100+ Art Essay Topics for Your Excellent Paper

Art is a gold mine for essay ideas. The multiplicity of art styles, genres, and movements gives a great opportunity to choose a topic of your interest. If you are bored with standard assignments, you will like our post because writers of our essay service we have collected unusual and catchy essay topics about art of different epochs and countries. Writing essays about artists, artworks, or art history is not only exciting – it may also broaden your erudite horizons. Don’t hesitate to steep yourself in the world of beauty and aesthetics!

Best art essay topics in December 2023

1. How modern technology has altered the landscape of art.
2. The value of public artworks in contemporary cityscapes.
3. The colossal cultural influence of Christmas art.
4. How social justice movements relate to artistic expression.
5. How works of art and literature depict mental illness.
6. What digital art has become and where it stands in the modern art scene.
7. Edited AI-generated images as a form of art.
8. How art can help People from different cultures understand and empathize with one another.
9. The morality of cinematic and photographic depictions of art.
10. Images of the LGBTQ+ community in media and entertainment.
11. The impact of the development of AI tools on modern artists.
12. What museums can do to keep history alive.

Our great collection of art essay ideas

When we want to avoid the mistakes of the past, we turn back to our history. The same happens when we are looking for art essay ideas. Art history is a treasury filled with various and exciting topics for your papers. You can choose any epoch, any art movement, any school and present their peculiarities, representatives, and origins. Check out the list of art essay ideas from our art essay writing service.

1. Printmaking: history and techniques.
2. The return of cultural property to the African countries after WWII.
3. The formal elements of the Egyptian portraits of royalties and aristocrats:
   the use of space;
   colors and color blocks;
   lines and texture;
   gestures and emotions.
4. How can you explain the “philosophy of art”?
5. When and how did photography become art?
6. Jewelry of Ancient Egypt:
   the role of jewelry in the afterlife;
   the most used materials and metals;
   protective amulets;
   types of ancient Egyptian jewelry.
7. Edo in Japan: Kabuki theater and woodblock prints.
8. Why did Egyptians never change their art canon for 3,000 years?
9. The first Impressionists: Édouard Manet and Claude Monet.
10. Primeval musical instruments.
11. The references to Renaissance art history in “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown.
12. How do the painters of different epochs depict the Apocalypse?
13. The history of the Venetian carnival masks.
14. Sacrifice in Mayan art.
15. Stained glass in Medieval France.

Artist biography essay ideas

Artists’ biographies always have something to surprise with: skeletons in the closet, unusual career stories, difficult childhood, etc. Studying the details of their lives doesn’t only serve for fun. When we analyze a certain piece of art, it is necessary to look into the author’s ideas, motives, and feelings. The understanding of all these aspects simplifies the analysis of the art piece and allows us to produce a more detailed and exhaustive paper. Below, we provide you with a list of talented artists of three centuries. Writing about their colorful lives will be a great art essay idea and paper writing help.

18th century:

Etienne Falconet
Francesco Rastrelli
Hubert Robert
Jacques-Louis David
Jean-Antoine Houdon
Johann Sebastian Bach
Louis François Roubiliac
Ludwig van Beethoven
Thomas Gainsborough
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

19th century:

Auguste Rodin
Claude Monet
Edgar Degas
Eduard Manet
Eugene Delacroix
Franz Schubert
Giuseppe Verdi
Gustav Klimt
Paul Cézanne
Paul Gauguin
Vincent Willem van Gogh

20th century

Alberto Giacometti
Andy Warhol
Constantin Brâncuși
Edvard Munch
Frida Kahlo
Georges Braque
Georgia Totto O’Keeffe
Henry Spencer Moore
Jackson Pollock
Judy Chicago
Pablo Picasso
Salvador Dali

Art around the world essay topics

Our planet is an amazing place. We share our home with thousands of different nations, ethnic groups, and tribes. Their cultures are unique and fascinating. You only have to look closer to find some great art essay ideas.

1. Japanese calligraphy: styles and materials.
2. K-pop: music style and subculture.
3. Chinese circus art as a synthesis of ancient traditions and innovations.
4. Bollywood and Hindi-language film industry.
5. Fashion and textiles of the African tribes.
6. The war dance haka in the Maori culture: history and types.
7. Wayang: traditional shadow puppet theater in Indonesia and Malaysia.
8. The peculiarities of mehndi in India, Africa, and the Middle East.
9. Water puppetry: a unique Vietnamese tradition.
10. The totem masks in the art of Papua New Guinea.

Art piece analysis topic ideas

Art appreciation essay topics require some specific knowledge. If you choose one of these topics, make sure that you provide all kinds of research about the artist, his or her personal style and technique, the art school, the background, etc. A detailed and well-considered art piece analysis is always highly appreciated.

1. “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci: style, composition, symbols.
2. What makes “Darkness Falls” by Patrick Hughes a unique artwork?
3. Analyze the purpose of the painting “Marriage Contract” by Giovanni Arnolfini.
4. Describe the structure of “Heart of Gold” by Christopher David White.
5. The biblical symbols in “The Garden of Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.
6. The “demons” of Mikhail Vrubel: “The Demon Seated,” “The Demon Flying,” “The Demon Downcast.”
7. Symbolism and interpretations of the engraving “Melencolia I” by Albrecht Dürer.
8. The depiction of the female body in the painting “The Three Graces” by Peter Paul Rubens.
9. The role of decorating elements for the perception of the painting “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt.
10. Magic realism in the painting “La note bleu” by Eric Roux-Fontaine.

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Modern art topic ideas

New is always better. Of course, this aphorism doesn’t cover all aspects of life. Anyway, modern art has something to surprise you with. The multiplicity of styles, movements, and forms is breathtaking, and you can choose any to write an excellent essay about it!

1. The artistic styles of modern art:
   British Pop art
   Conceptual art
   Constructivism
   Art Deco
2. Globalization in contemporary art.
3. Activism as a platform for modern art.
4. Use of technologies and social media in modern art.
5. Rise of art fairs in the 2000s.
6. Multiplicity of forms in modern art.
7. Political cartoons as a modern art form.
8. The modern mural as an instrument of political protest.
9. The technologies that define art of the 21th century
10. Large-scale artworks within contemporary art.

Art essay topics by type of essay

Below, we have placed the art essay ideas for argumentative, cause and effect, and compare and contrast essays. These three types are frequently assigned for homework because they allow the evaluation of critical thinking, argumentative skills, and logical reasoning of students.

Argumentative essay topics about art

If you like good discussions as well as art, you are welcome to train your argumentation skills. Prove your viewpoint using logical reasoning and enhanced arguments. Write a well-structured essay, and the high grades will come soon!

1. How can we define “good art”?
2. Why art disciplines are necessary for school programs.
3. The most important painting of the 20th century.
4. What makes Baroque sculptures recognizable?
5. Why does “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli best exemplify the ideals of the Renaissance?
6. Why does modern society put the arts in the role of social service?
7. Computer games as a kind of art.
8. Why has “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso had a global impact?
9. In what ways does art influence our everyday life?
10. Why is the “Mozart effect” not real?
11. Is the theater an art form significant enough to change culture?
12. Why the feminist movement is important for contemporary art.
13. Is graffiti a kind of art?
14. Banksy: vandal or artist?
15. Is art a good option for investments?
16. Should photojournalism be censored?
17. Can we consider advertisement to be a kind of modern art?
18. What made Paris a center of art in the 20th century?
19. Why is art education undervalued around the world?
20. How does art education help to think different?
21. The appearance of Gala and her influence on Dali’s art.

Cause and effect essay topics about art

These art essay topics are based on two key pillars: reasons and consequences. A cause-and-effect link connects everything in this world. There is no exception for art.

1. Choose one American painting created under strong influence of Japanese art and explain what exact effect it has had.
2. How did the Second Great Migration influence the art of the Harlem Renaissance?
3. What was the impact of Hudson River School of Art on the American painting?
4. How did iconoclasm affect Muslim art?
5. Has the Cultural Revolution influenced Chinese art?
6. How did Japanese art influence Van Gogh’s paintings?
7. The impact of Raphael on the art of the Renaissance (check the list of Renaissance topics for your papers).
8. How did mythology influence the sculptures of Ancient Greece?
9. How did the Japanese mentality and lifestyle affect the art of the rock garden?
10. What caused the decline of art in Medieval Europe?

Compare and contrast essay topics about art

These art essay topics are not that easy. You have to work twice as hard to compare two things because you have to be well-informed about each of them. However, the game is worth the candle.

1. Compare the main ideas of Middle Age art and Renaissance art.
2. Compare Greek and Egyptian canons of proportions.
3. The peculiarities of modern art in comparison with the previous art periods.
4. Similarities and differences in Mannerism and Baroque styles.
5. Compare the novelties in the paintings of Gustave Courbet to those of Edouard Manet.
6. Compare Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods.
7. Compare traditional and modern Caribbean music.
8. Compare and contrast French and English gardens.
9. Compare the surrealism in the paintings of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali.
10. Compare Baroque and Rococo design styles.

We are absolutely sure that you’ve found an interesting and unusual topic for your art essay in our lists. No doubt, art provides us with inspiration for creating high-quality papers. If you don’t feel confident about your writing skills but have an excellent idea for a paper, you are welcome to use the college paper writing service EssayShark. Here, you will find a comfortable ordering system, a team of experienced writers, and 24/7 available support. Good luck on the path to academic success, and may the Force be with you!