The term artwork refers to a piece of visual art. Examples include paintings, sculptures, graphics and even architecture. The concept of artwork is studied in the academic field of art history and the more technical fields of art criticism and art theory.
Artworks serve a number of functions, including entertainment, teaching, commemoration, religious and spiritual meaning, and social commentary. The purpose of an individual artwork may vary according to the culture in which it is created, and the meaning may be as subtle or as overt as the artist desires. Artwork may be displayed in museums, galleries or other public spaces, and may also be reproduced on media such as film and television.
A work of art is typically considered a product of the human mind. It may represent a scene or idea, or it may be completely abstract. While the definition of art varies from culture to culture, it is commonly accepted that there is an element of truth in all works of art. This truth is not a description of the world as it exists, but rather a springboard from which that world can be revealed.
There are several ways to study an artwork, with two of the most important methods being formal analysis and content analysis. Formal analysis involves examining the structure of an artwork, such as how lines and shapes connect to one another. The purpose of this step is to understand how the artist organized the composition. Content analysis, on the other hand, focuses on the eternal meaning within an artwork, such as present symbols or historical, religious or ideological content. This step will help to analyze whether or not the artist reaches their goal.
Artwork may also be used for a variety of social causes, such as raising awareness for autism, cancer, child abuse or pollution. This type of art is usually called conceptual or activist art. The artist may create a piece of art to illustrate the issue, or they might use their art as a medium to bring attention to the issue through other means such as protests.
Traditional definitions of art rely on conventions to distinguish the objects that belong to the class of artworks from other objects. Institutional conventionalism, a synchronic view, holds that an artwork must be created to be presented to the public as an art object (Dickie 1984). Historical conventionalism, a diachronic view, holds that what characterizes an artwork is its standing in some art-historical relation to a set of earlier artworks (Levinson 1990). Both these views have been criticized for their commitment to the notion that there are some objects that simply deserve to be considered as artworks. These critiques have led some theorists to suggest that a more fertile indexing system might group together artworks across genres and eras according to their inner needs. This might better reflect the real world of artistic creation, and thus be more trustworthy than enumerative definitions of art.