artwork

noun

USART-wurk/ˈɑɹtˌwɝk/UKAHT-wurk/ˈɑːtˌwɜːk/

3 meanings of artwork

1
nouncountable or uncountable
A single work of visual art, such as a painting, drawing, or sculpture.
The gallery displayed striking artwork by several local painters.
He spent years collecting artwork from emerging sculptors.
Similarart, work, piece
Note
Two grammars share this sense. Counted, it names single pieces, such as a red metal sculpture in a plaza or the Hellenic artworks of ancient Greece, and takes the plural artworks. Used as a mass noun, it gathers a collection without counting it. Work of art and art piece are the strictly countable equivalents, while the general 'artistic work' meaning is never counted at all.
2
noununcountable
Creative work produced through artistic skill; the output of an artist's effort.
The retrospective featured three decades of his artwork.
Critics praised the boldness and originality of her artwork.
Similarart, work, output, oeuvre
3
noununcountable
The graphical elements (images, illustrations, and design components) prepared for inclusion in a printed or reproduced work.
The publisher requested high-resolution artwork for the book cover.
All artwork must be supplied in CMYK for accurate color printing.
Similargraphics, art, images, illustrations
Note
A print-production word for everything on the page that is not text: illustrations, logos, photographs and other design elements. That is why a photographer can be late delivering the artwork without anyone expecting fine art. The term names a role in the layout, not a judgment of quality. Here it is a mass noun, so editors ask for some of the artwork or the artwork for the cover, not artworks.

Practice

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Origin

Formed from "art" combined with the suffix "-work."