The
history of art is the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for
aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a
worldview. Over time
visual art has been classified in diverse ways, from the medieval distinction between
liberal arts and
mechanical arts, to the modern distinction between
fine arts and
applied arts, or to the many contemporary definitions, which define art as a manifestation of human creativity. The subsequent expansion of the list of
principal arts in the 20th century reached to nine:
architecture,
dance,
sculpture,
music,
painting,
poetry (described broadly as a form of
literature with aesthetic purpose or function, which also includes the distinct genres of
theatre and
narrative),
film,
photography and
graphic arts. In addition to the old forms of artistic expression such as
fashion and
gastronomy, new modes of expression are being considered as
arts such as
video,
computer art,
performance,
advertising,
animation,
television and
videogames.