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Where Is the Line Between Fine Art & Fine Craft?

All Things Rappahannock, a watercolor with pen & ink, was made into a scarf to sell for charity.

Is this fine art, decorative art, wearable art....?

Is the original painting decorative art or fine art?

Once it is made into a scarf, would it be considered wearable art or is that designation for something that is made by hand and is original?

Ruthie, where's the line between fine art and fine craft (e.g.,  American Craft Council )? When an artist creates in any medium, it's no longer a function of iron, wood, leather, wool or any other guild group. Does it even matter anymore? I know that it matters to craft creators who are fiercely proud of the craft designation. Who else cares and what's the difference?

  Sidney Oliver

As usual, this is my opinion without any knowledge of the American Craft Council and I might be way off base. Sid, you are the one who would know about the designation of what constitutes a craft. I, on the other hand, am guessing, and I seem to be asking more questions than answering them.

Why don't you weigh in and show me where I am wrong?

Let me add more in the mix. What about Decorative Art? Wearable Art? The mixture of Performance Art & Visual Art?

Is there a line between what is functional vs. what is purely aesthetic or is the line blurred?

Is there a distinction between what is one of a kind vs. duplicates produced in an assembly-line fashion?

Where are photographs in this equation?

Having lived near Penland, the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Arrowmont, and the John C. Campbell Folk School, I'm familiar with beautiful crafts. I've visited Kelmscott Manor, the home of William Morris and considered the father of the Arts & Crafts movement, and I've attended symposiums on Decorative Art.

Where do magnificent frescoes, such as one of my favorite places in all of the world, fit? Berwick Church is completely enhanced with murals painted by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Grant during WWII. Please read about the wonderful work and click on Bloomsbury in Berwick at the top to read the entire story. For a 360 degree look, click here.

Berwick Church, murals painted by Duncan Grant & Vanessa Bell

Why not go at this another way? We usually think of the artist or artisan, not the viewer or one who purchases the items.

Tell me the difference between these two types of buyers:

A. The couple who walk into a gallery asking for a sofa painting or, as happened to me during the RAAC art tour, a burgundy-colored painting. 

B. The couple who fall in love with a painting with no idea where they will put it.

To me, Couple A are buying purely for the sole purpose of being decorative. They need to fill a space on the wall.

Former Ambassador to Poland (2004-2009) Victor Ashe with his wife, Joan, in the Polish Embassy in 2005

Space be damned to Couple B. They just love the painting and they'll figure out some place to put it or as Joan Ashe, the wife of Ambassador Victor Ashe, told me while she and Victor were purchasing a nest painting, "We'll put it in the powder room. That way everybody will see it."

Colonel John Bourgeois directing the Bourgeois Concert Band at Avon Hall (July 2018), Washington, VA

The same can be said of Colonel John Bourgeois, the Director Emeritus of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. Without any idea of where to place a piece of artwork, he buys. He buys because he has fallen for the painting. He might not have an inch of unfilled wall space in his house, but he loves every single piece he has. Here he is in my studio checking out one of his purchases.  

Painters love collectors like the Ashes and John Bourgeois simply because they know the work is cherished and appreciated for the sake of creation and not because it fills a space for the sake of decoration.

Question: Is the integrity of a painting lessened if it was purchased only for decoration? Probably not, but it's worth reminding ourselves to aim for what moves us rather than something we need to fill a gap on a wall.

We have another avenue in the fact of whether a useful item, such as a craft, can be fine art, fine craft, or just a thing of beauty.

One of Kat Habib's lovely ceramic pieces that I use as a coffee mug.

Her work can be found on her website: Kat Habib|Ceramics

Kat does such exquisite work. Each piece is an original.

In the past, I always thought if something was produced in assembly-line fashion and made to look exactly like the one made before as well as after, it was more in the realm of craft than fine art. Therefore, a potter who produced 10 identical bowls would be a craftsman and not a fine artist. Today? I'm not sure. 

I've considered some of my paintings decorative art and not fine art. You might disagree, but am I any more right simply because I'm the creator? Thus, are we forced to take the artist's word for it? If so, how many cans of worms does that open? 

Below are two examples of my work I consider decorative and not fine art:

The Louvre

I would consider all of my pen & inks in the decorative line.

Even though this ceiling piece is composed of four 36" square panels and it took a lot of time to prepare the background, in my mind, this is purely decorative.

In case you missed the post on the process of creating this, click on Compelled to Create Part I

Surely, there are other entities I could list, but I'm of the opinion that the line is blurred with a lot of overlap even though there is a definite distinction between all forms of art. They all take a creative spirit, a good eye, and a good hand inventing and guiding them.

I'm thrilled that I am not the person who is forced to make these classifications.

Enjoy the process!

  Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved