinguished from crafts and recreational hobby activities, this boundary can at times be hard to define. The term creative arts denotes a collection of disciplines whose principal purpose is the output of material for the viewer or audience to interpret. As such, art may be taken to include forms ranging from literary forms (prose writing and poetry); performance-based forms (dance, acting, drama, and music); visual and "plastic arts" (painting ,sculpture, photography, illustration); to forms that also have a functional role, such as architecture and fashion design. Art may also be understood as relating to creativity, æsthetics and the generation of emotion.

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Featured article
Freedom Monument by Kārlis Zāle.

The Freedom Monument (Latvian: Brīvības piemineklis) is a memorial located in Riga, Latvia honoring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920). It is considered an important symbol of the freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Latvia. Unveiled in 1935, the 42-metre (138 ft) high monument of granite, travertine, and copper often serves as the focal point of public gatherings and official ceremonies in Riga.

The sculptures and bas-reliefs of the monument, arranged in thirteen groups, depict Latvian culture and history. The core of the monument is composed of tetragonal shapes on top of each other, decreasing in size towards the top, completed by a 19-metre (62 ft) high travertine column bearing the copper figure of Liberty lifting three gilded stars. The concept for the monument first emerged in the early 1920s when the Latvian Prime Minister, Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, ordered rules to be drawn up for a contest for designs of a "memorial column". After several contests the monument was finally built at the beginning of the 1930s according to the scheme "Shine like a star!" submitted by Latvian sculptor Kārlis Zāle. Construction works were financed by private donations.

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Featured Picture

17th century Central Tibeten thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra.

Archive • Nominations • Read more...

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Did you know...

...that English book collector Sir Thomas Phillipps acquired some 40,000 printed books and 60,000 manuscripts over the course of his lifetime?

...that the image of Benjamin Franklin on the U.S. hundred dollar bill (pictured) is based on a painting by the French artist Joseph Duplessis?

...that 1971's Out of the Darkness was the first Thai science fiction film?

...that Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, contains many tongue-in-cheek references to the plays of William Shakespeare?

...that Ken Richmond, the last gongman of the Rank Organisation, was a 1952 Summer Olympics wrestling medalist and actor in Jules Dassin's Night and the City?

...that in 1661, Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London became the first public theatre in England to feature moveable scenery on sliding wings?

...that voice artists who made Gavrilov translations of foreign movies in Russia were once thought to have used a noseclip to conceal their identity?

...that the artist Sigrid Hjertén, a crucial figure in Swedish modernism, tragically died following a poorly performed lobotomy?

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Selected quotes

“ "'There has to be something there of your own. You have to struggle to find your own way to give it expression. If it's a fresh thought then it's likely the form will be fresh too. It all comes down to what the artist has to say. It's no good spending your whole life splashing around with paint if you have nothing to splash around about.". ”

Sybil Andrews

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