Architecture
Art and architecture share many similarities. They've influenced one another throughout history. However, trying to liken these two disciplines will inevitably lead to certain contractions.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that Art, in its broadest sense, is defined as a creation meant to trigger an emotional response which is generally related to aesthetic pleasure. It doesn't satisfy any of life's basic needs, but it leads to thoughts, reflections, and often taps into our subconscious and our memory. On the other hand, architecture's primary purpose is to shelter individuals and ensure their safety. Architecture is meant to serve a utilitarian purpose.
Today, architecture has gone far beyond this initial function. Architects have strived to combine engineering and aesthetic research to create buildings that are so out of the ordinary we wonder how they were designed. They want their creations to stand out and favour originality and creativity. Just like in arts, architecture is influenced by the historical, social, and political context of the time and each movement has its own characteristics, from baroque to futurism to Bauhaus. Modern architecture marked a turn in the history of architecture. Architects revolutionised the social scope of their discipline and took an industrialist approach to society and nature — avant-garde architects rubbed shoulders with artists such as Georges Braque, Piet Mondrian, and members of the De Stijl group. Le Corbusier is a pioneer in collective housing, and also took part in ambitious projects which aimed to rebuild entire cities, such as Chandigarh in India. Decorative arts also developed by taking inspiration from the conventions that governed modernist architecture.
Contemporary architecture might not be a specific movement per se, but buildings that fall into this category share certain attributes. Contemporary architecture is characterised by curvy lines and various volumes in a single structure, as seen with the Sydney Opera House. The architect Jørn Utzon explained that he didn't seek to create a building for this project, but an actual sculpture. The building continually renews itself with new meanings and experiences for each passerby. Architectural works often require periods of deep reflection and a long though process in order for the architect to envisage how to give their building a sense of character and soul.
Whether architecture is an art or not is a never ending debate, but it is undeniable that there are strong links between the two disciplines. There are many examples of collaborations between contemporary artists and architects, and today the works of the greatest architects are exhibited in museums along with their fellow artists.
Discover our selections of artworks inspired by art and architecture!
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Las puertas de Petrovski
Konstantin Filimonov
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,890
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 1
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$289
Fenêtre sur lac Variation III
Gabriel Riesnert
Painting - 30 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$925
Papillons sur la Tour Eiffel
Iolanta Gondouin (Iola)
Painting - 65 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
$751
Serene Christmas
Victorino Mercado
Fine Art Drawings - 76 x 56 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.9 x 22 inch
$405
La mémoire
Thierry Van Quickenborne
Photography - 81 x 65 x 1 cm Photography - 31.9 x 25.6 x 0.4 inch
$543
X-Y Building Facade Op.6, No.2
Is Wang
Photography - 120 x 48 x 4 cm Photography - 47.2 x 18.9 x 1.6 inch
$2,890
American Dream
Joséphine Vallé Franceschi
Photography - 100 x 150 x 0.4 cm Photography - 39.4 x 59.1 x 0.2 inch
$4,855
An argument in the bathroom
Perrine Anna Chantal
Painting - 160 x 116 x 2.5 cm Painting - 63 x 45.7 x 1 inch
$2,182
Opera House - Oslo (1)
Mark Elst
Photography - 66.7 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 26.3 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$451
Window on Amalfi - Italian seaside painting
Domenico Caiazza
Painting - 40 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$318
Full of colours view - Positano Italy painting
Ernesto De Michele
Painting - 40 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$491
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$173
Couleurs Urbaines 015 - Paris
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$1,040
Old country houses - Tuscany landscape painting
Claudio Pallini
Painting - 20 x 30 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$173
No New Friends
Ivan Peev
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 65 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 25.6 x 0.1 inch
$694
The Warriors of tradition
Franck Kemkeng Noah
Painting - 110 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 43.3 x 51.2 x 2 inch
$5,779
Les murs de Babel II - N°2
Gaël Darras
Fine Art Drawings - 83 x 48 cm Fine Art Drawings - 32.7 x 18.9 inch
$2,659
Arborescence
Vassilia Kouboulis
Photography - 60 x 40 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,965
Rem(a)inders (Saint-Nazaire) 2
Hélène Delépine
Sculpture - 31 x 18 x 12 cm Sculpture - 12.2 x 7.1 x 4.7 inch
$1,387
Village with sunflowers - Tuscany landscape painting & frame
Gino Masini
Painting - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$376
Le carré Victoria (Terracotta)
Steddy John
Sculpture - 25 x 25 x 6 cm Sculpture - 9.8 x 9.8 x 2.4 inch
$173
Ar the Arc de Triomphe - France Belle Epoque painting + frame
Antonio Pecorelli
Painting - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$347
Chiesa Nuova II, Rome, Italy, Churches of Rome
Mac Oller
Photography - 120 x 150 cm Photography - 47.2 x 59.1 inch
$3,468
Chez le collectionneur le penseur
Lorann Lacave-ladeuix
Painting - 61 x 46 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 18.1 x 1.2 inch
$1,618
Bibliothèque d’eau de mer
Anne-Laure Wuillai
Sculpture - 70 x 42 x 10 cm Sculpture - 27.6 x 16.5 x 3.9 inch
$7,513
Yeni Cami (nouvelle mosquée)
Serge Salis
Fine Art Drawings - 49 x 49 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.3 x 19.3 x 0.1 inch
$925
Ronds mécaniques
Bruno Rigolle
Painting - 110 x 80 x 0.001 cm Painting - 43.3 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,156
Untitled Desert Tile 2
Guido Segni
Photography - 70 x 100 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,618
Au petit matin
Miguel Nunez Rauschert
Painting - 100 x 81 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 1.2 inch
$2,774
Corvée d'eau, Tchétchénie
Françoise Spiekermeier
Photography - 50 x 75 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 inch
$1,734
On the Golden Gate (San Francisco)
Laurent Minguet
Painting - 122 x 85 x 8 cm Painting - 48 x 33.5 x 3.1 inch
$10,981
Everything is Going to be Alright (Work No. 3531)
Martin Creed
Print - 29.8 x 41.9 cm Print - 11.75 x 16.5 inch
$3,500
Enuma Elish 18
Alex Colard
Photography - 140 x 260 x 3 cm Photography - 55.1 x 102.4 x 1.2 inch
$14,606
Complicity #34
Tulio Pinto
Sculpture - 68 x 150 x 150 cm Sculpture - 26.8 x 59.1 x 59.1 inch
$36,988
Factory CCCP
Guilhem Lucand Guizard
Painting - 80 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$335
Paris Memphis, Tour Eiffel
Stephane Franck Berthelot
Photography - 60 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,156
Cuckoo Block "Frankfurt"
Guido Zimmermann
Sculpture - 78 x 26 x 14 cm Sculpture - 30.7 x 10.2 x 5.5 inch
$5,664
Milich'sche Library I, Görlitz
Reinhard Gorner
Photography - 127 x 130 cm Photography - 50 x 51.2 inch
$6,935
Sans titre - Encyclopédie Vagabonde
Antoine Grumbach
Fine Art Drawings - 31 x 23 cm Fine Art Drawings - 12.2 x 9.1 inch
$4,970
