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"'''Art for art's sake'''" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan from the early 19th century, "'''l'art pour l'art'''", and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function.

== Description ==

Such works are sometimes described as "autotelic", from the Greek ''[[autoteles]]'', "complete in itself", a concept that has been expanded to embrace "inner-directed" or "self-motivated" human beings.

Ironically, the term is sometimes used commercially. A Latin version of this phrase ("ARS GRATIA ARTIS") is used as a motto by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appears in the circle around the roaring head of Leo the Lion in its motion picture logo.

== See also ==

* [[Art]]
* [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler]]

==  External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_for_art%27s_sake Art for art's sake] @ Wikipedia

[[Category:Art]]