What is Art For?

Over the history of humans we have made art. From the earliest works dating to more than 40,000 years ago to the latest graffito by Banksy we have made pictures or carved shapes or sung or played melodies, or moved our bodies in stylized ways. Art making is an innate human trait.

Clay Bison, Tuc d'Audobert Cave, France, ca 14,000 years old

We don't just make things randomly; human art making is purposeful. The main purpose of art over the millennia has likely been communication, whether to relate symbolic/supernatural/spiritual concepts to one another, or to entertain or persuade. Some art is made these days for purely personal reasons like self expression, or even personal healing.

Ritual and Spiritual
Paleontologists have speculated for decades that cave paintings and sculptures dating back tens of thousands of years had a symbolic/ritualistic purpose. Certainly they were important to their makers, perhaps to favor hunting but also possibly in other ways symbolizing the animal, or maybe its spirit.  There is of course no way to know for certain. But because these paintings and sculptures are exceptionally remote from usual places of habitation it seems clear they were not for display nor to enhance the makers' stature (at least directly). To our eyes they are also amazingly lifelike. For example, the small clay sculptures of bisons found in the Tuc d'Audoubert cave in the Pyrenees (above) are startling in their realism. Footprints of children and a few adults dating to the same period are still present in the floor of the cave, suggesting a gathering and possibly pointing to a ritual. (The system of caves in France contains other art too, including paintings and carvings, so maybe it was some kind of center for the practice.)

Michelangelo Merisi "Crucifixion of St. Peter," 1601

In the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, much of the art of Europe was commissioned by the Roman Catholic church to tell biblical and moral tales, since much of the world was illiterate. More personal art like portraiture gradually became more important, but most European art was Christian and religious. Some of the greatest art produced by mankind was religious in origin. For example, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted numerous canvases for the Roman church, including "Crucifixion of St. Peter" (right) for various churches. This particular masterpiece has always hung in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It depicts the Christian saint being martyred by crucifying him upside down, as legend has it.

Propaganda/Commerce
Art has been used to promote commerce since commerce has existed, most likely, and although propaganda isn't quite the same as advertising, the intent is similar. Advertising has been used probably since before Ancient Egypt. Certainly posters and other kinds of artistic ephemera were made in Egypt and in succeeding civilizations. In later times there were painted signs, sculpted images and the like used to show what a building might contain. The need for images increased in the 19th century as advertising and commerce expanded, and art specifically for commercial purposes developed as a different kind, with different goals and different standards. In the 20th century that distinction blurred substantially, so that an artist of the stature of Norman Rockwell called himself only and illustrator though many considered him a consummate fine artist.

Triple Self Portrait, Saturday Evening Post cover 1960

Head of Augustus Caesar as Pontifex Maximus, marble, 1st century CE

Art has always been used for propaganda. The Romans used art as political and social propaganda, communicating the greatness of the emperors and the gods, and Rome itself. During the time of Augustus, for example, sculpted images of the Emperor could be seen throughout the world, sent there by the government as reminders of greatness, and virtually every emperor afterward attempted to follow his example. Alas, some of the images were perhaps too

Emperor Nero, marble 1st century CE

realistic, as can be seen in the image of Nero (right).

A case can be made that portraiture became a way for politicians and other prominent people to advertise their greatness. Certainly portraits of kings and presidents have served that purpose the same as busts of Augustus did two thousand years ago.

Social Causes
Art has been used in service to social causes throughout human history, obviously overlapping its use in propaganda. In our own time many different kinds of art--visual, music--have been used to promote social causes. Today art and artists have been engaged in any number of causes, from pollution to climate change to political commentary. Sometimes art about causes is based in traditional two- or three-dimensional images, but these days art in service to social causes is more often digital, musical or dramatic. An entire post could be devoted only to this particular application of the arts. Perhaps another day.

Entertainment

Art provides entertainment as it communicates, too. All of the arts provide entertainment in one way or another. Visual art gives the observer an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the piece, the beauty of the world it references, the skills and vision of the maker, and tons more. Music provides a similar scope of experiences and entertains the mind and spirit. And so on. In our time, a vast portion of the world's entertainment is based in the arts. A few come easily to mind:

• movies, television and digital 
• live drama and comedy
• visual arts--painting, sculpture, digital, fabric, etc
• illustrative arts--cartooning and comics
• music in all genres 

The impact of creative work--the arts--on the fabric of human existence is undeniable. So what is art for? Nearly everything.