c.1225, "skill as a result of learning or practice," from O.Fr.
art, from L.
artem, (nom.
ars) "art, skill, craft," from PIE
*ar-ti- (cf. Skt.
rtih "manner, mode;" Gk.
arti "just,"
artios "complete;" Armenian
arnam "make," Ger.
art "manner, mode"), from base
*ar- "fit together, join" (see
arm (1)). In M.E. usually with sense of "skill in scholarship and learning" (c.1305), especially in the seven sciences, or
liberal arts (divided into the
trivium -- grammar, logic, rhetoric -- and the
quadrivium --arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy). This sense remains in
Bachelor of Arts, etc. Meaning "human workmanship" (as opposed to
nature) is from 1386. Sense of "cunning and trickery" first attested c.1600. Meaning "skill in creative arts" is first recorded 1620; esp. of painting, sculpture, etc., from 1668. Broader sense of the word remains in
artless (1589). As an adj. meaning "produced with conscious artistry (as opposed to
popular or
folk) it is attested from 1890, possibly from infl. of Ger.
kunstlied "art song" (cf.
art film, 1960;
art rock, c.1970).
Fine arts, "those which appeal to the mind and the imagination" first recorded 1767.
Art brut "art done by prisoners, lunatics, etc.," is 1955, from Fr., lit. "raw art."
Artsy "pretentiously artistic" is from 1902. Expression
art for art's sake (1836) translates Fr.
l'art pour l'art. First record of
art critic is from 1865.
Arts and crafts "decorative design and handcraft" first attested in the
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London, 1888.
"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truths, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned. The revolt of individualism came because the tradition had become degraded, or rather because a spurious copy had been accepted in its stead." [William Butler Yeats]
[ahrt] 
