Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are mostly visual in nature. The visual arts (also known as the plastic arts) produce objects. They are different from the performing arts.

Van Gogh: The Church at Auvers (1890)

Examples are ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and poetry. Also, modern visual arts which use technology: photography, video, filmmaking and architecture.

These definitions should not be taken too strictly as many artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. Movies and performing arts, for example, make use of set and costume design, sometimes by prominent artists.

Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art.