Full Idea
To see something as art requires something the eye cannot descry - an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld.
Gist of Idea
A thing is only seen as art in an 'artworld', which has a theory and a history
Source
Arthur C. Danto (The Artworld [1964], II)
Book Reference
'Aesthetics and the Phil of Art (Analytic trad)', ed/tr. Lamarque,P/Olsen,SH [Blackwell 2004], p.32
A Reaction
The editors of the volume call this a revolutionary remark, followed up by Danto and George Dickie with a social and institutional account of art. Danto's key example is Warhol's Brillo pads - art in a gallery, cleaning material in a shop.