To see how art is reflected in language, I consulted the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.[1] Contrary to my expectations, I found a few connections only. First, “art for art’s sake” and its derivatives, “power for power’s sake,” “violence for the sake of violence,” etc.[2] Second, “arts and crafts,” as well as “arty and crafty,” and its derivative, “as artful (or crafty) as a wagon-load of monkeys,” meaning “cunning and mischievous but not wicked.”[3] Third, “a quick-change artist,” that is, an actor who makes rapid changes in costume, makeup, etc., to perform a quick succession of rôles, or a person able or likely to switch functions, opinions, interests, etc.[4] To my disappointment, I did not find “a bullshit artist,” an apt expression from across the Atlantic of which the Oxford University Press appears to be innocent. Come to think of it, perhaps I was deluded to expect more. Perhaps current idiomatic English captures art and artists pretty accurately.

Footnote

1. Cowie, A.P., R. Mackin, and I.R. McCaig, eds., Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

2. Op. cit., p. 16.

3. Loc. cit.

4. Op. cit., p. 471.