What’s the difference between commercial art and fine art? It is about why it was created.
Art by its truest definition means the expression of an emotion, or imagination, that blooms from an idea or concept in the artist’s hands. In this respect, commercial art and fine art don’t differ.
The difference lies in why the artist is creating it.
Commercial vs. Fine Art
Museums don’t exhibit artwork that is created to sell. Fine art’s purpose is to create an aesthetic object that is admired for its qualities. Fine art is critically acclaimed, its uniqueness is respected. Commercial art might be acknowledged for its individual qualities, but it won’t make it to the Louvre. While commercial artists utilize acquired skills, fine art requires inborn talent.
A historical perspective
The difference was clear and unambiguous up until the mid-20th century. Commercial art included mass-produced campaigns and images while fine art consisted of one-of-a-kind unique objects.
Commercial art can be in the form of advertising, branding, logos, graphic design, and illustrations. Fine art covers paintings, sculptures, printmaking, photography, installation, sound art, multi-media, and performance.
In the 1960s, however, pop artists such as Andy Warhol revolutionized the term when he mass produced images using the tools of a commercial artist. His silk-screened Brillo Boxes are a pivotal example of how commercial can be merged with fine.
Philosopher Arthur Danto explained why Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes are art while the supermarket’s Brillo boxes, although identical, are not. He wrote, ”Given two things that resemble one another to any chosen degree, but one of them a work of art and the other an ordinary object, what accounts for this difference in status?”
Warhol’s boxes were more than object to be visually perceived, they needed a system to define and validate them as art. Namely, the art system of galleries, curators, critics, and so which help validate what is fine art and what is commercial art.
Art Today
In today’s contemporary art scene, artists often incorporate commercial techniques and elements of fine art. However, art schools continue to maintain a division between the two.
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