Americans Disagree On The Definition Of Art
By Nathaniel Rakich
Apr. 14, 2023, at 6:00 AM




PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT / GETTY IMAGES

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What is art? According to the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the activity of art is “to evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling.” But, according to a new poll, many Americans believe art is just old paintings and sculptures they couldn’t make themselves.
Two weeks ago, YouGov showed 1,000 U.S. adult citizens pictures of famous art pieces and asked them questions about the works specifically and their views on art generally. It was a creative use of YouGov’s online polling methodology (after all, you can’t show pictures of art to respondents of a traditional phone poll) and revealed a lot about Americans’ artistic tastes.
According to the poll, 13 percent of Americans considered themselves very artistic, and another 36 percent considered themselves somewhat artistic. However, 48 percent considered themselves not very artistic or not artistic at all. And only 33 percent said that artistic painting came naturally to them (this number will become important in a minute).
Only 39 percent of Americans said that they were very or somewhat familiar with famous art movements or styles. In comparison, 58 percent said they were not very or not at all familiar with them. When asked about specific styles, people who were very, somewhat or not very familiar with artistic styles favored “classic art” the most.
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Americans like old art

Share of Americans who love, like, hate or dislike various artistic styles, among those who said they were very, somewhat or not very familiar with artistic styles

[table class="viz full" style=][tr][th]Style[/th]
[th]Love or like[/th]
[th]Dislike or hate[/th]
[th]Diff.[/th]
[/tr]
[tr][td class="text"]Classic art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width:20%"]87%[/td]
[td class="number" style="width:20%"]7%[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+80[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Expressionism[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]71[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]14[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+57[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Street art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]71[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]18[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+53[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Modern art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]70[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]19[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+51[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Surreal art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]66[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]18[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+48[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Digital art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]63[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]18[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+45[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Abstract[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]66[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]24[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+42[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]Pop art[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]65[/td]
[td class="number" style="width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]23[/td]
[td class="number highlight" style="width:20%"]+42[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Source: YouGov

Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they either loved or liked “classic art,” versus just 7 percent who said they disliked or hated it. More recent artistic styles were still popular but had lower net favorability. For example, the turn-of-the-century style Expressionism had a +57 net favorability rating, Surrealism (which began around 1920) had a +48 rating and pop art (the 1950s and 1960s) clocked in at +42.
When YouGov asked respondents to react to seven specific paintings and sculptures, these preferences appeared again. At least 84 percent of American adults said they personally considered the four works created before 1900 to be art. But only 51 percent considered Piet Mondrian’s “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” (1930) to be art, and only 43 percent said the same of Sam Gilliam’s “Coffee Thyme I” (1980).

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Americans don’t think modern art is art

Share of Americans who consider seven famous paintings or sculptures to be art

[table class="viz full" style=][tr][th]Artwork[/th]
[th]Year[/th]
[th]Share who said it’s art[/th]
[/tr]
[tr][td class="text"]“David” by Michelangelo[/td]
[td class="text"]1504[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color:#222222;background-color:#73c98e;width:20%"]84%[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“The Milkmaid” by Johannes Vermeer[/td]
[td class="text"]1660[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #59bf79;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]90[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat” by Vincent Van Gogh[/td]
[td class="text"]1887[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #59bf79;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]90[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“The Basket of Apples” by Paul Cézanne[/td]
[td class="text"]1893[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #5dc17c;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]89[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“Movements” by Marsden Hartley[/td]
[td class="text"]1913[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #95d6aa;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]76[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” by Piet Mondrian[/td]
[td class="text"]1930[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #fbfdfc;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]51[/td]
[/tr]

[tr][td class="text"]“Coffee Thyme I” by Sam Gilliam[/td]
[td class="text"]1980[/td]
[td class="heat number" style="color: #222222;background-color: #fae6f3;width: 20%;padding-right: 1.1em"]43[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Source: yougov

YouGov also asked Americans if they thought they could replicate each of these works if given the appropriate materials and time. And despite their answer to the earlier question about their artistic skill, 65 percent of Americans thought they could definitely or probably reproduce the Gilliam painting, and 77 percent thought they could reproduce the Mondrian.¹ That suggests that Americans’ relative distaste for modern art is related to its apparent simplicity. According to at least some Americans, something can be art only if it’s technically difficult to make. (Never mind the inspiration required to come up with the idea for the image in the first place.)


This poll is relevant to politics too. Last month, a principal in Tallahassee, Florida, resigned after failing to notify parents before sixth-grade students at her school were shown images of Michelangelo’s “David” (depicted nude). The incident touched off a debate over parental rights and the nature of art. YouGov asked about this, too. Seventy-five percent of respondents said that the statue is not pornographic (siding with Marge Simpson over Helen Lovejoy), while 16 percent thought it was. But 67 percent also said parents should be notified before their children are shown artwork depicting nudity, while 21 percent said parents didn’t need to be informed. And when YouGov straight-up asked if students of different ages should be shown a full-length photo of “David,” Americans were split. Seventy percent of respondents said it would be appropriate in high school, while 20 percent said it would not. But only 48 percent said it would be appropriate in middle school, while 38 percent said it would not. And only 31 percent thought it would be appropriate in elementary school, compared to 55 percent who thought it would be inappropriate.
The definition of art is subjective (in fact, a plurality of Americans said so in the poll). But, if you’re someone who believes that the majority should rule, polls provide a means to an objective answer. And that, in turn, raises uncomfortable questions: Can something still be considered art even if 95 percent of people think it isn’t? Or should public opinion about art even matter? Where should we draw the line?
I don’t have answers to these questions. But if I have to stay up at night pondering them, you do too.

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Nathaniel Rakich is a senior elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight. @baseballot