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Applied arts

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

An ornate silver jardiniere from early 1900s Germany, featuring decorative blossoms and elegant handles.

The applied arts are all the arts that use design and decoration to make everyday objects look beautiful as well as useful. These are things we use in our homes, schools, and cities that are not just practical but also pleasing to look at. Unlike the fine arts, which are made just to be beautiful or make us think, applied arts give both beauty and a job to do.

Many different kinds of work fall under applied arts. This includes industrial design of things made in large numbers, architecture of buildings, sculpture, crafts, ceramic art, fashion design, interior design, and even graphic design. These arts help make our world more attractive and comfortable.

Applied arts are very important because they mix creativity with usefulness. They make our everyday lives richer by turning simple objects into works of art that we can use and enjoy every day.

Movements

Some art styles focused mainly on making everyday objects look beautiful. These include Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts Movement, Bauhaus, and Productivism. Other big styles like Neoclassicism and Gothic used both beautiful art and practical design.

Museums of applied arts

Here are some famous museums that show beautiful and useful designs from around the world:

Images

A close-up of a luxury car dashboard, showing the controls and display screens inside a Bentley Continental GTC.
A black iPod Nano 4th generation, a small portable music and podcast player.
A garden view of a house on Strada Spătarului in Bucharest, Romania, during renovation with temporary wood panels instead of a gate.
The interior of the historic D.A. Sturdza House in Bucharest, showcasing beautiful stucco work and tiled stoves.
A window of a house numbered 17 on Strada Mântuleasa in Bucharest, Romania.
A beautifully crafted French silver coffee pot from the 18th century, showcasing intricate metalwork design.
A historical bronze sculpture called 'The Scarf Dance,' showing a dancer gracefully moving with a scarf.
Ancient Greek artwork showing a ceremonial scene with mythological themes, from the collection of the Getty Villa.
A beautiful example of 18th-century British porcelain art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A young Sinhalese girl beautifully dressed in a traditional Kandyan saree, showcasing Sri Lankan cultural attire.
Portrait of five Futurist artists—Luigi Russolo, Carlo Carrà, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, and Gino Severini—standing together in front of Le Figaro newspaper in Paris, February 9, 1912.
An elegant 18th-century French cabinet with intricate woodwork, showcasing beautiful marquetry designs.
An antique wooden chair made in Turin, Italy around 1835, now displayed in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Portrait of Lily Elsie, a famous silent movie actress from the early 1900s wearing an elegant hat.

Related articles

Design
Sculpture
Art Nouveau
Bauhaus
Gothic art
Switzerland

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Applied arts, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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