Key Idea: Topic 2.2 turns from the artwork to its maker: who is an artist, how is art made, and what does the artist owe society? The romantic 'lone genius' picture is the one to test — again and again the topic pulls it apart. Master this topic and you have a ready-made answer for Paper 1 Section B, a 25-mark essay where you're handed a claim about the artist and told to 'Evaluate' it.
🖌️ The four big questions, one card each
Topic 2.2 at a glance
- 2.2.1 · What is an artist? — Two rival answers. The Romantic GENIUS: the artist is born with a rare inner gift. The INSTITUTIONAL view: 'artist' is a status the art world grants. Two challenges hit both — 'outsider' artists, and the fact that 'artist' is partly a Western invention.
- 2.2.2 · The artistic process — Where does a work come from? Making art is imagination AND craft together — inspiration plus trained skill. The maker chooses function, form and content. And the 'lone genius' is often a myth: many works pass through many hands.
- 2.2.3 · Technology and art — Every new tool reopens 'what is art?'. The camera caused the first great panic (does the machine do the making?). AI art is the same worry today — does a machine's role make it 'less art', or is the human choice still the art?
- 2.2.4 · The artist and society — Mirror or hammer? Art can REFLECT the values already in a society, or try to CHANGE them. This raises creative licence, conformity, censorship, and the artist's accountability — to themselves, a cause, or moral and political ends.
The inner-gift picture locates being an artist INSIDE the person: a born genius with a spark others lack. The status picture locates it OUTSIDE, in the practice: 'artist' is a role the art world confers, like 'champion'. The same split runs through making (lone genius vs many hands) and technology (does the machine or the human make it). Most Section B questions here are really asking you to weigh inner-gift answers against social-status ones.
✍️ Bring it together — a Section B question
Evaluate the claim that a work made with the help of artificial intelligence cannot be genuine art.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Describing the artist debate instead of evaluating the claim. Section B hands you a claim to weigh — don't just tour 'the Romantic genius vs the institutional view.' Argue FOR the claim, argue AGAINST it, test its key word (here, 'cannot'), and reach a reasoned conclusion. A name earns nothing without its argument, and a top answer never ends on 'it's all subjective'.
✅ Check yourself
If you can answer these six, you have the spine of the whole topic.
The two rival answers to 'what is an artist?' The Romantic GENIUS (born with an inner gift) vs the INSTITUTIONAL view ('artist' is a status the art world grants).
What two challenges hit both answers? 'Outsider' or self-taught artists who fit neither picture cleanly, and the fact that 'artist' as a special role is partly a Western invention.
Imagination and craft — why both? Making art needs inspiration AND trained skill. Pure inspiration without craft can't realise the work; pure craft without imagination is mere technique.
Why is the 'lone genius' often a myth? Many works pass through many hands — assistants, workshops, collaborators, performers — so the single solitary maker is more image than fact.
What did the camera panic show? Every new tool reopens 'what is art?'. Critics said the machine did the making — yet photography became art because the human still chose and composed. AI faces the same test.
Mirror or hammer — the artist and society? Art can REFLECT the values a society already holds (mirror) or try to CHANGE them (hammer). This raises creative licence, censorship and accountability.
Exam tips
- Aesthetics is optional → Paper 1 Section B: a 25-mark essay with NO stimulus. You're handed a claim and told to 'Evaluate' it.
- Find the load-bearing word in the claim ('cannot', 'must', 'always') and make evaluating it the spine of your essay.
- Name a position ONLY with its argument — the Romantic genius or the institutional view earn marks only when you use them to argue.
- Always argue both sides and end on a reasoned conclusion, never a list and never 'it's just opinion'.