Defining what types of existing art are has always been a recurring debate throughout history. And it is that art is quite subjective, something that makes each of us have our own conception of what can or cannot be classified as such.
However, there are a number of disciplines that, due to their importance over the centuries, have ended up earning the right to be considered and treated as art. We are talking about the traditional concept of 'Fine Arts', which emerged in the XNUMXth century and is still valid today. This concept includes the following manifestations:
Architecture
Belonging to the so-called 'Major Arts' and with a presence since the beginning of our own existence. Man always had the need to build, in those early years, above all, to protect himself from his own environment.
Over the centuries, this discipline was perfected and aesthetics played a fundamental role. so that the buildings were more beautiful and adapted to the tastes of each era.
This marked evolution through the passage of time can be seen from primitive megalithic architecture, with the dolmens, to modernist constructions such as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, passing through such emblematic works as the Parthenon in Athens or the pyramids in Egypt.
Sculpture
Undoubtedly, another type of art that has accompanied the human being since the earliest times. The sculpture, that ability to shape certain materials, had its origin as pure entertainment and also as an important part of rituals and beliefs.
It was in the Egyptian and Greek cultures when we began to appreciate a change of sign regarding their perception, beginning to be considered as pieces of great value and for decorative purposes.
Painting
Sister of sculpture and with very similar purposes in its beginnings, it has served us to leave our mark through generations, as can be seen with the cave paintings of France and Spain, which are the oldest preserved.
Unlike sculpture, its great evolution comes from the Italian Renaissance and it is there when it gains an importance that is still maintained today. And it is that of the so-called 'Major Arts', it is the one that has the most followers or fans.
Its relevance today continues to be such that not only museums exhibit pictorial pieces that are visited by millions of people annually, but even in the most remote home we can appreciate pieces of this type.
Music
It is truly difficult to define an art as expressive and changing as music, that ability to play with the sounds produced by objects and give them rhythm and harmony for the enjoyment of our ears.
Although it is surely just today when this discipline is most valued, since time immemorial it had a fairly common use. In cultures such as the Vikings, for example, it was a fundamental part of their rites, celebrations and even trips.
Today, in addition to being continuously present in our lives through such daily activities as turning on the TV or getting in the car, it is one of the industries that manages the most money in the world.
Dance
Inseparable from music. This human need that we have to perform harmonic movements with our body and that on certain occasions it arises almost unconsciously.
Dance has always had an important role in society. In fact, if you belonged to important classes in times like Victorian England, it was practically an obligation to know how to dance to have a good reputation on a social level.
Literature
If with dance and music we express ourselves with our body, with literature we do the same with our mind and our thoughts. Literature is that art of the human being capable of transmitting through the word.
Especially important in history from the fifteenth century, when the invention of the printing press made it possible to make copies of the writings and that these could be more accessible to the population.
Movies
Surely you have often heard the consideration of cinema as the "seventh art", and that is because there are indeed many people who include it in this illustrious list, despite not being present for obvious reasons in the original ones.
And we say this for obvious reasons, because we have to go back to the end of the XNUMXth century to appreciate, in the city of Paris, the first manifestations of this art that today can even surpass the others in popularity.
This ability to tell stories (real or fictional) or to transport us to places (existing or imaginary) means that in a certain way it has become an evolution of literature. and, like music, in an industry that moves billions every year.