art for art's sake

English

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Etymology

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Calque of French l’art pour l’art, a phrase credited to Théophile Gautier. See the Wikipedia article for more.

Noun

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art for art's sake (uncountable)

  1. (art, slogan) Art with no function; whose only purpose is beauty.
    Synonym: ars gratia artis

Translations

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Further reading

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