1. 'What is an artist'?

Is a 'musician' an 'artist'?

I 'googled' the word artist these are the definitions of an 'artist' that I have found:

'1.a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria. 2.a person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.
3.a person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc.: a commercial artist.
4.a person who works in one of the performing arts, as an actor, musician, or singer; a public performer: a mime artist; an artist of the dance.
5.a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill.
6.a person who is expert at trickery or deceit: He's an artist with cards.
7.Obsolete. an artisan.
—Synonyms 1. Artist, artisan are persons having superior skill or ability, or who are capable of producing superior work. An artist is a person engaged in some type of fine art. An artisan is engaged in a craft or applied art.'

'1581, "one who cultivates one of the fine arts," from M.Fr. artiste, from It. artista, from M.L. artista, from L. ars (see art). Originally used especially of the arts presided over by the Muses (history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dancing, astronomy), but also used 17c. for "one skilled in any art or craft" (including professors, surgeons, craftsmen, cooks). Now especially of "one who practices the arts of design or visual arts" (a sense first attested 1747). Artistic first recorded 1753; artistry 1868.'1.

'An "artist" (one skilled in a fine art) can also be an "artiste" (public performer), but an "artiste" is not necessarily an "artist." '


'Artist is a descriptive term applied to a person who engages in an activity deemed to be an art. An artist can also be unofficially defined as "a person who expresses themselves through a medium". The word is also used in a qualitative sense of a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, an artistic practice.
Most often, the term describes those who create within a context of 'high culture', activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, acting, dancing, writing, filmmaking, photography and music — people who use imagination, and talent or skill, to create works that can be judged to have an aesthetic value. Art historians and critics will define as artists those who produce art within a recognised or recognisable discipline....
There is no consensus about what constitutes "art" or who is, or is not, an "artist". Often, discussions on the subject focus on the differences between "artist" and "technician" or "entertainer," or "artisan," "fine art" and "applied art," or what constitutes art and what does not. The French word artiste (which in French, simply means "artist") has been imported into the English language where it means a performer .'2

I think the last definition (from wikipedia) of 'artist' is the best. I feel that art is a personal interpretation. I read something along the lines of 'Art is art if who has made it has called it art', at the time I was unsure if I agreed with this statement. I think with good reasons behind the art being called art then this is true. Without this thought and concept however, I feel it's all a bit of a con.

Footnotes:
1. "artist." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 21 Feb. 2007. .
2."artist." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2007. Answers.com 21 Feb. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/artist