The Parthenon

The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece

The arts is a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors a
nd disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which, as a description of a fi
eld, usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass the visual arts, the
literary arts and the performing arts
music, theatre, dance and film, among oth
ers. This list is by no means comprehensive, but only meant to introduce the con
cept of the arts. For all intents and purposes, the history of the arts begins w
ith the history of art. The arts might have origins in early human evolutionary
prehistory.
Ancient Greek art saw the veneration of the animal form and the development of e
quivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty and anatomically correct pro
portions. Ancient Roman art depicted gods as idealized humans, shown with charac
teristic distinguishing features (e.g. Jupiter's thunderbolt). In Byzantine and
Gothic art of the Middle Ages, the dominance of the church insisted on the expre
ssion of biblical and not material truths. Eastern art has generally worked in a
style akin to Western medieval art, namely a concentration on surface patternin
g and local colour (meaning the plain colour of an object, such as basic red for
a red robe, rather than the modulations of that colour brought about by light,
shade and reflection). A characteristic of this style is that the local colour i
s often defined by an outline (a contemporary equivalent is the cartoon). This i
s evident in, for example, the art of India, Tibet and Japan. Religious Islamic
art forbids iconography, and expresses religious ideas through geometry instead.
The physical and rational certainties depicted by the 19th-century Enlightenmen
t were shattered not only by new discoveries of relativity by Einstein and of un
seen psychology by Freud, but also by unprecedented technological development. P
aradoxically the expressions of new technologies were greatly influenced by the
ancient tribal arts of Africa and Oceania, through the works of Paul Gauguin and
the Post-Impressionists, Pablo Picasso and the Cubists, as well as the Futurist
s and others.
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Gaetano DonizettiL'ange de Nisida (The Angel of Nisida) is an opera semiseria in
four acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (pictured), from a libretto by
Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaz. Parts of the libretto are considered analogous wi
th the libretto for Giovanni Pacini's Adelaide e Comingio, and the final scene i
s based on the Franois-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud play Les Amants malheure
ux, ou le comte de Comminges. Donizetti worked on the opera in the autumn of 183
9 its final page is dated 27 December 1839. Because the subject matter involved th
e mistress of a Neapolitan king, and may thus have caused difficulties with the
Italian censors, Donizetti decided that the opera should be presented in France.
However, the theater company Donizetti contracted went bankrupt. L'ange was nev
er performed and was reworked as La favorite in September 1840.
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Big & Small
Credit: Photo: Christos Kalohoridis, Kindle Entertainment
Big (right) and Small are the two main characters of Big & Small, a British pupp
et-based children's television series aimed at preschool children. Both characte
rs are voiced by comedian Lenny Henry in the UK version. In total, over 40 chann
els worldwide feature the show.

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Did you know...
Fountain of Justice
... that one novelty of Hans Gieng's 1543 statue on the Fountain of Justice (pic
tured) in Berne was the portrayal of Lady Justice as blindfolded?
... that in 1656, German violinist Thomas Baltzar helped premiere The Siege of R
hodes, thought to have been the first all-sung English opera?
... that the Franklin County Courthouse incorporates the walls and columns left
after Confederate forces burned the previous courthouse during the American Civi
l War?
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In this month
Beethoven
1 December 1923
Belgian poet and novelist Virginie Loveling dies in Nevele at th
e age of 87
12 December 1998 The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia is officially opened in Kuala
Lumpur
22 December 1808 Beethoven (pictured) conducts the world premiere of his Fifth S
ymphony at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna
24 December 1871 Verdi's opera Aida receives its world premiere at the Khedivial
Opera House in Cairo with Teresa Stolz in the title role
27 December 1915 Arts administrator and painter Sir Norman Reid, Director of the
Tate Gallery from 1964 to 1979, is born in London
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News
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June 13: English actor Christopher Lee dies aged 93
May 28: B.B. King's daughters allege blues musician was poisoned
May 22: David Letterman signs off after 33 year career on the Late Show
May 15: Blues musician B.B. King dies aged 89
May 7: New Zealand begins process to consider changing national flag design
Arts on Wikinews
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Featured biography
Felice BeatoFelice Beato was a British and Italian photographer. He was one of t
he first photographers to take pictures in East Asia and one of the first war ph
otographers. He is also noted for his genre works, portraits, and views and pano
ramas of the architecture and landscapes of Asia and the Mediterranean region. B
eato's travels to many lands gave him the opportunity to create powerful and las
ting images of countries, people and events that were unfamiliar and remote to m
ost people in Europe and North America. To this day his work provides the key im
ages of such events as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Second Opium War and
his photographs represent the first substantial oeuvre of what came to be calle
d photojournalism. He had a significant impact on other photographers, and Beato
's influence in Japan, where he worked with and taught numerous other photograph
ers and artists, was particularly deep and lasting.
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Featured audio
1788
Auld Lang Syne
MENU0:00
Frank C. Stanley's 1910 performance of Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne. Contains th
e first and last verse.
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Categories
Arts categories
? Arts
? Arts portal
? Arts by culture
? Arts by place
? Arts-related lists
? Aesthetics
? Arts genres by country or nationality
? Arts awards
? Censorship in the arts
? Crafts
? Creative works
? Arts districts
? Arts events
? Literature
? Arts occupations
? Arts organizations
? Arts portals
? Performing arts
? Religion and the arts
? Arts venues
? Visual arts
? Women and the arts
? Works about the arts
? Wikipedia books on arts
? Art stubs
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WikiProjects
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Gilbert and Sullivan

Richard Wagner
Poetry
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Selected quote
Giuseppe Verdi. Portrait by Giovanni Boldini, 1886
I adore art... when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stre
am from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear.
Giuseppe Verdi
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