What are the different types of art?


Answer: There isn’t one single agreed classification of art forms. In part, this is because there is not one single definition of art! 

Some people consider art a creative process that gives only aesthetic pleasure, and does not serve any utilitarian purpose. However, even with this definition, there is not a clear dividing line between art and utilitarian creative processes. For example, some people consider the literary arts to comprise poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and drama. We can clearly understand that non-fiction has a utilitarian purpose to educate and communicate, and arguably the other literary arts do too. So that definition of art as serving no utilitarian purpose is not very black-and-white. 

If we consider art to be any creative endeavor that provides aesthetic pleasure, and that it might also be utilitarian, then there are many forms of art. Below is a partial listing, together with some of the ways these are commonly grouped together. 


Art form | Can be classified as
Poetry | Literary arts, fine arts
Fiction | Literary arts
Non-fiction | Literary arts
Drama / theater | Performing arts, literary arts
Sculpture | Visual arts, fine arts, plastic arts
Painting | Visual arts, fine arts
Glassblowing | Visual arts
Ceramics | Visual arts, plastic arts
Origami | Visual arts, plastic arts
Woodworking | Sculpture, plastic arts
Music | Performing arts, fine arts
Dance | Performing arts, fine arts
Film-making / cinematography | Performing arts, visual arts, media arts
Photography | Visual arts, media arts
Opera | Performing arts, visual arts
Food preparation | Culinary arts
Food styling | Visual arts, culinary arts
Architecture | Fine arts

There are also subcategories of many of these art forms, for example:
Sculpture using different materials can have its own subcategory. Some people consider glassblowing or wood carving to be subcategories of sculpture.
Woodworking has sub-specialties including engraving, furniture-making, and carving.
  
There is also disagreement about including utilitarian disciplines as a form of art. Architecture is a good example of this. It is highly regulated, requires engineering skill, and provides clear useful benefits, so it doesn’t meet the standard of “purely aesthetic”. Still, it is common to consider architecture an art form, and most people agree that architecture can provide aesthetic pleasure.

As you can see, there isn’t a single way to classify art forms, although there is consensus about some of the most common groupings.