Portal:The arts

The arts

The arts, or creative arts, are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of media. Both a dynamic and characteristically constant feature of human life, the arts have developed into increasingly stylized and intricate forms. This is achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, or theorizing within a particular tradition, generations, and even between civilizations. The arts are a medium through which humans cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgments, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space. (Full article...)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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The second season of Supernatural, an American dark fantasy television series created by Eric Kripke, premiered on September 28, 2006, and concluded on May 17, 2007, airing 22 episodes. The season focuses on protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they track down Azazel, the demon responsible for the deaths of their mother Mary and father John. They attempt to discover the demon's plan for Sam and other psychic children—young adults who were visited by Azazel as infants and given abilities, and whose mothers often then died in a fire. During their travels, they use their father's journal to help them carry on the family business—saving people and hunting supernatural creatures. (Full article...)
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The Sirens and Ulysses, 1837, 442.5 by 297 cm (14 ft 6.2 in by 9 ft 8.9 in)

The Sirens and Ulysses is a large oil painting on canvas by the English artist William Etty, first exhibited in 1837. It depicts the scene from Homer's Odyssey in which Ulysses (Odysseus) resists the bewitching song of the sirens by having his ship's crew tie him up, while they are ordered to block their own ears to prevent themselves from hearing the song. (Full article...)
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Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty is a 2021 book by Australian constitutional law specialists Harry Hobbs and George Williams about micronations and their legal status. Written from an academic perspective, it is one of few works on micronational movements and the earliest-published book to focus largely on the legal aspect of micronations. The book concerns the definition of statehood, the place of micronations within international law, people's motivations for declaring them, the micronational community and the ways by which such entities mimic sovereign states. In 2022 Hobbs and Williams published a book for a broader audience, How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations. (Full article...)
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The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in York in northern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to commemorate employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who left to fight in the First World War and were killed while serving. The NER board voted in early 1920 to allocate £20,000 for a memorial and commissioned Lutyens. The committee for the York City War Memorial followed suit and also appointed Lutyens, but both schemes became embroiled in controversy. Concerns were raised from within the community about the effect of the NER memorial on the city walls and its impact on the proposed scheme for the city's war memorial, given that the two memorials were planned to be 100 yards (90 metres) apart and the city's budget was a tenth of the NER's. The controversy was resolved after Lutyens modified his plans for the NER memorial to move it away from the walls and the city opted for a revised scheme on land just outside the walls; coincidentally the land was owned by the NER, whose board donated it to the city. (Full article...)
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No Line on the Horizon is the twelfth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite, and was released on 27 February 2009. It was the band's first record since How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), marking the longest gap between studio albums of their career to that point. The band originally intended to release the songs as two EPs, but later combined the material into a single record. Photographer Anton Corbijn shot a companion film, Linear, which was released alongside the album and included with several special editions. (Full article...)
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The "Streatham" portrait is an oil painting on panel from the 1590s believed to be a later copy of an earlier portrait of the English noblewoman and disputed Queen of England, Lady Jane Grey. It shows a three-quarter-length depiction of a young woman in Tudor-period dress holding a prayer book, with the faded inscription "Lady Jayne" or "Lady Iayne" in the upper-left corner. It is in poor condition and damaged, as if it has been attacked. As of January 2015^[update] the portrait is in Room 3 of the National Portrait Gallery in London. (Full article...)
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The Concert in Central Park is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on February 16, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded on September 19, 1981, at a free benefit concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of 500,000 people. A TV special of the event was shown on TV and released on video. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding. The concert and album marked the start of a three-year reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. (Full article...)
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Santos at the premiere of Ploning in 2008

Judy Anne Lumagui Santos (born May 11, 1978), also nicknamed Juday, is a Filipino actress and film producer. Prolific in film and television in the Philippines, and is known for her dramatic and comedic roles in blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her portrayals of oppressed and impoverished women. She has received various accolades, including a Cairo International Film Festival Award, a Fantasporto International Film Festival Award, a Gawad Urian, two Luna Awards, three Metro Manila Film Festival Awards, and three FAMAS Awards. (Full article...)
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First edition cover of Madman's Drum (1930)

Madman's Drum is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward , published in 1930. It is the second of Ward's six wordless novels. The 118 wood-engraved images of Madman's Drum tell the story of a slave trader who steals a demon-faced drum from an African he murders, and the consequences for him and his family. (Full article...)
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Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution is a book written by Stephen Knight first published in 1976. It proposed a solution to five murders in Victorian London that were blamed on an unidentified serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper". (Full article...)
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The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., often referred to as just Brisco or Brisco County, is an American weird western television series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. It ran for 27 episodes on Fox from August 27, 1993, to May 20, 1994. Set in the American West of 1893, the series follows its title character, a Harvard-educated lawyer-turned-bounty hunter hired by a group of wealthy industrialists to track and capture outlaw John Bly and his gang. Bruce Campbell plays Brisco, who is joined by a colorful group of supporting characters, including Julius Carry as fellow bounty hunter Lord Bowler and Christian Clemenson as stick-in-the-mud lawyer Socrates Poole. (Full article...)
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Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is the sixth album (and first live album) by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records in December 2007. The album consists of live recordings from his sold-out June 14–15, 2006, tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall to the American actress and singer Judy Garland. Backed by a 36-piece orchestra conducted by Stephen Oremus, Wainwright recreated Garland's April 23, 1961, concert, often considered "the greatest night in show business history". Garland's 1961 double album, Judy at Carnegie Hall, a comeback performance with more than 25 American pop and jazz standards, was highly successful, initially spending 95 weeks on the Billboard charts and garnering five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year, Best Album Cover, Best Solo Vocal Performance – Female and Best Engineering Contribution – Popular Recording). (Full article...)
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First edition title page

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects is a 1792 essay by British philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. It is considered a feminist or, more precisely, proto-feminist piece, and one of the pioneering works in the tradition now known as feminist philosophy. (Full article...)
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The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Britain from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish feminists, battles between medical students and the police, police protection for the statue of a dog, a libel trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, and the establishment of a Royal Commission to investigate the use of animals in experiments. The affair became a cause célèbre that divided the country. (Full article...)
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Drawing of Spitzeder from the 1873 magazine Die Gartenlaube, based on a photograph

Adelheid Luise "Adele" Spitzeder ([ˈaːdl̩haɪt ʔaˈdeːlə ˈʃpɪtˌtseːdɐ]; 9 February 1832 – 27 or 28 October 1895), also known by her stage name Adele Vio, was a German actress, folk singer, and con artist. Initially a promising young actress, Spitzeder became a well-known private banker in 19th-century Munich when her theatrical success dwindled. Running what was possibly the first recorded Ponzi scheme, she offered large returns on investments by continually using the money of new investors to pay back the previous ones. At the height of her success, contemporary sources considered her the wealthiest woman in Bavaria. (Full article...)

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Featured pictures

Featured pictures about The arts.

Image 1Fliteline medallion of Gemini 6A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 2Robbins medallion of Apollo–Soyuz, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 3Zaandam at Etching revival, by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 4Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal panel, by Zach Weinersmith (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 5Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, by Ansel Adams (restored by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 6The Adoration of the Shepherds at History of Christianity in Ukraine, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 7Robbins medallion of Apollo 11, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 8Alexander Mosaic detail, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 9Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, by Rembrandt (edited by Chris Woodrich) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 10Stucco relief drawing at Maya civilization, by Ricardo Almendáriz (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 11Bayeux Tapestry, left half, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 12The Pig Faced Lady of Manchester Square and the Spanish Mule of Madrid, at Pig-faced women, by George Cruikshank (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 13Pixel art, by ReffPixels (vectorized by OmegaFallon) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 14Glass molecular model at V-Ray, by Daniel Lu (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 15Gin Lane at Gin Craze, by Samuel Davenport after William Hogarth (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 16Celadon kettle, by the National Museum of Korea (edited by Chris Woodrich) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 17Isaiah Scroll, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 18"Wikipedian Protester" at xkcd, by Randall Munroe (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 19Flammarion engraving, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 20Pond in a Garden at Tomb of Nebamun, unknown author (edited by Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 21Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, by Jan van Eyck (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 22Ornamental latin alphabet at Initial, by F. Delamotte (restored and vectorized by JovanCormac) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 23Grant of Arms at Spanish heraldry, unknown author (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 24Love or Duty at Chromolithography, by Gabriele Castagnola (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 25Nude, by Edward Weston (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 26Movement Study, at and by Rudolf Koppitz (edited by Basile Morin and Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 27The Great Picture, by Douglas McCulloh (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 28 Nautilus, by Edward Weston (restored by Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 29Robbins medallion of Apollo 17, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 30Golden earrings from Gyeongju, by the National Museum of Korea (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 31Fliteline medallion of Gemini 7, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 32Fliteline medallion of Gemini 9A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 33Ardabil Carpet, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 34Ijazah, by 'Ali Ra'if Efendi (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 35Crown of the Andes, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 36The Thin Red Line at Remembrance poppy, by Harold H. Piffard (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 37Fliteline medallion of Gemini 12, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 38First page of Codex Mendoza, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 39Robbins medallion of Apollo 9, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 40Caucasus embroidery, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 41Fantascope at Phenakistiscope, by Thomas Mann Baynes (animated by Basile Morin) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 421910 cover of Life, by Coles Phillips (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 43Robbins medallion of Apollo 15, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 44The battle of Mazandaran at Mazandaran province, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 45Jewellery chain, by Erik Lernestål (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 46The Miraculous Sacrement at Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, by Alvesgaspar (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 47Robbins medallion of Apollo 12, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 48Bayeux Tapestry, right half, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 49Paper cutout featuring the Lord's Prayer, at and by Martha Ann Honeywell (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 50Ringlemere Cup, by the Portable Antiquities Scheme/Daniel Pett (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)

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Vital articles

Vital articles to understand The arts.

The Ming dynasty Great Wall at Jinshanling

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. The first walls date to the 7th century BC; these were joined together in the Qin dynasty. Successive dynasties expanded the wall system; the best-known sections were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). (Full article...)