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Definition of decorative art
1 : art that is concerned primarily with the creation of useful items (such as furniture, ceramics, or textiles)
—usually used in plural
2 : objects of decorative art
Examples of decorative art in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web The committee tries to select one decorative arts project and one fine arts project.
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Farah Nayeri, New York Times, "A Frank Lloyd Wright Design Will Have a New Life in London," 27 Feb. 2020 This exquisite William Morris textile is in the permanent collection of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, a magical castle devoted to archival fashion, jewelry, fabrics and decorative arts.
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Lindsay Talbot, New York Times, "The Designer Who Wore Double-Breasted Suits as a Pre-Schooler," 17 Mar. 2020 This film is both a loving homage to Austen and a celebration of fashion and decorative arts.
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cleveland, "‘Emma’ review: A hats off to this fun, insanely pretty version of the Jane Austen novel," 4 Mar. 2020 The reimagined galleries are still devoted to British sculpture, design and decorative arts between 1500 and 1900.
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Peter Saenger, WSJ, "A New Look at Britain’s Old Treasures," 23 Jan. 2020 The town's North House Folk School offers a myriad of courses, ranging from building your own canoe to furniture-making to rosemaling, a Norwegian decorative art.
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Brian E. Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Grand Marais' Hygge Festival embraces winter coziness," 10 Jan. 2020 The movement, which grew out of the more decorative Art Nouveau, combined many styles of the time, including Cubism and Viennese Succession.
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Hadley Mendelsohn, House Beautiful, "The Fascinating History of Art Deco Design," 16 Mar. 2020 The best thing Yale is doing is giving craft — what used to be called decorative arts or material culture — a place of pride.
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Brian T. Allen, National Review, "Yale Teaches World Art," 6 Feb. 2020 The French, whose fascination with 19th-century Japanese painting and decorative art led them to coin the term Japonisme, have reciprocated the interest, and the exchange — in food, fashion and design — is ongoing.
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Thomas Chatterton Williams, New York Times, "The Best of Japanese Dining and Design, Under One Parisian Roof," 2 Jan. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'decorative art.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for decorative art
The first known use of decorative art was in 1853
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