Art includes sculpture, painting, plays, films, novels, dance and music.

The movement took as its primary sources of inspiration Pre-Raphaelite painting's of flaming red haired beauties, medieval geometric designs, and Japanese motifs and aesthetics. The Aesthetic Movement maintained that art should not be confined to painting, sculpture, and architecture, but should be a part of everyday life.

A few examples of contemporary theories that have described art in this way include Ernst Cassirer ’s philosophy of symbolic forms; Susanne K. Langer ’s theory of presentational symbols; the works on semiology and semiotics, largely inspired by the writings of Roland Barthes, that were fashionable in continental Europe; and the semantic theory of art developed by Nelson Goodman.

An aesthetic is a means of describing the impact of art and nature on the senses. Aesthetics can be used to describe art, performance art, architecture, gardens, visual design, fashion, music, film, food, drink, product design and anything else that has artistic or creative value.