Since prehistoric times, humans have been creating art of various forms. Over the years as tools and technologies have changed and developed, the concept of what art means has come under scrutiny.  There are different opinions as to what can be classified as art. 
The seven major forms of art are painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, music, cinema, and theater.

What Is Art?

Art is produced when imagination or creativity are used to create something that can be directly experienced through our senses. Although visual art that is witnessed through our sense of sight is the most common form, art can appeal to our other senses as well.

Painting
Painting is one of the oldest kinds of art, dating back tens of thousands of years, and is evident on caves at various sites across the world.
Paint can be applied in various ways – the sky’s the limit. Brushes, fingers, spray cans or sponges can be used, for example. In modern art, painters mostly use canvas to paint on but other surfaces such as board or wood can also be used.

Sculpture
Sculpture is another ancient art form, dating back to some of the earliest civilizations. Unlike painting though, this form of art involves the creation of art in the three dimensions. The type of material used can be anything natural or artificial – from clay, metal, bronze, marble and wood to objects that artists come across in their everyday lives.

Literature
The word “literature” is derived from the Latin word that is translated as “letters” and refers to the written word in particular. Language is a powerful and symbolic way of communicating, and writing is no exception. The earliest texts date back thousands of years. Literature includes poetry, articles, novels, plays, folklore, myths, and legends as well as other forms of writing. Libraries have kept millions of books around the world since ancient times – today there is a growing industry in electronic text, books, and the storage of data.

Music
Music is created when there is an organization of sounds, as vibrations, that are put together to form an audible composition. Although the presence of music in ancient civilization is harder to trace than visual art, remains of musical instruments have been found that are thousands of years old. Like paint, early instruments were made from a variety of natural resources that communities found within their vicinity, while today a vast selection of ready-made instruments are available for musicians to choose from.

Theater
Theater is a performance art that usually includes a visual element that has been used for entertainment purposes for thousands of years. However, long before this oral storytelling, voice, sounds, and gestures were used to transmit important information from one generation to another before written language was invented.