Work
Related: art - author - creativity - merit - seminal work
Instances: Gesamtkunstwerk - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935/1936)
Work (fine arts)
In the fine arts, a work or a work of art is a creation, such as a song, book or a painting.
What is perceived as a work of art differs between cultures and eras and by the meaning of the term art itself. Up until the 1970s, art critics and the general public tended to exclude applied arts from works of art.
To establish whether a work is a work of art, the concepts of artistic merit and literary merit are regularly invoked. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_%28fine_arts%29 [Jan 2006]
Masterpiece
Originally, the term masterpiece (or chef d'oeuvre) referred to a piece of handicraft art produced by a journeyman aspiring to become a master craftsman in the old European guild system. These were typically perfect pieces of handicraft art, admired for their beauty and elegance.
Nowadays this term mostly refers to any piece of any art that is considered extraordinarily well-performed. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpiece [Apr 2005]
Magnum opus
Magnum opus, from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the best or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnum_opus [May 2005]
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