Terry Smith

                         Have you ever wondered how art critics decide which artworks are good and which are bad?  How can you compare artworks that are very different?  One way to accomplish this is by using aesthetic theories.  An aesthetic theory is a set of criteria that is used to evaluate an artwork.  Because there are so many different types of artworks, there are several different aesthetic theories.  Each theory's criteria is based on what the artwork is intended to accomplish - the primary purpose of the artwork.  Before you can judge an artwork, you will need to determine what the goal of the artwork is.  The following four aesthetic theories apply to most visual artworks: