Definition of Art

During the Romantic period of the 18th century, as a reaction to the Enlightenment and its emphasis on science, empirical evidence, and rational thought, art began to be described as not just being something done with skill. | This meant that artists honed their craft, learning to replicate their subjects skillfully. | Throughout the centuries in Western culture from the 11th century on through the end of the 17th century, the definition of art was anything done with skill as the result of knowledge and practice. | The Avant-garde art movement began in the 1850s with the realism of Gustave Courbet.