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The arts

The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing, and being in an extensive range of media. Both dynamic and a characteristically constant feature of human life have developed into stylized and intricate forms. This is achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, or theorizing within a particular tradition, generations, and even between civilizations. The arts are a vehicle through which human beings cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgements, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space. (Full article...)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Jacobus Anthonie Meessen (Dutch pronunciation: [jaːˈkoːbʏs ˈɑntoːni ˈmeːsə(n)]; 5 December 1836 – 14 November 1885) was a Dutch photographer who took more than 250 portraits and landscapes of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between 1864 and 1870. Born to a carpenter in Utrecht, Meessen worked in that trade in the Indies before marrying in the Netherlands in the early 1860s. He returned to the colony in 1864, intent on documenting its land and people. He worked mostly in the capital of Batavia (now Jakarta), Java, and Padang, Sumatra; he also photographed Bangka, Belitung, Borneo, and Nias. (Full article...)
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How a Mosquito Operates is a 1912 silent animated film by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. The six-minute short depicts a giant mosquito tormenting a sleeping man. The film is one of the earliest works of animation, and its technical quality is considered far ahead of its time. It is also known under the titles The Story of a Mosquito and Winsor McCay and his Jersey Skeeters. (Full article...)
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Pod is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, the album features band leader Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, Josephine Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. Albini's production prioritized sound over technical accomplishment; the final takes favor the band's spontaneous live "in studio" performances. (Full article...)
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"Confirmed Dead" is the second episode of the fourth season of ABC's serial television drama Lost and the 74th episode overall. It was first aired on February 7, 2008, on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. (Full article...)
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Claudia Jean Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the American television drama The West Wing. From the beginning of the series in 1999 until the sixth season in 2004, she was the White House Press Secretary in the administration of President Josiah Bartlet. After that, she serves as the president's chief of staff until the end of the show in 2006. The character is partially inspired by real-life White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, who worked as a consultant on the show. (Full article...)
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First edition cover

The Story of Miss Moppet is a tale about teasing, featuring a kitten and a mouse, that was written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co for the 1906 Christmas season. Potter was born in London in 1866, and between 1902 and 1905 published a series of small-format children's books with Warne. In 1906, she experimented with an atypical panorama design for Miss Moppet, which booksellers disliked; the story was reprinted in 1916 in small book format. (Full article...)
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Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the story at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, inspired by a Sunday Times article on diamond smuggling. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1956. (Full article...)
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Yeats in 1903

William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist and writer, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. He was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature, and later served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State. (Full article...)
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The Columbia, South Carolina, Sesquicentennial half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint. Designed by Abraham Wolfe Davidson and minted in 1936, it marks the 150th anniversary of the designation of Columbia as South Carolina's state capital. (Full article...)
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"Barge of the Dead" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is the third episode of the sixth season and was first broadcast by UPN on October 6, 1999. "Barge of the Dead" was developed from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Bryan Fuller, who wrote the teleplay, and was directed by Mike Vejar. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. (Full article...)
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Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (in their directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, all of whom play members of a dysfunctional family taking the youngest (Breslin) to compete in a child beauty pageant. It was produced by Big Beach Films on a budget of US$8 million. Filming began on June 6, 2005, and took place over 30 days in Arizona and Southern California. (Full article...)
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Sharpe, c. 1860

Edmund Sharpe (31 October 1809 – 8 May 1877) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer, and sanitary reformer. Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, he was educated first by his parents and then at schools locally and in Runcorn, Greenwich and Sedbergh. Following his graduation from Cambridge University he was awarded a travelling scholarship, enabling him to study architecture in Germany and southern France. In 1835 he established an architectural practice in Lancaster, initially working on his own. In 1845 he entered into partnership with Edward Paley, one of his pupils. Sharpe's main focus was on churches, and he was a pioneer in the use of terracotta as a structural material in church building, designing what were known as "pot" churches, the first of which was St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge. (Full article...)
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This Side of the Moon is the third studio album by American singer Elizabeth Cook, released on May 17, 2005, by Hog Country Production. Cook based the album on her experience with the Warner Bros. record label, which had released her second studio album, Hey Y'all in 2002. Initially signed to AOL-Time Warner, she was transferred to Warner Bros. and experienced problems with the label, including an album delay. Hey Y'all was commercially unsuccessful and was not heavily promoted; its songs were not played on country radio. Cook voluntarily left Warner Bros. in 2003, and used her disappointment working in Nashville's Music Row as inspiration for her follow-up album. (Full article...)
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Freak Out! is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of guitarist/bandleader Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was the second rock music double album ever released, following Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde just one week earlier, as well as the first double debut album by a rock artist. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc. (Full article...)
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Lazarus Leonard Aaronson (24 December 1894 – 9 December 1966), often referred to as L. Aaronson, was a British poet and a lecturer in economics. As a young man, he belonged to a group of Jewish friends who are today known as the Whitechapel Boys, many of whom later achieved fame as writers and artists. Though less radical in his use of language, he has been compared to his more renowned Whitechapel friend, Isaac Rosenberg, in terms of diction and verbal energy. Aaronson's poetry is characterised more as 'post-Georgian' than modernistic, and reviewers have since been able to trace influences back to both the English poet John Keats, and Hebrew poets such as Shaul Tchernichovsky and Zalman Shneur. (Full article...)

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Featured pictures

Featured pictures about The arts.

Image 1Pixel art, by ReffPixels (vectorized by OmegaFallon) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 2Fliteline medallion of Gemini 12, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 3Ijazah, by 'Ali Ra'if Efendi (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 4The Miraculous Sacrement at Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, by Alvesgaspar (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 5Robbins medallion of Apollo 16, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 6Fantascope at Phenakistiscope, by Thomas Mann Baynes (animated by Basile Morin) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 7Poster for the United States National Park Service at Federal Art Project, by Frank S. Nicholson (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 8Sunrise, Inverness Copse, at and by Paul Nash (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 9Stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, by PtrQs (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 10Robbins medallion of Apollo 12, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 11The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 12Your Motherland Will Never Forget, at and by Joseph Simpson (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 13Fliteline medallion of Gemini 6A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 14Alchemist's Laboratory at Heinrich Khunrath, by Hans Vredeman de Vries (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 15Autochrome nude study, by Arnold Genthe (edited by Chick Bowen) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 16Christmas angel at Gloria in excelsis Deo, by J. R. Clayton and The Brothers Dalziel (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 17Paper cutout featuring the Lord's Prayer, at and by Martha Ann Honeywell (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 18Celadon kettle, by the National Museum of Korea (edited by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 19Doorway from Moutiers-Saint-Jean, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 20H.M.S. Pinafore poster, by Vic Arnold (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 21Robbins medallion of Apollo 15, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 22The Pirate Publisher—An International Burlesque that has the Longest Run on Record at The Pirates of Penzance, by Joseph Keppler (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 23The Custer Fight at Lithography, by Charles Marion Russell (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 24Sorrow, by Vincent van Gogh (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 25Black Lives Matter art in New York City, by Rhododendrites (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 26Alexander Mosaic detail, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 27The Pig Faced Lady of Manchester Square and the Spanish Mule of Madrid, at Pig-faced women, by George Cruikshank (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 28Caucasus embroidery, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 29Terragen scene at Scenery generator, by Fir0002 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 30Fliteline medallion of Gemini 8, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 31Colosseum, by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 32Glass molecular model at V-Ray, by Dllu (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 33A Brush for the Lead at Sleigh Ride, by Thomas Worth (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 34Gorgoneion, by Jastrow (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 35Robbins medallion of Apollo 10, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 36Armenian illuminated manuscript, by Toros Roslin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 37Davy Jones's locker, by John Tenniel (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 38Madonna and child at Chiaroscuro], by Bartolomeo Coriolano (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 39Cabiria poster, by N. Morgello (edited by Jujutacular) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 40Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal panel, by Zach Weinersmith (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 41Little Nemo comic strip, by Winsor McCay (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 42Nude study at Figurative art, by Kenyon Cox (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 43Fliteline medallion of Gemini 11, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 44Tilework on the Dome of the Rock, by Godot13 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 45Pepper No. 30, by Edward Weston (edited by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 46Nude, by Edward Weston (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 47Fliteline medallion of Gemini 3, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 48Stained-glass example of chromostereopsis, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 49 Nautilus, by Edward Weston (restored by Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 501910 cover of Life, by Coles Phillips (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 51The Thin Red Line at Remembrance poppy, by Harold H. Piffard (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 52Taos Pueblo, by Ansel Adams (edited by Kaldari) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 53Ayyavazhi emblem at Ayya Vaikundar, by Vaikunda Raja (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 54Mirror writing, by Mahmoud Ibrahim (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 55Coca-Cola advertising poster, unknown author (edited by Victorrocha) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 56"Wikipedian Protester" at xkcd, by Randall Munroe (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 57Tribute in Light, by King of Hearts (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 58Madonna, by Edvard Munch (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 59Beer Street at Beer Street and Gin Lane, by Samuel Davenport after William Hogarth (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 60Ardabil Carpet, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 61Battle of Aljubarrota, by Jorge Colaço (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 62Robbins medallion of Apollo 14, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 63Birds' Head Haggadah, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 64Fliteline medallion of Gemini 7, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 65Fliteline medallion of Gemini 5, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 66Vanity Fair cover art, by Ethel McClellan Plummer (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 67Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, by Ansel Adams (restored by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 68Le Violon d'Ingres, by Man Ray (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 69Computer generated still life, by Gilles Tran (re-rendered by Deadcode) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 70Isaiah Scroll, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 71Robbins medallion of Apollo 8, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 72The Onion Field, at and by George Davison (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 73Dali Atomicus at Salvador Dalí, by Philippe Halsman (edited by Trialsanderrors) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 74Costume designed by David for legislators, at and by Jacques-Louis David and Vivant Denon (edited by Mvuijlst) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 75Weeki Wachee spring, Florida at Weeki Wachee Springs, by Toni Frissell (restored by Trialsanderrors) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 76Rosette Bearing the Names and Titles of Shah Jahan, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 77Love or Duty at Chromolithography, by Gabriele Castagnola (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 78Felbrigge Psalter, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 79Crochet table-cloth, by Alvesgaspar/Júlia Figueiredo (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 80Idi Amin caricature, by Edmund S. Valtman (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 81Robbins medallion of Apollo 17, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 82Mao Gong ding, by the National Palace Museum (edited by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 83Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, by Rembrandt (edited by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 84Golden earrings from Gyeongju, by the National Museum of Korea (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 85Gin Lane at Gin Craze, by Samuel Davenport after William Hogarth (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 86Robbins medallion of Apollo–Soyuz, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 87Zaandam at Etching revival, by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 88The battle of Mazandaran at Mazandaran province, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 89scene from the Little Lord Fauntleroy, by Elco. Corp. (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 90Flammarion engraving, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 91The Lady with the Lamp at Florence Nightingale, by Henrietta Rae and Cassell & Co (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 92Mizrah papercut, by Israel Dov Rosenbaum (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 93Fliteline medallion of Gemini 9A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 94Magna Carta (An Embroidery), by Cornelia Parker (edited by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 95The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver at Gulliver's Travels, by James Gillray (restored by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 96Segment of the Surrogate's Courthouse mosaic, by Rhododendrites (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 97The Adoration of the Shepherds at History of Christianity in Ukraine, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 98Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, by Jan van Eyck (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 99Pond in a Garden at Tomb of Nebamun, unknown author (edited by Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 100The Tiburtine Sibyl and the Emperor Augustus, by Antonio da Trento (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 101Robbins medallion of Apollo 13, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 102Fliteline medallion of Gemini 4, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 103Robbins medallion of Apollo 9, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 104Grant of Arms at Spanish heraldry, unknown author (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 105The Great Picture, by Douglas McCulloh (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 106Fliteline medallion of Gemini 10, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 107Stucco relief drawing at Maya civilization, by Ricardo Almendáriz (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 108Christ Pantocrator, by Godot13 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 109Ornamental latin alphabet at Initial, by F. Delamotte (restored and vectorized by JovanCormac) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 110First page of Codex Mendoza, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 111Robbins medallion of Apollo 11, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 112Ambigram, by Basile Morin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 113Isle of Graia Gulf of Akabah Arabia Petraea at Caravan (travellers), by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 114Caricature of Wang Lianying, at and by Jefferson Machamer (restored by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 115"When We All Believe", at and by Rose O'Neill (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 116Crown of the Andes, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 117Unfortunate events in the front seats of the ring of Madrid, and the death of the mayor of Torrejón, by Francisco Goya (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 118Gothic plate armour, by Anton Sorg (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 119Robbins medallion of Apollo 7, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)

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Vital articles

Vital articles to understand The arts.

Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Abstract art, non-figurative art, non-objective art, and non-representational art are all closely related terms. They have similar, but perhaps not identical, meanings. (Full article...)